Giving Feedback onStudents’ PowerPoints

The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication

WORKSHOP SERIES

What rules should we teach students about PowerPoint?

x

Teach Students How to Decide

• As new technologies emerge

• As audiences change– Academia/ industry/ public– Disciplines– Diverse cultures (globalization)

• As their purposes changeBy emphasizing processes and criteria

PROCESS

Shifting the focus of feedback

This title is too short. What will the audience expect to be on the slide from this title?

If you point to this image during your talk and someone misses it, will they be able to understand? How does this slide work in the series of slides so far?

There are aren’t enough labels here.

This doesn’t seem to be related to the previous slide.

PRODUCT

Ask Questions Related to Criteria

• Is it accessible?

• Is it comprehensible? Understandable?

• Is the information usable?

• Is the slide interculturally or interpersonally appropriate and compelling?

Accessibility Questions

• Is information organized logically?• Are whole to part relationships obvious?• Are cues consistent, noticeable without

being overwhelming?• Are images legible, familiar, and

interpretable?• Is text easy to read?

Accessibility Cues

• Headings and titles

• Hierarchy– Indentions– Point size, point size

• Layout in space

• Legibility (contrast, font, color)

• Conciseness

Common Errors in Accessibility

Slide Template Errors

• Busy/complicated: can audience get what they need?

• Wrong for room: are the slides easy to read?

- Well-lit room: use light background / dark text and visuals

- Dimly-lit room: use dark background / light text and visuals

Errors in Choosing Fonts

Good for print

ESerif (“tail”)

Such as Times New Roman

Good for projecting

ESans Serif

(uniform shaft width)

Such as Arial

Errors in Choosing Fonts

• Contrast between background and text

• Size of font

• Type treatment of font

Drop ShadowsDrop ShadowsReduce Legibility

Too Much Text!

The ideal anesthetic should quickly make the patient unconscious but allow a quick return to consciousness, have few side effects, and be safe to handle.

Ideal anestheticsQuick sedationQuick recoveryFew side effectsSafe to handle

Lack of Hierarchy

Bullets help your audienceto skim the slideto see relationships between informationorganize information in a logical way

For example, this is Main Point 1, which leads to…Subpoint 1

Further subordinated point 1Further subordinated point 2

Subpoint 2

Content-Poor Titles

Titles should give the message of the slide, for example…“Results” suggests the topic for a slide“Substance X upregulates gene Y” (with data shown below) shows the audience what is observed

Errors in Lists

For easy accessibility, lists should be in same grammatical form

Parallel:Use keywordsAvoid wordinessOpt for bullets

Not Parallel:Use keywordsWordiness is badYou should opt

for bullets

Revise for Grammatical Parallelism

• Not Parallel:Criteria to Assess Alarm System– Price– Effectiveness– How easily the alarm could be installed

• Parallel:Criteria to Assess Alarm System– Price– Effectiveness– Ease of installation

Use of Intense Colors Together

Graphics That Can’t Be Read

Small image stretched to graininess

Large image reduced to illegibility

Overused, General Clip Art

Errors in Slide Show Effects

• Slow effects

• Fancy animation

• Animation used without purpose

• Inconsistent use of animations or transitions

Comprehensibility Questions

• What helps the audience understand the argument of the presentation?

• What connects one slide to the rest of the presentation?

• What evidence is presented? Is the evidence adequate, appropriate?

Comprehensibility Cues

• Relation of title to bullet items

• Repetition of key words

• Logic of headings

• Labels on figures, diagrams, photos

• Relation of each slide to main point

• Quality of evidence/ support

Usability Questions

• Are sources indicated?

• Is contact information supplied?

• Is anything lacking that the reader needs to take action?

• Is the sequence complete? Are steps missing?

• Are warnings provided, if necessary?

Usability cues

• Citations and bibliography

• Speaker’s name, affiliation, contact information

• Symbols to indicate cautions, warnings

• Handouts

Interpersonal / Intercultural Questions

• Do the slides reflect the character & expertise of speaker?

• Are the slides consistent with the culture and values of audience? (for example, values tradition or values innovation)

Cultural, Interpersonal Cues

• Slide design

• Familiarity of genre system

• Appeals to the values of audience

Examples: Before and After

Directional Hypercomplex Wavelets for Multi-dimensional Signal Analysis and Processing

Wai Lam Chan

Hyeokho Choi

Richard Baraniuk

Directional Hypercomplex Wavelets for Multi-dimensional Signal Analysis and Processing

Wai Lam Chan, Hyeokho Choi, Richard Baraniuk

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Rice University, Houston, TX

April 17, 2004

New Technical Committees • Therapeutic Systems and Technologies –

– Dorin Panescu, Refractec Inc., Irvine , CA, Chair, Cardiac Catheter Ablation

– Jean-Yves Chapelon Ph.D., INSERM, Lyon, France, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Prostate Tumor Ablation

– Rahul Mehra , Ph.D., Medtronic, Inc. Minneapolis, MN, Cardioverter-defibrillators, Tachyarrhythmia Research

– Tim McIntyre M.S.,Manager, St. Jude Medical, St Paul, MN, Medical Device Industry R&D and Management

– John Pearce, Ph.D., ECE Department, University of Texas, Austin, TX, Electromagnetics and Acoustics Applied to Medical Devices

– Kouros Azar M.D., B.S.BME, Thousand Oaks, CA, Reconstructive Surgeon

– Reese Terry M.S., Co-founder/Board Member Cyberonics, Inc., Houston, TX, Neurostimulation Devices

Therapeutic Systems & Technologies

Dorin Panescu, ChairRefractec Inc., Irvine, CACardiac Catheter Ablation

Jean-Yves Chapelon, Ph.D.INSERM, Lyon, France

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Prostate Tumor Ablation

Rahul Mehra, Ph.D.Medtronic, Inc. Minneapolis, MN

Cardioverter-defibrillatorsTachyarrhythmia Research

Tim McIntyre, M.S.St. Jude Medical, St Paul, MN, Medical Device Industry R&D

and Management

John Pearce, Ph.D.University of Texas, Austin, TX Electromagnetics and Acoustics

Applied to Medical Devices

Kouros Azar, M.D., B.S. BME, Thousand Oaks, CA

Reconstructive Surgeon

Reese Terry, M.S. Co-founder/Board Member Cyberonics, Houston, TX Neurostimulation Devices

Motorcycle Characteristics

Wheelbase p = 1.4 mDistance from the center of gravity to the rear wheel b = 0.7Sprung mass m = 200 kgPitch moment of inertia IyG = 38 kg m2

Reduced stiffness of the front suspension kf = 15 000 N/mReduced stiffness of the rear suspension kr = 24 000 N/mReduced damping of the front suspension cf = 500 Ns/mReduced damping of the rear suspension cr = 750 Ns/mSpeed 28 m/s Natural bounce frequency of vibration: Hzb 11.2=νNatural pitch frequency of vibration: Hzp 38.3=ν

Wheelbase 1.4 m

Distance from center of gravity to rear wheel 0.7 m

Sprung mass 200 kg

Pitch moment of inertia 38 kg m2

Reduced stiffness of front suspension 15 000 N/m

Reduced stiffness of rear suspension 24 000 N/m

Reduced damping of rear suspension 750 Ns/m

Speed 28 m/s

Natural bounce frequency of vibration 2.11 Hz

Natural pitch frequency of vibration 3.38 Hz

Motorcycle Characteristics

What is Telemedicine?

• Telemedicine utilizes communication technology in order to move medical information rather than patients, and it is being used as a tool to bridge inequalities in access to medical care between rural and urban areas in the U.S

• It is most commonly used in the visually-oriented fields such as radiology and dermatology

What is Telemedicine?

• Distributes medical information and expertise

• Used primarily to transmit visual medical data

radiology dermatology

• Targets populations with limited access to medical care

rural areas remote areas

• Bridges inequalities

Next Steps• Finalize design (Oct)

• Begin CAD work (Oct)

• Submit revised budget (Oct)• Construct drive-train (Nov)• Select material for armor (Nov)

• Test drive-train prototype (Dec)

• Train driver (Dec)

• Report progress to mgmt (Dec)

Next Steps

• Finalize design

• Begin CAD work

• Submit revised budget

October November December

Construct drive-trainSelect material for armor

Test drive-train prototype

Train driver

Report progress to mgmt

Title

Health Benefits of Green Tea

• Polyphenols

• Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)

• Reduces angiogenesis, tumor progression

• Reduces risk of coronary artery disease

• Encourages growth of acidophilus http://www.green-tea.us

Figure 2. Rate of seedling growth at three different temperatures: 25oC, 25oC, and 30oC.

Rate of seedling growth at three different temperatures

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 8 16 24

Time (days)

Mean seedling height

20 C

25 C

30 C

Background shading

Gridlines

Border retained from Excel

No errorbars

Redundant chart title

Small axis labels

Redundantlegend

No conclusion intitle of slide

0

10

20

30

40

50

0 10 20

Time (days)

Seedling height (mm)

Seedlings grew most rapidlyat 30oC

20oC

30oC

25oC

Country Total accidental deaths

Car/transport accidents

Industrial accidents

Other causes

Austria 75.22 44.88 4.31 26.03

Belgium 62.63 39.92 4.02 18.69

Canada 62.12 30.91 3.98 28.13

France 79.89 33.85 1.02 43.02

United Kingdom

34.81 23.09 1.33 10.39

United States 60.66 33.42 2.59 24.65

Deaths due to accidents, by type of accident, selected countries, 2006 (Rate per 100,000

population) Long title

Many gridlines

No cues to important figures

Alphabetical order

Deaths due to accidents in 2006

(Rate per 100,000 population)

Country Total accidental deaths

Car/transport accidents

Industrial accidents

Other causes

France 80.0 33.9 1.0 43.0

Austria 75.2 44.9 4.3 26.0

Belgium 62.6 39.9 4.0 18.7

Canada 62.1 30.9 4.0 28.1

United States 60.7 33.4 2.6 24.7

United Kingdom

34.8 23.1 1.3 10.4

What feedback would you give to the authors of the

following slides?

Title

Title

Title

Title

Title

Title

Cain Project Legacy Materials

• 2008 is Cain Project’s 10th and final year

• Some staff hired for 2008-2011– Hewitt and Volz at Engineering– Purugganan and Eich part-time in Natural Sciences– Writing mentors and presentations coaches a possibility

• Legacy materials to be available in three forms – Connexions http://cnx.org – OWL-Space special “Communication Folder”– Web site repository

Connexions http://cnx.org

• 200+ Modules on Communication

– Guides, training manuals, checklists, “accelerators”

• “Collections”– Writing

– Oral Presentations

– Visual Design

– Graduate Student Professional Development

– Teaching (syllabi, sample assignments, grading forms)

– Discipline-specific items

• “Courses”Intercultural Communication for Engineers in Developing Countries

Communication Folder Tool

• Easy accessed archive in OWL-Space

• Choose “Communication Folder” & other account features

• Select items from folders– General Communication Resources

• Oral Presentations • Visual Design • Writing– Course-specific Resources

• Undergraduate Courses by Department • Graduate Courses– Teaching Aids

• Course Design • Syllabi • Forms • TA Training Resources

– Professional Development Resources

• Items go into your course folder to support assignments

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HOME COMMUNICATION RESOURCES ARCHIVE

Communication Resources | How To Upload-Download Multiple Resources

Location: Communication Master Archive

GENERAL COMMUNICATION RESOURCES TEACHING AIDS

ORAL RESOURCES

WRITING RESOURCES

VISUAL DESIGN RESOURCES

UNDERGRADUATE COURSE RESOURCES

GRADUATE COURSE RESOURCES

GRADUATE STUDENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

TA TRAINING RESOURCES

TEACHING RESOURCES

COURSE DESIGN & COMMUNICATION

COURSE SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION RESOURCES SAMPLE EVALUATION FORMS, ASSESSMENT

WORKSHOP AND SELF-STUDY RESOURCES

COMMUNICATION

Legacy Web Site http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~cainproj/

• Contains materials not suited for other formats

– Videos– Materials containing many links– PPTs

• Annotated examples

• Web support for design courses

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Workshops to Introduce Materials

• March 31 - April 2

• April 7 - 9

• Three workshops on writing– April 14-16– Grads and undergrads