Final Project Reflection

For my outreach project, I, along with a few other of my classmates and professor Brickman, went to Clarke County High School to aid high school students in the completion and analysis of their soil bacteria project. At the high school, we aided in helping the students extract their results from the soil samples they collected and taught the how to enter their data into the data collection website. This was the same project that our class had just completed in the labs at the University of Georgia, so we were able to provide guidance to the students in finishing their similar project. The goal of the project was to enlighten us and the students of Clarke County High School on the presence of certain bacterias and their dominance in our neighboring environment, as well as their resistance to antibiotics.

During the project, we gathered with the students and helped them to analyze their petri dishes, which contained observable remains of bacteria that had been found in their soil extractions. After identifying them, we told to students to count all of the colonies of bacteria they observed in order to get a better picture of just how much bacteria lives in the environment around us. We then had them enter this data into a data collection site that is being used by researchers to identify different levels of bacteria around the world and their resistance to certain antibiotics. These results along with the ones we completed at UGA will help scientists better understand the bacteria around us and how it differs in various parts of the country.

Three Characteristics of Effective Informative Delivery:

Intellectually Stimulating: Usually, we don’t think about all the bacteria that we encounter day-to-day, because we can’t see it. Thus, I think it was shocking but also very interesting for the students to be able to observe just how much bacteria we’re actually surrounded by. By placing the bacteria in a petri dish and allowing it to grow, we were actually able to see this and recognize the large amount of bacteria that usually goes unnoticed by us.
Relevant to the audience: Everyone uses medicines like antibiotics throughout their life, making this a relevant study for anyone to conduct. It was interesting to find out that medicines I use for things like an ear infection could actually have negative consequences for my body such as increasing the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Creative: A creative aspect to this project was actually allowing the students to go out and bring back their own soil sample collection. This provided the study with different soil types from various places, so it was interesting to see how the bacteria differed from one sample to the next.

Discoveries

I found out that I actually really liked helping the younger high school students with their projects. I could definitely see myself doing something like that again in the future for maybe tutoring or something along those lines.
On the other hand, I also realized how difficult it was to get the high-schoolers interested and engaged in what we were doing for them.

I think that in the future I would need to do something to make the work seem more interesting and engaging, because it seemed like the students got bored rather fast with what we were doing. I also think that some students were a little shy and this caused them to participate less, so next time I would work on bringing those students out of their comfort zone in order to get them more engaged.

By helping the high school students with their project, I was better able to understand the study myself, which makes sense since I had to understand it in order to explain it to them. It was also helpful doing the project a second-time. I understood the process a lot better and why we were doing it the second-time. Next time I do a project like this I think it would be helpful for me to go over the process multiple times like we did here.

I think that I could have been more informed. There were some parts of the project and the data process that even I was still confused about when we were helping the high-school students, so that probably didn’t look good from their perspective. But, all-in-all I think I did a pretty good job in aiding them.

I learned alot from this project, so I would say it was very effective. I never realized how much bacteria surrounded me in my environment and how so much of it was resistant to bacteria. It was very enlightening, and it was refreshing actually doing something in a class and then relating it to real-world problems.

Final Project Reflection

For my community outreach, I went to Clarke Central High School and assisted them in a soil sample experiment. We completed the experiment ourselves in class before going to the high school. First we collected soil samples from around Athens. My group’s sample was from the lawn of the DPhiE sorority house on Milledge Avenue. We diluted the soil samples and then transferred the solution to Petri plates with and without tetracycline. The petri dishes were incubated for 72 hours before being taken out for counting. We recorded the number of bacterial colonies to calculate the frequency of tetracycline resistance in the soil samples. The data was then recorded on the PARE national database.

We learned about the prevalence of anti-bacterial resistance through power-points and videos Dr. Brickman showed us in class. Through this project, we were able to actually see bacteria resisting the tetracycline and continue to grow even at high levels of anti-bacteria on the plate. It was interesting to go to the school and help the high schoolers complete their experiment because I realized I was much more knowledgable about anti-bacterial resistance than I thought. Their samples also looked very similar to ours which confirmed our discoveries.

Dr. Brickman’s presentations were intellectually stimulating, relevant to the audience, and creative because she connected the problems of antibacterial resistance to how it would affect our lives in the future. I personally was not able to really incorporate those characteristics into the high school visit because I had trouble finding the room. I ended up coming to the room after all the introductions happened and only aided the students in counting and uploading their data.

I learned how important it is to confirm a plan ahead of time. I was sick the class before we went to Clarke Central and I drove to the school completely unaware about where I was supposed to go. I got lost in the huge school and made it to the classroom very very late. The high schoolers were very nice and more interested in the experiment than I was anticipating. They were receptive to our presence and made conversation while doing the experiment. While I showed them how to use markers to help count their bacteria colonies and helped them submit the data into the excel spreadsheet and online, they asked questions about what college was like and advice I had about applying. I think I was more casual with them than I would have been in a more formal group of people.

The only thing I would do differently is email Dr. Brickman ahead of time so I would not have to spend 30 minutes roaming the school trying to find the classroom the group was in. I would have learned more about the presentation process if I had been there from the beginning. I did not plan out any of my speech, yet I was still able to do my job and help the high schoolers complete their experiment. In the future, I would prepare more so I could come across better.

Josh Marcinczyk | Final Project Reflection

We worked on various composting implementation methods for around campus. They were focused around the East Campus area. While with UV it was just an outreach gauging interest, our efforts in Rooker Hall came to fruition with full implementation of a composting system in the building. We worked to educate the RAs and structure the program.

For this project, we had to familiarize ourselves with composting: what it is, what you can and can’t compost, what the benefits are, what the interest is. We reached out to residents and RAs through various surveys and interactions to gauge interest and gather input on some desired aspect. I do not believe I will do any further research on the topic, but I am now knowledgeable to compost on my own.

Composting- letting nature do its job and recycle organic matters for reuse in the soil

How easy composting is- anyone can do it, we set up a very easy system for the residents and provide them with materials to carry it out

We did most of our information gathering online. Presenting the topic absolutely helped me to learn the material better.

To be intellectually stimulating, we made the presentation easily understandable and quick; I also went around with an image to show the RAs. For relevance, the presentation gave the RAs all the information that they needed to know to pass on to their residents; we didn’t include any unnecessary information. Creativity-wise, we lured the RAs with snacks and spread out the information between group members so that each member was an expert on their slide and involved; it made it seem like there was already a big composting interest on campus if that many of us were presenting.

I discovered the efficiency of working in a large group. I also was presently surprised at how willing the RAs were to listen and learn.

We knew the RAs were supposed to be our field soldiers on this project, so we gave them everything we needed to know to employ it.

We had a little bit of lack of structure and familiarity, so we should have practiced maybe one time.

We put into practice ideas that we learned in the course, and learned about methods of presentation in a large group which is new for me.

Any experience with presentations is beneficial for development as a presenter; this is necessary to be a good worker. I may even start composting in the future.

We delivered the presentation well; in the future, practice would make perfect!

This outreach was a new experience, but I feel like it has more real-world elements than most presentation dream that they could have. I liked this type of assignment and would love to do it on a topic related to my major.

Final Project Reflection – Idan Kirshenbaum

1) For my outreach project, I went with my fellow classmates to one of the dorms in East Campus Village, Rooker Hall, and do a presentation about the importance of composting. To prepare for this outreach, our class worked on a PowerPoint presentation that would describe the easiness of composting on campus to show to and educate the RA’s so they could teach their residents how to carry it out as well.

2) To prepare for this project, two classmates and I researched how to compost in an urban environment, while the rest of the class covered all the other aspects of composting. Our research showed there are two main ways one can compost while living in a city (such as Athens). The first composting method we found was commercial composting, and we even found a commercial composting company in Athens called Let Us Compost. The second composting method we found was a process called vermiculture that utilizes hundreds to thousands of worms to turn organic waste into fertilizer. Our research focused on using multiple sources and then compiling it all on one page in the WordPress site for future reference.

3) Besides researching ways how an urban dweller could compost, I also did my own personal research into how UGA composts its dining halls’ leftover food scraps. Little did I know, this additional information was included on the Rooker Hall presentation, while the urban composting information was not as prevalent. I decided to help on the day of the presentation by using the knowledge I had gained from my research to present the information about dining hall composting on campus.

4) Reflecting on our presentation, each of the characteristics of effective information delivery were used very effectively. The presentation was intellectually stimulating, which was evident when the RA’s asked us questions about their concerns or gave us suggestions for ideas. The presentation was relevant because the main audience who we made the presentation for were the RA’s at Rooker Hall. In order to keep the presentation creative, we added pictures to the presentation and made a colorful flyer that briefly summarized the information in an intellectually stimulating way.

5) I discovered that composting is quite simple, and I also learned that composting can be done in small, urban homes such as apartments. At first, I was shocked to learn that outside space isn’t necessary to compost, but indoor composting bins make composting much easier indoors. I learned that I can keep a level head during times of pressure or stress when we were forced to move locations from the Fireside Lounge inside Rooker Hall to a different dorm in order to present. We then learned that there was no projector in our new location, so we all had to adjust and figure out a solution. I assumed that the audience would be disinterested but they were very intrigued by what we had to present; I even saw a few RA’s taking notes during the presentation. We had technological issues because we didn’t have a projector, so we used (a classmate) Josh’s laptop which ended up working out. This proved to be a useful lesson, as I learned that it is important to have a backup in case something goes wrong.

6) I initially thought the RA’s would show little to no interest in composting, and that it would be challenging to convince them of how easy composting is. However, I soon discovered once we started presenting that this was not the case, as I saw that the RA’s were active during our presentation by asking questions and taking notes. For future communication efforts, I will try and make the presentation more stimulating by adding a few jokes in order to keep the audience more interested.

7) If I had to change anything about how the presentation went, I would have (1) asked my classmates to come a little earlier to make sure that we were all prepared for the presentation and ready to answer questions about the topic. Next, I would have (2) given us a projector so that our presentation could have followed somewhat of a more organized structure. Finally, I would have (3) prepared to answer questions about other people’s topics so that I could have been a little more active during the presentation.

8) This presentation introduced me to the importance of composting for the very first time. In addition to this, I learned how prepared and organized I have to be in order to present a topic to an audience. To do so, you must be well informed and be prepared to deal with unexpected obstacles. What I believe to be most important is that you also have to learn to take criticism very constructively in order to improve.

9) I believe I improved my group work skills and my communication skills through this presentation. This is in part because of the situation that occurred before our presentation where we had to change location. This made our presentation slightly disorganized because we were struggling to present without a projector. As a group, I believe we were successful in our presentation because we managed to persevere and present the information to the RA’s of Rooker Hall in a creative and stimulating way.

10) If our group was able to practice presenting a few times before we presented to the RA’s, I believe we all would have been more knowledgeable about the topic and better equipped to answer their questions. However, I still believe I performed well and I would like to improve my organization skills.

11) Overall, the assignment was very effective for me because I believe that one of the best ways to learn about a topic is to teach it to someone else. The feedback that the RA’s gave us was very helpful and taught our group what we were lacking on and improved what were doing well on.

Final Project Reflection: Allaina Siler

For my final project outreach, I chose to volunteer at Clarke Central High School to help them see the amount of antibiotic resistance in their soil by counting the colonies from their soil samples.

To begin, we had the students bring in soil samples from different locations for our testing at the UGA lab. We first measured a gram of soil and performed six serial dilutions by adding more and more water to dilute the soil samples. Then, we added those solutions to petri plates that either had no antibiotic (NA-control) or with tetracycline (TET 3 AND TET 30) and waited a couple of days to count the amount of colonies in the petri dishes to see the amount of antibiotic resistance in the samples at the high school. To do that, we had the high school students choose the 2 different dilution plates that were the easiest to count and mark with a pen (within 5 to 300 colonies) for NA, TET 3, and TET 30. We then entered that data into the spreadsheet which performed calculations of the frequency of tetracyline resistance and then entered that data in the PARE site. For this experiment, we researched topics such as antibiotic resistance as well as how genes in bacteria are transferred. Although the research was interesting, I won’t be doing research of that kind in the future, as I’m an art major and will be taking many studio classes in the future.

One main point learned in the research process is antibiotic resistance. The way bacteria survive with antibiotic resistance begins with mutations in their genes which prevent their susceptibility to antibiotics. As a result, when an antibiotic is introduced, the bacteria without the mutation die out, while those mutation-containing ones survive. The next point lies in how bacterial genes are transferred. First, then, they divide and their offspring through vertical transmission contain the mutations, so when the same antibiotic is added, those resistant bacteria will fight it off, resulting in antibiotic failure. In addition to vertical transmission, bacteria can also transfer their mutant genes horizontally through conjugation (transmission through a pious or hollow tubular structure), transformation (free passage of DNA between cells), and transduction (via a bacteriophage viruses taking DNA from an infected bacterial cell and transferring it to a new cell). I learned these pieces of information through class discussions, as well as studying the powerpoints on the checklist. And, through this project, I could physically see the topics at work because over time, the bacteria with mutations survived through division (vertical) or through horizontal transmission of genetic material. In other words, the colonies which we counted were tetracycline-resistant bacteria who gained that resistance through mutations transmitted horizontally or vertically. Although I didn’t present the material to the class, by performing the experiment, the material was reinforced in the real world, which was really helpful.

First, we made sure the presentation was intellectually stimulating by giving the high schoolers the tasks of counting colonies and entering the data which made them consider both antibiotic resistance in the soil as well as how we calculate the frequency of the resistance. Furthermore, by having the different serial dilutions, the high schoolers had to think mathematically about how by adding more and more water would have the solution less potent by factors of 10. The relevance came into play through the experiment enlisting the high schoolers to find their own soil; therefore, since it was their samples, they were more invested to see how their own soil had antibiotic resistance, something which can be harmful. Finally, the presentation was creative in that it was an application of the real world; in other words, the samples were from locations they’ve been to, and they entered their data in to a real scientific research site (PARE). In all of my high school science classes I never had the really cool opportunity to input my own data into a national site.

I learned many things during this process, but one discovery was that soil and antibiotics are related. Previously, I just thought that antibiotics were used to combat sicknesses, but I never knew they would be in soil and that bacteria would be resistant to it. In addition, I discovered how to make a serial dilutions; in other classes, my teachers would give us samples that were already diluted, without telling us how to perform it ourselves. But, with this class, I learned how, so if I ever need to do a serial dilution in my life, I’ll know how. About myself, I did learn that I love to pipette samples, spread the samples in the dish with the stick, and use parafilm. Because I’m usually more drawn to artistic tasks, it was interesting to learn I like science lab tasks as well. Although I don’t think I learned a more creative skill or about delivering a presentation, I did see myself as more confident because I had to instruct people who were about my age on how to do an experiment I had only done once. Also, I found out my assumption of high schoolers (the audience) was that they were rude or maybe scary (since I’m short and they’re all so tall), but I realize they were really sweet and well behaved. Therefore, in the future, when I need to communicate information to a new audience, I’ll be less nervous because they’re people just like me, and usually their first move isn’t to be rude to me.

To analyze my audience, I first looked to see which people seemed the least intimidating (the girls), and I made sure I began talking with them to be more comfortable and then I moved to “scarier” students (football players) as a way to prep an not psych myself out. Because I knew I’d be nervous with this audience, I made sure to review the experiment before class, so I’d be able to facilitate the correct information better. I can then apply that to future communication efforts by first figuring out who the audience would be and then figure out a plan to best give the information.

If I did this again, I’d research and review the experiment even more. Even though, like discussed previously, I did research to familiarize myself before getting to the audience, I still felt slightly unprepared, as I had to ask Dr. Brickman questions a couple of times.

This experience helped me understand the material more because I had to apply it to this real life experiment. Therefore, I had to understand the different aspects (like the bacterial resistance) to ensure that I’d deliver the presentation to the high schoolers better. Also, I had to know the material well in case the students asked me questions. In other words, I had to be organized for this specific audience, because high schoolers can easily smell fear or know when someone isn’t confident.

In the future, I can use what I learned about being prepared for presentations and keeping my nerves in check with future meetings or presentations that I might have in the graphic design field where I need to facilitate information about a logo or advertising campaign to people (bosses) who are intimidating.

This came across in the way I wanted it to, in terms of successfully completing a task and engaging a large audience, but as I said, I would prepare even more in the future to have it go even more smoothly.

Finally, this experiment was effective because I utilized what I learned in class to present an experiment to a large group of people in a nerve-inducing environment of a high school.

Final Project Reflection — Sahir Shahryar

For my community outreach, I went with many of my classmates to Clarke Central High School to do soil samples. In preparation for the visit, we had our own lab in class in which we prepared dilutions of a soil sample. My group took a sample from the “front side” of the Science Learning Center near one of the trees. We had a lot of fun with the lab equipment and with preparing the agar dishes. Counting the colonies on the dishes later on was a challenge in and of itself, but I think it was necessary in order to adequately prepare us for the visit to Clarke Central.

On the day of the visit, I took the Milledge Avenue bus route to Clarke Central and met with the other students. Our role in the classroom was more that of assistants than it was of presenters. As such, while I do feel that the information we provided to the students was intellectually stimulating and relevant to the audience, I don’t think that I made my interactions with the students particularly creative. The assignment itself, however, was pretty creative — after all, it’s not every day that you get to count bacteria colonies on a dish! I think that having an outreach project to begin with was important, as it gave me some perspective on why we even do science in the first place. If not to spread awareness of the good and bad things that we discover through the scientific process, then why?

When talking to the students, I did my best to help them by answering any questions they had. I tried my best not to make assumptions about the students’ capabilities; after all, I’m not a biology major, so the gap in understanding is not as big as one might expect between a high-schooler and a college student. Given the opportunity to do the visit again, I think I would spend a bit more time reading about the finer details of the experiment. That way, I wouldn’t be as dependent on Blake and Dr. Brickman as I was the first time around. I definitely feel that helping students in a lab makes you understand the material better yourself. As a student in biology addressing other students in biology, I don’t think I had to spend too much effort analyzing my audience, as much of what we were covering included things that the students were already familiar with. I also didn’t have much time to incorporate feedback into the way I was addressing questions.

In the future, I’d like to perhaps spend more time being active with the students, asking them questions as they do their work instead of just when they raise their hands. I’d also like to spend more time walking around instead of spending as much time talking to my classmates (from BIOL 2103H). At the moment, I am just wrapping up my first semester as a peer learning assistant (PLA, or undergraduate TA) for CSCI 1301, where I oversee a lab and have to walk around and answer questions. I think that I can incorporate what I’ve learned from this experience into my PLA experience as well when I do it next semester.

Overall, I enjoyed the visit, as it was not only a break in pace, but also a reminder about the responsibility scientists have as teachers to the greater community.

Final Project Reflection

1. I went to Clarke County High School to help the high school class with their soil samples!
2. First, we plated soil samples of our own and of a high school class with various levels of antibiotics and analyzed the bacterial growth in each plate. Then, we went and helped the high school class enter their data correctly online.
3. The lab helped to show antibiotic resistance and natural selection at work. Because we were going to the high school to help them with the same data, I had to become familiar with the terms we would be using and the questions they might ask. The majority of my information came from our in class powerpoints which correlated with the antibiotic resistance.
4. We did not really present anything to the high schoolers so I don’t feel that these 3 characteristics were used. We mainly just went to help them with entering the data and counting the bacteria on the plates.
5. This project was the closest thing I’ve had to a science lab in college, and I found that I did really enjoy it. I also saw how working in teams can be very helpful. Any instructions I wasn’t sure about were clarified by the other members of my team and vice versa.
6. Again, I didn’t really present anything, but being a freshman in College, I do still feel close to high school, which let me easily communicate with the students we helped and explain things to them.
7. Next time, I would be more involved in helping the students and making sure that they understood what was going on.
8. Getting to physically see the growth of bacteria under different levels of antibiotics really helped me to better understand the concept of antibiotic resistance that we had been discussing in class.
9. I can use these examples of antibiotic resistance to help explain the dangers of overuse of antibiotics and why that can lead to antibiotic resistant bacteria.
10. I think that me and my group did a good job helping out at the high school just like we wanted to. We all tried to be helpful and kind whenever anyone had a question.
11. Yes this assignment was very helpful to me! It really did help me feel more confident in the materials of the course and the concepts that we addressed such as natural selection and antibiotic resistance.

Final Project Reflection – Saloni Gupta

1. I worked on the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment Lab and the Outreach Project to Clarke County High School. At the High School I, with my classmates, interacted with the students in groups as the students counted their data and entered it into the online spreadsheet.

2. For the project, my partner and I first worked on the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance Lab. The lab consisted of acquiring soil samples and performing a systematic dilution. We transferred the diluted soil samples to Petri plates, which had a bacterial growth medium with and without tetracycline. We then counted and recorded the number of bacterial colonies to calculate the frequency of tetracycline resistance in the soil samples. We also arranged plates for the high school students so that they were also able to count their colonies and enter it into the database. At the high school, I assisted the students in explaining what was meant by a “colony” and how they should be counted. We then entered our data into the national database for PARE researchers to perform regional comparisons and analysis on antibiotic resistance prevalence. As preparation for the lab and the outreach project, much of the research came from learning in class. This was through learning about the antibiotic resistance process and how mutations can result in resistance. These lessons facilitated my understanding of antibiotic resistance in the soil. This research may be similar to something I may do in the future because the soil is something that will always remain a necessity. Understanding the basics of antibiotic resistance can be helpful when put in a situation where analyzation of resistant microbes in an affected area is needed and I already have some background knowledge of what this means and entails. This would especially be useful if I am trying to educate someone on the topic. Also, since technology is constantly getting integrated into society in such clever ways, and being that I am a computer science major, my future may consist on working on a project relating to the environment and antibiotic resistance.

3. How did you gain information about your topic:

In class, powerpoints helped me understand the background of antibiotic resistance and what this means.
It also helped my understanding when I researched the outcomes of antibiotics in soil
Reading the lab manual and understanding the purpose and goals of the lab helped me realize the overall target and objective of assignment.

What did you learn about your topic through this project:

The overall goal of this project was to determine the percent of tetracycline resistant bacterial cells in each soil. This will loosely give us an insight of the total number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the soil. After all groups had entered in their data, it can be observed that the percentage of resistant cells was mostly under 1% with a few around 20-30% for TET30R and many of the TET3R percentages under 20%.

Did presenting on the topic cause you to get to know the subject matter better?

Yes, firstly it was easier to tell the high school students how to count the colonies since we had done this in the previous class with our own soil samples. The high school students’ data also reaffirmed our data since they also got percentages mostly under 1% for TET30R and percentages mostly under 20% for TET3R.

4. The characteristic of the presentation of being intellectually stimulating was incorporated into the outreach project by allowing for the high schoolers to bring in their own soil. Seeing that many of the high schoolers most likely brought soil from their own background or a place he or she may be familiar with made the research all the more interesting. This is because the high school students are able to analyze and hopefully comprehend the results a little bit better knowing that this is not some “special soil” but instead soil that he or she sees every day. The presentation was also relevant to the audience, high school students, because the high school students were able to interact with the college students. I think this allowed for an overall relatable and low-pressure atmosphere knowing that we were all students working on the same lab. I believe it also made it easier for the high school students to be interested in the lab since a college student was also there and able to casually communicate with them. The presentation was also creative because, for the most part, it was hassle free. We had organized the Petri dishes beforehand by already labeling them. This easily allowed for the students to count their colonies and enter it online.

5. During the outreach project, I saw myself as being more confident. I think this is because if the high school students were confused or had any questions I was there to help them. I had to make sure to carefully walk them through on what they had to do. Science is not my strong suit, usually, the objective and goals of labs are difficult for me to grasp. However, when communicating with the high school students, I realized that I knew more than I thought I did. I think this also came from having to explain the procedure to the high school students. Whenever I have to explain something to someone else, it always affirms my own understandings as well. Being that I am a computer science major, I feel like using technology also made me feel more comfortable with the project.

6. I analyzed the audience by thinking back to my own AP environmental class in high school. As I said before, labs are sometimes a little difficult for me to understand and I usually need to analyze the instructions a couple times to gain the full understanding. With this in mind, I made sure to approach the high school students in a way that made their part in contributing to the research in a simple and easy to follow along way. I prepared for the presentation by reading back over what the high school students would be doing and thinking about possible areas where they would need help, so that if someone did have a question I would be able properly to assist him or her. I can apply this approach to future communication efforts by realizing that not everyone I speak to will be as educated on interested in what I am talking about. Knowing this, I will have to adjust my way of explaining and presentation of the topic to still capture the other person’s attention and keep he or her engage in the topic.

7. If done this project again, I would read over the lab initially more carefully. I feel like this may have eliminated some of the confusion when working with the soil the first time around with my partner.

8. This experience better helped me understand the course by first performing an experiment on antibiotic resistance in the soil, which is in line with the objectives of the overall course, and applying it in a social setting by communicating with high school students. Realizing that it is important to keep the high school students engaged meant that I needed to understand the goals and objectives of the assignment and properly communicate this to the students so that they were given the information and not waiting around and losing interest. Explaining and communicating with the high school students helped me understand the assignment better and the importance of the numbers that were having to be calculated since this is what the high school students had to do too. So, if they had any questions I needed to made sure I explained it to them in an easy-to-follow-along way.

9. I can use what I learned from this experience in the future definitely in the way I communicate with people, especially to those who may not be as educated on a topic as I may be. Many people may define themselves as “not being a computer person” or “not being able to work with technology.” Being that I am a computer science major, I need to make sure that when I am trying to explain a project I may be working on to someone who may not have any interest in technology that I communicate in terms that still keep a person engaged and interested in what I am talking about.

10. I hope I came across as approachable and educational. I hope that the high school students felt comfortable enough to ask questions and I was able to deliver with information that was informative enough to where their confusions were eliminated. In the future, I would go in feeling confident in the subject. I think the best way to achieve this is by doing extra research beforehand and acquiring relatable information that can be applied to the subject. I believe that this will allow me to gain all perspectives on the subject and realize the problem at hand.

11. I believe this assignment was effective for me. This is because I was able to work on an assignment that is so relevant to my everyday life. Antibiotic bacteria in the soil affects all of us firsthand since the soil is something that we will continue to need. It was eye-opening to work on an assignment that looked into a subject that I can physically see and relate to. Feedback from communicating with the high school students also made the assignment effective because it helped me gain knowledge on the matter better and educate others on the matter as well!

Delaney Williams – Final Project Reflection

For my service outreach project, I worked with AP Environmental Science students from Clarke Central High School to examine the number of antibiotics found within samples of Athens-Clarke County soil.

The project began with both myself and the Clarke Central students collecting soil samples from different areas of the country. The samples were then diluted and plated on Petri dishes and incubated for 72 hours. Each plate was examined, and those with between 30-300 colonies of bacteria were counted. The UGA students examined their own samples and counted the colonies and the process that was repeated with the Clarke Central students and their samples. The data found was then recorded on the PARE national database. The goal of the experiment was to determine the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria living in the soil and report the number to PARE’s (Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment) national database. With the increasing number of antibiotics being used and abused, there are growing concerns over the number of bacterial strains that are becoming resistant to antibiotics. The PARE project seeks to monitor the number of “antibiotic-resistant organisms in the environment” and provide a “low hurdle pathway for instructors to begin implementing research in their classrooms,” according to the project’s website. Antibiotic resistance is a topic that not many of the general populace is aware of, and without educators and communicators providing the resources to share the research and results, the problem will continue to grow. As a Graphic Design major, I hope to have the ability to work with the Advertising Council and other non-profits to communicate the research with the general public.

These three characteristics: intellectually stimulating, relevant to the audience, and creativity are not normally associated with research projects regarding soil samples and bacteria. However, I believe our team of students were successful in incorporating all three into the Clarke Central students’ experience. The students were given an opportunity to examine material they themselves held an interest in, as many of the samples came from their own backyards. The results of the research had a direct connection and impact on the students, which provided motivating and intellectually stimulating results. Furthermore, it provided the students with an opportunity to work alongside university students, allowing them to connect and engage with them in ways they otherwise might not have been afforded. I know personally, I would have been more intrigued by the idea of testing soil samples if I had the opportunity to partner with university students in order to do it. The activity was an engaging and creative idea centered on engaging high schoolers with college students and providing each group with knowledge not only about antibodies within soil but also about each other.

The first discovery I made was about my own personal self-confidence when addressing others in subjects that I do not particularly feel the utmost confidence in. As an art major, science has never been my strongest subject, and oftentimes the subject proves more confusing than engaging. However, in an effort to communicate with the high school students, I was able to not only further my own engagement but theirs as well. Educating others about subjects increases my own knowledge of the subject, and the trip to Clarke Central proved no different. In terms of technology, it was clear that cell phones and laptops proved both a hindrance and an advantage. Without them, we would not have been able to input the research into the database. However, due to the nature of the assignment, it was hard to keep the entire group focused and engaged when the work was only being completed on one device. It might’ve proved more effective if the groups were smaller, to promote better interaction between the students and the research.

In all honesty, we weren’t given an opportunity to analyze our audience before jumping straight into the project. Therefore, I wasn’t able to pre-plan for the experience. However, I used my knowledge of high schoolers, and my own recent experience, to provide me with an initial starting point. Once we began the research, I was able to get a better gauge of the students’ interests and strengths. It was clear that some students were more engaged than others, and some even more so than myself. As I am pursuing a major that hinges on creating clear, effective communication channels, it was vital for me to adapt quickly to the needs of the students. Each audience has special needs, interests, and motivations, and in order to be an effective communicator one must recognize this and adapt.

If given the opportunity, I would have improved my own knowledge of entering the data onto the PARE site. I feel I was unconfident in the area, and that translated into the experience for the students.

This experience assisted me in learning the course material due to the added nature of teaching other students about the reasoning and importance behind testing for antibiotic resistance within the soil. In terms of audience analysis, I was able to gauge how well the students were learning the material, and I was able to adapt the conversation to answer any questions they might’ve had about the material, furthering my own knowledge on the subject. Without understanding the reasoning behind the numbers, the students would not have been able to understand the true gravity of the information they were contributing to the PARE database, thus it was important that I helped to connect the information gap. Their feedback allowed me to better answer any questions they might’ve had.

Again, as a future communicator, I hope to utilize the communication values I have learned further down in my line of work. Analyzing audiences and adapting to their needs are vital, and even though the information being communicated was centered around subjects I probably won’t engage with further, the basic values are still important.

I believe I came across as informative and approachable, which were my two goals for the experience. I hope I served as a resource for the high school students and allowed them to get a glimpse of what being a “real” college student looks like. I would like to work on my own knowledge of a subject before attempting to further educate others about it.

The assignment was an effective way for me to further engage with the experiment regarding antibiotic bacteria with the Athens-Clarke County soil. Not only was I able to further my own understanding by teaching others, but I was also given an opportunity to practice my communication skills.

Final Project Reflection

Along with many of my classmates, I worked on gathering information and preparing a presentation about composting for the RAs of Rooker Hall. For this project we kept in mind several things: our audience and our objective. Our audience was the RAs of Rhooker Hall and our objective was to inform them about composting and how to do it, so for our research we compiled helpful information that was relevant to this topic. We did not want the presentation to be too technical, so we tried to include only basic details about the benefits of composting as well as what to and what to not compost. After we had enough information, we created a flyer that was colorful, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to read, and we created a PowerPoint presentation to show during the meeting with the RAs. This type of research—keeping a narrow focus based on the audience—will be helpful in the future should I ever give a presentation to a group of peers who are not currently studying or have studied the topic at hand.

During the research project and presentation, we focused on the dos and don’ts of composting, how composting is beneficial, and any common questions we believed our audience might have. Before this project, I knew that composting was good for the environment, but in researching I learned just how large the impact of composting can be. Furthermore, in researching the specifics of what is compostable from different websites, I gained a very precise picture of composting as well as used some of the questions I had prior to beginning the project to help the RAs develop a similar understanding. Presenting the information to people who did not know much about composting also furthered my knowledge about the subject because we prepared to deliver the material, and we were able to hear and respond to their questions.

I thought an interesting component in our presentation was the section about why we should compost. We included several interesting statistics and facts that definitely intellectually stimulated our audience. During preparation for this presentation, we always kept in mind our audience, which is evident in the short but informative presentation as well as the easy to read but interesting flyer we made. I think our creativity was evident in both of these elements, as we made sure to cater to our audience in an interesting and pleasurable way.

Reflecting about the presentation, I learned that I can remain calm despite pressure. Right as we were about to give our presentation, we ran into some difficulties with our location, so we ended up having to move to a different room where there was no projector. Despite this mishap, my peers and I pulled together and kept level heads. I also thought that I did a better job of paraphrasing the information on the slides than I have in the past, and I do see myself as more confident since we delivered a good presentation on the fly and were able to respond to questions.

Most of our project was centered around our assumption that only a select few people want to listen to a lengthy and technical presentation about composting on a Wednesday night, and that the Rhooker Hall RAs were not among those few. Consequently, we made our presentation brief and straightforward, and we made the flyer engaging and simple. For future communication efforts, I will seek to find a balance between achieving the goal of the presentation and being sensitive to the proximity of the audience to the subject.

If I could change something about our presentation, I would have prepared more thoroughly so that we could have adapted better to the switched order of the presentation. Nonetheless, the presentation taught me that people are more interested in composting than I had previously thought and that composting is a very marketable as well as an important activity. The presentation also helped me with teamwork, which is common in this course, and my presentation skills. I learned that a crucial presentation skill is keeping your audience in mind as well as being engaging, and I learned that feedback from professors and other faculty members involved is crucial as well. All of these skills and tools will be useful both in my education at the University as well as in my professional field after graduation.

As a group, I felt we had a strong grasp of our information. However, we did appear slightly frazzled, as the location change and segue to the project threw us off. I would have preferred for us to appear more put-together, but the situation did not aid us in that pursuit. I do believe that, in sum, we came across as knowledgeable which was beneficial in marketing our project to the audience. Furthermore, I think giving this presentation was effective because it developed my group work skills as well as my communication skills, both of which are vital for both academic and professional success. I felt my classmates and I received helpful feedback that led us in the right direction, and, ultimately, I believe our presentation was a success.