Brown pelican. ©CLCase

Christine L. Case, Ed.D.
Biology Professor
Skyline College

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BIOL 675 Project

 

Working in groups of 2 or 3, you will determine the source of an outbreak and report your findings in a scientific presentation.

You will receive preliminary data. From those data you will determine what addtional information you need to determine (a) the scope of the outbreak; (b) the source of the outbreak (relative risk calculations); and (c) discuss transmission, prevention, and treatment.. Additional data will be provided as you request it. The sample questionnaire used by public health agencies to track foodborne outbreaks might help you come up with the list of information you want. (Not all of the class projects are food-related.) Sample food outbreak questionnaire.pdf

In-class slides

 The grading form.pdf must be turned in with your presentation..

Number of slides. A 10--minute presentation may consist of 10 slides. A good presentation includes just enough slides to get across main points without bombarding the audience with information or useful slides.

Slide format. Use a sans serif font such as Arial. Text should be no smaller than 18 point. Use good contrast between text and the background. Reference citations go at the bottom of the slide they're used and can be 14 pt.

Slide content. Slides should be varied: include images, data, and bulleted lists

A proper introduction. Start off the presentation with your title slide and introducing the topic as well as yourself and any other speakers.

Conclusions. Make sure to review major points on one slide and include a final slide that opens the door for comments.

Don’t use full sentences. Keep all points under five words (short phrases). If the topic can be presented by simply reading the slides verbatim, the slides contain way too much text. Cut down on text and move extra info down into speaker notes. The bullet points should be prompts more than anything else.

Have a focused message. Slides should flow logically from one to the next. A presentation with multiple purposes can become confusing for the audience, not to mention difficult to write. Keep the presentation focused on a central idea and drive home the point with concrete opening and closing slides as well as logical arguments throughout.

Consider the audience. A presentation should be appropriate for the intended audience. Spend less time covering background information and focus on facts. Include references, data, unique viewpoints.

Presentation. No costumes and no food. This is a professional M & M.

Best Tips for Getting a Good Grade on a PowerPoint Presentation
If all of the tips above had to boiled down into four points, they would be:

  1. Cover all elements of the assignment as stated in the instructions.
  2. Focus the slideshow on a central theme.
  3. Support all major points with specific details and examples when possible.
  4. Include a clear closing and perhaps open the floor for discussion in the final slide

References.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Emerging Infectious Diseases
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
World Health Organization publications
Medical journals are indexed in PubMed. PubMed is not the publisher, reference, or citation. It is an index that allows you to electronically search for relevant articles in peer-reviewed medical journals.

Peer groups of researchers, scholars and professionals within a specific discipline are the audience for scholarly literature. Scholarly and professional journals are peer reviewed. Peer review is a well-accepted indicator of quality scholarship. It is the process by which an author's peers read a paper submitted for publication. A number of recognized researchers in the field evaluate a manuscript and recommend its publication, revision, or rejection. Articles accepted for publication through a peer review process implicitly meet the discipline's expected standards of expertise. Read more about scholarly journals.

 Peer evaluation. Each student will evaluate the members of their group and the other groups. Some of the criteria you might use could be time spent, useful discussion, work on research, work on layout, and general organization. Peer evaluation form.