Resource of the Week: CLIPS website teaches core communication skills for science professions

Image: screenshot from the website

CLIPS: Communication Learning in Practice for Scientists

CLIPS is a website focused on communication skills common in the sciences – writing, presentations, posters, graphing, etc. The website features interactives, tips, checklists, videos, and more.

The authors of the site, all faculty at University of Queensland, say, “As scientists, we all know the importance of communicating our work to others. As educators, however, it can be difficult to nurture communication skills in our students.

“In some cases we may not explicitly teach communication to our students because we’re not quite sure we are doing it “the right way”. In other situations, we may have tacit knowledge of how to “do” an aspect of communication, but find it difficult to quickly and succinctly convey that functional skill to our students. Then, there is always the issue of the crowded curriculum, and the stakeholder who struggles to give up precious classroom time to support teaching of something that’s “not science. To address these perennial issues we have built and recently launched CLIPS (Communication Learning in Practice for Scientists).”

CLIPS can be used as supplemental or core materials, both by students and by instructors. Access the site at www.clips.edu.au.