ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The purpose of this course is to provide students with support in order to improve their academic and professional communication skills and enhance their ability to effectively structure their discourse, be it oral or written. By focusing on key areas directly related to their degree course, students develop their academic writing and public speaking skills, critical thinking and virtual literacy. Presenting well-substantiated argumentation will be a key focus. The interactive, hands-on approach engages students in situations where they gain awareness of the tools available to improve their communication skills, both in terms of structure and delivery, and then apply them. Short debriefing sessions allow students to assess their performance and to take advantage of the constructive feedback offered by their peers in view of fine-tuning and adopting best practices. Particular focus is given to the Virtual Communication skills in high demand today.

To optimize the outcomes of this course, students should possess an advanced level of English. For students with a English proficiency of lower than C1.1, a Grammar Refresher Course is offered to consolidate language proficiency.

Knowledge and understanding: Students will be introduced to the issues related to communicating effectively in academic and professional contexts. Through critical analyses of written and oral discourse, they will gain awareness of the tools and strategies available to improve their public speaking and academic writing skills. Focus will be given to how to structure clear and concise argumentation, in particular relating to issues linked to Policies and Governance in Europe. In addition, students will comprehend the importance today of developing a digital identity and adapting their speaking skills to communicating online. Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will apply the acquired communication strategies to real-life situations such as presentations, debates, online interviews, thesis-driven writing, and other academic/professional tasks. They will use the methods acquired to demonstrate their mastery to devise and sustain clear, coherent argumentation. Making judgements: The course materials are designed in such a way as to encourage comparison and evaluation of alternative sources, stances and text organization, and to express resultant conclusions in a language and form appropriate to the specific context. Critical analysis, self-evaluation and synthesis will allow students to independently fine-tune and adapt their skills to deal with new tasks. Communication skills: At the end of the course, students will be able to use the appropriate lexical range, accuracy and appropriacy to operate effectively in contexts linked to their degree course and future career. They know how to structure their ideas coherently and adapt their discourse depending on the purpose and context. They are able to communicate effectively with their peers and the broader academic/professional community, conveying their conclusions clearly and unambiguously, and providing relevant supporting arguments. Moreover, they are at ease in digital contexts such as online job interviews, remote conferences, etc leveraging their verbal and non-verbal skills. Learning skills: By putting into practice the methodologies learned during the interactive lectures and seminars, students will learn to assess their own performance in view of fine-tuning the acquired strategies when faced with tasks related to their academic and professional careers.

Public Speaking and Academic Writing Skills with a particular emphasis on Virtual Communications in contexts related to post graduate work

Specially-designed, degree-related teaching materials based on materials from selected academic sources (Harvard Business Review, University of Leeds, INSEAD, europa.eu, and other academic sites) All materials published on Luiss Learn

Each session is broken down into the following focal points: a) Awareness-raising: b) Input in the form of videos or texts which ask students to analyse examples of communication in order to assess the effectiveness and spot issues. d) Problem-solving: Input in the form of class discussions, expert opinions, etc to allow students to develop strategies to overcome problems in communication. d) Application: Hands-on, practical group work sessions where students can apply strategies and learn from their mistakes. e) Assessment: debriefing and peer review sessions on task performed to help improve and establish best practices.

Attending students: Assessment is carried out during the course through continuous assessment of the student’s in-class performance and submitted assignments which are collected in a Digital Portfolio In the Final Oral Exam consists of two parts: 1) a discussion of Digital Portfolio containing the materials and tasks carried out during the course. 2) A demonstration of a selected communication task which the student has prepared previously. Students choose, prepare, perform and then analyze one of the skills developed during the course. In order to assess the level of preparation of the student, the following evaluation criteria will be jointly taken into account: knowledge and understanding of the notions of the matter and ability to apply them to concrete cases; ability to communicate acquired skills clearly and with appropriate language and register; ability to effectively structure discourse to successfully fulfill the task at hand. Non Attending Students : Non-attenders may sit the exam in the second or third exam sessions. They will be assigned a course professor who will provide teaching materials, assign exercises and essays and provide follow up as the students completes the non attenders’ programme. The final grade is comprised of an average between continuous assessment (70%) and the final oral exam (30%).

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