Biology 490: Senior Seminar
Spring 2009
Instructor: Dr. Paul T. Smith, 219 Science 1, office hours posted outside my office.
Phone: 654-2385
email: [email protected]
General:
Biol 490 is a senior-level seminar course. Student success or failure in the course depends
upon active participation. Each student will give one randomly assigned (both date and topic)
oral presentation. Students will actively participate by asking thoughtful questions of the
presenter. Students will also contribute to the grading of the presentations of their peers.
There will be one final exam based on the material presented during this course. Students
are responsible for ALL material presented. Missed classes will count against the course grade (20 points for each missed class: excused or otherwise… no exceptions). Tardiness is
unprofessional, disruptive and disrespectful to your fellow classmates – especially since this is a
student presentations course – therefore, tardiness will also count against the course grade (-10
points for each class tardy, excused or otherwise).
Summary of Activities
Point value
Oral Presentation (see below)
Final Examination
Exam questions (5 pts each x 22)
Total
150
150
110
410
Grading
Grades will be based on the following scale
94-100
90-93
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
=
=
=
=
=
=
A
AB+
B
BC+
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
below 60
=
=
=
=
=
=
C
CD+
D
DF
Biology 490 (Senior Seminar) Oral Presentation
(1) Each student is required to give a 30-35-minute oral presentation to the class.
(2) Any presentation under 20 minutes will result in failure of the presentation with a maximum
of 75 points being awarded.
(3) All students are required to submit their powerpoint presentations to me by email or by
bringing it on a flash drive by noon the day prior to the presentation. I will always send a reply
email indicating I rec’d it.
(4) Once turned into me you are not allowed to change/modify your presentation, you will be
penalized for doing so, indicating that the presentation was not complete and ready.
(5) Late presentations will be docked 10% per hour. One hour and one minute late (=20%).
(6) All students (including each presenter) are required to email me the following by noon on the
day of each presentation: for each presentation: (1) true/false question, (3) multiple choice
questions with 5 potential answers, and (1) essay question. I may use some of these for the final
exam.….no late submissions will be accepted. Please type them directly into the email and do
not use word attachments. I am unable to open word.docx documents on my mac.
Biol 490 Senior Seminar
PowerPoint Presentation Guide
General Hints and TIps
First: no animations!!!! Slide animations are distracting don’t use them. The focus should
be on the content not on how pretty your background is. This class is not an assessment
of how fancy your presentation is. DO NOT use animations…..some video clips or
animations may be acceptable, but I don’t want to see words dropping from all areas of
the slide or spinning in letter by letter, etc.
If you are giving a talk/seminar based on original research or a review of the literature on
a specific topic, listening to someone read text directly from slides or mumble and
stammer is very boring and you have failed to communicate what you've done or read!
How often have you been listening to oral presentations that dealt with interesting science
while you nevertheless had difficulty paying attention till the end? How often did you
lose your interest before the speaker had even come halfway? Was it because of the
subject of the talk or was it the way the speaker presented it? Poor presentations are
usually the result of poor preparation, nerves, or fear of saying something wrong. In a
classroom, if it is an honest mistake, that is why we are here. However, if it is due to a
lack of preparation then as the old saying goes “as you sow so shall you reap”.
CONFIDENCE is your biggest asset. If you know what you are talking about trust
yourself and speak loud and proud. People will believe you and listen better. Many
presentations concern interesting work, but are nevertheless difficult to follow because
the speaker unknowingly makes a number of presentation errors. By far the largest
mistake is that a speaker does not realize how an audience listens. If you are well aware
of what errors you should avoid, the chances are high that you will be able to greatly
improve the effectiveness of your presentations. A person will mostly focus in the
beginning when you are going over the background and introducing the conclusions.
One way to keep the audience focused is to have Mini conclusions. Don't be afraid to
give away the ending, you are there to tell them what's going on, not hide it like a
surprise. The average person at your talk is by all means willing to listen to you, but he or
she is also easily distracted.
Why do people get distracted?
1) Not enough background. It is hard for the audience to understand the fine points of
your talk if they aren't on the same page. Even if it seems obvious, go ahead and
introduce it.
2) Visual aids are unclear or hard to read. Do not use more that a few lines per
overhead/slide. Be certain to use colors that are easy to read and fonts that are readable
from the cheap seats.
3) Pace of the speaker. Vary the pace and tone of your speech. Remember to speak
slowly when the topic is confusing or important. Talk to your audience rather than read
to them. You'll be easier to understand, and you'll be better able to make genuine contact
with your audience. Furthermore, talking to your audience will help you think more
clearly by forcing you to communicate your points in ordinary language. YOU ARE
NOT HERE TO IMPRESS YOUR PEERS WITH FANCY LANGUAGE/TERMS, etc.
Tips:
(1) If possible don’t over use abbreviations. Too many abbreviations will confuse the
subject. Sometimes this can’t be helped, so be certain to remind the audience throughout
your oral presentation. Say the whole name when the slide has the abbreviation.
(2) Use large font, so that the old Prof. in the back can see it through his/her cataracts,
and speak loudly so we can hear when the batteries to our hearing aid go dead.
(3) When using figures, use the figure legends for the title of the slide/overhead. Use
bullets to mention important points about the experiment and the results/conclusion from
the experiment
(4) Every time you put up a figure introduce it. That means explaining the axis, what
kind of experiment it is and what each line graph, picture means. If you just put up the
figure and start on the results it will take too long for the audience to catch up.
(5) Never talk with your back to the audience.
(6) Move around. It's easier to keep focused on someone who's moving than on a
motionless talking head. Hand gestures are also good. It's possible to overuse these
devices, of course. Simply crossing from one side of the room to the other every three or
four minutes is probably enough.
(7) Look up and make eye contact with the audience every now and then.
(8) Take a breather every now and then.
(9) Don’t say OK or umm. These are bad habits that are umm hard to get rid of.
(10) Slow down, it is hard to go too slow, but it's too easy to go too fast.
(11) Vary the pitch of your voice. Monotones are sleep-inducing.
(12) Speak loudly, clearly, and confidently. Face the audience. An important element of
vocal technique is to focus on the bottom (the deepest pitch) of your vocal range, which
is its loudest and most authoritative tone. Speak from the gut, not the throat. Breathe
deeply -- it's necessary for volume. Don't be afraid to ask for feedback: "Can you hear me
in the back of the room?
(13) Make eye contact with the audience. If this is anxiety-inducing, at least pretend to do
this by casting your gaze toward the back and sides of the room. Be careful not to ignore
one side of the audience. Many speakers "side" unconsciously, looking always to the left
or to the right half, or only to the front or the back, of the room. Here's another place
where feedback, either from friends or from videotape, can be helpful.
(14) Summarize your talk at the beginning and again at the end. "Tell `em what you're
gonna tell `em, tell `em, and tell `em what you told `em": this ancient principle still holds.
If you follow this rule, your audience is much more likely to remember your main points.
Even more important, it helps you stay focused on the key ideas you're trying to convey
(15) Emulate excellent speakers. The best way to become an excellent presenter is to
watch really good, experienced speakers and model your talks on theirs. Notice not just
what they say, but what they do: how they move, how they sound, how they structure
their talks. Add those devices to your own repertoire.
(16) Don’t overload your slides with text. You are not presenting a “mini text”…expect
your peers to take notes. If you have too much text on your slides it is a very good
indication that you don’t know the material well enough to discuss/talk about freely…i.e.,
this will become apparent if you just read your slides word for word…DO NOT DO
THIS.
(17) Practice the entire presentation about 5 times before you give it and don’t wait until
the last minute it will show.
Biol 490 Theme: Eukaryotic Parasites/Vectors
(1) Introduction to Parasitology, Parasites, Parasitism, and Host Relations
(2) Plant Parasites
(3) The Trematodes/flukes
(4) The Cestodes/tapeworms
(5) The Nematodes/roundworms except filariasis
The Arthropods
Insect & Tick Vectored Diseases
(6) Bubonic Plague
(7) Malaria
(8) Yellow Fever
(9) Dengue
(10) Encephalomyelitis (except West Nile)
(11) West Nile
(12) Filariasis
(13) African Sleeping Sickness/Trypanosomiasis
(14) Leishmaniasis
(15) Chagas’ disease
(16) Onchoceriasis
(17) Murine Typhus & Dipylidiasis
(18) Epidemic Typhus, Trench Fever, & Louse-borne relapsing fever
(19) Lyme Disease
(20) Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever & Erlichiosis
(21) Scabies & Chiggers
(22) Human bot flies & flies that cause myiasis
Limit your website sources to government or educational/university websites only….yes
this means no Wikipedia! All material must be properly cited in your presentations
including pictures, tables, and figures from other sources. The goal is for you to focus on
the genetics (Biol 304), physiology (Biol 305), ecology (Biol 306), and evolution (Biol
470) of the above topics, including, but not limited to:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
Natural history, life cycles, taxonomy, morphology of agents involved
Epidemiology/distribution/ecology
Evolution and adaptations to parasitism
Genetic & Physiological Aspects/integration of various biological disciplines.
Effects of the parasite on the host
Effects of the host on the parasite
Symptoms
Treatment of disease/symptoms (limit to one slide only..no exceptions)
Incorporation of recent research (e.g., 2007 or later)
All class meetings and Final Exam will be: TTH: 9:30-10:50 SCI III 107
Date
Topic
Th-April 2
Tu-April 7
Course Introduction/syllabus
Assignment of Topics/Dates; Discussion
of Grading Criteria/Powerpoint
Prep day/no class
Prep day/no class
Prep day/no class
Prep day/no class
Prep day/no class
Prep day/no class
1&2
3&4
5&6
7&8
9 & 10
11 & 12
13 & 14
15 & 16
17 & 18
19 & 20
21 & 22
Study day
Final Exam: 11:00AM-1:30PM
Th-April 9
Tu-April 14
Th-April 16
Tu-April 21
Th-April 23
Tu-April 28
Th-April 30
Tu-May 5
Th-May 7
Tu-May 12
Th-May 14
Tu-May 19
Th-May 21
Tu-May 26
Th-May 28
Tu-June 2
Th-June 4
Tu-June 9
Th-June 11
Presenters
TBA
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