5.10 Chapter Assignment
Plagues & Pandemics Assignment
This chapter’s materials focused on four notable pandemics in human history. For this assignment you are required to select another pandemic, conduct research on it, and create a narrated slideshow presentation using PowerPoint (all University of Windsor students have access to the MS Software Suite) that provides information and a detailed background on your chosen pandemic, as per the questions below (an example of a narrated slideshow MP4, created by Jessica Popescu in 2022, is provided at bottom of this page). The pandemic chosen for the assignment CANNOT be among the four pandemics focused on in this chapter or SARS. It is important to: (1) complete all chapter materials (chapter content, including all embedded links to readings and videos, and the required course materials) prior to starting the assignment; and (2) cite relevant course material (from current and previous chapters) and material from your research on your chosen pandemic throughout your assignment to support your points, credit sources of concepts/ideas, and demonstrate completion of assigned course materials.
Information about some pandemics may not be available, as data was never collected, documented, made public, etc. Some information about the pandemic may be speculative or theoretical in nature. Keep these factors in mind when selecting a pandemic for your assignment and framing your voice/slide content. If you start your research and find minimal and mostly speculative information, it is recommended that you switch to a different pandemic.
Assignment Formatting, Style & Length
- Presentations must include a cover slide that identifies the topic of the presentation/which pandemic, whose presentation it is, and the course number.
- Presentation must be 3-5 minutes in length (no longer than 5 minutes).
- PowerPoint presentations should have between 6 and 8 content slides (10 slides maximum including a title page slide and a reference slide). Be sure to build in slide transitions and slide animations to make the slide show more engaging.
- The final slide must be a reference slide (APA format). Narration is not part of this slide.
- Be sure to include images and photographs (these must be properly sourced).
- Videos CANNOT be incorporated in the narrated presentation.
- Use proper APA in-text citation style to support points, credit sources of concepts/ideas, demonstrate research completed for assignment, and completion of assigned course materials on slides AND in the speaker notes for each slide. One citation at the bottom of the slide or after the last bullet point is not sufficient.
- Avoid putting too much text on a slide. If you are making the font smaller on some slides, then there is too much content. Remember that slide content is typically in point form and the narration allows for elaboration. Recording yourself simply reading the slide content is NOT the same as slide narration. Slide narration expands/provides more details on slide content.
- For slide content, paraphrase and use point form as opposed to relying on full sentences and direct quotes.
- Proofread slides for typographical errors and to make sure slide content is clear, well written, and intelligible.
- Create speaker notes for each slide within Power point. This helps guide you during the recording of your slide narrations. Be sure to expand on slide content (not simply read slide content) and provide sourcing/citations (on both slides and in speaker notes).
- When recording narrations, speak slowly and clearly. If you are rushing through your speaker notes then you have too much content. It is usually best to record your narration one slide at time. This enables you to check how you sound, make adjustments, and re-record smaller amounts of your presentation.
- Proof slide narrations. Check to make sure your voice level is consistent and that you do not stumble over your words. Re-record any individual slides where there is a problem.
- Setup narrated slide show and narration to automatically play (no clicks required after the one to start the MP4) from the first slide through to the final slide.
- When your document is complete, “save as” an MP4 format (use “export to” to convert to MP4 format or do a Google search for instructions). Click the link to learn more about converting narrated PowerPoint presentations to MP4 format https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/save-a-presentation-as-a-movie-file-or-mp4-4e1ebcc1-f46b-47b6-922a-bac76c4a5691
- Convert your PowerPoint speaker notes used for your narration to PDF and submit as part of your assignment (i.e., you are required to submit BOTH the MP4 of your narrated video slideshow AND a PDF of your speaker notes). Click here to see how to prepare slides with speaker notes to print or save as PDF (instructions for PC, MAC and Web are available under the video). https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/print-speaker-notes-c7231a54-4ac8-4479-9199-6005a40efa2a. To save as PDF, for a PC be sure to change your printer to “PDF”. For a Mac make sure the bottom left box indicates “PDF” or “save as PDF” rather than printing.
Steps to Completing the Assignment
- Identify a pandemic that is not among the four focused on in the chapter materials, nor SARS.
- Research the identified pandemic and find a minimum of 6 sources (in addition to the chapter materials) to help you answer the assignment questions below. No more than 2 of the sources can be media-type resources. The remainder must be academic sources (i.e., peer-reviewed journal articles and books) and reports from government and non-governmental organizations (i.e., NGOs).
- Prepare a 3-5 minute presentation (see Assignment Formatting, Style & Length above for limits on number of slides for presentation submissions), including slides with narration. There are several ways to add narrations to your slideshow (there is an option to add a video of you speaking, but this is not necessary). Click this link to learn more about creating narrated PowerPoint slideshows https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/record-a-slide-show-with-narration-and-slide-timings-0b9502c6-5f6c-40ae-b1e7-e47d8741161c. There are instructions on this page for PC, MAC and Web versions of PowerPoint.
- In the slides, address the questions below. Questions do not need to be answered in order. Given the number of questions that must be answered, some questions should be addressed on the same slide as others. Combine those that logically go together.
- Support the points/arguments on slides and speaker notes with APA in-text citations that reference the materials you have found in your research, and those that are in the chapter and eBook. In-text citations to support your points/arguments are essential and required. Be sure to use a diverse range of materials (from current and previous chapters) as opposed to relying heavily on one, or a few sources.
- Develop an APA style reference section for all material cited and include that as your final slide. Only material cited in the body of the presentation, and any submitted speaker notes, can be included in a reference section. This slide should contain no voice over.
The following must be submitted for the assignment
- A MP4 version of the slideshow presentation as detailed above. Please note: When uploading to the course website, it may take up to 10 minutes after hitting submit for the file to upload. Please be patient. Be sure to record the submission confirmation number.
- A PDF of your slides with speaker notes. See above for further instructions.
Assignment Questions
Questions do not need to be answered in order. Some answers can/should be combined on the same slide. Keep in mind that answers are provided both via the slide and the voice over, with the latter giving you the ability to expand on slide content. Answers may not be available for every question. If more than a few of the details required to answer the questions are missing, it is recommended that you either do more research or switch to a different pandemic for your presentation.
- How/why is this considered a pandemic?
- When did the pandemic start and end? How many waves occurred and when?
- Where is the pandemic believe to have originated?
- How did the pandemic spread?
- How many people were infected? Once infected, what percentage of people survived? Were there lasting health impacts of infection? What were they?
- How many people died?
- Is there a vaccine to prevent the disease? When was it developed? How effective is it?
- Is there a cure once infected? When was it developed? How effective is it?
- Does the disease persist in the 21st century? When were the most recent diagnosed cases? When was the latest outbreak? Where have recent diagnosed cases or outbreaks occurred?
- How did humans respond to the pandemic?
- What were the social, economic, and political impacts of the pandemic?
- Identify 2 commonalities and 2 differences between the pandemic you identify and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Narrated Slideshow MP4 Example
The following narrated slideshow MP4, created by Jessica Popescu (2022), provides an excellent illustration of a narrated slideshow MP4. Please note that the topic used for this slideshow, SARs, is NOT a permitted topic for this chapter’s assignment.