UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA
COMMUNICATION AND STUDY SKILLS UNIT
GENERAL EDUCATION COURSE
Semester 2: Teaching Course Outline
January to May 2021
COURSE CODE: COM 142 (Science)
COURSE TITLE: Academic and Professional Communication
CREDITS: 3
LEVEL: Year 1
SEMESTER: Two
TYPE: Compulsory
LECTURER:
OFFICE No:
Office telephone no.
Email:
INTRODUCTION
The course aims to develop communication skills for specific purposes which are necessary for operating
effectively in educational, social and professional contexts. Activities in this course are designed to
provide science students with key competencies for academic and professional life and the enhancement
of life-long learning skills.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the semester students should be able to:
• produce specific texts that are fluent, accurate and reflect an appropriate style;
• do basic qualitative and quantitative research;
• analyze and discuss data collected;
• apply principles of oral presentation skills in reporting findings
• use information technology to enhance communication skills;
• apply information literacy skills in the search for information;
• demonstrate an understanding of style and tone in professional communication
1
COURSE CONTENT
Date(s) Course content Activities/ ****Suggested readings
• Introduction to the course (course Course outlines, class
31 Jan – 4 outline, attendance policy, assessment lists, registers
Feb policy)
• Introducing Professional and Interactive lecturing
Academic Writing Class discussion
o What is professional writing?
o What is academic writing?
o Distinguishing characteristics of
professional and academic
writing
MODULE 1 : WRITTEN PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION
Written professional communication Fielding, M. (2006). Effective
• Business Letter writing Communication in
7 – 18feb o Application and Curriculum Vitae, Organisations. CapeTown: Juta.
Resignation , Enquiry, Complaint Class activities Stanton, N. (2009). Mastering
• Other forms of communication Communication. Macmillan: New
o Memorandum, email, York.
21feb – 4 Interview skills
Mar • Types of interviews Stanton, N. (2009). Mastering
• Before, During and after the Role play Communication. Macmillan:
interview New York.
7-11Mar Business Meetings
• Documents of meetings
o Notice, Agenda, Minutes
CA 1 CA 1 CA 1
MODULE 2: ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
Scientific Report Writing Raman, M. & Sharma, S (2004)
14 – 18Mar • Introduction: Purpose features, reports, Technical Communication:
language of scientific reports Class exercises Principles and Practice. India:
• Types of lab reports Group/ pair activities Oxford University Press
- Lab accident reports,
- Field/Investigative reports (IMRD Sylyn- Roberts, H. (1996).
format) Writing for Science: A practical
handbook for Science
Engineering and Technology
Students. Auckland: Longman.
21 – 25 Mar MID TERM
The Research Project
28 March -1 Identifying research topic Individual and Group
April • Narrowing down the topic tasks
Library and Research
• Using Library catalogue (OPAC) to Library and information
search for resources skills activities
• Reviewing the literature Developing a reading
• In-text citation matrix
• Summarising and paraphrasing Summary and
• Reference list vs Bibliography paraphrasing activities
4 Apr – 15 Collecting data
Apr i. Methods of collecting: Experiments, Designing data collection
interviews, Observations instrument/s
ii. Other sources of data: Documents
iii. Radio/TV programmes Collecting the data
iv. Internet sources (YouTube videos,
social media platforms)
2
18Apr – 22 Writing the report
Apr i. Introduction
ii. Methods
iii. Results
iv. Discussion
v. Conclusions & Recommendations
vi. Reference List
Oral Communication Skills
25 – 29 Apr • Strategies for Oral Presentation Skills Class activities /Group
• Presentation Techniques – verbal & exercises/ presentation
non-verbal cues, practice and share
• Use of audio/visuals: videos, power experiences with class
point slides, flash cards, posters, etc.
• Giving and receiving constrictive
feedback
2 May – 6 Group oral presentations
May Oral Presentations/ Written reports and submission of
written research projects
9 May - 13 SECAT Administration of
SECAT
13 May Last day of classes
16 May Final Examinations
Assessment
a. Modes of assessment Weighting
• Continuous Assessment 1 30%
• Research Project & Presentation 40%
• Total CA 70%
• Final Assessment/Examination % 30%
