SIO2002 Animal Biotechnology

Group presentation: Instagram Infographic on ARTs

Dear class,

As you know, part of your continuous assessments for this class is doing a presentation (10%
of your overall grade). Every year, I try to make it a form of reflective learning – a way for
you to reflect on what you’ve learnt and done in the class, to process the knowledge, to
learn by articulating it in a different form and communicating it, as well as to improve and
learn from mistakes by collaborating and sharing with others.

On one year, the class volunteered to perform a choral speaking on ARTs – and the lyrics
were posted on Spectrum, which the class could use to study these ARTs for their final exam
(everyone did well on MOET that semester!). Another year, I asked the class to come up
with laymen-friendly informative posters and participate in a live poster presentation, like
they would in a science conference. I even invited a layman to serve as one of the judges.
This was an important experience as science communication is one of the most important
responsibilities we shoulder as scientists – and a big part of that is communicating with
laymen (people with no knowledge or experience about the subject).

This year, I thought it would be fun for us to come up Instagram-friendly infographics on

assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Infographics are handy, because they are easy
to disseminate and present information in a simple, understandable way to the audience.
Instagram is a very useful platform for disseminating science, due to its highly visual nature.
Cool scientific facts can be communicated effectively in square images that users can
swipe through.

These infographics that you produce will be shared on Spectrum, so that everyone in the
class can use them to study for their final exams. These infographics also will be possibly
shared on @umbiotechclub ‘s Instagram page to communicate how cool Animal Biotech
is.

The challenge for this presentation is to:

1) illustrate the use of multiple ARTs in combination and apply it to a relevant, real-world
setting
2) distill the topics learned in class into a form that communicates the science to a broader
audience (including laypeople), whilst keeping the science accurate
3) design an infographic that communicates the information effectively

Guidelines:

1. Split yourselves into 10 teams (roughly 6-7 people per group). You may stick to the
same teams that you have been in for the practicals, or you are free to form new
teams.

2. You must create an infographic series fit for Instagram. This means the images must
be square, and information can be split into a series of images designed for users to
swipe through. See some examples below:
 • https://www.instagram.com/p/CLyA3InhHrq/
• https://www.instagram.com/p/CbzvJGgJMq4/
• https://www.instagram.com/p/CbU0JuFpk7G/

3. The infographic must combine the use of 2 or more ARTs in one diagram, OR must
combine the use of at least 1 ART with tools in molecular
biology/genetics/biochemistry.
• This should be easy, you’ve learned so many already!
• You may not use or copy any of the diagrams or infographics that you’ve
seen in lecture slides.
• You need a minimum of 6 square images (just nice for one image for each
group member!)

4. Demonstrate the application and advantage of this combination of ARTs, or what

problem/limitation this combination can be used to solve or overcome.
• the application must address a specific problem
• e.g. how to integrate genomics into improving the dairy cattle industry
• e.g. how do you improve the genetics of goats in Somalia without
transporting live goats there
• e.g. how to save the northern white rhino using genetic material from rhinos in
other parts of the African continent
• e.g. how to produce all-female offspring for the dairy cattle industry
• e.g. how to breed sheep with higher resistance to mastitis

5. The deadline to submit is in Week 14 (Wednesday, 22/6/2021, 5.00 pm).

• This is to give you time to incorporate lecture material up until Week 10
• You are welcome to submit it earlier, of course
• The mode of submission will be announced later
• The deadline is set in mid-week, so that the infographics can be released to
the whole class within the same week, with my comments and some time
before the final

6. The infographic will be graded based on:

• Scientific content and accuracy (5 points): clear citation(s) of the published
research (if using any) and emphasis on animal biotechnology, relevant to
concepts discussed in lectures. The science must be sound. Points will be
docked off for if anything is incorrect.
• Clarity and application (5 points): clear and effective communication of
points, clear representation of the application and problem-solving.
• Accessibility (5 points): effective presentation of scientific information that is
accessible to a wider audience (i.e. laypeople) without diminishing the
scientific content. A layperson will be appointed to assess your infographics.
• Design and creativity (5 points): infographic design that is organized and
effectively conveys information graphically; eye-catching and draws
attention.
 7. Work collaboratively. There are many free infographic tools online (many with free
templates and design ideas), and I highly recommend using the ones that allow
team collaboration so that you and your teammates can work on the project
simultaneously. Some suggestions:
• Google Drawings: https://medium.com/efficienthacks/how-you-can-create-
infographics-for-free-with-google-drawings-da7c9108a708
• Canva (free version allows team sharing): https://www.canva.com/
• Creately (free version only allows 3 collaborators though):
https://creately.com/
• Piktochart (no collaboration in the free version though):
https://piktochart.com/pricing/piktochart-packages/
• If you prefer to assign one designer per team while the rest works on other
parts, I am OK with that too. There are many, many free infographic editors
out there!

Additional reminders:

• Since this is a group effort, it is expected that every group member should contribute
equally to the work, and it is your responsibility to divide the tasks amongst
yourselves.
o If in any case a group feels like one member is not contributing fairly or at all,
they are allowed to report to me with evidence and they may unanimously
agree to exclude the non-contributing member from the work (it must be
unanimous). Should the affected person want to contest it, we will settle it
through the process of peer-to-peer assessment (whereby each member will
evaluate the contribution of the other group members individually).

• Remember: the task is to produce an infographic, NOT a research poster.

o Tip: Think about the informative posts you see on Instagram and how a reader
of your Insta post might process the information.

• Read the instructions very carefully.

o Pay attention to key points mentioned, e.g. "You may not use or copy any of
the diagrams or infographics that you’ve seen in lecture slides"; "distill the
topics learned in class into a form that communicates the science to a
broader audience (including laypeople)"

Special requests:

I believe in freedom of expression. If you and your groupmates want to express your
creativity in different way (instead of an infographic on Instagram), such as a recorded
video (e.g., a skit, science communicator did-you-know video, a TikTok or Instagram Reel,
etc.), a song (e.g., a music video, live performance, recording of a choral speaking
performance), an interpretive dance, etc. you may request it. I WELCOME IT!
Please DM me and we can discuss. 😊
If you have any questions, you know you are welcome to contact me. I am always happy
to give you feedback on your work and/or help you fact-check and explain details in
research articles that you need help with. Good luck and have fun!

- Dr Adilla