Course Topics

As we previously covered, communication skills refer to the ability to effectively exchange information, ideas, and thoughts through speaking, writing, and other means.

In the first C4S course that you took in term 1, our focus was on the Reading and Writing skills of communication. In this C4S course, the focus will be on Listening and Speaking skills. As a refresher, the definitions of both skills are listed below:

Speaking:

Speaking is the process of communicating through spoken language. It involves using one's voice to convey a message to an audience, typically in the form of words and sentences. However, speaking is more than just saying words. It involves considering the needs and interests of the audience, choosing the right words and tone of voice, and organizing the content of the message clearly and logically.

Listening:

Listening is the process of paying attention to and understanding spoken language. It involves using one's ears to hear the words that are being spoken and using one's mind to comprehend the meaning of those words. However, effective listening involves more than just hearing the words that are being spoken. It also involves paying attention to the speaker, interpreting their message, and responding appropriately.

Being a good Speaker and Listener is usually thought of as a given, but the greatest communicators in the world are the ones who are aware of how well they can communicate and what else they can do to improve. For a successful personal, academic, and professional career, in addition to good Reading and Writing skills, it is important that you also have good Speaking and Listening skills.

The second part of the C4S aims to help you:

  1. Build on your previous knowledge from the first part of C4S

  2. evaluate your current Speaking and Listening skills

  3. introduce you to strategies to strengthen your Speaking and Listening skills

4 ) Create real-life contexts for you to practice Speaking and Listening skills.

Course Structure

Topic 1- Listening

As a receptive skill, Listening is a valuable skill for your personal, academic, and professional success. Listening can help you build strong relationships with people you interact with every day. It improves your understanding of things and those around you. It also helps people learn great insights. People gravitate usually to those who show empathy and understanding, which are also qualities of a good listener. Being a good listener is known to help resolve conflicts and disputes because the person takes enough time to listen and understand all the variables that contribute to the issue without judgment before they can suggest solutions. The latter set of skills also makes a good listener better at solving problems at work or in their day-to-day environment. The C4S 2 course is developed to tap into your listening skills, evaluate them, put them into practice, and also create real-life situations that position you at the heart of being a listener. Lesson 2 of the course directly addresses Listening and will provide you with various tools to strengthen your skills and get you ready for life outside of the class.

Topic 2 - Speaking

The second topic in this course is Speaking. Spoken communication is one of the strongest, most needed forms of communication in academic and professional settings. Like writing, speaking also allows us to communicate our thoughts with others and express our feelings and ideas. Having the eloquence, structure, right use of body language, and other sub-skills of speaking allows a person to show confidence as they communicate their ideas. It is helpful when doing presentations, going through job interviews, and interacting with clients at work. Speaking skills also simplify peer collaborations and successful presentations and engage in networking opportunities for further growth.

The goal of the C4S2 is to help enhance your speaking skills as a computer science student and set you up to succeed in the dynamic and collaborative context of the computer science industry. From finding your spot through job interviews and pitching your skills to being part of a team and presenting your ideas and projects.