Student talks, titles and abstracts    March 6 - April 10

Mar 13 Remaining external seminar announcement (if you want to plan for your formal critique)       Pullanchery  TXA&M
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Mar 6  First round of formal talks.   ALL must submit their completed 20 seminar in Bb by today.
All with use this tool to critique your peer student speakers.

1 pm speakers

Tasha Moreland   
New Drug Candidates for Treating Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Adam McDaniel   
The Search for a Potential Functional Complex in Gastrulation using Xenopus laevis

Olivia Benefield    
Synthesis and characterization of copper complexes supported by polydentate amide ligands

2 pm speakers

Lyndsey Allen   
Design of 3,6-disubstituted pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines as PDGFRβ Inhibitors and PROTAC Precursors for Pulmonary Fibrosis

Riley Barnette   
Entangled Photon Generation from Crystal Materials
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The deadline for all to submit their fully complete 20 min talk slides is fast approaching.  If you want any feedback from me, I need to start seeing something.  I cannot promise prompt reply's if everyone asks for feedback at the last minute.

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Wed Mar 4    No office hours today.  I am in LR all day at the capitol.

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Feb 27
Class work day.  Come to your assigned 1 pm or 2 pm session.
Bring a laptop to work if you have one. 

Among other activities, you will be searching primary journals for references to use in your seminars (with a twist).
If you are not already familiar with this tool, go to this link at Torreyson Library (databases A to Z).
Scroll down the alphabetical list until you find American Chemical Society.  This takes you to ACS journals, a ready reference tool
that is covered by your tuition (no ILL required).

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Feb 20  

Remember: this talk requires either an informal critique (due Monday by 6 pm) or a formal critique (Due Wednesday by 6 pm).  Find the links in Bb to submit your critiques.

Questions: I want them from you for the speaker.  I am keeping track of who is asking question at all talks.  This will be factored into your audience participation.
When questions don't come naturally to you, plan ahead.  I sometimes plan questions ahead of time (when I host ACS meeting sessions)  to be ready in case.

I was VERY proud of those of you who stepped up and asked questions at Dr. Siraj's seminar.  That was very professional and it reflects highly of you.

Feb 13   

Remember: this talk requires either an informal critique (due Monday by 6 pm) or a formal critique (Due Wednesday by 6 pm).  Find the links in Bb to submit your critiques.

Questions: I want them from you for the speaker.  I am keeping track of who is asking question at all talks.  This will be factored into your audience participation.
When questions don't come naturally to you, plan ahead.  I sometimes plan questions ahead of time (when I host ACS meeting sessions)  to be ready in case.

Fri Feb 6  

DUE today:  Formal title and short (150 word abstract) for your 20 min talk.  Submit as a doc in Bb including YOUR NAME in the file.

Second 3min3slide presentations Face-to-Face.  Topic: Student choice (chemistry)
Unless I hear strong objections, I am ok with everyone again meeting at 1 pm so we can knock these out quickly.

Same speaking order as before.  These will not be recorded.

FEEDBACK:  Vast majority of slides are really nice, clear, and very professional.  Very nice work!  Looking forward to the stories that go with the figures.
REFERENCES are still a problem for too many.  In a professional seminar, references go AT THE BOTTOM of each slide, not as a list on the last slide.
You must also include at least the first author (can add et al. if there are more) in a complete short reference.

Most people use this opportunity to practice 3 of the slides that will be part of their formal 20 min talk later.
I highly recommend doing that. 
All need to revisit 

• Comments about student talks from last spring

• the advice we discussed on Jan 8 about making clear professional slides

All need to find me ASAP to pick up the graded work that has lots of feedback.
Lots of you offered great insights about the good and bad of Jan 30's talk in your critiques.  Because you noticed this in that talk, we will expect to see the best practices you mentioned applied to your next 3 min talk.

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Thu Feb 5

Slides for Fri talks are due in Bb by 6 pm today.
If you want feedback before, start send them to me via email, before Feb 5.

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Jan 30   External seminar via Zoom

Remember: this talk requires either an informal critique (due Monday by 6 pm) or a formal critique (Due Wednesday by 6 pm).  Find the links in Bb to submit your critiques.

Questions: I want them from you for the speaker.  I am keeping track of who is asking question at all talks.  This will be factored into your audience participation.
When questions don't come naturally to you, plan ahead.  I sometimes plan questions ahead of time (when I host ACS meeting sessions)  to be ready in case.

Topic: Jan 30 UCA Chemistry Seminar

Time: Jan 30, 2026 02:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://uca-edu.zoom.us/j/84370469707?pwd=xY5Nq96vrch2YhEOhQtkd6gb3hwaWz.1

Meeting ID: 843 7046 9707
Passcode: 516903

Fixed slides comments

I am assuming that all 

• looked over the Comments about student talks from last spring

• carefully considered the advice we discussed on Jan 8 about making clear professional slides

Figures were still too small in many cases.  We are visual creatures.  We like pictures.  Make them LARGER!

TOO MUCH TEXT!  Amazingly, some people added more text to slides that already had too much.
You don't like to read all that when you are in the audience.  Don't do it as the speaker.

Some for the IR plot simply took the poor default plot that Excel gave them.
This is rarely good enough and certainly not for spectra.

Some really read the slides and creatively organized the information in a much better way.  Excellent!
These cases thought about what they needed to show more clearly in order to best communicate the science.
Apply that to your talks and posters going forward.

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Thu Jan 29
I will physically be in my office today about 9 am - 2 or 3 pm to babysit a reaction while a do other work.  Call or stop by if you want F2F Q&A. 

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Wed Jan 28

Normal office hours today 8 am and at 12 pm via Zoom.   Drop in if you need me.

Join Zoom office hours here

https://uca-edu.zoom.us/j/8834692445?pwd=VDYwSjloOUdlOVFWdVZ4R3VKT004Zz09

Meeting ID: 883 469 2445

Passcode: 519489
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Fri Jan 23

FROM UCA:  Due to anticipated inclement weather arriving in the state tomorrow evening, UCA will move to remote instruction beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, and campus operations in late afternoon and evening will be limited to essential personnel. Faculty will communicate with students regarding any virtual assignments and/or adjustments to the syllabus and course schedule. 

Student 3-min 3-slide talks on General Chemistry Topic   VIA ZOOM instead  (Your Feb 6 one will now be face-to -face)
ALL students this one day will attend the 1 pm session.

Be sure you have good internet where you are.  Mute when you are not speaking.

Your camera must be on to receive credit for attending.  The talks will be recorded by me on my computer.

Be sure to practice with your laser pointer in PPT.

Zoom link we will use     https://uca-edu.zoom.us/j/88522402463      

RE "How to give a talk"  assignment...
The need to practice seems paramount (so as to never run long).  Practice how long you will talk.  Practice saying or not saying things.
I encourage you to use the PPT recording tool.  You can record all and then play it back listening to what you say, what you forgot to say,
how many times you repeated yourself,  and how you use your slides. 

Reminder (people tend to forget or don't read the syllabus)
Jan 23 is the deadline for you to run your major 20 min seminar idea by me.  I want you to talk about your department research.
If this cannot work, then choose another chemistry topic that interests you.

This can be as simple as sending me an email: "I plan to talk about ..... or ......the title of my 20 min talk will be ...."
If you have no idea what to talk about, see me ASAP, or enlist the advice of other professors.

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Thu Jan 22

Slides for Fri talks are due in Bb by 6 pm today.

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Fri Jan 16

Jamie Freeman giving great advice and insights on good 3 min 3 slide presentations.
You will attend either the 1 pm period or the 2 pm period you were assigned to last week.

I will be in TX this weekend dealing with a family matter.  I will be regularly checking my email
and I am happy to provide feedback on any of your 3 slides you plan to use.

Bring laptops and come ready to work to improve slides with Jamie's input.
Jamie will be working with you as you prepare 3 practice slides for the topic: 1st Law of Thermodynamics

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Wed Jan 14

Fix these slides due by 6 pm in Blackboard

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Tue Jan 13

"How to give a talk" assignment due by 6 pm in Blackboard.

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FYI PubChem allows you to also DRAW any molecule you want, so you could do a space filling or other image
of a molecule that is new and not available easily on the internet.  For really general molecules (like benzoic acid or glucose) I personally grab really nice ones from Wikipedia (ref wikimedia).  I see that Mestrenova also allows you to draw molecules.  I know some students have that software to process spectra.

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From Dean Addison

I wanted to make sure that you know that we are currently experiencing extremely high levels of flu cases. I encourage each of you to get vaccinated and to encourage students to get vaccinated. For those of you who are teaching classes, please encourage students who may have the flu to remain at home. This flu is widespread and severe.

You don't want the flu and neither do I.  Be careful.  Wash your hands all the time.  Get vaccinated if you haven't already. 

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Fri Jan 9     Everyone comes at 2 pm today
Drawings

1. 1 pm or 2 pm class time (used only for when students are giving seminars)

2. Date for major 20 min seminar

3. General Chemistry topic (for your first 3-min 3-slides talk Jan 23)

Comments about student talks from last spring
Tips on slides   

RESPOND to this survey of possible office hours.  Need this feedback from you ASAP.

Three assignments are due next week (all posted in BB - graded work)
Include NAMES IN SUBMITTED FILES, PLEASE!  Your name ON the ppt slide, for example. When your names are missing, I have no idea who is the owner of a page once these are printed.

• • "How to Give a Talk" talk    due Jan 13 by 6 pm

• Fix these slides  due Jan 14 by 6 pm 

• First 3-slide-3-min talk on General Chemistry topic (see my email). 
  Your 3  content slides are due to me by Jan 22 at 6 pm in Bb.  

Read the syllabus