An Exercise in Evaluating Photo Backgrounds in Slides

The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication

ENGINEERING SERIES

Instructions• This exercise allows you to formulate some of your

own “rules of thumb” for using photo backgrounds. • Answer the questions on the yellow instructions

slides. As your instructor directs, discuss your answers with another student.

• Try to develop a sense of standards for – What can happen between textual foregrounds and photo

backgrounds?– When does the viewer notice the background more than

the text message? – When does the photo compete with the information?– How and when do these photo backgrounds add

emotional intensity or connotations to the textual claims?

Presenters’ names here

Coal Plants, the EPA, and the Economic Impact

Overview

•Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

•General Description of Process

•Clean Coal vs. Dirty Coal

•Applications

Environmental Protection Agency A LONG TERM COMMITMENT•Branch of the Federal Government

•Instituted in 1970 for Protection of Human Health and the Environment

•Responsible for Implementing Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, among others.

•Focuses on long-term benefits to society

•Often involves short-term costs

Environmental Protection Agency REGULATIONS

•In 1990, as part of an amendment to the Clean Air Act, SO2 emissions were significantly reduced

•67% of all SO2 emissions are from fuel combustion

•Ill-effects of SO2 emissions

•Today, why two rules instead of one?

CEnvironmental Protection Agency RESULTS

•Between 1977 and 1996, concentrations of SO2 in the atmosphere dropped by 58%

•This reflects an emission drop of 39% for SO2

•Between 1990 and 1997, the number of areas out of compliance with EPA standards was reduced by 42%

Instructions• Which of the preceding slides did you think “worked

best”? • Under what conditions did the text and photo

reinforce one another?• What would have made these slides easier to

read?• How much did the squat, fat font (Arial Black)

interfere with your reading?• Did the big line spacing gaps help or hinder your

memory of the message?• Which colors were symbolic? Did you try to pair

meanings with all the colors? Why or why not?

The Chemical Process HEAT GENERATION

Furnace

Boiler

Coal

Air

Flue Gas

Steam

Bottom Ash

Why 15% excess air?

Rate of steam generation:

5% 707.63 kg/min

25% 665.49 kg/min

15% 685.45 kg/min

Instructions• What is the relation between the photo and the

other components of this slide? • What is the main message or what might it have

been? What changes might have made it easier to have recognized this message right away?

The Chemical Process POWER CYCLE

Turbine System Condenser

Steam(from Boiler)

Condensate(to Boiler)

The Chemical Process SCRUBBER TRAIN

Scrubber

Stack

Splitter

Blending TankFilter

Fresh Limestone

Slurry

Spent Slurry

Flue Gas

Wet Solids

Cleaned Flue

Instructions• What is the relation between the diagram and the

photo? • Would most viewers recognize this relationship?• Which scrubber train is being discussed?• What is the point of the slide?

Clean vs. Dirty Coal THE DIFFERENCE

•Clean coal has a higher HHV, lower sulfur content

•Clean coal is more expensive (by mass)

•Dirty coal is often more accessible, but requires more processing

Instructions• Why is it important for the viewer to recognize the

differences between the two kinds of coal? • How do the photo and the reinforce one another (or

not)?• Does the photo itself or do the colors matter most

here in conveying meaning?

Clean vs. Dirty Coal THE DIFFERENCE

Cost Differences in Coal

CoalBeulah-Zap

(Dirty)Blind Canyon

(Clean)

Coal needed to produce 500 Mwe (ton/min) 3.0116766 2.401910427

Distance to Transport 1,687.50 1,723.30

Cost to Transport $101.64 $82.78

Cost per ton at mine $12.05 $14.41

Total Cost per min of Coal $113.69 $97.20

Instructions• Where did your eye go first, or what attracted your

attention most strongly in the preceding slide? • What is the table intended to prove?• How could you change the slide to direct attention

to this point?• What should stand out most?

Applications UPDATE THE A/C

•In 2006, the Federal regulations will require a minimum SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) rating of 13 for newly installed air-conditioning units.

•Energy will be saved by this new regulation.

•Initially, more money is spent, but the SO2 emissions will be significantly reduced.

•In the long run, consumers save money. Everyone is better off!

Applications THE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

Cost of Replacement Program

Year Operating CostReplacement

Cost Total Cost

1 $318,826,666.67 $250,000,000.00 $568,826,666.67

2 $297,920,000.00 $250,000,000.00 $547,920,000.00

3 $277,013,333.33 $250,000,000.00 $527,013,333.33

4 $256,106,666.67 $250,000,000.00 $506,106,666.67

5 $235,200,000.00 $250,000,000.00 $485,200,000.00

Total Cost $1,385,066,666.67 $1,250,000,000.00 $2,635,066,666.67

Operating Cost of500,000 SEER 9 Units for 5 years

$1,698,666,666.67

Instructions• The greyed-out air conditioner photo and the table

are similar, but do they require different eye activity? Why and how do your eyes change in order to “take in” the two elements of background and foreground, respectively?

• What would you recommend about the use of zero in PPT tables?

• What is the main point of this slide?• What other rules might you infer from your viewing

of this slide?

Applications THE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

Efficiency of SEER 13 Units (Beulah-Zap)

Total SO2 emission reduction over 5 years (tons)

Cost per ton ofSO2 saved ($/ton)

831.13 $1,126,653.62

Efficiency of SEER 13 Units (Blind Canyon)

Total SO2 emission reduction over 5 years (tons)

Cost per ton ofSO2 saved ($/ton)

378.18 $2,476,041.35

Any Questions?Any Questions?

Instructions• How did you react to the blue of the final slide?• What did it suggest to you?• What did you feel about the color when you saw it?

It isn’t consistent with the earlier slides, so what did you make of it?

• What rule of thumb can you formulate to describe this relationship?

• What rules have you figured out for photos and text in slides?

More resources are available for you

• under “Engineering Communication” at Connexions at http://cnx.org

• at the Cain Project site at http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~cainproj

• in your course Communication Folder in OWLSPACE.

Lead through Excellence in Engineering Communication