MSC 160 - Oceanography
Fall 2010
Assignment: Scientific Journal Article Presentation & Discussion
This is intended to be a lengthy assignment! It should take the majority of the semester to prepare for this
presentation; hence the reason you are receiving these instructions several months before you will be asked to
give a presentation. If you choose to procrastinate, please know that it will be very obvious in your final product
and your grade will reflect your poor preparation.
Part 1: Group Selection
You can choose to work on this assignment either as an individual or as a group of two. You will need to decide
before you leave the class today. If you choose to work alone, be aware that the full onus of this project is on
you alone.
Part 2: Journal Article Selection
I have selected all of the acceptable journal articles that you will be allowed to choose from; you will not have to
spend countless hours perusing multitudes of journals…you’re welcome =) However, you will be expected to
spend some time reading through the available articles and making a judicious selection of the article that: 1.)
pertains to a topic that most interests you and 2.) contains material that you feel you will be able to comprehend
and comfortably explain.
The articles will be available on a first come, first serve basis, starting Monday, August 23rd, 2010. If you and
another group select the same article, you will be asked to settle the argument amongst yourselves. If a decision
can not be reached, neither group will be permitted to use the article and you will both be expected to select
another article before the deadline.
Journal articles must be selected by 1700 on Friday, September 24th, 2010. Once you have made your selection,
you will not be allowed to exchange your paper for another.
Part 3: Request a Reprint
Once you have your paper in hand, your next task will be to request a reprint of the article from the primary
author. This is to be done using your Campus Cruiser email. This email should include your name and mailing
address, as well as a reason why you are requesting a reprint. Also, it is a good idea to request any other
materials to supplement your presentation (such as pictures, graphs, tables, etc.).
You are representing the Marine Technology Program, Cape Fear Community College, and, most
importantly, yourself, in this email. Please be polite and USE YOUR SPELL CHECK.
You are required to blind carbon copy (BCC) me on the email to prove that you sent the email. Not all
authors will respond in a timely manner, or even at all. Don’t fret; your grade will not be affected by an
author not responding. However, the blind carbon copied email will count towards your outline grade.
Please send your email ASAP. It usually takes a couple of weeks to hear back from the author.
MSC 160 - Oceanography
Fall 2010
Part 4: The Outline
An outline of your presentation is due on Monday, November 1st, 2010 by 1700, either by email
(sdaniel@cfcc.edu) or as a hard copy to Ms. Daniel.
Here are a few guidelines for your outline:
 Use one of the pre-set bullet formats in Microsoft Word
o For example, the one used in this handout.

Include a Heading for each major section
o For example:
Introduction


Purpose of study….
Hypothesis….
Etc.

All sections of the journal article are to be included on your outline – Title, Authors, Journal citation,
Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results & Conclusions, and Discussion.

This is just an outline of what you will be presenting to the class. Details are not required!
o For example, you do not have to include all the figures, graphs or tables in your outline
o Also, it is understood that you have not made the presentation yet. This outline will be the
backbone that you will build your presentation around; it will therefore be essential that you have
thoroughly read the article and fully understand the scope of what you will need to present.
o Please note that you will greatly benefit from keeping your focus very broad and general, as you
will only have 10 minutes for your presentation:
 Your presentation should begin with a brief synopsis (similar to the ABSTRACT)
 Followed by any necessary ancillary information to get your audience up to speed on your
topic (similar to the INTRODUCTION)
 Then, briefly discuss the means by which your study was conducted (similar to the
MATERIALS and METHODS)
 You should select no more than two or three of the main RESULTS to discuss
 And finally you should select no more than two or three points that tell your audience the
“take-home message” (similar to the DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION)

The outline should be no longer than 2 pages in length, using single-spaced, size 12, Times New Roman
font.

The outline will be used as a guideline for grading during your presentation; therefore, you may NOT add
or delete information from the outline after November 1st, 2010 (unless you have it approved by Ms.
Daniel – if any changes are accepted by Ms. Daniel, a new outline will need to be provided ASAP).

At the end of the outline include a section on how the journal article applies to our Oceanography course.
Part 5: Attending a Scientific Talk and Presenting Your Talk
**** More information to follow *****