Social Psychology (PSYC 3040)
Fall Semester 2013
Class Presentation Instructions
Topics
We have already discussed topics and a suggested list was included on my web
page. Most of you have turned in your intended topic. If you are still having trouble
focusing yours, please see me. I will be dealing with those on an individual basis from
this point on. You also need to remember the date of your presentation. If you have
forgotten that, see me.
Purpose
You should give me a written purpose for your presentation (This could be
thought of as the main point.). Is it to present depth and background on something we
covered, to tie something in to a theory, to show an application of a principle, or even to
merely describe? Generally, descriptive topics are easier, but more difficult to get points
from. If you do one of these, be careful not to simply “rehash” something from a chapter
in your book.
Research – References
It should be obvious that a main goal of doing this project is research. You need
to show that you have done some of this. That happens in two ways. The first is that
quality sources produce quality information for you to use in your presentation. The
second is your reference page. All sources that you used should be included on the
reference page, regardless of quality. If you don’t list them all, you have in essence,
plagiarized. Your references should be in APA format. If you don’t know how to do that,
use the following information.
Information on APA format is available in the library, at the Student Success Center, and at the
following web addresses:
www.crk.umn.edu/library/links/apa5th.htm
www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html
www.apastyle.org/elecsource.html
www.apastyle.org/elecgeneral.html
There are also internet sites that will do the formatting for you. Some charge and some do not.
For example:
BibMe: bibme.org
Citation Machine: citationmachine.net
EasyBib: easybib.com
Noodle Tools: noodletools.com
The Word 2010 software also allows you to input your reference information and formats it for
you in APA style. Go to “References” on your toolbar. Choose APA 5th or 6th on the dropdown menu for
“Style”.
Organization
Your next major concern should be organization. You will have only 10 minutes
to make your presentation. If you don’t do much public speaking, that may seem to be
forever, but believe me, it is short. You need to know what you plan to say and how long
it will take to explain it. I would anticipate five or fewer main points. You also need to
give me those in writing. You also need to use PowerPoint, or some sort of structured
outline that can be shown on the Elmo or perhaps a handout. I would like you to make
that available to me so that I can hyperlink it to my web page or somehow make it
available to your classmates.
Information
Finally, you need to arrange your information so that the appropriate logical
connections are there and it flows from one point to the next. A brief summary at the
end would also be a good idea.
What You Need to Turn In (Not necessarily in this order)
1) Outline or whatever structured format you used in your presentation.
2) Reference page.
3) Text. You can do this in the form of an annotated outline or slides, or you may
want to do it separately. It does not need to be as lengthy as a term paper, but it should
be full enough to be self-explanatory (and to remind me of some of your examples, subpoints, etc.).