cellular and molecular aspects of your topic

structure/function relationships   

scientific method and its applications to your poster

technological advances that have provided new information about your topic.  

You can review the class presentation regarding posters by selecting one of the formats below:

PDF (requires Arcrobat reader)
Powerpoint (download - requires MS Powerpoint)

Overview   

Poster presentations are a common way for scientists to share research results and information with each other. A poster is a visual presentation to an observer to INFORM and ENGAGE the observer in a discussion about your work. The observer will be about 2-3 feet away and have an attention span of from 1 second to 15 minutes since they can be easily distracted by another poster or conversation at the poster presentations. Thus, your poster must capture the observers attention.   

The poster should contain a condensed presentation of the wealth of information you acquired and learned in its preparation. It is your responsibility to present it in an interesting manner. The poster should engage the reader and should result in conversations among classmates that expand on the information it presents.   

You should now be realizing that a poster presentation requires equal if not more time that a written report because you are presenting essentially the same information in a very different format.  For most of us, this means, essentially writing a paper and then distilling and reorganizing the information and developing the clearest possible figures and text.   

Your poster is expected to have been prepared using a computer and a variety of software to develop texts, figures and tables in a size and style suitable to capture the attention of a person 3 feet away.  Finally, you must  organize this display into a format sure to keep the attention of the reader.

DO NOT wait to develop YOUR POSTER until THE 11TH HOUR!  
  
Tips and Specific Guidelines  

Refer to the schedule to see when you will be required to turn in the working title (the title itself can change, but the topic should not) with a list of references you will be using to get your information. It is expected that you will research at least 10 different resources to prepare for your poster.

The criteria for evaluation of the resources includes assessment of the validity of the information (was this information obtained from the www off a commercial page (.com). Are the authors of the resource you use independent of the information being presented, or, are they, for instance, employed by a company that may want to promote a particular claim? Have you looked for resources from contradictory sides if your presentation has "sides"? The key is to collect enough varied information for you, as an informed, educated student to be able to make a clear, concise, confident presentation of the information you have acquired. You are required to turn in an annotated bibliography.

You will be acting as a filter, presenting the most interesting, important and pertinent information to share with your peers.  Be sure not to copy and paste entire text sections - this is plagarism!

Cheating, dishonesty, and plagiarism will not be tolerated and may result in failure of the assignment and/or course. Please review these articles on plagiarism: "What is Plagiarism at Indiana University"; "How to Avoid Plagiarism"; "Avoiding Plagiarism"

When using information, quotes and figures, provide full citation of author and source. Refer to the schedule to see when the rough draft layout of your poster will be due.

The final 50 points come on the day of your poster presentation when the instructor and your peers evaluate your poster (see separate poster evaluation guidelines).  

The poster must contain the following -- 

  TITLE with the author listed (that ís YOU!) 

  ABSTRACT of less than 100 words: (Note: An abstract is a summary of everything that is in a paper (or in this case a poster). Your lab book appendix describes them (as do most dictionaries).) 

  Content to include the following:

Posters must contain a moecular/cellular component. References should be clearly evident on poster & linked to information provided.    

Should be legible from a distance limited in size to 4 feet X 6 feet.

Main points should be clear and brief.   

Use large type fonts for titles and headings especially.   

Avoid long text explanations - instead develop (illustrate) your main points using graphics, pictures, tables, charts or diagrams. Text should be yours, not copied from resources.

Organize the poster so the observer is drawn to the poster and can follow it easily.   

Figures should stand alone. That is the figures should have titles and legends that provide all the information needed to understand them (The reader should NOT have to read the text to understand the figures). 

Evaluation   

Posters will be evaluated by the instructor and your PEERS! Each student will be required to critically evaluate 3 other posters. The evaluation will include an evaluation of the presentation itself and will also include an evaluation of the manner questions are handled. There will be cards available for this. You should evaluate the other presentations on the day that you are NOT presenting. Evaluation cards will be returned to the author for inclusion in their portfolio after there is a record that the evaluations were done. (Show me the cards, then give them to the author of the poster).