BIO 330L General Physiology, 2019

PRESENTATIONS: INSTRUCTIONS & CRITERIA

Introduction
The purpose of a scientific presentation is to share your research with an audience. To do this well, you must
convince your audience that your work is both relevant and valid (by emphasizing the motivation for your work
and its outcome, providing enough evidence to establish its validity).

General Instructions
1. There are two lab topics for which we will do presentations this semester.
2. Even though we often collect data as a table or lab group, presentations will be completed by
PAIRS of individuals. Within a pair there are specific tasks for each student.
3. Each student in a pair will be responsible for half (two of four parts) of the presentation (see
following pages).
4. For each presentation, identify a pair coordinator. The Pair coordinator compile the
PowerPoint presentation file/slides for that pair’s presentation.
5. Individuals will alternate between the two halves of the presentation, for the two presentations
(i.e. make sure you do the first half and the second half).
6. Pairs must collaboratively identify the timeline for this process, with a deadline time for when
the materials should be sent to the coordinator for that presentation. Clearly the coordinator
needs time to copy and paste the slides into the final presentation file, and then print out the
copy that is to be turned in.
7. Even though only one copy will be turned in, both students in each Pair earn points for turning
in a printout of the pair’s PowerPoint presentation (assuming both individuals made
contributions), due at the start of that lab session.
8. If one of your parts in missing (i.e. not submitted), keep the missing sections of the presentation
template blank.
9. You will only be evaluated for your half of the presentation.
10. Presentations should be 5–7 minutes long (2.5–3.5 minutes per person).

Software
You may use PowerPoint or Google Slides, but excel graphs are generally more compatible with
PowerPoint. As a pair, you MUST merge all slides into a single presentation that will be loaded onto
the lab computer at the START of the lab section.
If you wish, you may use the PowerPoint file template we will provide as a starting point.

Requirements
Cover Slide
You must include a cover slide that contains the names of the presenters with the presentation sections
they are presenting. Ex: Full name of each team member. (e.g. Elizabeth Beilke: Hypothesis,
Predictions, Reasons; Sarah Worthington – Experimental design and Methods; etc).

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Recommendations
For slides with graphs or tables, make sure they fill up most of the slide. If you have more than one
graph and they need to be compared to each other, it is permissible to make two on one page. Think
about effective communication. PowerPoint is very flexible- you can use words, arrows, etc. COLOR
etc.

The default font size in Excel is 10 point. 10 point is unacceptable for a presentation—it simply
cannot be read from a distance. Enlarged font is necessary so that it can be read from the back of the
room. Text usually needs to be a minimum of 24 or 26 point. For graphs, font may be as small as 20 but
usually no smaller. Lines should not be too thin, etc.

The default font color for graphs in Excel is a light gray color. This tends to wash out on projectors.
You should use a darker font color to facilitate reading your graphs at a distance.

Unsure of what qualities improve/degrade the quality of a scientific presentation? See “Dos and Don’ts”
of a PowerPoint presentation in the PRESENTATIONS folder.

PRESENTATION SECTIONS – each person does a half of the presentation (Part A or Part B).
If you have 3-person team, then 1 person should present part A1 (HYPOTHESIS),
second person presents part A2,and a third person present results and discussion.

PART A (first half).

1. HYPOTHESIS, PREDICTIONS, & PHYSIOLOGICAL REASONING
 Some background (1 slide?).
 HYPOTHESIS or hypotheses (“Enzymes will alter rates of digestion”). Do not confuse this
with the predictions (which include directionality statements).
 Explicitly state the physiology behind the hypothesis (usually requires cell-level explanation).
 PREDICTIONS- (“tubes with enzyme present will show more digestion”)

2. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN & KEY METHODS

o Experimental design is not all the details of the methods. Instead it lists (describes) what the
treatment groups are. “Treatment group” is a statistical term, and includes both the
Experimental group(s), the Control group(s). You need to list this (a table?) and then state the
purpose of each treatment group (what do they tell you)? Usually best presented in a table or
bullet list format.
o Methods: we do not need an exhaustive list of all details. Provide a bulleted list of critical
elements. Include details of things that you may have done differently from other groups.
Usually best presented as a sequence (bullet list) or a diagram, and never as a long block of
text!

PART B (second half).

3. RESULT GRAPH(S) & RESULTS Statistical STATEMENTS
Graphs (see LAB topic 1): Means or medians? (with SE or SD)?; Axes correct? Axes labeled?
Legend/labels? Legible font size (double click on each item so the FONT is a minimum of 20
ptsbut larger if you have room - 28 is better), All treatment groups presented? Different symbols
or lines for groups if used (are their colors or patterns visible)? Independent vs dependent
variables are placed correctly. NO RAW DATA values, if have replication. Statistical
comparison and statement (name of statistical Test, P value, conclusion statement of the test).

If it is your turn to present the RESULTS section, then you must make the graphs (or, rarely,
tables) for presenting the results- you will be graded on them, not the other pair member.

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4. INTERPRETATION/ DISCUSSION, including ERROR Assessment. Discuss your results & give
interpretations/conclusions. Usually need a text slide to summarize results & interpretations. You
need statement(s) comparing experimental to control groups, and whether data support or not support
the hypothesis? If results are not as predicted, include discussion of a) alternative hypotheses, and b)
likely errors that could have produced the actual results that your group has (this is NOT a generic list
of possible errors). What might you do differently if were to do more work?

GRADING CRITERIA - The instructors will evaluate the presentation.

 The instructors will evaluate these categories and your individual score will be the
average of our scores. See next page for a sample Instructor evaluation form and
grading rubric.
 You will be evaluated on CONTENT & COMMUNICATION effectiveness of your
visuals, not on whether the visuals you make are "spiffy".
 You are not being evaluated on whether you are particularly good speaker, but you
need to be audible, speak in complete sentences, use appropriate terminology etc.
 We will grade somewhat leniently for the first presentation.