Scientific Poster (ENG)

E-learning

Scientific poster
1 / 47
volgende
Slide 1: Tekstslide
StudievaardighedenMiddelbare schoolhavo, vwoLeerjaar 4-6

In deze les zitten 47 slides, met interactieve quizzen, tekstslides en 9 videos.

time-iconLesduur is: 50 min

Onderdelen in deze les

E-learning

Scientific poster

Slide 1 - Tekstslide

Slide 2 - Video

Kn
Doing something
Recap
Watch
Click on the hotspot
Zoom in on the image
Navigate through the lesson
New insights
How do you use this course?

Slide 3 - Tekstslide


At the end of this crash course…

- ... you can independently design a good scientific posted based on a scientific study
- ... you know how to present a scientific poster
Learning objectives

Slide 4 - Tekstslide

Slide 5 - Video


This e-learning consists of three phases:
What are we going to do?
Phase 1 - Design of the poster
In this first phase, we will explain how the design of the poster comes about. Scientific posters often have a similar layout that clearly presents all the components for the poster. In this first phase, we will explain, among other things, which programmes you can use and which design choices you could make at this point.

Phase 2 - Content of the poster
Now that the layout and design of the poster are known, you can give textual content to the different parts of the poster. In this phase, we address the best way to add text and illustrations to your poster.
Phase 3 - Poster presentation
Presenting a scientific poster involves a short and powerful story, which we also call a pitch. In this final stage, we give some tips on how best to present your poster.

Slide 6 - Tekstslide


Before we explain what we consider a good scientific poster, let’s take a look at two examples. Both posters are quite different, both with their own properties. On the next page, drag and drop the different properties to the corresponding poster. 
Phase 1 - Design of the poster

Slide 7 - Tekstslide

Many different colours
Image in the background
Calm colourpallet
Aligned text blocks
Clear figures
Long pieces of text

Slide 8 - Sleepvraag

We prefer one of the two posters based on the design and how it comes across.

Which poster do you find most appealing to look at?
A
B

Slide 9 - Quizvraag

Poster 2 was our preferred scientific poster. Did you choose the same one?

Both posters have blocks which contain text and a large readable title, these are important features of a scientific poster. But besides these matching features, there were many differences that made one poster superior to the other. The good answers to the drag and drop question for the features at Poster 2 are key features that belong to a good poster. We briefly explain them: 
 r.
Phase 1 - Design of the poster 
Short pieces of text
Avoid large pieces of text (i.e., don't copy and paste parts of the reports text). The message of your story should be short and clear; you want to avoid the visitor losing attention to your story in reading large chunks of text.
Clear figures
The result of your research should be clear immediately. Make the figures large enough so that they are easy to read, including the properties for figures as you have learned for, for example, your report.

Clear design
It is important that poster looks nice and that the elements do not distract from the story. To achieve this, you can think about: (1) a calm background (such as one solid colour), where the text is easy to read (no blue letters on a dark background). (2) Don't use too many different colours either, it is recommended to use several shades of the same colour. (3) Also pay attention to the alignment of the blocks around the text: make sure the lines are clean and avoid crazy staggered lines.

Slide 10 - Tekstslide

Slide 11 - Video



The following parts will help with the design of your poster. So, open the software you chose and start designing along with the rest of the course!

Phase 1 - Design of the poster

Slide 12 - Tekstslide

De size of the poster needs to be large enough to ensure readable text and figures when looking at the poster from some distance. Wat size of poster do you think can be used best?
Hint
Imagine that A3 is the size of two regular A4-papers, A2 is the size of 2x an A3 and so on...
A
A0
B
A1
C
A2
D
A3

Slide 13 - Quizvraag



The right anwer is (a) A0, which is 118,9 cm high and 81,1 cm wide, quite large!

You can deside on you own whether you want a landscape or portrait orientation of the poster, depending on what fits best with the elements on your poster!

Phase 1 - Size of the poster
How to implement this in Powerpoint
Choose the tab "design" and then "Slide size", which can be set to the  "Custum size" of A0. 

Slide 14 - Tekstslide

Slide 15 - Video

Using the right letter font to design a readable poster is important. What font of the options below do you think we advise to avoid?

A
B
C

Slide 16 - Quizvraag



The correct answer is (b) Amaris MT Pro. Amaris MT Pro is an example of a serif typeface. Serif typeface is a typeface with extra fringes, also called “shoulders” and “feet”. This gives the letters a less boring appearance, but also makes them less readable and therefore less suitable for a poster. Try to use the same font throughout the poster. This looks a lot neater and more professional.


Besides the right font, the font size also affects readability. A handy font size for the text in the blocks is 28, for the headings 40 and for the title 72. These are guidelines to apply, but if you want larger letters for your poster, you can of course do so!



Phase 1 - Letterfont & size

Slide 17 - Tekstslide



To make your poster stand out and not look boring, colour is added to the poster. Several elements require a choice of colour, for example, the background, the blocks around the text and the text itself. 

Which of the options below do you deem the most appropriate version for a scientific poster? 


Fase 1 - Colour palette

Slide 18 - Tekstslide

Which of the options below do you deem the most appropriate version for a scientific poster?
A
B
C

Slide 19 - Quizvraag



We would choose option (c). A light background often works well on a scientific poster. With a light background, text with a dark colour stands out and creates a clear contrast that makes the text easy to read. The other way around (dark background with light letters) also has a lot of contrast, of course, but may end up being less pleasant to read from a distance.

Fase 1 - Kleurenpallet

Slide 20 - Tekstslide

Slide 21 - Video


With the poster, you will explain your research. Therefore, the poster will include the parts you will recognise from your research. 
Phase 2 - Content of the poster

Slide 22 - Tekstslide

Which of the following components is not placed on an scientific poster
Method
Resultats
Titel
Introduction / background
Discussion & Conclusion
Author and institution

Slide 23 - Poll



All those parts do indeed end up on the poster, that’s a lot! 

This emphasises again how important it is to start working on the text in a short and concise manner later, otherwise it is not going to fit and be readable at the same time.


Phase 2 - Content of the poster 

Slide 24 - Tekstslide

Slide 25 - Video

Slide 26 - Video

Now that you know how to divide the different sections on your poster, it is important to look at the content of these blocks. 
Phase 2 - Content of the poster

Slide 27 - Tekstslide

Slide 28 - Video


With the method, you explain the steps taken within the study. There are several ways to do this.
Which option would you choose for the poster?
Phase 2 - Method
(a) "A short version of the method" 
First, the materials were collected and weighed. Then, for each different candy, with the flavours: strawberry, banana, pear, red fruit and pineapple, a separate cup was taken, into which 100 ml of water was added. Three candies of the same flavour were added to each cup. This mixture was stirred for a minute and then left to stand for 15 minutes. The candies were removed from the water and weighed again. The measured values were noted as total remaining weight per flavour. The entire experiment was repeated three times.

(b) "A flowchart"

Slide 29 - Tekstslide

Which option would you choose for the poster?
An extensive version of the method
A flowchart
A short version of the method

Slide 30 - Poll







We would choose the option of a flow chart. If you type out the method in words, it can quickly become a long piece of text, even though you want to keep it as concise as possible. We want to always avoid large chunks of text for a poster. Therefore, a scientific poster often uses a flow chart, as shown in option (b).




 

Phase 2 - Method
Difficult to implement for your method?
Again, try to think of clean and logical lines, not too many blocks and not too much text in the blocks. If this doesn't work for your method, try typing a concise version of your method in text! Using an enumeration can help here.

Slide 31 - Tekstslide





Results present the outcome of the research. On a poster, this is best done with a graph or tables. This way, you give a clear picture of your results in an objective way that visitors can interpret immediately.

Some good features of graphs and tables are:
- Correct (axis) titles with magnitudes and units
- Axes divided into equal steps
- Clearly readable

 

Phase 2 - Results

Slide 32 - Tekstslide

Of the figures below, please indicate whether you like or dislike them. Think about which of the mentioned characteristics you use to argue your choice.
Phase 2 - Results
Answer (open to check your own arguments)
We think that this is bad graph. There are no axis titles used and that makes it impossible to see at once what the graph expresses.

Slide 33 - Tekstslide

Of the figures below, please indicate whether you like or dislike them. Think about which of the mentioned characteristics you use to argue your choice.
Phase 2 - Results
Answer (open to check your own arguments)
We consider this as a good table. It contains all the right data, and it is immediately clear which concept is linked to which value. 

Slide 34 - Tekstslide

Of the figures below, please indicate whether you like or dislike them. Think about which of the mentioned characteristics you use to argue your choice.
Phase 2 - Results
Answer (open to check your own arguments)
We would like to use such a graph. All the correct features are visible in it: axistitels, clear data and properly readable.

Slide 35 - Tekstslide

Phase 2 - Results
Important to remember
A graph or table also quickly draws the attention of a visitor who's looking at your poster. Therefore, try to place it centrally on the poster and do not use too many different graphics or figures. Choose the most important data you want to convey to the visitor so that the whole poster remains clear. 

Slide 36 - Tekstslide

In the conclusion, you briefly summarise the results and answer the research question, try to do this in a few concrete sentences. It is important to look at the results objectively and answer your research question based on the results.

You can also include some discussion points of your research in your conclusion. Usually, this is succinctly added to the conclusion and a whole new block for discussion is not created. It is not the intention to create a large amount of text in which you discuss your research.
Phase 2 - Conclusion (& Discussion)
Difficult?
Still unsure what to put in the discussion and conclusion? Then try out our (Dutch) e-learning on these sections here. 

Slide 37 - Tekstslide



As with a report, it is also important on a poster to neatly refer to used sources and avoid plagiarism. This applies to the information in the text that appears on the poster, but also to the images used.

At the bottom of the poster, in a very small font, the sources are placed. A laundry list of sources is not very useful on the poster, so do try to use your own words and images as much as possible!


Phase 2 - References

Slide 38 - Tekstslide

Slide 39 - Video



That was a long crash course, covering a lot of information! To end this course with a clear picture of the scientific poster, we'll quickly summarise the discussed subjects. 

Recap

Slide 40 - Tekstslide



There are several programmes to create the poster with. The completely free variant is the well-known Microsoft PowerPoint. However, we also advise taking a look at the available templates in Canva.

We have examined several features that suit a good poster:

Recap - Phase 1 Design of the poster
Clear design
By applying (1) a calm colour palette, (2) dark-light contrast for the background and letters, (3) readable font and size
Short pieces of text
We cannot mention it often enough, but short and clear is the key to a good poster. Don't let visitors get distracted by reading chunks of text.
Clear figures (and placement)
Figures attract a lot of attention on a poster. Therefore, choose these deliberately, where they directly convey the message of your result.

Slide 41 - Tekstslide






The elements on the scientific poster are the title, authors, introduction, method, results, discussion and conclusion (just like your research). 




Recap - Phase 2 Content of the poster
Title
The title is large and clear at the top across the entire width of the poster. This shows immediately what your poster is about.

Authors & institution
The authors and institution (for example your school) are listed, slightly smaller, below the title.

Slide 42 - Tekstslide



Below that are the other sections, these are distributed across the blocks in two or three columns on the poster. Here you should bear in mind that the visitors on your poster will read from top to bottom and left to right (i.e., introduction at the top left and conclusion at the bottom right).

Recap - Phase 2 Content of the poster
Introduction
The introduction briefly names the reason for your research and the research question.
Method
The method mentions steps you took in the research. A flow chart or step-by-step plan can help show this concisely and clearly.
Results
The results tell the outcome of your research. Here, use a graph or table to give the visitor an immediate idea of the result. A figure like this often attracts the visitor's attention, so place it deliberately and make sure the visitor understands it well.
References
As with the research itself, don't forget to list the sources for the information you have incorporated neatly at the bottom on the poster. This can be in a small font, so that it does not take up too much space.
Conclusion
Conclude what comes out of your research by answering your research question in one or two sentences based on the results.
More information
For more information on the content of the sections on the poster, please refer to one of our other (Dutch) e-learnings such as: "Discussie & Conclusie"

Slide 43 - Tekstslide

The poster is best presented with a short pitch presentation, where you enthuse the visitor about your research. Make sure to use the poster as a tool to tell your story in an attractive manner!
Recap - Phase 3 Poster presentation
E-learning Pitchen
Also, look at the (Dutch) e-learning "pichten" in which you learn how to have a short and powerful presentation. This ties in well with the e-learning we just went through!

Slide 44 - Tekstslide






What did your learn? Write down as much as you can!
timer
1:00

Slide 45 - Open vraag


What do you think of this e-learning?
😒🙁😐🙂😃

Slide 46 - Poll

Thanks!  
  
Thank you very much for following this e-learning and good luck with the final steps for the scientific poster and giving the presentation!  

Slide 47 - Tekstslide