Geocommunication, A Cornerstone Graduate Course in Professional Development

Abstract

We instituted the new course “Geocommunication” as one of four required courses in our recently revised geology M.S. curriculum. The course was specifically designed to address our students' needs, especially in the areas of organizing and writing scientific journal articles, thesis proposals, and research proposals. Our underlying goals were to impress students with the importance of communication skills in the geosciences and to help get their professional careers off to a good start.The course was centered on two major projects: a manuscript for a professional journal and a research proposal. Using data from a short field exercise, students wrote their journal manuscripts one section at a time (Materials and Methods through Conclusion, then Introduction and ). The research proposal was patterned after a thesis proposal or a proposal for external funds; both versions involved fellow students as “external reviewers.” The course ended with oral presentations of these proposals.Students completing the course indicated that it had been successful in improving their communication skills and that the course should be retained in the curriculum. Most of their suggestions for improvement dealt with the topics covered and the relative amount of time devoted to each. When asked to provide a subjective assessment of student improvement attributable to the course, other departmental faculty reported improved writing performance and presentation skills for the majority (but not all) of students who had enrolled.