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Course Outline

TPM 1X000 Technical Presentation Milestone

Winter 2010

Class Days, Times, Building, and Room Number

See the schedule and your Quest schedule. All presentations are in EIT 3145.

See the Undergraduate Schedule of Classes.

Co-ordinator

Douglas Wilhelm Harder
EIT 4018
x37023
dwharder
Advising by appointment.

Evaluators

Laura Winger, Bernie Roehl, Mike Foulger, Orion Bruckman, Christos Hristovski, Haig Avedis Atikian, and Douglas Harder.

Course Description

This milestone is completed when the student successfully delivers a short technical presentation. Each student does this presentation during their 2B term.

Milestone Objectives

The milestone allows the student to demonstrate the understanding of the aspects of a good technical presentation including the organization, visual aids, presentation skills, and response to questions.

Suggested Texts and Readings

Douglas Harder, Guidelines for Giving Technical Presentations.

General Overview of the Topics

The four aspects of technical presentations include:

  • Organization,
  • Visual aids,
  • Presentation skills, and
  • Response to questions.

Evaluation Structure

The mark is based on the four aforementioned aspects by two evaluators. Each evaluator marks each aspect marked out of two for a total of eight marks. A technical presentation clears the milestone if the total marks is 12 or greater.

Expectations of the Course

The student will review the aspects of a good presentation and will prepare a 12-15 minute presentation to be presented in front of two evaluators and a group of peers.

Acceptable Rules for Group Work

A student must prepare his or her own slides; however, the content may include material from other sources so long as these sources are appropriately referenced in a manner similar to work-term reports.

Late and Missed Presentations

Students are expected to arrive at the start of the presentation period. A student who is late will be deducted one mark on organization.

A missed presentation is considered to be a missed examination. The student is required to provide a Verification of Illness Form covering the period of the examination.

If a student has an interview at the time of the presentation, you must contact the co-ordinator. In general, an interview does not cover the entire session and therefore the student will be allowed to present first or admitted late, as necessary.

Presentation Grading

The evaluation is broken into four apsects each of which is marked out of two marks. The sum of the grades from both evaluators yeilds a maximum grade of 16. A pass is 12/16 or better. There are certain automatic deductions including:

  • Failure to include one of the title, outline, or summary/conclusions slides will result in a grade on Visual Aids of 0/2 for both evaluators.
  • Giving a presentation which lasts greater than 15:00 minutes (that is, as soon as the light on the timer turns red), but not over 15:30 will result in a maximum grade on Organization of 1/2 for both evaluators.
  • Giving a presentation which runs less than 12:00 minutes or greater than 15:30 minutes (that is, the light is still green when the student finishes or the first audible signal is made by the timer), will result in a grade on Organization of 0/2 for both evaluators.
  • Arriving late late for the session for any reason other than having a scheduled interview will result in a maximum grade on Organizaiton of 1/2 for both evaluators.

Academic Integrity

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ for more information.]

Grievance

A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy70.htm. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department's administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing academic offenses and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offense, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about "rules" for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm.

Appeals

A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals, http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm.

Note for students with disabilities

The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.

PLAGIARISM DETECTION SOFTWARE (TURNITIN) WILL BE USED TO SCREEN ASSIGNMENTS IN THIS COURSE. THIS IS BEING DONE TO VERIFY THAT USE OF ALL MATERIAL AND SOURCES IN ASSIGNMENTS IS DOCUMENTED. IN THE FIRST LECTURE OF THE TERM, DETAILS WILL BE PROVIDED ABOUT THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE USE OF TURNITIN IN THIS COURSE.