DNA Marker for Huntington’s Disease Presentation
A. Introduction
This assignment, consisting of group presentations of classic research papers, was designed as an active learning exercise to emphasize two important points about modern biological science. The first point is that biology is a research driven process of scientific inquiry, not a collection of facts. To understand biology, therefore, students must appreciate and engage in such inquiry, that is, they must do research. The second point is that biology is almost always collaborative. Few advances are made by lone biologists working in isolation. Instead, biological research typically involves interdisciplinary teams of scientists that are diverse in background, expertise, gender, and national origin. Working effectively in such groups is essential for progress and success.
Find and read a recent research paper (published within the past 10 years), that follows directly from the classic paper. Each group will give a PowerPoint presentation to explain:
This is only one part of the presentation since its a group presentation so all information present is soley for part B which is to be completed.
B) the findings in the recent paper (about 4 slides) mainly answering the questions beelow backed by A RECENT PAPER *(published within the last 5 years)*:
What is a cell?
How was it discovered?
What are the tenets of Cell Theory?
B. Ethics and Expectations for Group Presentations
Here are some suggestions on how to proceed. Each student should independently examine the list of provided papers and browse through the PDF files to see if there is any of particular interest. At their first meeting, members of the group should compose a list of the steps required
For the project, find a recent paper (published within the last 5 years) related to the classic paper; 6) composing the PowerPoint presentation; 7) delivering the presentation to the class; and 8) facilitating the Q&A and discussion session that will follow your talk. Obviously, the actual presentation and ensuing discussion will provide the only visible evidence of each student’s participation, so these parts should be shared. How each group does this is the choice of the group. For example, students could present the major parts of the presentation (introduction, methods, results, discussion) alternately, or divide the presentation roughly into thirds. All should lead the Q&A session.
D. Content and Format
• A great deal has been written on how to use PowerPoint, and how not to use it. Google and similar search engines will lead you to the innumerable websites and video clips that offer free advice. Try searching for “effective PowerPoint presentations.” Here are a few tips: • Think about PowerPoint presentations you have seen. What made the good ones effective and interesting? What made the bad ones (doubtlessly more numerous) ineffective and boring? • Use an appropriate number of slides. Five to ten slides would be appropriate, depending on content. • Avoid text-heavy slides, especially with bulleted points. Your audience will either: a) read the text and pay no attention to what you are saying, or b) go glassy-eyed and tune you out completely. If you must have text on your slides, keep it brief and don’t simply read it. • Time-honored advice for any talk is to tell your audience what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you just told them. Outlines presented at the start, and repeated at the middle and end, can help let your audience know what’s coming up, where you are now, and what points you just covered. • Be sure that your figures and text are large enough to be easily seen at the back of the room. • Avoid elaborate animations and slide transitions. Most often, they are merely distracting. • When you use a figure (graph, table, photograph, etc.) from another source, credit that source. This is most easily done in a small text legend below or next to the object you borrowed. Acrobat Reader and other PDF readers have tools to copy portions of documents to the clipboard, so you can paste tables and figures into your slides. To copy images from websites (using a PC), place the cursor over the image, right-click, and select Copy Image or Save Image As. • Feel free to use notes on paper or index cards if you wish. We are more concerned with content than style. Practice your talk, and then practice it again. • Make a conscious effort to avoid interjections such as uh, um, er when you speak. • Do not stand in front of the screen unless you are physically pointing to something, and even then, do so only briefly. No one wants to read the slides off your stomach, and you will likely be squinting in the bright light.
