ICS 139W Critical Writing on Information Technology

1. ICS 139WCritical Writing on Information Technology Lecture 2 Emily Navarro Duplication of course material for any commercial purpose without the explicit written permission of the professor is prohibited

2. Today’s Lecture • Oral presentation techniques • Oral presentation review guidelines • “Influencing Policy” assignment • Group work – PowerPoint articles

3. Oral Presentation Techniques

4. Oral Presentations • Important part of your education, future career, and your personal growth as an effective communicator • Public speaking: number one fear, over death • Nervousness should abate over time with practice

5. Some Examples • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YivQYeI0vys • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kql-pvnid0s • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5vVU8qQWA • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBthvuOQpKc

6. Dimensions of Oral Presentation • Linguistic behavior • Non-verbal behavior • Organization • Visual aids

7. Linguistic Behavior

8. Non-Verbal Behavior

9. Organization • Structure in sections • Go through main points before during and after • Use effective redundancy • Finish with a satisfying conclusion

10. Visual Aids • Effective slides • are visual • If something can be made a picture, then do it • use bullets, not full sentences • Each item no more than two lines • use a consistent layout • use minimal text • have plenty of white space

11. Visual Aids (II) • A presentation is about what speaker has to say, not what can be read from slides • Slides should help audience understand material, not remind speaker of what to say

12. Visual Aids (II) • A presentation is about what speaker has to say, not what can be read from slides • Slides should help audience understand material, not remind speaker of what to say Do not simply read your slides!

13. When preparing slides… • It is generally not good practice to create long strings of text in complete sentences and then either read them to the audience or expect the audience to read the text and listen to you say different words at the same time. They will end up either reading the slide and tuning you out, or tuning both out because text processing is sequential. If all of the information is on the slide, then they don’t need you anyway. • Use brief bullets to illustrate points • Talk to fill in the needed information

14. When preparing slides • Use large, clear, readable font • Use large, clear, readable font • Use large, clear, readable font • Use large, clear, readable font • Use large, clear, readable font • Use large, clear, readable font • Use large, clear, readable font

15. What is wrong with this slide? • Clasesin UML appear as rectanlgeswith multiple sections. The first section contains its name (defines a type) and the second section contains the class’s attributes the third section contains the class’s methids. • Classes can be related in a variety of ways: Inheritance, association (with multiplicity optional), whole-part (agregationand composition), qualification, and interfaces. • In inheritence, one class extends another and it is notated by a a white triangle points to the superclass. The subclass can add attributes and it can also add behaviors or override existing ones. • With asociation one class can reference another and this is shown by a straight line drawn between classes. Also, roles can be asociated with the classes that take part in an association, shown by text on the line close to the boxes. Associations can be labeled in order to convey semantic meaning to the readers of the UML diargam. In addition to roles and labels, associations can also have multiplicity annotations, which indicates how many instances of a class participate in an association. Associations can indicate the number of instances involved in the relationship. This is known as multiplicity. An association with no markings is “one to one.” An association can also indicate diretcionality. If so, it indicates that the “knowledge” of the relationship is not bidirectional. Asociationscan also convey semantic information about themselves. In particular, agregationsindicate that one object contains a set of other objects. Agregationis indicated with a white diamond attached to the class playing the container role. • A clascan indicate that it implimentsan interface. An interface is a type of class definition in which only method signatures are defined. A class implementing an interface provides method bodysfor each defined method signature in that interface. This allows a class to play different roles, with each role providing a different set of services. Interface is denooted by a hollow triangle shape on the interface end of the dashed line that connects it to one or more implementers.

16. Better • Classes in UML appear as rectangles with multiple sections • First section: class name • Second section: class’s attributes • Third section: class’s methods Class Name Attribute : Type Attribute : Type Operation (parameter) : Return Type Operation (parameter) : Return Type Operation (parameter) : Return Type

17. Colors • Use visible colors • Use colors for emphasis • Contrast with background • Avoid light on light Avoid dark on dark

18. Animation • Use animation sparingly, if at all • Distracts from your talk • Should add something to your talk

19. Other Important Points • Know your material • Know your audience • Be yourself • Practice • Don’t apologize • Expect nervousness

20. Oral Presentation Review Guidelines

21. Oral Presentation Review: Purpose • Two ways to become a better writer: • Practice • Critique others’ work • Each time we have oral presentations, we will also peer review them

22. Oral Presentation Review: Logistics • During/after presentation, write down comments • After presentation, give comments to speaker • After speaker reads them, give them to TA • Comments count toward your participation grade • Comment on at least 3 speakers per presentation class session • Next lecture: oral presentations on system changes

23. Oral Presentation Review Guidelines • Linguistic behavior • See earlier slide • Non-verbal behavior • See earlier slide • Organization and content • Can you follow the speaker’s train of thought? • Are the speaker’s facts accurate? • How well does the speaker appear to understand the topic? • Do you agree with the speaker’s conclusions? • Visual aids (when used) • How effective are the slides? • How does the speaker interact with the slides?

24. Oral Presentation Reviews – Other Points • Point out what part(s) of the presentation went well • Provide constructive criticism

25. “Influencing Policy” Assignment

26. Basic Idea • Learning to write persuasively • Improves your critical thinking • Improves your reasoning/logic • Improves your ability to weigh evidence and make decisions • Write a persuasive letter to a policy maker about changing policy • Take a position • Recommend some action • Back it up

27. Topic • Choose an issue: • that involves technology • that you care about • that you know about • Ideas • Email “spam” • Privacy • Objectionable material on the Internet • Internet sales tax

28. Recipient • An appropriate policy maker • New law / support or oppose proposed legislation • Member of congress • Executive branch action • Head of appropriate branch (e.g., Justice Department regarding an antitrust suit) • Move public opinion • President (veto legislation), editor of newspaper • Address your letter properly

29. First Steps • Write a five- to ten-line outline • List the supporting points and conclusion like a syllogism • Turn this in with each revision • Write your letter • Based on the outline

30. Syllogism • A three-part logical argument • Major premise • “All birds are animals.” • Minor premise • “All parrots are birds.” • Conclusion • “All parrots are animals.” • Each part expressed as “Some/all/no A is/are [not] B” • Privacy example • Collecting data on peoples’ search engine usage is unconstitutional. • Google collects data on peoples’ search engine usage. • Google’s practices are unconstitutional (and they should therefore be banned from collecting this data.)

31. Valid or Fallacious? • Some cats are black. • Some televisions are black. • Some televisions are cats.

32. Valid or Fallacious? • Some cats are black. • Some televisions are black. • Some televisions are cats. FALLACIOUS

33. Valid or Fallacious? • All Texans are Americans. • No Californians are Texans. • No Californians are Americans.

34. Valid or Fallacious? • All Texans are Americans. • No Californians are Texans. • No Californians are Americans. FALLACIOUS

35. Valid or Fallacious? • No lazy people pass exams. • Some students pass exams. • Some students are not lazy.

36. Valid or Fallacious? • No lazy people pass exams. • Some students pass exams. • Some students are not lazy. VALID

37. Valid or Fallacious? • No healthy food is fattening. • All cakes are fattening. • No cakes are healthy.

38. Valid or Fallacious? • No healthy food is fattening. • All cakes are fattening. • No cakes are healthy. VALID

39. Valid or Fallacious? • The evidence says one thing. • The conclusion says another. • The evidence is false.

40. Valid or Fallacious? • The evidence says one thing. • The conclusion says another. • The evidence is false. FALLACIOUS

41. Counterarguments • Anticipate and discuss them! • Generate them point by point • Imagine what an opponent might say to each • Do your research • Talk with others • Present them fairly and objectively • Goal: to convince the reader that your arguments are stronger

42. Audience • Special consideration for persuasive writing! • Ensure tone, style, and form of address are appropriate • Describe the action you want them to take in the first few sentences • Make the letter “sendable”

43. Due Dates • 4/15 • Outline + good draft • Joint editing in class • 4/22 • Revised outline + revised draft • Editor’s comments • 5/6 • Final letter + outline • All previous versions

44. PowerPoint Articles Reaction

45. Group Assignment • Get into groups of four or five • Come up with a position about the “evilness” of PowerPoint • Majority rules (or just choose a side) • You must participate and argue for your position, whether you agree with it or not • At the end of class, turn in • A thesis statement summarizing your position • A list of three or more supporting points, structured as syllogisms

46. Next Time • Discussion (tomorrow) • Using each other’s instructions to build systems • Bring THREE copies of your instructions • But only one set of your building components • Lecture (Thursday) • 1-2 minute oral presentations on system change proposal