Giving Feedback on
Students’ PowerPoints
The Cain Project in Engineering and
Professional Communication
WORKSHOP SERIES
x
What rules should we teach
students about PowerPoint?
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 are 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 1
Further 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 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 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, 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 McIntyre, 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 IyG = 38 kg m2
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:  b  2.11 Hz
Natural pitch frequency of vibration:  p  3.38 Hz
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 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
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
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
Redundant chart title
Rate of seedling growth at three different
temperatures
No conclusion in
title of slide70
Background shading
60
Mean seedling height
Border retained from Excel
50
Gridlines
40
20 C
25 C
30 C
No error
bars
30
20
10
0
0
Small axis labels
8
16
24
Time (days)
Figure 2. Rate of seedling growth at three different
Redundant
temperatures: 25oC,  25oC, and  30oC.
legend
Seedling height (mm)
Seedlings grew most rapidly
at 30oC
50
30oC
40
25oC
30
20o
C
20
10
0
0
10
Time (days)
20
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?
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
COMMUNICATION
ORAL RESOURCES
COURSE DESIGN & COMMUNICATION
WRITING RESOURCES
TA TRAINING RESOURCES
VISUAL DESIGN RESOURCES
TEACHING RESOURCES
COURSE SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION RESOURCES
UNDERGRADUATE COURSE RESOURCES
GRADUATE 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
QuickTime™ and a
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QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Workshops to Introduce Materials
• March 31 - April 2
• April 7 - 9
• Three workshops on writing
– April 14-16
– Grads and undergrads