Environmental Considerations Presentation Handout

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Objectives

The objectives of this assignment include: organization; creating appealing visuals; oral communication; teaching; revision

Overview

For this assignment, you will create a handout that communicates the most important ideas from your Expert Report. You will use this handout to aid you in a 4-5 minute, informal presentation to your group where you will discuss your research, important findings, and area-specific recommendation.

An informative and visually appealing handout can help audience members understand and retain important information. Because you are the team expert in your area of research, you are responsible for teaching your team members about your area of expertise beyond what they read in the “Globalization” text (the little book).

Your team members will, in turn, ask questions and offer feedback on your report. You will have time to incorporate feedback, answer questions, and address any concerns your team members offered before you must submit your revised Expert Report.

Examples

The examples below have been provided for your consideration. Most of the examples are only one sided handouts, and you are permitted to use two sides. These samples were chosen because they are well organized and visually interesting/easy to look at – they have a great balance of text, graphics, and white-space that helps readers navigate the information presented to them. While each of these have a lot of positives, they aren’t necessarily appealing to all audiences. As you look at these examples, consider what you do and don’t like about each of them, and factor this into how you will develop your handout.

  • Example 1
    • National Science Foundation funded project evaluation summary, single sided.
    • Offers a clear and concise overview of the program’s achievements and findings.
    • This example is excellent organizationally and visually, but does not offer the depth of information that your handout will need to offer.
  • Example 2
    • This is not a handout, but is well organized, easy to read, and visually interesting/appealing.
    • As a page from a syllabus, what do you think of how the information is outlined and organized? What other cues might you take from syllabi or course handouts you have seen in the past to help you with this assignment?
    • This example has more text and information on it than examples 1 & 3, but the information is easy to navigate thanks to the formatting and visual organization.
  • Example 3
    • This handout needs a little more context for it to really make sense, and for the information/guidance to make sense. It appears that the author included additional context in the references, which is nice, but the reader will need to read all of those references to really get it.
      • Your handout should not require additional context for the information provided to make sense.
      • You will provide a reference list, as well as in-text citations, as part of your handout, and your team members can use these references to locate additional information as they need it. However, your goal is to provide enough context, information, and support (via in-text citations) so that your team members don’t need to repeat all of the research that you already did.
    • Pay attention to the visuals, tone, and use of boxes and flow charts. What do you think of them? Do you like how the references are positioned?
  • Example 4
    • This handout has a simple layout and a lot of text. However, the text isn’t all informative, and the largest blocks of text are actually examples and are not informative.
      • Although there is a lot of text, the reader of this handout does not have to worry about getting lost in information, because the informational/instructional text in the handout is distinct, easy to read, and has enough white space around it to make it easily navigable.
      • If this were all informative text, additional formatting and headings would be needed to help readers navigate all of the information.
    • This is an interesting handout that looks at different types of texts (e.g., directions, dating websites, etc.) and draws the reader’s attention to tone, audience, etc. This handout also asks the reader to do something, and is probably used as a worksheet for a class exercise. Your handout has a strictly informative purpose, and should not ask the reader to engage in activities.
  • Considerations
    • How might an information rich handout, like yours will be, balance text, figures, charts, and white space to produce a handout that is highly informative but also easy to read, navigate, and understand? Do you think example 2 offers a good example for how this might be achieved? What elements do you like about each of these examples that you might incorporate into your handout?

Requirements

  • Upload a copy of your handout to the discussion board by 9:30 AM on September 30.
    • Handouts will be uploaded to a discussion board so that team members can easily access, open, and download the handouts. Using a discussion board for this assignment eliminates the need for you to upload/share your handout to multiple places in multiple ways.
  • The handout must be polished, typo-free, and use logical and consistent formatting.
  • The handout must be well organized.
    • Use clear and appropriate headings
    • Use a logical sequence of information that makes sense with and without your presentation and guidance
    • Use formatting that makes the handout easy to read
    • Team members must be able to understand and use the content of your handout without needing to ask you for clarification
    • Aim for the handout to be highly informative, but not crowded or difficult to read
  • The handout must be 1-2 pages, front and back (“1-2 pages, front and back” means a single sheet of paper, but you may use the front and back of the sheet of paper – if your handout is more than 2 pages, or more than 1 piece of paper, then you are not meeting this requirement)
  • The handout must include at least one chart, graph, or figure that helps to illustrate a complex idea or issue, or that helps readers visually situate information that may otherwise be difficult to understand. See the UNC Handout “Figures and Charts” (Links to an external site.) to help you complete this requirement.
  • The handout must offer information beyond what your team members already read in the Globalization book (the little book).
  • Your references must be cited in a “Works Cited” section.
  • You must submit your handout to this assignment as a .doc, .docx, or PDF file.