授業レポート
冬学期「特別講義（Effectively Communicating Your Science & Research）」
COデザインセンター開講科目<表現術>
COデザインセンターでは多様な授業が開講されています。
今回は冬学期に「表現術」として開講されている「特別講義（Effectively Communicating Your Science & Research）」（担当：Professor Brendan Barrett）の様子をレポートします。
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This course is designed for students (natural and social scientists) who want to more effectively transmit their scientific knowledge and research outputs to their target audience - policy-makers, journalists and the public.
Students learn how to creatively communicate scientific knowledge and gain valuable insights on how best to represent and frame their research simply and clearly.
The course develops four core skills - communication, expression, literacy and collaboration.
At the end of this course students are able to:
Speak clearly and vividly about their science and why it matters for a public audience without "dumbing down" their message (communication and expression).
Analyze how complex scientific issues are represented, framed and communicated in contemporary media (literacy).
Develop strategies for effective media engagement in the communication of their research (communication, expression and collaboration).
Develop a sophisticated understanding of the role of science communication (literacy).
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In this article, we share the student experience of the course jointly taught by Brendan Barrett and Mitsuru Kudo at the Co* Design Center. The course helps students improve their English presentation skills by providing them with lots of useful tips and ideas, as well as practical exercises.
For example, in the class on December 4, the students were introduced to the pecha-kucha style of presentation. The format of a pecha-kucha presentation is 20 slides with 20 seconds per slide. It is designed to encourage students to be creative, using engaging photos and no text.
In explaining how to prepare a pecha-kucha presentation, Brendan Barrett drew on the work of presentation-gurus such as Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynolds to illustrate what the "state of the art" presentation can be. This includes the overall shape of the presentation and the use of powerful images. He also shared examples from the pecha-kucha website (https://www.pechakucha.org)
Some tips shared with the students to help them design their pecha-kucha presentation included:
・Choose simple topic
・Start with an outline (on paper, before using your computer)
・Tweak the outline
・Make slides
・Add pictures
・Practice
・Decide whether or not to animate your slides?
・Practice again
He encouraged the students to see every presentation as an "opportunity to resonate with their audience, and to bring about positive change."
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On 11 and 18 December, the students made their pecha-kucha presentations. These were video recorded.
Associate Professor Mitsuru Kudo, who co-teaches the course, spent time giving feedback to the students and hearing from them about any challenges they encountered. He is keen to ensure that every student gains a deeper understanding of the course materials and that they can realize a significant improvement in their communication skills.
Overall, the students found the pecha-kucha experience to be very positive (and challenging) and gained a lot by viewing videos of their performance. They all made noticeable improvements in their presentation skills, with the additional bonus of brushing up on their English.
（Professor Brendan Barrett）
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受講生によると、英語でプレゼンテーションをする経験を得られるこのような授業はとても貴重とのこと。これらの経験が専門や就職活動などで生きるに違いありません。
COデザインセンターで行われているその他の授業のレポートについては、こちらをご覧ください。
