Introductory description

Public Engagement is a term that describes how people working and studying at universities interact with external publics/partners to share knowledge, research, and expertise; foster collaboration on new ideas; or collectively co-produce new research, or new ways of working. Its aim is to create spaces that enable curiosity, exploration and conversation for a broad cross section of society. Through these interactions everyone gains valuable insights, in turn contributing to societal development and progress.

Over the course of this module you will have the opportunity to learn more about public engagement, the emerging theory that underpins it and the practical tools needed to do it well. You'll then work collaboratively with other students to design and deliver an interactive hands on engagement activity that connects children and adults to Warwick research.

This is a practical module that will teach you transferable skills in communication, presentations, team work, and project management.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This module will cover a range of sessions taught through 10 interactive 2 hour seminars. Each week will explore a different theme relevant to public engagement aiming to provide students with a solid conceptual foundation of public engagement theory and practical skills. It will include opportunities to see engagement in action and time in class for collaborative group work towards development of your live event. Students will also need to present in class and give feedback to their peers during formative group presentations where they will outline their planned engagement events.

What is Public Engagement?
Planning Engagement Activities
Designing Hands On Activities
Public Engagement Theory and Evaluation
Engaging Through Collections
Presentation Skills
Collaboration and Co-Production
Reflecting on Engagement and the Role of Engagement in Society

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a good understanding of high-quality public engagement practice
• Articulate an awareness of multi-disciplinary approaches to public engagement built through engagement with class materials and wider investigation of a variety of primary and secondary sources.
• Work collaboratively with your peers to effectively project manage the production of an interdisciplinary public engagement activity
• Demonstrate a good understanding of the importance of high quality evaluation of public engagement and an ability to apply this to your context
• Provide insightful reflections of their own learning and development as it relates to public engagement at an individual, institutional, and societal level
• Demonstrate an ability to communicate complex ideas in an accessible and creative manner to a variety of audiences

Indicative reading list

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Research element

In line with the University’s Research and Education Strategies, this interdisciplinary module aims to provide students with the skills and confidence to engage communities with their research and maximise their impact on society. It will encourage community-minded thinking about research and upskill today’s students to be able to effectively identify societal needs and challenges. Students will be empowered to see how research can address these challenges, and to understand the value of open communication with a variety of audiences and the skills required for this.

Interdisciplinary

Students will consider public engagement through multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives. The variety module leaders (from School of Modern Languages and Warwick Institute of Engagement) will attend all sessions to integrate and stimulate the interdisciplinary learning, and each week interactive lectures and/or workshops will be led by a subject specialist,

International

Students will be encouraged to explore public engagement activities from a range of countries

Subject specific skills

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

1. Appreciate the value of adopting interdisciplinary approaches and research methods for understanding global topics such as engaging publics in research.

2. Understand how applying public engagement practice to their own research may shape the direction the research takes and improve their projects.

3. Comprehend how to utilise the communicative and collaborative skills used in the module in their professional life.

4. Comprehend how society can benefit from ongoing efforts to include diverse audiences in the future of research.

5. Develop their transferable skills (i.e. impactful multimodal communication, project management, work with specialist and non-specialist participants) that will support future endeavours in the workplace.

6. Demonstrate the ability to critically reflect on the personal development of their skills and experiences throughout this module.

Transferable skills

• Understand how to apply public engagement practice to future research
• Use oral and written communication skills acquired in the module in their professional life
• Comprehend how society can benefit from ongoing efforts to include diverse audiences in the future of research
• Understand how to apply skills acquired on the module (e.g. impactful multimodal communication, project management, working with a specialist and non-specialist participants) to support future endeavours in the workplace.
• Use resources in a transdisciplinary manner to comprehend and communicate concepts and ideas to the public.