A course rooted in rhetoric and argumentation, teaching how to be clear and persuasive in the domain of engineering studies.
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Course description
The course teaches engineering scholars how to improve their communication skills, using theory, examples and practical exercises.
Topics include basics of rhetoric (how to be clear), basics of argumentation theory (how to be persuasive), public speaking, grant writing, scientific writing.
The main target are engineering scholars; the first 3 weeks, though, can be useful to anyone wishing to improve their communication skills.
You can access the course absolutely free of charge and completely online.
The course materials will still be available to all registered users, even after the closing of the edition.
Further editions of this course will be activated each academic year.
Prerequisites
No prerequisite knowledge is required.
Discussion forum
Participation is highly encouraged, in order to get feedback from the community of peers, but please note that the forum is, most of the time, unmonitored.
Quizzes and scores
The course is organized into weeks and modules. At the end of each module, you will find a quiz to check your understanding. You can attempt the quiz up to 3 times.
In order for you to successfully complete the course, you need to pass 60% of the quizzes. This will earn you your Certificate of Accomplishment. You can check your points at any time, on the progress page.
Certificate of Accomplishment
The Certificate of Accomplishment will be released to anyone who successfully completes the course by answering correctly to at least 60% of the questions by the end of the edition. You will be able to download the Certificate of Accomplishment directly on the website.
Once you have successfully passed the course, you can request the Certificate of Accomplishment without waiting for the end of the edition.
The Certificate of Accomplishment does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.
FAQ
For further information, see FAQ page.
Course Faculty
Nicoletta Di Blas
Nicoletta Di Blas is associate professor in educational technology at Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Di Blas graduated in classics and holds a PhD in general linguistics. She has been teaching communication skills at Politecnico (master level) for almost 20 years and technology-based communication for cultural heritage at the University of Italian Switzerland for 8 years. She has taken part in more than 20 research projects, coordinating a number of them. She has (co)authored more than 150 publications, mostly at international level.
Read the complete CV
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