Topic outline

  • Week 3 Visuals



    The goal of this week is to find out more about how to design and use your slides. Although many students are familiar with the basics of creating and using slides with PowerPoint, it is rare that students (or even professionals) have familiarized themselves thoroughly with actual guidelines for effective slide design. In addition, due to lack of time, slides are often created last minute and in a hurry. It is, therefore, worth your while to spend some time learning more about slide design and creating your own set of slides.   


    This week consists of two assignments. In Assignment 7, you will study/ read more about slide design and then share your findings to the rest of the group in a Forum. You will also learn more from your classmates regarding their findings and views on slide design. In Assignment 8, you will create your own set of slides and include some thoughts to justify your choices in slide design.

     

    Please remember that the practice session is coming up very soon! If you know that the teacher has commented on and graded your A6, then sign up (Presentation rehearsals on the site's Front page)! :)


    If you have found a link on slide design you would like to share with others, please post it under "Useful Links".

    • Page icon
      Week 3 Study materials visuals Page
    • Forum icon
      Assignment 7: Discussion on effective slide design (Forum)
      Students must
      Start discussions: 1
      Receive a grade

      Out of the Week 3 materials you have just studied,  which ones did you find the most useful for you?

      Which source did you agree with the most? Which source gave you tips that you could utilize and incorporate in the future?  In your answer, explain why you found it useful and perhaps why the others were not so useful. Please mention which book chapter you read or if you utilized your own resources (mention source name and include links if relevant).

      Please remember to also mention your thoughts on the two videos on 'assertion-evidence'.

      If you wish, you may comment on other students' posts or findings.

      5 pts

      Deadline: Wednesday 23:59 of Week 3

    • Group choice icon
      A8 Step 1: Choose a group for slide feedback exchange Group choice
      Students must
      Choose a group

      Choose the first group from the list below that is not full (i.e. has less members than the maximum group size, e.g. 1/3). If no partly filled group exists, choose the first empty group (i.e. "0/3") from the list. You must choose a group before proceeding to Step 2 of Assignment 8 (Assignment 8 Steps 2 & 3 Forum: Submit your slides & exchange feedback).

      In Step 3 (linked above), you will be giving potentially two (2) other students feedback on their slides and they yours. Depending on the number of students in the course, there might also be only two. In such a case, be prepared to just exchange slides and feedback with one student.

      If by Tuesday 16:00 of Week 3, you are the only one in your group, please email the teacher and she'll see if she can create a bigger group of 4 during the next day.

    • Not available unless: You belong to a group in Assignment 8 Peer groups
      Forum icon
      Assignment 8 Steps 2 & 3 Forum: Submit your slides & exchange feedback

      N.B. This forum is set to the first deadline for Step 2.

      Please note that this assignment has four (4) steps and three (3) deadlines:

      Step 1: Choose a group for exchange of feedback ASAP but by Mon 12.08. 23:59 if at all possible before submitting your slides in Step 2. (Go to Group choice A8 Step 1: Choose a group for slide feedback exchange )

      Step 2: Submit your slides into this forum A8 and only to your group members (select the right group from the pull-down menu)  by DL: Wed 14.08.
      (include a 'References' slide for information sources; however, for each image on your slides, you must add the sources on the same slide on which the image appears, and not add it to the 'References' slide) (4 pts)

      Step 3: Exchange feedback with the others in your chosen group in whichever medium you all agree on (F2F, Zoom/ Teams/ written exchange in this forum). DL for feedback to all those in your group: Sun 18.08.

      Step 4: Write your own personal summary of the feedback you received on your slides into the forum as a new post within your group; also comment on the value of the feedback you received. Complete this also by Sun 18.08.

      You find more details on these tasks described below.

      Creating your slides

      It is time for you to work on your own presentation slides. Would "assertion-evidence" work for your slide design?  Or would you rather work on a more traditional set of slides with bullet points, keeping it simple?  You may utilize whichever slide design you would like, but for your convenience, you might consider utilizing the Aalto University slide template posted under Week 4 , which also contains an overview slide (after the title slide). If you are interested in working on assertion-evidence, you might want to look at their sample template. Deposit your slides here in this forum to exchange feedback on your slides with another student.

      Remember: Usually, audiences like to see and listen to the attention-getter before learning the purpose of the talk. You should include a slide for the overview slide, which outlines the parts of the talk.

      Exchange feedback on your slides with two fellow students in a group of three or four

      Before or after you've looked at the slides of your assigned student:

      i.  Agree on the mode in which you'll exchange feedback for each student in your group: face-to-face anywhere on campus or off (e.g. Zoom/Teams), or through this forum. Based on student feedback, live feedback online or on-site is always best as you can show each other your slides and explain things a little more thoroughly; forum feedback alone is always less informed and less helpful.

      ii. In a short exchange with your designated students, take it in turns to share your impression and feedback on their slides. Keep in mind the material you have read earlier. Be prepared to explain your choices to your group-mates. For example, if you chose to include more images, what was your reasoning?  If you chose to utilize the assertion-evidence, what prompted you to do so? Feel free to also suggest improvements.

      iii. Ensure that a summary of the feedback you received is posted in the forum here. This includes questions & responses that arose during the discussion of your slides, as well as your overall evaluation of the usefulness of the feedback exchange.

      Complete this feedback exchange and personal summary post by Sunday, review your slides by Week 4's Monday 23:59, then deposit them into Submit your slides here (latest version) as readiness for the first practice presentations.

      N.B. If there is an uneven number of students in the course, you might find yourself in a group of four. If that happens, then please sort out between yourselves who gives feedback on which two other students.

      If there is any confusion about the task, please contact me (anya.rasanen@aalto.fi) by Tuesday 16:00 at the latest, or of course afterwards. However, if you contact me too late, you might not be able to catch up with Steps 2 and 3 and your group members.

      4 + 1 pts= 5 pts
      Deadline: Monday (23:59) of Week 3 for Step 1, Wednesday (23:59) for Step 2, and Sunday (23:59) for Steps 3 and 4.

    • File icon
      Slides template File
    • File icon
      Assertion-evidence slide template File
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Week 4 Practise your talk