Giving Feedback on Students Power Points The Cain

Giving Feedback on Students’ Power. Points The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication WORKSHOP SERIES

x What rules should we teach students about Power. Point?

Teach Students How to Decide • As new technologies emerge • As audiences change – Academia/ industry/ public – Disciplines – Diverse cultures (globalization) • As their purposes change By emphasizing processes and criteria

Shifting the focus of feedback This title is too short. What will the audience expect to be on the slide from this title? There aren’t enough labels here. If you point to this image during your talk and someone misses it, will they be able to understand? This doesn’t seem to be related to the previous slide. PRODUCT How does this slide work in the series of slides so far? PROCESS

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 Good for projecting E E Serif (“tail”) Sans Serif Such as Times New Roman (uniform shaft width) Such as Arial

Errors in Choosing Fonts • Contrast between background and text • Size of font • Type treatment of font Drop Shadows Reduce 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 anesthetics Quick sedation Quick recovery Few side effects Safe to handle

Lack of Hierarchy Bullets help your audience to skim the slide to see relationships between information organize information in a logical way For example, this is Main Point 1, which leads to… Subpoint 1 Further subordinated point 2 Subpoint 2

Content-Poor 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 keywords Avoid wordiness Opt for bullets Not Parallel: Use keywords Wordiness is bad You 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, Cardioverterdefibrillators, Tachyarrhythmia Research – Tim Mc. Intyre 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, Chair Refractec Inc. , Irvine, CA Cardiac Catheter Ablation John Pearce, Ph. D. Jean-Yves Chapelon, Ph. D. University of Texas, Austin, TX INSERM, Lyon, France Electromagnetics and Acoustics High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Applied to Medical Devices for Prostate Tumor Ablation Rahul Mehra, Ph. D. Medtronic, Inc. Minneapolis, MN Cardioverter-defibrillators Tachyarrhythmia Research Kouros Azar, M. D. , B. S. BME, Thousand Oaks, CA Reconstructive Surgeon Tim Mc. Intyre, M. S. St. Jude Medical, St Paul, MN, Medical Device Industry R&D and Management Reese Terry, M. S. Co-founder/Board Member Cyberonics, Houston, TX Neurostimulation Devices

Motorcycle Characteristics Wheelbase p = 1. 4 m Distance from the center of gravity to the rear wheel b = 0. 7 Sprung mass m = 200 kg Pitch moment of inertia Iy. G = 38 kg m 2 Reduced stiffness of the front suspension kf = 15 000 N/m Reduced stiffness of the rear suspension kr = 24 000 N/m Reduced damping of the front suspension cf = 500 Ns/m Reduced damping of the rear suspension cr = 750 Ns/m Speed 28 m/s Natural bounce frequency of vibration: Natural pitch frequency of vibration:

Motorcycle Characteristics 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 m 2 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

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 October • Finalize design • Begin CAD work • Submit revised budget November Construct drive-train Select material for armor December Test drive-train prototype Train driver Report progress to mgmt

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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

Redundant chart title No conclusion in title of slide Border retained from Excel Background shading Gridlines No error bars Small axis labels Figure 2. Rate of seedling growth at three different Redundant temperatures: 25 o. C, and 30 o. C. legend

Seedlings grew most rapidly at 30 o. C 25 o. C 20 o. C

Deaths due to accidents, by type of accident, selected countries, 2006 (Rate per 100, 000 population) Long title No cues to important figures 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 Alphabetical order Many gridlines

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?

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Cain Project Legacy Materials • 2008 is Cain Project’s 10 th 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

HOME COMMUNICATION RESOURCES ARCHIVE Communication Resources | How To Upload-Download Multiple Resources Location: Communication Master Archive GENERAL COMMUNICATION RESOURCES COMMUNICATION TEACHING AIDS ORAL RESOURCES COURSE DESIGN & COMMUNICATION WRITING RESOURCES TA TRAINING RESOURCES VISUAL DESIGN RESOURCES TEACHING RESOURCES COURSE SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION RESOURCES UNDERGRADUATE COURSE RESOURCES GRADUATE STUDENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES WORKSHOP AND SELF-STUDY RESOURCES SAMPLE EVALUATION FORMS, ASSESSMENT

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

Workshops to Introduce Materials • March 31 - April 2 • April 7 - 9 • Three workshops on writing – April 14 -16 – Grads and undergrads