8 minute presentation
Oral Presentation Guidelines
Submitted to Dropbox by July 18th
Purpose
You have already completed the research by writing your paper. Now it is time to work on your
communication skills. This assignment is designed to help you practice the following skills that are
essential to effective communication and continued learning. As a healthcare professional, you will be
communicating with patients and colleagues from various educational backgrounds. Learning to
communicate effectively and clearly to all audiences is critical. Secondly, the field of medicine is
constantly changing and you will need to be able to continue the learning process to keep up with
current practices, protocols, and procedures.
You MUST submit both the oral video presentation as well as the power point file in the drobox by the
due date in order for this assignment to be graded. No points will be awarded if only
one of these two items are turned in.
Skills
In this assignment you will practice the following skills that are essential to developing effective
communication and the process of continued learning:
Create a well organized presentation
Research, locate, and evaluate credible sources on a topic
Identify and organize important information
Summarize and communicate new information to peers
Oral communication to an audience
Knowledge
This assignment will help you become familiar with the following important knowledge in microbiology:
Common fungal and protist pathogens
Diseases caused by fungal and protists
Treatments for fungal and protist infections
How to use PowerPoint
Basic Task
1. Sign up for one of the fungal or protist pathogens
2. Research the organism
3. Create a Power Point presentation of your organism and present it to the class
4. Submit the completed Power Point presentation to Dropbox by the due date
Detailed Task
Presentation title (1 point)
Give your presentation a creative title
Oral Presentation (15 points) MUST BE INCLUDED to meet the requirements of the assignment
and eligible for grading.
Length: 5 – 8 minutes
Must be clear, organized, and well-explained
Presentation Slide Do’s & Don’ts 10 points)
Do’s
Create in Microsoft PowerPoint (you have access to this though your student Microsoft 365
account)
Basic font that is easy to read – no script
Font size should be no smaller than 20pt
Each slide should have a title
Slide background color and font color should contrast so the font is easily seen
Use a variety of visual aids – tables, figures, diagrams, graphs, photos, etc…
use bullet points
Include a Reference page at the end (Failing to do this is plagiarism and will result in a zero for the
assignment)
Don’ts
DONT Fill the slide with paragraphs of text
DONT Use font & background colors that are similar
DONT use sentences and or paragraphs on your slide
DONT read the slides when you are making your oral presentation. You should add to and
elaborate on what you have on the slide.
Presentation content (20 points) (graded based on both the power points as well as the oral
presentation – again must submit both portions to be graded)
Organism basics
Scientific name of the organism
Common name of the organism (if there is one)
Is the organism a fungus or a protist?
Organism cell structure
Is the organism multicellular or single-celled?
Describe the cellular features of the organism – does it have unique cellular features?
Types of organelles / cellular structures present (example: flagella, oral groove, etc…)
Any structure that is not found in other fungi or protists
Make sure to define any unique features that are not common to other types of fungi or
protists
Pathogen life cycle
Describe the replication cycle or life cycle of the fungus or protist
The replication and life cycle are the same thing…just two different ways to say it
If the organism has multiple life cycles (one in host & one in vector) describe both
Disease, symptoms, & epidemiology
What disease(s) does the organism cause?
How is the organism transmitted?
Who or what populations are at risk for contracting the infection?
What is the reservoir of the organism?
Where is the organism endemic?
What are the symptoms of the disease?
What is the progression of infection?
Are there complications associated with infection?
What is the mortality rate? (if available)
Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention
How is the disease diagnosed?
How is the disease/infection treated?
How is infection prevented?
References (Failing to provide a reference page with working links will result in a zero as this
would be considered plagiarism)
List all references used to gather information.
These references can all be listed on the last slide of the presentation.
You should include all of the URL (working links) directly to the page where you read the
information that you are sharing.
Acceptable Sources
Your textbook
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
World Health Organization
MicrobeWiki
Any scientific Journal article
A news article is not a source for facts only use if you are presenting about a recent outbreak or
drug development for your pathogen.
Wikipedia is not an acceptable source!!! You may use a source other than those listed above if it is
another textbook or a reputable scientific website. You can ask me if you are unsure!
NOTE: Any form of plagiarism or academic misconduct will result in a zero for the assignment. It will
also require paperwork to be filed for the academic misconduct with NSCC.
