Continuous Assessment 8

Poster Preparation
1.

The objectives of Continuous Assessment No. 8 are to prepare a poster suitable for display at a
Science Conference; secondly to reinforce many of the skills used in this Research Skills Module
in one piece of work; and thirdly to encourage you to work as a member of a team.

2.

From the Public Access Folder (Y-drive) entitled Research Skills Course open the file entitled
Research Skills CA 8 (Poster Template). This Poster Template has been developed for the
preparation of an A0 poster of dimensions 118.9 cm x 84.1 cm using 4 columns. Each of the text
boxes is 25cm in width and has 2 cm margins to the left and right. Text boxes are shown with a
black line to facilitate positioning of graphs, photos etc., however these black lines should be
changed to no line before printing. Fonts for the poster title are Helvetica 80 Bold, for your names
Helvetica 60 Bold and for the institution address Helvetica 60. The sub-heading titles are all
Helvetica 48 Bold. Poster text in each of the text boxes is Times New Roman 28 whereas legends
for figures, photographs, drawings and tables is Helvetica 28. The width of these text boxes, the
font type and size, bold or un-bold, line spacing etc. should not be altered.

3.

For this C.A. you will work as a two-person team with a fellow student from your course.

4.

Using the Poster Template, each team will prepare a scientific poster covering one of the practical
classes undertaken in Semester 1 from the modules on Spectrometric Methods, Chromatographic
Techniques or another similar module involving instrumental analysis.

5.

Each poster should include as a minimum at least one Table of Results prepared as per CA 1, at
least one graph (preferably with error bars - consult other student groups for their data to support
the calculation of means and standard deviations) prepared as per CA 2, at least one photograph of
the instrumentation used preferably taken with a digital camera, at least one chromatogram or
spectra scanned into a digital format where appropriate, and a Reference section which should
include 3-5 appropriate references from 2009 or 2010 on the subject of your poster (Use Google
Scholar or Science Direct for searching as per CA 4) listed using the Harvard style of referencing
as per CA 5.

6.

Start this CA only when you have formed a two-person team and have decided which practical
you are going to convert into a Poster Presentation. Provide these details as soon as possible since
no more than two groups will be allowed to work on the same practical.

7.

Ensure that you understand the comments used in the Critical Assessment of Posters
presentation so that these errors do not arise in your poster. Both posters and the criticisms are
available from the Public Folder.

8.

This is the final CA of the Research Skills Module. The CA will be developed and completed
between now and the end of this semester.

9.

The poster will be submitted during the last week of this semester, if not earlier, to facilitate
colour printing and display.