START Seminar – Class Summaries for Spring 2014

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20 - 24 January 2014

The first meeting of this semester will be held on Monday, 20 January 2014.

Notes from previous START Seminars exist: Fall 2013, Spring 2013 and Fall 2012.

This semester we will begin with a review of Word. We will use Photoshop and PowerPoint to develop presentations.

We reviewed the parts of a computer and looked inside to see how the parts were connected.

All PowerPoint presentations will follow the assertion-evidence format. Carefully review the following two sites about the design of PowerPoint slides:

A video by Michael Alley regarding PowerPoint presentations.
A web site by Michael Alley entitled "Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides: The Assertion-Evidence Structure".

The presentations will be based on one of the three following articles:

Everarda, A., C. Belzerb, L. Geurtsa, J. Ouwerkerkb, C. Druarta, L. Bindelsa, Y. Guiotc, M. Derrienb, G. Mucciolid, N. Delzennea, M. de Vosb and P. Cania, 2013. Cross-Talk Between Akkermansia Muciniphila and Intestinal Epithelium Controls Diet-Induced Obesity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110 (22): 9066-9071.
Brysse, K., N. Oreskes, J. O. Reilly and M. Oppenheimer, 2013. Climate Change Prediction: Erring on the Side of Least Drama? Global Environmental Change, 23:327-337.
Russell, M.J., W. Nitschke and E. Branscomb, 2013. The Inevitable Journey To Being. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B 368 20120254:1-19.

Assignment (due 27 Jan 2014): Choose a paper [3 points]

Choose one of the three papers (above) and describe your interest in the paper. The Word document should be formatted properly and cite at least one reference.

Assignment (due 27 Jan 2014): JSC Scholarships [1 point]

Choose appropriate JSC Scholarships and send me the list as a well-written email.

Assignment (due 27 Jan 2014): PC description [1 point]

Please send a properly written email that lists the following three properties of your PC: speed of CPU, amount of RAM, amount of hard disc storage. Be sure to include the appropriate units for each of the three values.

Assignment (in class): Doubling time [1 point]

27 - 31 January 2014

The following topics were reviewed today:

Determination of doubling time from the exponential growth equation.
Citing sources in the text and appropriate style for reference list.
Issues with Word: sections, paragraphs, pagination, tabs, indents, hard page breaks, hard spaces, and alignment of text.
Keyboard shortcuts: ^a, ^c, ^v, ^x, ^f, ^h, ^s, ^n, ^o, alt-tab, windows-tab, and alt-F4.

Please do a bit of research on the paper you chose this semester. I expect you to teach me something about some topic in your paper of choice. Be sure to read the papers by Michael Alley (cited above).

Assignment (due 10 Feb 2014): JSC Scholarships Essay [5 points]

Please send me your best draft of the essay that will accompany your application for the JSC Scholarships.

3 - 7 February 2014

Presentation by Cheryl Hannah from the Vermont Law School.

Class will end at 5:00 in order for some of us to go to Norwich University – bring food.

Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life

A book by J. Craig Venter (2013).

From Amazon.com: In 2010, scientists led by J. Craig Venter became the first to successfully create synthetic life – putting humankind at the threshold of the most important and exciting phase of biological research, one that will enable us to actually write the genetic code for designing new species to help us adapt and evolve for long-term survival. The science of synthetic genomics will have a profound impact on human existence, including chemical and energy generation, health, clean water and food production, environmental control, and possibly even our evolution.

In Life at the Speed of Light, Venter presents a fascinating and authoritative study of this emerging field from the inside – detailing its origins, current challenges and controversies, and projected effects on our lives. This scientific frontier provides an opportunity to ponder anew the age-old question: What is life?, and examine what we really mean by playing God. Life at the Speed of Light is a landmark work, written by a visionary at the dawn of a new era of biological engineering.

Read the P R E S I D E N T I A L C O M M I S S I O N F O R T H E S T U D Y O F B I O E T H I C A L I S S U E S at http://bioethics.gov/node/83 regarding Venter's work.

Listen to a Science Friday podcast with Craig Venter about this book.

10 - 17 February 2014

Topics to be discussed:

Excel: sorting
PowerPoint: objects, formatting, edit points, and hyperlinks

Assignment (due 17 Feb 2014): Scholarship Essay [5 points]

Please send me your best draft of the essay that will accompany your application for the JSC Scholarships – the file must be sent in .pdf format.

The footer of your essay must have you last name on the bottom left and the page number on the bottom right of each page.

The essay must address the requirements for each scholarship. Make it easy for the reviewer see that you qualify for each and every scholarship to which you apply. Use 1.5 line spacing. Consider the following format: title, name, date, general essay, and then the specifics for each scholarship (use subheadings for each scholarship and include text that summarizes the specific requirements).

Be sure to make the case for financial need (and all of the other requirements for each specific scholarship).

Requests for JSC Scholarships are due on 21 February 2014. Please see me (make an appointment – do not send email) if you would like a letter of recommendation from me to accompany your scholarship requests.

Assignment (due 17 Feb 2014): PowerPoint Presentation [10 points]

Use the Assertion-Evidence format.
Deliver a five-minute oral presentation (be sure to practice).
Use appropriate animations (not text) and transitions.
Minimally: a title slide, thesis statement slide, a few slides of content, and a references slide (cite at least two references; use proper formatting everywhere).
Send me the file and save it in U:\START\S14present\

Assignment (due 21 Feb 2014): Scholarship submission deadline [2 points]

24 - 28 February 2014

Winter Break – please be careful.

3 - 7 March 2014

Review of PowerPoint presentations, use of Photoshop, and an Excel grade book...

General comments on the PowerPoint presentations:

Use realistic imagery and cite the source – do not oversimplify or make the figure too complex.
Replace or fix low resolution images.
Consider outline and shadow on some figures.
Use the white space for the figure.
Use appropriate color schemes and animations.
Turn off (or adjust) snap to grid (view > show > down arrow) in order to gain more precise positioning of objects on the page.
Do not center text in a paragraph.
Check spelling and grammar.
Each assertion must stand on its own.
Assertion statements should be in the same location with the same font.
If appropriate, add a citation in the assertion statement.
Cite sources in the text of the slides and in the figures.
Discuss the slides in more depth – talk about the evidence for the assertion statement.
Speak confidently, slowly, clearly, and loudly.
Engage the audience in conversation.
Practice the presentation (and the timing of the animations).
Be cognizant of body language.
Include a summary slide.
Printouts should be in "Pure Black and White".

Assignment (due 10 Mar 2014): References [5 points]

Submit one slide using at least four properly-formatted references (cited in the PowerPoint presentation).
Print the slide (full page) and email the slide (use an appropriate file name).

General comments on references:

Be consistent.
Italicize title of book, website, or journal.
Either capitalize the first letter in each word of the title, or capitalize only the first letter of the first word in the title.
Use ctrl-t, not tabs or spaces, to manage hanging indents.
Put a period at the end of each reference.
Use all authors in the citation.
LastName, FirstName, FirstName LastName and FirstName LastName, year.
or
LastName, FI, FI LastName and FI LastName, year.

10 - 14 March 2014

Dr. Robert Genter and Ms. Ellen Hill visited the class.

Assignment (due 17 Mar 2014): PowerPoint presentation [20 points]

Prepare a ten-minute presentation (to be delivered on 17 Mar or 24 Mar 2014).
Submit one printout (six slides per page).
Email the PowerPoint file.
Place a copy of the file in U:\START\S14present\

Assignment (due 24 Mar 2014): References [20 points]

Correct all mistakes in the current version of the references (be sure to use proper formatting commands).
Submit a printed version in class.
Send me the document as an attached file to an email.

17 - 21 March 2014

Visit by Dr. Hans Haverkamp from the JSC Exercise Physiology Lab.

PowerPoint presentations.

24 - 28 March 2014

PowerPoint presentations.

31 March - 4 April 2014

Brainswarming activity. See the results here.

7 - 11 April 2014

Spring Break � please be careful.

14 - 18 April 2014

Beth Walsh will spoke about resumes.

There was some discussion about the role of emotions in making decisions.

Assignment (due 21 Apr 2014): Resume [20 points]

Create a letterhead that will be used for your resume, list of personal references, and cover letter.
Footers for the resume:
page 1: no footers
all but the last page: last name on the left side and page number on the right side of the footer
last page: in addition to what's above, include the date the resume was completed (centered in the footer).
Choose appropriate subheadings and few font decorations.
Align everything with tabs (avoid spaces) – right align dates.
Use past tense when describing your history.
Send me a copy of your resume (as a .docx file).
Print your resume submit it in class.

end of assignment

Assignment (due 21 Apr 2014): Personal References [10 points]

The references in one's reference list should have the following format:

Full name, title
   street address
   city, state zip
   phone number
   email
   web site
   relationship

Use your standard letterhead and be consistent with font decoration for all information.
Send me a copy of your reference list (as a .docx file).
Print your reference list and submit it in class.

end of assignment

21 - 25 April 2014

Review resumes.

NCUR discussion.

ECE Day readiness discussion.

General comments on the resumes:

Be sure the filenames are in the format: lastnameFirstnameResume.pdf and lastnameFirstnameReferences.pdf.
The Microsoft Office Suite includes Access � if you use Access then that is commendable and you should point it out, otherwise only specify the Office products in which you have skills.
GIS is too vague � be specific with the software products.
A one-page resume does not need your name on the bottom of the page nor does it need a page number.
Use past-tense, be specific and be quantitative for the 'Experience' subheading (what was done, how often, and on what).
Center the word 'References' beneath the letterhead on your personal reference page.
Use the white space on the personal reference page (move the text down a bit).
An example reference follows (be sure to include three names with all the information):

Leslie Kanat, Ph.D.
    Professor of Geology
    Department of Environmental and Health Sciences
    Johnson State College
    337 College Hill
    Johnson, Vermont 05656

    (802) 635-1327
    les.kanat@jsc.edu
    http://kanat.jsc.vsc.edu
    Academic advisor and instructor at Johnson State College.

Senior Thesis Presentations
Tuesday, 29 April 2014 (6:00 to 7:30 p.m.)

Five points of extra-credit.

Join us in Bentley 207 for the Senior Thesis presentations by students in the Department of Environmental and Health Sciences. Please do the following to receive credit:

Sign the appropriate attendance sheet at the presentation on Tuesday evening.

Create an appropriate cover page for the report.

For each of the presentations please include the following information:

Name of presenter.
Title of presentation.
Describe the problem.
Describe the findings.
Describe what future work is required for the project.
Critique the presentation.

Be sure to number the pages (using the computer), write properly, and submit a well-formatted and clear report.

Use one staple to hold all pages together.

Submit the report, at the start of class, on Monday, 5 May 2014.

28 April - 2 May 2014

In-class assignment (due 28 Apr 2014): Use of figures in Word [5 points]

In-class activity included the use of the equation editor in Word, importing graphs, and importing spreadsheets into Word.

Use the following steps to import figures or spreadsheets:

Home > paste > paste special > picture (enhanced metafile).
Right-click > format object > layout > square > OK.

If a figure caption is to be used:

Create a text box and enter the appropriate figure caption: Figure 1. Caption for figure (Author, Year).
Right-click > format object > layout > square > OK.
Move caption beneath figure.
Group figure and caption.
Select group and Right-click > format object > layout > square > OK.

The Word document was sent as an attachment to a proper email.

Assignment (due 5 May 2014): Resume and Personal References [20 points]

Make appropriate changes to your resume and personal references.
Send both documents in .pdf form as an attachment to a proper email.

5 - 9 May 2014

The Final Exam will have a skills assessment component and an opportunity to you provide information about the efficacy of the START program and the START Seminar to be submitted to the NSF.

The skills component will require some combination of the following tasks:

Development of figure captions, citations in text, and proper reference style in a reference list.
Development of an Excel graph.
Insertion of Excel graph in Word with associated text wrapping.
Animation of Excel graph in PowerPoint.

Past Events

21 Jan 2014: JSC QR Assessment.
28 Jan 2014: Goldwater Scholarship deadline.
3 Feb 2014: Norwich University presents – Life at the Speed of Light – a presentation by American biologist and entrepreneur J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., at 7:00 p.m. in Plumley Armory as part of this year's Todd Lecture Series. We will depart JSC at 5:15 p.m.
21 Feb 2014: JSC Scholarship deadline.
4 Mar 2014: Udall Scholarship deadline.
16 Mar and 20 Mar 2014: JSC WPE Exam
25-26 Mar 2014: The New England Association of Environmental Biologists, Meeting in Burlington, VT.
28 Mar 2014: JSC Large van safety training.
31 Mar 2014: JSC QR Assessment.
16 Apr 2014: Vermont Genetics Network Career day, Burlington, VT.

25 Apr 2014: JSC Extended Classroom Experience day.
26 Apr 2014: Vermont Geological Society spring meeting, Middlebury, VT.

Finals Week

Final Exam: Monday, 12 May 2014 at 4:00 p.m.

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