Examples of Professional Communication Projects

Initial Publication Date: November 6, 2009

The following examples of science courses and programs with professional communication projects are taken from a pool of 30+ communication-intensive certified courses established and refined in the College of Basic Sciences at Louisiana State University.

Using an Observatory Project to Develop Professional Communication in Astronomy - Writing and speaking foci in a course about modern astronomic observational techniques taught by Robert Hynes

The Pet Rock Project - Developing Professional Communication in a Petrology Course - Writing and speaking foci in an igneous and metamorphic petrology course taught by Darrell Henry

Building Professional Communication Skills in Microbiology - Speaking focus in an advanced microbiology course taught by Karen Sullivan

Using a Groundwater Pollution Problem to Develop Professional Communication Skills - Multi-modal focus in a physical hydrology course taught by Jeff Nunn

Developing Professional Communication Skills in an Undergraduate Research Experience Poster Session - Visual focus in a summer undergraduate research forum led by Basic Sciences Studio Coordinator Colleen H. Fava

For each of the examples, we have included portions of each syllabus, as well as the detailed project prompts given to students enrolled in these classes.

"The poster development team really helped me to make my poster as high of a quality as possible, and without them my poster would not have looked half as good. Creating the poster let me emphasize my contributions to the research project I worked on, and in doing so I really learned the information on which I was working so that I was better able to talk about it when it came time to present my project. I have already used my poster in another presentation for a speech class in which I discussed the Tulane National Primate Research Center, and it enhanced my presentation greatly as the teacher was really interested in it. Since the poster is properly done, I will use it as a base for any scientific poster that I do in the future. I also plan to use the poster as evidence of my experience when applying for internships. I appreciate everything the CxC team did to make sure all the summer undergraduate researchers' posters looked their best."

– Ryan Lirette, Louisiana Tech University, Biology & Chemistry Major, participated in the 2009 Louisiana Biomedical Research Network (LBRN) Summer Research Program.