Product vs TED Talk

20 Time has been a new endeavor in biology this year.  While my Anatomy and Physiology students had no problem understanding the idea of the project, I've realized that this is a bit more challenging for biology. From the beginning I have said again and again that they need to produce or accomplish something (A&P can be any topic, but bio needs to be science related).  The TED talk is then for them to showcase in a 5-10min presentation what they DID, and what they LEARNED from the process.

Walking around today in one period I realized 5 different individuals were working on a Google Slides Presentation that was essentially their TED talk.  This was frustrating for me because they were basically spending their entire 20 Time researching and making a presentation.

After reiterating my vision to them again (I think they got it this time), my advice to a couple groups was actually to make an infographic showing all of their research in a unique graphical way.  We did infographics last semester, so this would not be a major stretch for them to accomplish.  Then during their TED talk they can show that infographic, and talk about what they learned about the topic that's worth sharing, as well as what they've learned about the process.

So, my advice to you if you're starting 20 Time, make this VERY CLEAR, and if possible give them some really specific examples.  Again, my juniors and seniors have had no problem with this, but freshman need a bit more hand holding.

Just a quick realization I had today that I needed to document :)

About a month to go before TED talks!

Picture credit: TED