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.

 

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.

 

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.

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!

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.

For my final project, I went to Clarke Central High School to do a joined study about antibiotic resistance with a class of AP Environmental Science students. Before we went to Clarke Central, we first had to run our own experiments back in the UGA lab. Our class was split up into teams of 2 to 3 people, and each team collected a soil sample from either somewhere in Athens or somewhere in the state of Georgia. What we aimed to do was test the antibiotic resistance of different soil samples from around the state and upload our results to a national database: the PARE site (Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment). Once we collected the soil samples, we took our teams to the lab. We diluted our soil samples and plated them on petri dishes with varying levels of antibiotics. After letting our dishes sit for a period of time, we counted how many bacteria colonies had formed from the soil on each petri dish. What we expected to find was that there would be less bacteria colonies on the plate with Tet30, the strongest antibiotic, than there would be on the plates with Tet3 and no antibiotic.

Once we had our incubated petri dishes, we were told to count colonies of plates that had between 30 to 300 colonies. Once we had chosen the best plates for counting, we would multiply our number of colonies by the dilution factor. The purpose of multiplying by the dilution factor is to account for the fact that we had varying levels of dilutions for our soil samples. Once we had the results of our teams’ soil samples and a couple samples from the AP Environmental Science students, we were ready to take this same experiment to Clarke Central. This research is similar to research I hope to do in the future because I am in the College of Education at UGA, and I hope to integrate my research with neighboring schools in order to understand what it is like to conduct a classroom experiment. While I am on track to be a speech pathologist, I still look forward to partnering with professors in the COE for future research projects.

I think that this first lesson we did in the classroom (Water, Antibiotics, and Evolution) will ultimately be the chapters I best understand from this semester. This is because I like to participate in lessons as opposed to listening to lectures (though I still find lectures necessary). We not only had the opportunity to be in the lab to learn about how antibiotic resistance is affecting our environment, but we also had the opportunity to take a field trip to teach other students about this same subject material. This is how I best gained information about antibiotic resistance. The lectures in class, quizzes online, and lab work combined with the field trip really helped me get a good understanding of the material. Preparing to help the high school students was a helpful experience because we wanted to make sure that our class time with them was not only informative, but fun as well.

In my opinion, our team of college students who traveled to Clarke Central did a great job incorporating the three characteristics to informative delivery. Our class time with them was intellectually stimulating not because of anything we could control, but simply because the students had the opportunity to see how the soil in their own environment tested in a university lab. Antibiotic resistance is an important issue and has been a topic of conversation and debate recently, so I believe that this also contributed to our project being not only intellectually stimulating, but relevant to the audience as well. I also believe our project was creative because when I was in high school, I never got the opportunity to work alongside college students in any of my science lab classes. This opportunity was such a fun way to talk about biology while also talking to prospective college students about what college is like. I found a lot of my conversation were geared towards explaining what it was like to actually be in the university lab. It was also a nice way to answer any questions and calm any fears or anxieties that these high school students had about going off to college someday.

I discovered a couple of things throughout this project. First, I realized that I am capable of connection. I was worried that I was not going to be able to “get through” to the high school students during our presentation due to the fear of being too awkward and unapproachable. However, after our time with them I realized that these were just lies I was telling myself. This project helped me cast out those lies and replace them with the truth that I have the ability to relate to others through a teaching environment. This helped me affirm my confidence in what I am studying at UGA. Secondly, I discovered why technology rules are so important. While I believe our time at Clarke Central was fruitful, I believe that if the students were prohibited from using their cell phones, we could have had a better interaction with them. I realized this by simply changing my perspective in the classroom from student to teacher, and I believe this experience was very telling.

We did not have much time to analyze our audience before we began our presentation, but before we began, we did get to observe them doing a “warm-up” AP test question. It was during this time that I was able to gauge just how intelligent these students were. They knew a lot more than I did about environmental science, so I was able to apply this knowledge to our lesson. I knew immediately that we could not limit these students’ capabilities simply because of their age. This proved to aid our presentation because while we were helping the students learn, they were also teaching us in turn. I will use this information in the future when I give presentations. Though it can be difficult, I believe it is important not to make assumptions about your audience preemptively. I look forward to giving interactive presentations where I not only give information, but I take questions and suggestions from my audience as well.

For this project, I would have prepared even more for our presentation by planning out a detailed schedule of what we would be doing beforehand. This is because I am a forgetful person who thrives in an organized environment, as I have to reference my own detailed schedules daily.

This project helped me better understand the material because I found it to be more hands-on than other things I had done in science classes before. I also find that the best way to learn subject material is by teaching it. This was a studying method for me in high school, and it was nice to see how this same strategy was effective in college as well. In the future, I hope to use this strategy to help me study. I want to find outlets for me to be able to teach as a form of studying. Also, I will take what I learned about myself during this project experience and apply it to my future in many areas of my life. Knowing that I am capable of what I set my mind to and having confidence in my strengths is a quality that can be applied to not only my student life, but my relational life as well. I believe that I came across in the beginning as somewhat shy. However, as the presentation went on, I think I grew more confident. I hope that in the future I would affirm my confidence before presenting and know that there is nothing I need to be anxious about. Through this project experience, I learned what it looks like to recognize self-deprecating lies and replace them with truths about myself and my capabilities.

I believe this project experience was very effective for me. I really enjoyed learning about antibiotic resistance in a way that was easy to understand. In retrospect, I’m very thankful for this experience because it helped me understand our second chapters about soil and compost better. I believe sustainability is extremely important, so I’m glad I was able to learn more about how soil is a central idea to attaining a healthy environment.

 

 

• Describe the topic that you worked on.

 

I went to ECV to go inform the RAs on a new composting project run by Christi Tweedy. We researched and presented everything students should know about composting.

 

 

• Include a description of what did you do for the project. Please specifically include the research you did for the project and discuss how the research you did may be similar to research you will do in the future.

 

I, along with a classmate, researched what NOT to include in compost while the rest of the class covered all other aspects of composting. I also helped to present at ECV to the RAs to further inform their residents about the composting happening in ECV and on campus. This may help for research in the future because it gave me a solid foundation about composting that I didn’t possess before. Should our biology class become even more involved in this project, my background would greatly help.

 

 

• List your main points and write out what you now know about each of the points. How did you gain information about your topic? What did you learn about your topic through this project? Did presenting on the topic cause you to get to know the subject matter better?

 

We learned a lot about composting from our bio class teaming up with Christi Tweedy. I learned so much about composting through this project since I knew basically little to nothing about composting prior to research in class. Presenting didn’t help since I was already well informed before then.

 

 

• Three (3) characteristics of effective informative delivery have been identified: intellectually stimulating, relevant to the audience, and creative. How did you incorporate these three (3) characteristics in your presentation?

 

I honestly don’t think it was all that creative or interesting to the audience because it’s not a very attention-grabbing concern. However, I do think it stimulated the RAs because a lot of them proceeded to ask questions about the composting. It’s relevant to the audience because they could all do something easily accessible to them to create compost. We incorporated these three characteristics in our presentation by using a powerpoint and handing out flyers as well as showing them what the compost thing looks like.

 

 

• Identify 2 discoveries you made. What did you learn about yourself? Did you employ a new creative skill, do you see yourself as more confident? Did you become aware of assumptions you held—perhaps about the audience? Did you learn something new about delivering a presentation using technology?

 

I discovered that composting is very simple and I also learned that composting can be done in small homes such as apartments. Outside space isn’t necessary to compost. I assumed that the audience would be disinterested but they were very intrigued by what we had to present. We had technological issues because we didn’t have a projector so we used Josh’s tablet which ended up being fine. I learned it’s important to have a backup in case something goes wrong.

 

 

• How did you analyze your audience? How did your analysis affect your planning for your presentation? How can you apply what you learned about adapting to the audience in your future communication efforts?

 

I wasn’t excited to present because I thought the audience wouldn’t care at all. I learned I should ease up a bit since you never know what to expect from an audience.

 

 

• In less than three lines of text describe what you would do differently. For example, would you prepare introductory remarks differently?

 

If I could do something differently, it’d be to make sure the RAs didn’t have to move around and make sure the room was available for us to use before announcing the meeting location.

 

 

• How did the experience better help you understand what you are learning in the course? Please address audience analysis, content development, organizing your speech, delivery, and incorporating feedback.

 

It introduced me to the importance of composting for the very first time. In addition, I learned how prepared and organized I have to be to present a topic to an audience. You must be well informed and prepared to deal with unexpected obstacles. You also have to learn to take criticism very constructively.

 

 

• Please describe how you can use what you learned from this experience in your future.

 

Composting is a subject very advantageous to know about. It’s something that can improve your daily routine and is also something you could easily teach someone about.

 

 

• Did you come across the way you wanted to? What elements would you want to work on in the future?

 

We could’ve presented the information in a more organized manner and with a bigger screen, but luckily we had informational flyers for the RAs to better understand the topic of conversation.

 

 

• This assignment has the elements of students addressing a real-world issue (water quality), receiving feedback from the community partner, and delivering a presentation using technology. Was this assignment effective for you? Why or why not? Was the feedback you received helpful?

 

I think it was helpful but not as effective as it could’ve been due to our technological complications. It was helpful to receive feedback from the RAs to better our project. I learned a lot of useful information from researching and presenting about composting.

1. The outreach project I choose to work on was the Rooker Hall Composting Initiative. This was aimed to educate RAs about composting within dorms so they could take that to residents and carry it out. This would start within the ECV community then expand all across campus.
2. In order to execute this project as a class we had to research what to compost, what not to compost, the easiest way to store and collect compost in the dorm, and how compost can help the environment and soil. My partner and I focused on how to make compost. This included what to compost, what not to compost, and how to take care of the pile. Our research included using multiple sources then compiling it all on one page in the wordpress sight for future reference.
3. Some of the things that were highlighted through the presentation was: Why is composting important, What to and not to compost, Examples of composting already happening, finally How to collect all the compost. Presenting this material allowed me to understand the material much better due to being put in a situation to explain it and sell it to others so they can implement this initiative. It also made me dig deeper and look into the scope of the office of sustainability. The information was put together with guidance from Christy Tweedy.
   1. Why: Composting benefits our environment by improving soil/water quality, decreasing methane, helping with overall global warming. It is also a safe waste disposal mechanism.
   2. Do’s: Anything organic – vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, plants or leaves, egg shells, shredded paper, dryer lint, hair, and cardboard.
   3. Dont’s: Glossy or colored paper, bones, feces, metals, plastics. Meat is also not recommended as it attracts vermin
   4. Examples: All food waste from the UGA dining halls is currently composted then sent to the bioconversion center. Then used around campus. This shows how composting is helpful.
   5. Collection: Electric Bike – It is owned by the office of sustainability and run by interns. The bike will be used to collect the compost from the bin in the lobby of Rooker Hall on Fridays at noon.
4. This presentation proved to be intellectually stimulating because many of the RAs were very involved and asking questions. This showed that they were thinking about composting in a new way. They actually started to think this idea was practical, hence we sold it to them correctly.  Our presentation was relevant because the RA’s were the people who would take it to the residents for implementation and educate the residents. From our eyes the RA’s were the first step to implementation. Our presentation was creative because it included a presentation which illustrated our ideas, we also had flyers made that made it easier for RAs to understand what needed to be done. We also had pictures of the bike and the green bin as a prop.
5. I did not think this presentation would have much of an impact on the RAs and was thinking to myself “which college student actually cares about composting” as I thought when I started this out reach project. To my surprise, the RAs were actually very interested as they were asking some very in-depth questions and I saw some of them even taking notes. This makes me believe that our initiative will actually be useful and carried through. I started to sense myself becoming more confident as the presentation went on and the RAs started asking questions which I actually new the answer too.As far as technology goes, I learned to come with presentation material like in this case there is not a projector. So maybe print out the slides.
6. I believe the first thing we as a group adapted to was the style of presentation, given there was not a projector and that was what we were assuming. I personally adapted to the audience when I saw that they were more involved than I thought they would be. I tried to answer a few questions. Another thing I believe our group adapted to well was when they started asking questions in the middle and we had to steer away from the presentation order we had planned and present as we answered questions. This definitely kept the audience more engaged.  I learned to research the topic a little bit more in depth than whats on the presentation next time so that adapting is a bit easier and I won’t have to look at the slides all the time.
7. If given another chance, I would know the information on all the slides better rather than just focusing on my slides because there may come a point where we may not have a way to present the visual. I would also want to give more time for questions from RAs and start the presentation my letting them know that we will present then take questions at the end. I would like to do this because many of their questions were covered in future slides and this way we can also get our point across without being flustered.
8. This experience gave me a “beyond the classroom” outlook. It showed me how what I am learning can be applied. Analyzing the audience while presenting and adapting helped me understand what kind of presenter I am and how I can grow.  It also helped me see the scope of this project. Forming a presentation gave me a deeper understanding of the topic and aspects beyond the topic like the office of sustainability. I am a very engineering/corporate minded person so this outreach made me step out of my comfort zone and pursue a topic I usually would not give a second thought too.
9. I can use this information to practice composting myself and to teach sustainable practices to others. This experience also taught me to not judge the audience to hard before walking into the room. The presentation itself taught me to give a strong introduction so you control the presentation and not the audience.
10. Due to presenting and only talking on what I personally researched, I believe I came across confident. Next time I would like to be able to answer more questions to show that I am more involved than just my part — to do this I plan on glancing over all parts before the presentation.
11. This assignment was effective because it made me learn the content at a deeper level. The presentation helped me compile the content and figure out whats actually important and what needs to be focused on. I liked the relevance of the topic due to being a student living in Rooker. The feedback from the RAs allowed be to believe the impact we actually had due to seeing their interest.