Prototype Presentations

About midway through the course you will present your progress on your project.

The presentation

The midway project prototype presentation is a brief 15-minute in-class presentation and demo. In this presentation you should:

Introduce your project the class, including motivations and current target deliverables,
Describe your progress so far, including demo-ing the current state of the your project, if "demo-able", or showing your results to date, and
Describe your plans of the remaining weeks of class.

Please consider the following when developing your presentation:

Presentation Skills

Were the main ideas presented in an orderly and clear manner?
Did the presentation fill the time allotted?
Were the use of visual aids (slides, handouts, audio, video, pictures, etc.) appropriate and helpful to the audience?
Did the talk maintain the interest of the audience?
Was there a theme or take-home message to the presentation?
Was the presenter responsive to audience questions?

Knowledge and Critical Thinking

Were the main issues in this area clearly identified (did you effectively motivate your project)?
Was proper background information on the topic given?
Was enough essential information given to allow the audience to effectively evaluate your project?

Grading Rubric

Your presentation will be assessed on 5 dimensions:

(7) Delivery (technical speaking quality)
(10) Project Description and Motivation (why?)
(10) Summary of progress (what so far?)
(5) Description of future plans (what's next?)
(3) Clarity / value to audience (so what? / edutainment)

There are 35 available points in total. Rubric adapted from Prof. Grant's 701.

Delivery

Excellent (7 pts).
Holds attention of entire audience with the use of excellent body language and eye contact. Speaks with fluctuation in volume and inflection to maintain audience interest and emphasize key points. Uses appropriate/correct grammar and vocabulary. Speaks audibly and loud to be easily heard and understood.
Good (4 pts).
Presenter exhibits many of the following characteristics: Holds the attention of most the audience with the use of good body language and eye contact. Speaks with fluctuation in volume and inflection to maintain audience interest and emphasize key points. Mostly uses appropriate/correct grammar and vocabulary, with the exception of a few mistakes. Audience may have some difficulty understanding due to a lack of volume or clarity.
Fair (3 pts).
Presenter exhibits many of the following characteristics: Holds the attention of some the audience with the use of decent body language and eye contact. Speaks with some fluctuation in volume and inflection to maintain audience interest and emphasize key points. Moderate number of inappropriate/incorrect uses of grammar and/or vocabulary. Audience may have some difficulty understanding due to a lack of volume or clarity.
Needs Improvement (1 pts).
Presenter exhibits many of the following characteristics: Holds the attention of little to none of the audience; poor body language and eye contact. Speaks with little fluctuation in volume and inflection to maintain audience interest and emphasize key points. Several inappropriate/incorrect uses of grammar and/or vocabulary. Audience may have great difficulty understanding due to a lack of volume or clarity.

Project Description and Motivation

Excellent (10 pts)
Provides clear purpose and intent for the project; pertinent examples, facts, and/or statistics; supports ideas with evidence. Should address the project's novelty and what the group aims to accomplish by completing the project. Addresses audience at an appropriate level (rigorous, but generally understandable to a scientifically-minded group and under the assumption that some members of the audience are unfamiliar with the specifics of your project area.)
Needs Improvement (1 pts)
Several of the following elements are present: Purpose and intent for the project is not explained. The project's novelty is not clearly explained. Addresses audience at a level (either extremely technical or with no technical rigor) that makes the project difficult to understand.

Summary of Progress

Excellent (10 pts).
Clearly summarizes current contributions to the project. Clearly explains technical details (without going too deep) and uses visual aids when appropriate (screen shots, charts, graphs, live demos, etc.)
Good (7 pts).
Summarizes current contributions to the project, though a few points remain unclear. Explains technical details. Use of visual aids could use some improvement, but conveys the main point of presenter.
Fair (4 pts).
Summarizes current contributions to the project, though a several points remain unclear. Technical details are somewhat difficult to understand. Use of visual aids should be improved to convey the major points of presenter.
Needs Improvement (1 pts).
Displays many of the following characteristics: Poorly summarizes your current contribution to the project. Lack of technical rigor. No use visual aids, such as screen shots, charts, graphs, live demos, etc., where appropriate.

Description of Future Plans

Excellent (5 pts).
Provides a clear list of goals and objectives for the remainder of the project. Goals for the remainder of the project are narrow, focused, and within reason.
Good/Fair (3 pts).
Goals and objectives for the remainder of the project are presented, but are somewhat ambiguous. Does not demonstrate a clear plan for the remainder of the project.
Needs Improvement (1 pts).
Goals and objectives for the remainder of the project are vague or non-existent. Does not demonstrate a successful plan for the remainder of the project.

Clarity/Value to Audience

Excellent (3 pts).
Demonstrates clear knowledge about topic during entire presentation. Significantly increases audience understanding and knowledge of topic.
Good/Fair (2 pts).
Shows some clear knowledge about topic. Raises audience understanding and awareness of most points.
Needs Improvement (1 pts).
Shows little to no clarity of knowledge about the topic being presented. Raises audience understanding and knowledge minimally.