QALMRI Presentation Instructions Each student will be responsible for recording one ~10 minute slide presentation during the semester. The presentation will be an overview of the journal article assigned for each presentation slot, loosely following the QALMRI format. You will sign up to present an article from those posted under each topic module on Canvas. Use the Google Sheet linked under Prerequisite Assignments to sign up for an article and day. Sign ups will be taken on a first come first serve basis. Please contact me regarding scheduling conflicts. If you have not signed up for an article by the posted deadline, you will be randomly assigned to a presentation slot.
Presentation Tips You should use PowerPoint (or a similar program) to create slides that you will use during your presentation. You should include graphs and figures from your primary research article. Follow these tips to help you create a successful presentation: A first tip is to break up your presentation into units of time. Presentations are stories, they have a beginning a middle and end. You have about 3 minutes for each section. Let’s see how this breaks down. Introduction & Hypotheses (about 3 minutes) The introduction starts with the big idea and narrows down to the specific experimental hypothesis being tested in your article. You might devote a first slide for describing the big idea with respect to the real-world.
This will help the audience understand the question of interest. You should then have a slide that describes any necessary background knowledge. Is there background literature that is important for the audience to know that inspired the present experiments? You should have a slide that presents the specific hypotheses that are under investigation. Methods & Logic (about 3 minutes) The methods section should clearly show how the experimental procedure is used to test the hypotheses under investigation. It is not necessary to present loads of unnecessary information. It is important to communicate the main factors that were manipulated (the independent variables), and the main measures that were collected (the dependent variable). It is most important to communicate what the subjects did in the experiment. This is usually accomplished with visual aids that give example of what subjects did on each trial of the experiment, or how variables were measured if it is an observational study. Results & Discussion (about 3 minutes) If you have communicated the hypotheses and the experimental design clearly, then the audience should have a good idea about what the authors predicted for their findings.
It is often helpful to create a slide for predicted results before showing the actual results. Next, it is most important to present the data. This will usually be figure or graph from the paper. These can be copied and pasted directly into your presentation from the electronic .pdf. You should clearly describe the pattern of data, and what the authors considered to be the most important finding. During class, you should spend time walking the class through the graph (e.g., what are the axes on the graphs, what do different colors mean, what does the graph show).
In the discussion section you should clearly state how the finding relates back to the hypotheses under investigation.
In other words, what inferences can be made about these results? You should end your discussion with some comments about the broader implications of the findings.
Why are these findings important? What are some flaws?
What are some next questions? Discussion points Your final slide should include discussion points for the class: How does this research reflect specific concepts we learned about in lecture?
What are some of the ways this research could be applied to real-world scenarios?
What do you think would happen if you changed the design of the experiment in some way? As a whole, your presentation should include information that reflects all aspects of the QALMRI. Identifying these items provides a means for critically evaluating research studies, as well as for organizing your own research ideas.
It helps you to find connections between theory and data by making explicit the question being asked, the approach used to answer it, and the implications of the answer. Remember that your overall goal is to explain the article to the class – not just to identify the parts of QALMRI. QALMRI is supposed to serve as an outline to guide you to make sure you cover all the important parts. Grading Your presentation is worth 10% of your total grade. The presentation will be graded along two basic dimensions: content and communication. Content points (60%) A good presentation will contain all of the elements of the QALMRI, as well as additional background and discussion. The presenter will introduce appropriate background information, clearly describe the overall research question, and the more specific question under investigation. The presenters will show the main hypotheses and logic of the study. The presenters will clearly describe the methods. The presenters will clearly describe the results and link the results back to the hypotheses under investigation.
The presenter will discuss the significance of the findings, and describe some pitfalls and next questions. Communication points (40%) The presenter will use a clear and audible speaking voice. The slides will not contain too much text. Major aspects of the content will be clearly displayed using simple and appropriate labels or headings. The presentation will be engaging. The presentation will be constructed to last ~10 minutes in length
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