Preparing the Presentation

Use the following guidelines when preparing your class presentation:

Organization — Presentations must use PowerPoint (or something similar). They should be 10-12 minutes in length, plus 2 minutes for questions. I recommend the following organizational structure:

• 1. Introduction

     1. • What was the goal of your project?

        • Why is this information important?

        • How is this information typically obtained?

        • What approach did you take and what are the benefits of this approach?

  2. Experimental

     1. • Outline the steps in sample selection, sample preparation, data collection, and data analysis.

        • You don't need to be as detailed as in this section of the written paper. (No need for manufacturers of chemicals, for instance.)

  3. Data/Results

     1. • Here is where you present your data and your data analysis.

        • Pay attention to all data graphs and calibration plots, making sure they are very clear and professional in appearance.

        • Did you find what you expected? Were there any surprises?

        • Can you explain any particularly interesting results?

  4. Problems encountered

     1. • What unanticipated problems did you encounter and how did you solve them?

  5. Conclusions

     1. • Recap your results.

        • Are there other interesting experiments that could be done as follow up to this work?

  6. Acknowledgments (optional)

     1. • Acknowledge anyone outside the project who offered any special assistance.

Grading — Grades will be assigned based on the following categories, with a rating in each category of 1 (meets expectations) or 0 (below expectations):

• 1. Organization

     1. • Was the presentation organized in a logical way?

        • Did the presentation meet the time requirement, and was the time used wisely?

  2. Presentation Style

     1. • Was the presentation presented clearly?

        • Did the presenters have any annoying habits (e.g. talk too fast, not look at the audience, read directly from all the slides)?

        • Did all presenters participate to comparable degrees?

  3. Quality of the Work

     1. • Did the presentation make sense?

        • Did the presenters have an adequate grasp of the material?

  4. Visual Materials

     1. • Was the information on the PowerPoint slides clear and easy to see?

        • Were the slides overloaded with information?

  5. Class participation

     1. • Was the student active in the discussions of other presentations?

        • Did the student ask good questions?