Chapter 6. LAB 6 Primary Scientific Literature

Learning Goals:

• Convey your scientific understanding of a topic to others
• Communicate effectively through a poster presentation and paper
• Learn to ask questions about research evidence until you understand why a scientist came to the conclusions they drew from their data

Scientific Inquiry

Well-prepared poster presentations are powerful tools for communicating your message about a topic, a product, your research, and yourself. Posters are commonly used to present new information at scientific conferences. If you are at a conference hoping to get a job, boost your career, or obtain funding from private industry or government grants, you will want to present a poster that stands out from the hundreds of other posters that may be on display. The better prepared you are to display a well-designed presentation, deliver your message orally and professionally, and make your message clear and interesting, the more successful your presentation will be.

Background

Follow the steps below to plan out your presentation. A checklist has also been provided.

1. View the Poster Presentation podcast and read Chapter 7 in Knisely on “How to Give a Poster Presentation” and Chapter 8 on “How to Give an Oral Presentation.”
2. Use library resources to locate a copy of your research paper (see Lab 1 for help).
3. Use the reading strategy (in Lab 1) to read your assigned manuscript. View the podcast of the expert describing your research paper.
4. Summarize the manuscript on your Project Presentation Worksheet from Lab 1.
5. To help you formulate ideas for making your presentation more interesting, write down something that interested you in the video or manuscript. If you are having difficulty, ask your instructor for help.
6. Use reference texts, reviews, or other resources to answer any questions that you have about your topic. This will help you learn important definitions and understand key methodologies.
7. Turn in your worksheet and schedule a time to go over it with your lab instructor.
8. Review your completed worksheet to identify key components of your presentation.
9. Use this information to create a presentation of no more than 8 pages (8.5” x 11”). You will present your work during lab to three other students. They will give you feedback on your project and you will assess theirs. Turn in your presentation and peer assessments.

Poster Checklists

Overall Poster Appearance Objectives: Self-Evaluation Questions

• Does your title convey the key message of the paper?
• Does you poster look aesthetically pleasing and professional?
• Does the information on your poster flow logically from one point to the next?
• Have you limited the amount of text on your poster and made use of visually pleasing and effective graphics?
• Are the sections of the poster discrete and visually balanced?
• Are the background, methods, results, and conclusions presented clearly and concisely?
• Can a passing reader “pick-up” the main message of your poster in 30 seconds or less?

Planning Poster Layout:

1. Compile the key visual elements you will use to communicate the purpose of the research and the results of the investigation and conclusions.
2. Write out the “essential” text required to convey the meaning of the graphics.
3. Plan the visual layout of your poster by making a “mock up” of sections you feel must be included. There is no hard and fast rule since there are many ways to do this. Below is a sample poster layout; however, this is not the only layout possible for your poster design. You can combine and separate methods, results and discussion on single or multiple separate pages. Just make sure your information is clear and readable. Many individuals prefer to use PowerPoint for laying out their pages so they can adjust the font size and control figure placement without page issues associated with WORD.

Planning Poster Content:

Most of the work of compiling the information you need to include in your poster has already been done with the presentation worksheet from Assignment 2, Lab 1. Follow the content of your presentation worksheet to compile the following information to include in your poster.

Here are some additional hints about items to include in the major sections of your poster:

Introduction

• Background: Description of topic or problem.
• Rationale: Why the study was done. What is the fundamental nature of the research?
• Hypothesis: What the research is testing or demonstrating.

Methods

• Only include methods if they are necessary for understanding the results: use a bulleted list or flow chart.

Results

• Each section should have a separate heading.
• Explain general patterns, trends, or differences.
• Make simple figures or tables self sufficient with legends.

Discussion

• Interpret data in light of objective/hypothesis
• Relate to information in the introduction
• Discuss future directions
• Discuss important questions posed by the study

Before you come to lab to make your presentation:

1. Upload your Poster Presentation text (no figures) in MsWORD or PDF to Safe Assign. See the link on your section website. View the PowerPoint to familiarize yourself with the Lab Itinerary.
2. Make a poster that has sufficient content and figures, is eye catching and communicates the heart of your topic.
3. Prepare sample questions with answers in anticipation of questions from other students in your class.
4. Make an outline of your presentation and possibly note cards for your talk to maintain focus.
5. Practice your presentation in front of family and friends keeping track of the time.
6. Allow family and friends to relay what they learned from the presentation to assess how well you were able to communicate your topic to novices.
7. Optional: Place specific details with citations on note cards from your review of papers that may serve as important points to engage or answer other students.

1. Complete an assessment of your presentation using the Poster Assessment Form.
2. Project Paper preparation: Formulate an outline, flow chart, or concept map of your project paper.
3. Turn in the poster. Staple slip of paper on top with your Topic # (T) and below it, your section number (S) in Large Print.
4. Submit the text of the poster to Safe Assign by the following day.
5. Project Paper Plan (from Activity 4).

Resources

Lab Preparation

Watch the vodcast and read this lab. Place all notes in your lab notebook. This lab does not have a BioPortal quiz or Lab Quiz.

Activity 1: Poster Presentations

The Poster Presentation Project represents the activities in the “Life of a Real Scientist”

• Scientists use posters to introduce their work and themselves to others
• Scientists use posters to present preliminary findings for feedback and critical review by peers
• Scientists use posters to make unpublished “hot” results known
• Scientists use posters to network for jobs, scientific collaborations, references, hiring searches, etc.

Why do scientists participate in group discussions? Scientists participate in discussions with their peers and with those outside their area of expertise to expand their perceptions and gain insight into their own work as well as the work of others.

Why is peer review central to the scientific endeavor? Peer review provides a “checks and balance to the scientific process.” Scientists must respond to reviewers comments on their manuscripts, grant applications, etc. It helps maintain integrity of research and conclusions.

Why do scientists publish their work and read and write reviews? Scientists read the literature and review the information to place their work in context, to relate their work to a larger field of study, and to give credit to those whose work they are building on in their publications.

Scientists experience Q & A sessions in journal clubs, seminars, symposia, lectures, poster sessions and meetings. Scientists are always responding to questions from peers, the media, the university forum (administrators, colleagues, students) and the public. Scientists must be able to defend their conclusions and provide the rationale for the efficacy of their work and its funding.

Learning Objectives

After successful completion of this activity, you should be able to:

• Create a meaningful poster presentation (LO83)
• Use MS PowerPoint (LO84)
• Distinguishing facts from interpretations, thinking critically about data and their interpretations, communicating scientific information effectively (LO85)
• Recognize the process of the scientific method in the papers you read (LO86)

Procedure

1. Set up posters in assigned groups of 4.
2. Present your poster:

3. Peer reviews: Assess each poster and presentation using the Strength, Improvement, and Insight (SII) rubric. The presenter is the only one who will see your assessment. The purpose of these assessments is to help the presenter improve their presentation skills and the content of their paper. Forms for peer review are found in the last pages of this lab, after Activity 4.
4. After all posters have been presented, exchange peer reviews.

Activity 2: Class and Group Discussions

Often the most rewarding aspect of the poster presentations at a conference is the interaction you have with fellow scientists after they have heard your work. Here, we will try to foster this scientific interaction.

Procedure

Group Discussion Questions: (10-15 min) After all group members have made their presentations, discuss the presentation experience with your group and answer the following questions in an oral group report in class and turn in the notes for this report after your discussion:

1. Assess the value of the poster presentation experience. In what ways did you benefit from the experience and how might you use this skill in the future? Areas for improvement?
2. Compare and contrast your insights about the way the scientific method is used in the different studies.
3. What were the most interesting points of each paper?

Activity 3: Self-Assessment

In this part of lab, you will take about 15 minutes to review what you have done and what changes you would make based on the advice and questions from your peers.

Procedure

1. Write a reflective self assessment of what you accomplished in the process of doing this project and the changes you would make to improve your work.
2. Use the feedback from your peer reviews to make improvements in the quality of the message you are trying to convey and write a paper that summarizes the research article, what you learned from it about science, and future directions this kind of research might take.

Activity 4: Project Paper Preparation

In this part of lab, you will take about 10–20 minutes to plan how you will write up your poster project paper. This paper is due next week at the beginning of lab. Your plan is due at the end of lab today. Your final paper is limited to 5 pages and should include the following information:

• A brief description of the nature of the research article
• Identify the living population that relates to your assigned topic. Mention the biological impact of the issue you are investigating, and the mechanics of the natural, treated, or diseased system.
• Focus on a particular problem or challenge that makes your topic a subject of research and compare alternative explanations and problems posed in doing this kind of research.
• Identify possible societal issues related to this topic.

Procedure

1. Formulate an outline, flow chart, or concept map of your project paper. Refer to Lab 1 for the Rubric for the poster paper (How the Scientific Method was used in my Research Article).

2. Turn in a copy of your outline at the end of class.

Class Discussion

1. What specific or general insights did you gain about research and scientific communication from listening to these presentations?
2. Use points 2–4 above to make a 5 minute synopsis of your group’s poster topics.
3. Present a brief synopsis of group poster topics.
4. Present the most valuable points of interest of the group discussion.
5. Discuss approaches to the written assignment.

Self-Assessment

These questions were taken from previous exams and are meant to represent a sample, not a complete study guide. The questions in these examples are designed to test your understanding of the concepts and skills presented in this lab, and your ability to apply what you have learned to novel problems.