CEG2609 Poster Assignment
For this assignment you will apply what you have learned over the semester to create a poster the evaluates and describes the water quality at one of three sites (Gategill Beck, Nenthead or Ouseburn). One of the biggest challenges as a scientist is being able to first evaluate your data, then more importantly communicate the meaning to a wider audience. All our hard work is meaningless if we can’t effectively communicate our findings. A big challenge will be finding out hours our data analysis can result in only a single sentence or that we have to make 10s of figures to find the best one for presenting a specific concept. In the real world we are judged by our effectiveness not our effort. For this assignment you have been provided with water quality data collected at multiple sampling locations at each of these sites including temperature, field alkalinity, anions, cations and trace metals. It is your job to describe the importance of water quality (why should we care) and any impairments that have been found at your site previously, how the measurements were made, a description of the main findings, an interpretation/discussion of the water quality at the site and a summary of the main findings.
Pictures, maps and spread sheets will all the measured parameters can be found on the Canvas page in the module titled poster guide. Remember you only need to report on one data from one of the three locations, you will need all four spreadsheets.
A few hints:
-We have measured a lot of parameters; you need not present and comment on every element or measurement. It is your job to determine which are important to include and for the water quality of your chosen site (compare to Environment Agency water quality criteria).
-Not all data is good data it is important to make an assessment of the quality, this includes (but not limited to) not reporting measurements below the detection limit for the method, performing a charge balance and showing the precision of each measurement when presenting your data.
-This is a challenging assignment as there is no one formula to a good mark. You need to use your judgement to determine how to present and what to present. There are many correct ways to approach this assignment. I look forward to seeing how each of you have approached this assignment.
-Below is the marking criteria. I am a formulaic marker, that means the rubric is a recipe for success!
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Poster marking criteria
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TOTAL
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Title
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/4
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- Specific enough to orient reader to problem and summarize the study
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Introduction
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/15
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- Well-formed problem statement and study objectives
- Sufficient context to set up problem (why should we care?)
- Map of study site and sampling locations
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Methods
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/5
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- Clearly succinctly describes methods used: process and techniques, complete, repeatable, statistics/analysis
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Results
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/17
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- Presents results professionally and appropriately.
- Evaluates quality, reports method accuracy and precision, as well as presents the precision of each measurement.
- Only reports data above detection limit and notes detection limits where appropriate
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- *Hint: Do not need to report all the measurements. Present major ions and ones relevant to the water quality (e.g., the reason why the Environment Agency gave each a moderate rating)
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Discussion
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/25
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- Analysis of results (significance of pattern & trends)
- Inference of results (interpretation)
- Presents and discusses a charge balance of all sampling sites
- Critical analysis of data quality
- Future directions/ connections and wider relevance to other work clearly articulated
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Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation
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/6
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- Grammar and spelling/proofreading
- Sentence & paragraph structure and form
- Methods and results written in past tense
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Organization and Format
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/10
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- Visually appealing (See the Library’s guide for academic posters: https://libguides.ncl.ac.uk/acadaemicposters)
- Logical flow and order of material (“puzzle pieces” in order)
- Clear, concise presentation of ideas (“puzzle pieces” linked together)
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Figures and Tables (consider all figures and tables)
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/12
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- Title explanatory and well-positioned
- X/Y axis or columns/rows labeled
- Significant digits and units
- Organized and effective – stand alone, self-explanatory, and relevant
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References
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/6
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- Citations in text correct and complete (all cited are used and vice versa).
- Minimum of 5 references, 3 of which are from peer reviewed journals.
- Hint: Can use an in-text numbered style. to avoid interfering with the text and an abbreviated referencing style.
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Total
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/100
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