Tutorials – Monday

Please find below the times for tutorials for Monday 30 October. Under no circumstances should you be late as the tutorials will trundle on without you.

If you are absent then you will miss feedback. You will also note that the series starts at 9 am NOT 9.15. It is up to you to make the given time.

Tutorial times for Monday 30 October

9.00 Smith, PT Mr REG
9.10 Wilson, D Mr REG
9.20 Hutcheson D Mr
9.30 Quigley, J Mr REG
9.40 Rodgers, JP Mr EXP
9.50 Roper, RA Mr REG
10.00 Shongo, NB Mr REG
10.10 Shongo, J Mr REG
10.20 Simpson, AA Mr REG
10.30 Moore, GSJ Mr REG
10.40 Moran, R Miss EXP
10.50 Nelis, L Miss REG
11.00 O’Donnell, PE Miss REG
11.10 O’Neill, S Mr REG
11.20 Ohartghaile, C Mr REG
11.30 McLaughlin, DJ Mr REG
11.40 McLaughlin, K Mr REG
11.50 McLernon, C Mr REG
12.00 Harkin, J Mr REG

1.10 Hetherington, K Mr REG
1.20 Hutton, J Miss REG
1.30 Kemmy, DM Mr REG
1.40 Lynch, CE Miss EXP
1.50 Marley, C Mr REG
2.00 McAleer, MJ Mr REG
2.10 McGann, P Mr REG
2.20 McGill, L Mr REG
2.30 Emerson, EM Miss REG
2.40 Fyffe, RF Mr REG
2.50 Hall, R Mr REG
3.00 Hanna, G Mr REG
3.10 Hannigan, M Miss REG
3.20 Harkin, C Miss REG
3.40 Campbell, MR Miss REG
3.50 Campbell, M Miss REG
4.00 Cassidy, R Miss REG
4.10 Coyle, G Mr REG
4.20 Donaghy, J Miss REG
4.30 Elliott, C Miss REG
4.40 Devine, John REG
4.50 Boyd, GA Mr
5.00 Breen, JF Mr EXP
5.10 Brolly, S Mr REG
5.20 Brown, T Mr REG
5.30 Browne, JA Miss REG
5.40 Campbell, GM Mr REG

Literature Review Hand In and Powerpoint

BSc Multimedia Computing and Design

Remember that as well as the document you must also have a CD of a Powerpoint presentation. This presentation will take place from 9.15 to 10.30 whereby there will be a short break before seminars begin.

The Powerpoint presentation should just be a five minute expose of what journals, books etc you have read and what you have discovered. Start by explaining your brief and continue by telling us where you researched and how these findings have helped you. Keep it simple and to the point.

Seminars Groups Week FIVE

Group One 11.00

Smith, PT Mr REG
Wilson, D Mr REG
Hutcheson D Mr
Quigley, J Mr REG
Rodgers, JP Mr EXP
Roper, RA Mr REG

Group Two 11.30

Shongo, NB Mr REG
Shongo, J Mr REG
Simpson, AA Mr REG
Moore, GSJ Mr REG
Moran, R Miss EXP
Nelis, L Miss REG

Group Three 1.15

O’Donnell, PE Miss REG
O’Neill, S Mr REG
Ohartghaile, C Mr REG
McLaughlin, DJ Mr REG
McLaughlin, K Mr REG
McLernon, C Mr REG

Group Four 1.45

Harkin, J Mr REG
Hetherington, K Mr REG
Hutton, J Miss REG
Kemmy, DM Mr REG
Lynch, CE Miss EXP
Marley, C Mr REG

Group Five 2.15

McAleer, MJ Mr REG
McGann, P Mr REG
McGill, L Mr REG

Group Six 2.45

Emerson, EM Miss REG
Fyffe, RF Mr REG
Hall, R Mr REG
Hanna, G Mr REG
Hannigan, M Miss REG
Harkin, C Miss REG

Group Seven 3.15

Campbell, MR Miss REG
Campbell, M Miss REG
Cassidy, R Miss REG
Coyle, G Mr REG
Donaghy, J Miss REG
Elliott, C Miss REG
Devine, John REG

Group Eight 3.45

Boyd, GA Mr
Breen, JF Mr EXP
Brolly, S Mr REG
Brown, T Mr REG
Browne, JA Miss REG
Campbell, GM Mr REG

Effective Communication

BSc Multimedia Computing and Design

Design, Presentation and Report

Effective Presentations

An essential aspect of any research project is dissemination of the findings arising from the study. The most common ways to make others aware of your work is by publishing the results in a journal article, or by giving an oral presentation. While efforts are made to teach the elements of writing a journal article in many curricula, much less attention is paid to teaching those skills necessary to develop a good oral – even though these arguably are the most common and most rapid ways to disseminate new findings. In addition, the skills needed to prepare an oral presentation can be used in a variety of other settings – such as preparing a seminar at Masters level, organising a dissertation defence, conducting a job interview seminar, or even addressing potential
philanthropic sources!

Initial Planning

This is where you begin to tailor the talk to the situation, and for that reason this stage is very important for a successful presentation. Talk to your host and clarify these points before you spend much preparation time. If the environment and audience are unfamiliar to you, this is a critical stage. You may even want to do a literature search on potential audience members to identify areas of common interest or potential questions which may arise. Begin this stage early – the more lead time you allow yourself, the more time you will have to think up novel approaches to the topic and the more interesting and substantial your presentation will be.

Before you begin preparing the presentation, you’ll need to determine:

1.The type of talk you will be expected to give:
(a) will this be an informal chat, a seminar discussion, or a more formal presentation?
(b) different talks have different purposes; the intent of a conference presentation is not the same as a job talk. When in doubt, ask for guidance from your host.
2.The composition of the audience:
will you be speaking to a general audience or specialists?
how many people are expected to attend?
is this likely to be a friendly audience? An interactive audience?
3.The time allotted for the talk:
the longer the talk, the more freedom you will have to explore the topic
a short talk needs to be very clear and to address the topic directly
is question time included?
4.Expectations for information content:
is there a specific purpose for having you give a talk? Clarify the expectations beforehand and plan to address them during the presentation.
will you be presenting novel concepts to this audience, or building upon their prior knowledge? Either way, make sure you cover the basics clearly, and early in the talk, to avoid losing the audience.
Preparation

Once you have a general idea of what you want to say, you’ll have to decide how to say it. Unlike a conversation or a written document, a talk is a one-shot attempt to make
a point.
By contrast, a conversation consists of repetitions and clarification’s based on questions and immediate feedback, while a written paper allows a reader to puzzle through its contents as often as necessary. It is essential that your talk be well-constructed and tidy, and that your points be presented to the audience both a logical sequence and unambiguously. This all takes a fair amount of preparation. Start early!

Here are a few pointers to get you started:

1.Start preparing far in advance by thinking through what needs to be said. Collect material which may relate to the topic from unusual sources, and sleep on these ideas. The final product will be more fully developed and interesting.

2.Using big letters and a bold pen, write a clear statement of the problem and its importance, and then pin that statement on the wall above your desk.

3.Develop this theme into one jargon-free sentence that will catch the attention of the audience. Next, identify the issues you plan to address (brainstorm, then trim back; see the portion of this tutorial on outlining).

4.Arrange these issues in a logical sequence (which may change as you develop the talk). This process is easier if you use index cards to organise your talk, with one idea per card.

5.Computer-based presentation programs (PowerPoint, Persuasion, etc.) can be wonderful time-savers. The time invested in learning to use these programs is rewarded by the speed with which a presentation can be created, even by a moderately-skilled user. These programs are good tools for organising your presentation (an electronic version of the index cards idea), they can be used to create visuals for the presentation (e.g., slides and transparencies), and even project those visuals during the presentation.

6.Avoid using lists (First …, Second …); you may confuse listing systems (First …, Point B…, and another thing …), or you may discover later in the talk that you’ve missed a point entirely, and then you’ll be forced to backtrack. Both of these problems tend to distract your audience away from the points you are trying to make, and both give the
appearance of poor organisational skills.

7.Retention of information by the audience is reduced as a talk proceeds, so if you do want to make a series of points, organise them from the most to the least important. That way, the audience is more likely to remember the important points later. You may even find that the less important points become irrelevant to the focus of the talk as you practice.

8.Determine transition elements which will help your audience to follow the link from one issue to the next. These should be logical, and may presented by posing a question,
or explaining your own discovery of the link’s existence.

9.Use short sentences with simple constructions. The concept will be made more clear, and the sentence structure is more similar to conversational styles.

10.Run through the talk once, early. Go back and re-think the sequencing. Discard non-essential elements.

11.Don’t assume the audience will be familiar with basic concepts that form the foundation of your talk. Outline these concepts briefly but clearly early in the talk to avoid confusion.

12.Attempt to identify problems or questions the audience may have and address them in the talk, before the audience has a chance to think of these things themselves.

13.Determine which elements would benefit by being presented with visual aids. Spend time working out the best way to present the material. Head on over to the
accompanying tutorials for information on presenting material in an effective way using visual aids.

14.Prepare thumbnails sketches of these visual aids, then run through the talk again. Re-work the most appropriate and essential visual aids and discard the rest. Don’t forget to proof-read your visuals! Do so while there is plenty of time to re-print that critical slide with the glaring typo.

15.The earlier you start on the visuals, the better they will be. On the other hand, avoid fine tuning each visual endlessly; if you find yourself diddling the details, go on to do something more productive instead.

16.When in doubt about which presentation medium to use (transparencies, slides, videos, multimedia, etc.), choose the format which is the least complex which remains
consistent with both clarity and content of the presentation. Keep in mind that the more technology you use, the more things there will be which can go wrong. These
technological difficulties may develop into a gruesome presentation experience, particularly if you are giving the talk in an unfamiliar setting!

17.If you do need to use multimedia technology in your presentation, call ahead to make sure the technology you require is supported in the room where you’ll be talking!

18.The most important preparation factor is to REHEARSE! Do so in private at first. Then for a real acid test, videotape yourself and watch the results with a critical eye.
It’s often a painful and humbling experience, but the results will be worth it.

19.You can then try the presentation out in front of a few colleagues. Ask for feedback, then act on that information. Select those who know a little about your topic, and not those who know a lot. This will focus your attention on attempting to explain why you did what you did in simple terms, rather than encouraging attention to details only specialists care about.

20.If you start preparing early, you’ll have plenty of time to refine the presentation based on your colleagues’ feedback. This is always a useful process.

21.Don’t waste your colleagues’ time; if you are sincere about wanting that feedback, don’t wait until the night before the presentation to ask for other people’s input.

22.Remember, the shorter the talk, the more difficult it will be to cover the material clearly and completely. Be strict about including only what is essential information for the presentation, and removing all the non-essential titbits.

Outlining

The primary purpose of a presentation is to provide information which the audience will then remember at a later date. Detailed referencing of material or extensive review of data won’t be remembered – and may put the audience to sleep!

One way to maintain interest is to organise and present the material in a novel manner. Using a non-standard ordering of material will help to keep the audience interested. Similarly, organising your material in a new way (rather than re-working an old talk) will help to keep your own interest in the topic, and will result in a talk which is more fresh and exciting.

The importance of outlining is often stressed in preparing written and oral presentations, but an outline following a linear format (headings, subheadings, etc.) may be restrictive. A list of terms and ideas can be daunting, and tends to focus attention on the final items. Consider creating an ‘idea network’ as an alternative approach for organizing your presentation (or your written paper).

A question that often is asked at this stage is “Is this enough material for the talk?”. Actually, you’ll probably find that you have far too much material. It is important to develop a realistic view of how much material is appropriate, and the ability to be ruthless in eliminating non-essential material. These abilities vary widely among presenters, and are important factors in determining the quality of the presentation.

Here are a few guidelines for helping determine how much material is enough . . .

Important Elements

Keeping these elements in mind as you prepare and practice the presentation will reduce the amount of re-working you’ll have to do as it evolves, and will result in a more streamlined  and effective end product.

1.Rate: The optimal rate for a scientific talk is about 100 words per minute. Any faster and the audience can’t absorb the additional information. Use pauses, and repeat critical information.

2.Opening: The opening should catch the interest and attention of the audience immediately, while avoiding trite filler phrases (Thank you for having me . . .) and technical jargon.

3.Transitions: The link between successive elements of the talk should be planned carefully, smooth, and logical. You should make the relation between successive elements clear to the audience.

4.Conclusion: Summarise the main concepts you’ve discussed, and how your work relates to issues you’ve raised. Aim to help your audience achieve high retention of this
final information. Signal that the summary is beginning (“In summary, …”), but don’t begin the summary too soon or else the audience will start to leave before you finish!

5.Length: Don’t run over! Ever! Shorten your talk by removing details, concepts, and information, not by eliminating words. If it becomes absolutely essential to supply details, supplement your presentation with a handout. Make about 10% more handouts than you think you’ll need. Always leave time for a few questions at the end of the talk.

Remember that there is no point in giving a presentation if the audience isn’t listening. You should make a big effort to help them be interested in what you have to say. It therefore is appropriate to use techniques to retain audience interest, provided these techniques don’t detract from the content or professionalism  of the talk.

Practice makes perfect

You’ve probably heard this before, but that doesn’t diminish its importance. Practice is the single most important factor contributing to a good presentation. No matter how
rushed you might be, make time for at least a few practice runs. The effects of practice will be apparent, and a poorly presented talk reflects upon both you and your attitude towards the material and audience. Don’t be fooled by people who claim to be able to throw together a talk at a moment’s notice. Generally, their talks fall into two categories – talks which are disjointed and awkward, and talks which have had the rough edges removed by numerous prior presentations (i.e., dull and unexciting).

One problem is that you can waste a tremendous amount of time by practicing all the wrong parts of your talk. It is necessary to run through the talk a few times to get an idea of how the talk will flow. After that, seek some outside feedback to make sure you are on the right track. Finally, practice all parts of the talk equally. If you always start at the beginning and work until you run into problems, the beginning of the talk will be great, but the final portion of the talk will be relatively more weak. Begin one out of every few practice runs in the middle or at the end of the talk.

Yes, that means running through the talk once or twice isn’t enough, particularly if the material is new to you. If the presentation is important, treat it that way. Practice. My own rule of thumb is a minimum of 10 practice runs for any one presentation. This can be a big commitment of time, but consider what’s riding on a successful job talk . . .

OK, so here are a few hints on how to manage the practice talks, and how to deal with making and using notes.

Presentation

Having spent all that time preparing the talk itself, there are still a few things you can do at the last minute which will help ensure a successful presentation. Or, if you are the nervous type, help fill time . . .

1.Before the day begins, or last thing the night before, run through your talk once more. Use a mirror or visualize standing in front of an audience as you practice. If you’ve
brought a slide carousel with you (a good idea), check their arrangement. You probably won’t have time to do this later.

2.If possible, take a tour the room you’ll use for the presentation early in the day.
If you need specialised equipment, make sure it is available.
Check to see that your slides are oriented properly in the carousel.
Make sure the focus switch works, and determine who will be controlling the slide advance. Do the slide advance, reverse, and focus features all work?
It’s your show, so ask for help with the equipment if you need it; it’s better to ask for help then fumble around during the presentation. Determine who will be
controlling equipment for you.
If the room is large, or your voice small, use a microphone. Try it out before the audience arrives (blowing into the mike or counting ‘1-2-3′ is tacky, so don’t do it).
Check to see that accessories are present; chalk, eraser, markers, and especially a pointer. If it is a laser pointer, does it have batteries loaded?

3.Avoid standing behind a lectern or desk during the presentation. Stand to one side of the projection screen or blackboard, and closer to the audience if possible.

4.Don’t be afraid to insist on a few minutes to yourself prior to the talk; 15 to 30 minutes is standard. If you have an itinerary, check to see that you’ve had time allotted for preparation. If you are running behind, see if someone is willing to meet with you after the talk, then use that time to prepare. Use this time to double-check your materials, and your introductory and summary statements. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by audience members coming up to chat.
5.Don’t wait until the very last minute to make that run to the bathroom, and remember to check carefully your appearance, including zippers, buttons and other closures, before you reappear.

The Moment of Truth

Gulp. So you are sitting there, about to be introduced. Now what?

1.Take several deep breaths as you are being introduced (but don’t sigh!). Visualise your rehearsed opening statement; don’t improvise at the last moment.

2.State your objectives at start of your talk, then restate them again at the end of the talk. In between, discuss how your material relates to these objectives.

3.Unless you intentionally have had experience as a stand-up comic, avoid making jokes. The results can be disappointing, and may suggest an unprofessional attitude.

4.Choose a natural, moderate rate of speech and use automatic gestures.

5.Monitor your behaviour, and avoid habitual behaviours (pacing, fumbling change in pocket, twirling hair).

6.Laser pointers are wonderful pointing devices, but remember not to point them at the audience. They are best used by flashing the pointer on and off, so that the place you are indicating is illuminated briefly. Don’t swirl the laser around and around one place on the projection screen, or sweep it from place to place across the screen. This is very
distracting for the audience, and they will end up watching the pointer and not listening to what you are saying.

7.Enthusiasm for your topic is contagious, but don’t overdo it – you’ll alienate the audience.

8.Converse with your audience. Involve them in the process of the presentation by posing questions and making eye contact.

9.Keep an eye on your time, and don’t run over your limit. Ever.

10.Be prepared for interruptions (late arrivals, burned out projector bulbs, fire drills, etc.).

11.If you must turn down the room lights, don’t turn them off entirely. Don’t leave the lights down any longer than necessary – remember to turn them back up! Of course, the snores from the sleeping audience may remind you to turn the lights back on if you’ve forgotten.

12.Don’t apologise for any aspect of your presentation. This should be your very best effort; if you have to apologise, you haven’t done your job properly.
13.Don’t criticise aspects of the trip, city, facilities, etc. during your talk. This is another way to alienate your audience quickly. For instance, they may or may not have chosen to live in this horrible climate, but it isn’t your place to remind them how horrible it is. Remember that you are a guest.

14.Strive to have a prepared and memorable summary. If nothing else, the take home message is what the audience will remember after you leave.

15.When you reach the summary and are about to finish, resist the temptation to add a few last impromptu words. They will be unpracticed, and will be the last thing many of
your audience will hear you say. End your talk with the insightful, firm summary statement you have prepared.

16.Don’t be afraid to give yourself credit for your own work, but do remember to give others credit where due. I prefer to do this early, other may prefer doing it later in the talk.If planned for later in the talk, don’t forget to acknowledge these people’s efforts, even if you have to skip a statement or two to remain within your time frame. The best friend of one of these contibutors may be in your audience! If you include slides borrowed from other people, or slides which include other people’s data or figures, always give credit to these people right on that slide. This shows a professional attitude, and (better yet) can save you many words of explanation.

Handling Questions

Your presentation doesn’t end once you’ve finished what you have to say. The question period often is the part of the talk which influences the audience the most. After all, you’ve had time to practice the rest of the talk. This is the part of the presentation where your ability to interact with the audience will be evaluated. Since you can’t always predict the what you’ll be asked, how can you prepare for the questioning? Here are a few guidelines:

1.Always repeat each question so the entire audience knows what you’ve been asked.

2.Before you answer, take a moment to reflect on the question. By not rushing to give an answer, you show a degree of respect for the questioner, and you give yourself time to be sure you are answering the question that actually was asked. If you are unsure, restate the question or ask for a clarification.

3.Above all, wait for the questioner to finish  asking the question before you begin your answer! The only exception is when it becomes necessary to break in on a vague,
rambling  question; this is your show, and you have only a limited time to make your presentation. It is essential, however, that you break in tactfully. Say something like “So, are you asking ….?” This will focus the question and give you a place to begin an answer. Remember that your ability to interact with an audience also is being evaluated.

4.If a question is asked during the talk, and it will clarify an ambiguity, answer it immediately.

5.Postpone questions aimed at resolving specific problems (or arcane knowledge) until the end of the talk, or private discussion. This is particularly important if the answer will distract either you or the audience away from the flow of your presentation.

6.Avoid prolonged discussions with one person, extended answers, and especially arguments.

7.If you can’t answer a question, just say so. Don’t apologise. You then may:
Offer to research an answer, then get back to the questioner later. Suggest resources which would help the questioner to address the question themselves.
Ask for suggestions from the audience.

So…think you can present now?

Seminar Groups 16 October

Seminar groups

Innovation and Concept

16 October

These will start at 11 a.m in MQ213. The seminars after 1.15 will take place in MQ218.
Do not turn up late for the seminar, nor arrive without work of any description. You MUST have made a start to the current brief.

At 9.15 I shall run a lecture for the Design, Presentation and Report module. As yet rooms big enough have not been made available. At present this seems the best solution to the problem.

Group One 11.00

Boyd, GA Mr
Breen, JF Mr        EXP
Brolly, S Mr        REG
Brown, T Mr        REG
Browne, JA Miss    REG
Campbell, GM Mr    REG

Group Two 11.30

Campbell, MR Miss    REG
Campbell, M Miss    REG
Cassidy, R Miss    REG
Coyle, G Mr        REG
Donaghy, J Miss    REG
Elliott, C Miss        REG

Group Three 1.15

Emerson, EM Miss    REG
Fyffe, RF Mr        REG
Hall, R Mr        REG
Hanna, G Mr        REG
Hannigan, M Miss    REG
Harkin, C Miss        REG

Group Four 1.45

Harkin, J Mr        REG
Hetherington, K Mr    REG
Hutton, J Miss        REG
Kemmy, DM Mr    REG
Lynch, CE Miss        EXP
Marley, C Mr        REG

Group Five 2.15

McAleer, MJ Mr    REG
McGann, P Mr        REG
McGill, L Mr        REG
McLaughlin, DJ Mr    REG
McLaughlin, K Mr    REG
McLernon, C Mr    REG

Group Six 2.45

Moore, GSJ Mr        REG
Moran, R Miss        EXP
Nelis, L Miss        REG
O’Donnell, PE Miss    REG
O’Neill, S Mr        REG
Ohartghaile, C Mr    REG

Group Six 3.15

Quigley, J Mr        REG
Rodgers, JP Mr        EXP
Roper, RA Mr        REG
Shongo, NB Mr        REG
Shongo, J Mr        REG
Simpson, AA Mr    REG

Group Seven 3.45

Smith, PT Mr        REG
Wilson, D Mr        REG
Hutcheson D Mr

How to write a report

The written word. Your report.

Writing and Revising

The report should be a coherent and logical piece of analytical prose. In the first place it should answer the question set  (your report – you set the questions). In the second place it cogently argues, carefully documents, and clearly expresses your case. The structure of the report has three parts: an introduction, the body of the essay, and a conclusion.

The introduction should introduce the topic to be discussed and prepare the reader for what is to follow; it needs to be concise. It should summarise briefly the overall theme or argument of the report, indicating the main points to be made.

The body of the report  is the place to present your argument.

The conclusion should restate briefly the key arguments and their implications.

In sum, the structure of your report should follow the rule: say what you are going to say, say it, and say what you have said.

Utilising Reference Material

You need to be aware of how much of your report is direct quotation (where you use the words of another writer exactly), how much is indirect quotation (where you paraphrase or reword information gained from a reference source), and how much is your own wording.

As a rough guide for introductory level subjects Elms (1994, p.33) suggests “that you limit yourself to one quarter of your essay for direct quotations, one half to indirect quotations, and the remainder for integrating the other information.”

The Draft
You will find it helpful to write more than one draft. Use the first draft to map out your ideas within the framework of your essay outline. Second and subsequent drafts must pay more attention to wording and style.

Remember that reports are not just exercises in research; they are also exercises in communication.

Attention to matters of style will help to ensure that your presentation is clear, concise and direct. Your research efforts deserve the clearest and best presentation possible. There are many important issues in presentation to which you should give due attention, but consistency is one of the most important considerations.

One problem that worries a lot of students is how much to include, where to draw the line, and when to stop. Part of your learning process is to gain such skills, and so any anxiety and struggle involved is not necessarily a bad thing as it can definitely pay off for you. You should bear in mind there is no clear answer to such questions: they depend on the particular approach you decide to adopt when answering the question, as well as on factors like how intelligent, hard working and creative you are. If you are aiming for a bare pass or a high distinction, the answers will again be different.

Presentation
You should if possible type or word process your assignments, and you should double space the text. This makes it easier to read, pleases the marker, and allows more room for comments.

Double spacing encourages the marker to note ideas and suggestions throughout your text, and in this way you tend to get more written comment or response. It is traditional to send all manuscripts to publishers and journals in double space, so academics are used to seeing it in this form and indeed rather like it.

Always include a title page attached to your report.

Always include the sources of other people’s ideas or direct quotes.

Always include a Bibliography or List of References on a separate page at the end of a report.

Do not use first person unless you are told to do so. This is a formal and objective piece of writing, so don’t personalise it by saying ” I think …”

Do not use any colloquial phrases or cliches. Be original and formal in your expression. Remember who your audience is.

Use full sentences to communicate your ideas. Each sentence should make sense on its own.Check your spelling. Use a  spelling checker, a Dictionary or a Thesaurus when you are writing.

Referencing
The most commonly used system of referencing at UU is the Harvard system or author – date system.

Referencing within the text:

Anything that is not common knowledge should be referenced .
When you are using another person’s ideas or drawing conclusions based on a combination of your ideas and those of another person’s, you need to acknowledge this by giving their name and the year of publication.

The following examples are in the Harvard style:

Direct quote- that is using the exact words from the text Smith ( 1994, p. 52 ) writes ‘ In general, high scoring assignments are ones that demonstrate a high degree of scholarship, not a high degree of inspiration ‘.

or

‘In general high scoring assignments are ones that demonstrate a high degree of scholarship, not a high degree of inspiration ‘ ( Smith 1994, p. 52 ).

Paraphrasing – this is putting an idea from a text into your own words. Smith ( 1994, p. 52 ) believes that scholarship is more important than inspiration when preparing good assignments.

or

It has been stated that scholarship is more  important than inspiration when preparing good assignments ( Smith 1994, p.52 ).

Referencing at the end of the report:

This will be in the form of a Reference List or a Bibliography, showing all the sources that you will have used in your essay   It will also be in alphabetical order according to the author’s surname.

For books the normal procedure is:
Surname, Initials. ( year ). Title in Italics or Underlined. Publisher : Place.
Eg. Smith, M. ( 1994 ) Study secrets. Dellastra : Victoria

Think you have finished ?
Having written an assignment put it aside for a few days. The time lapse will allow you to develop a new perspective on your work. You may be more objective and pick up any obscurities or inaccuracies.

Brief Two

You have a choice for the next brief. You may work on the Funeral brief as listed below or you may wish to work on a brief from the Royal Society of Arts and Science. The RSA briefs are available at:

rsadesigndirections.org/projects.html

However – the only areas I wish you to work on at RSA are the Inclusive Worlds and Designing Public Services briefs. Do not attempt any other briefs. If you wish to rewrite the briefs in any way please let me know. The hand in – for this module – MUST be on CD. Just do one of these – do not attempt both.

The briefs are not obviously multimedia in nature but I do want you to turn them into a multimedia expose.

Brief Two

The Funeral

You are to design your own funeral. The deliverables are in your hands. What graphic concepts should you have in a funeral? Ask yourself exactly what a funeral is. Is death a beginning or an end? Whilst many – in the West – believe that it is an end other philosophies believe that it is a release, a new start, a beginning. In Nepal for instance the death of a person is seen as a wonderful occasion that is marked with great honour, the graveside noted with flags of fantastical colour and brightness. Not all is black.

What you should think about:

Two songs to be played at your ‘departure’

A written statement for a newspaper/normally a eulogy
(this could be an advertisement for TV or Press)

A ‘coffin’ graphic/ packaging concept. Please note that bacon for example is packaged in what is described as ‘coffin packs’.

How would you like people to dress?

Should you have a personal ‘logo’ for your gravestone?

Are you going to have a gravestone? Maybe it’s a hologram.
Maybe you will appear as a hologram.

The brief is – as you can see – quite open. I shall leave it entirely in your hands as to what direction you take the multimedia concepts involved. Remember that the majority of marks in this module rely on risk taking and concept creation.

The hard bit…

I require each of you to design the funeral in the style of one of these authors, I am leaving it to you to decide who you wish to choose BUT knowing the style should give you a crutch to work to. It does however mean that you will have to research the author. But hey…that’s what Google is there for.

The authors:

Edgar Allan Poe
Garrison Keiller
Richard Brautigan
John Milton
Danielle Steele

The Literature Review (Design, Presentation and Report)

The Literature Review

What is a review of the literature?

A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment but more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.

Besides enlarging your knowledge about the topic, writing a literature review lets you gain and demonstrate skills in two areas:

1.information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using manual or computerised methods, to identify a set of useful articles and books

2.critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid studies.

A literature review must do these things:

a. be organised around and related directly to the thesis or research question you are developing
b. synthesise results into a summary of what is and is not known
c. identify areas of controversy in the literature
d. formulate questions that need further research

Ask yourself questions like these:

1.What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my literature review helps to define?

2.What type of literature review am I conducting? Am I looking at issues of theory? methodology? policy? quantitative research (e.g. on the effectiveness
of a new procedure)? qualitative research (e.g., studies )?

3.What is the scope of my literature review? What types of publications am I using (e.g., journals, books, government documents, popular media)? What
discipline am I working in (e.g., nursing psychology, sociology, medicine)?

4.How good was my information seeking? Has my search been wide enough to ensure I’ve found all the relevant material? Has it been narrow enough to exclude irrelevant material? Is the number of sources I’ve used appropriate for the length of
my paper?

5.Have I critically analysed the literature I use? Do I follow through a set of concepts and questions, comparing items to each other in the ways they deal with them? Instead of just listing and summarising items, do I assess them, discussing strengths and weaknesses?

6.Have I cited and discussed studies contrary to my perspective?

7.Will the reader find my literature review relevant, appropriate, and useful?

Ask yourself questions like these about each book or article you include:

1.Has the author formulated a problem/issue?

2.Is it clearly defined? Is its significance (scope, severity, relevance) clearly established?

3.Could the problem have been approached more effectively from another perspective?

4.What is the author’s research orientation (e.g., interpretive, critical science, combination)?

5.What is the author’s theoretical framework (e.g., psychological, developmental, feminist)?

6.What is the relationship between the theoretical and research perspectives?

7.Has the author evaluated the literature relevant to the problem/issue? Does the author include literature taking positions she or he does not agree with?

8.In a research study, how good are the basic components of the study design (e.g., population, intervention, outcome)? How accurate and valid are the measurements? Is the analysis of the data accurate and relevant to the research question? Are the conclusions validly based upon the data and analysis?

9.In material written for a popular readership, does the author use appeals to emotion, one-sided examples, or rhetorically-charged language and tone? Is there an objective basis to the reasoning, or it the author merely “proving” what he or she already believes?

10.How does the author structure the argument? Can you “deconstruct” the flow of the argument to see whether or where it breaks down logically (e.g., in establishing cause-effect relationships)?

11.In what ways does this book or article contribute to our understanding of the problem under study, and in what ways is it useful for practice? What are the strengths and limitations?

12.How does this book or article relate to the specific thesis or question I am developing?

Final Notes:

A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarising one piece of literature after another. It’s usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with the name of a researcher. Instead, organise the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory. You are not trying to list all the material published, but to synthesise and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of your thesis or research question.

If you are writing an annotated bibliography, you may need to summarise each item briefly, but should still follow through themes and concepts and do some critical assessment of material. Use an overall introduction and conclusion to state the scope of your coverage and to formulate the question, problem, or concept your chosen material illuminates. Usually you will have the option of grouping items into sections–this helps you indicate comparisons and relationships. You may be able to write a paragraph or so to introduce the focus of each section.