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You are expected to narrate the poster to explain its content and message. Imagine that you are presenting your poster to a scientific audience. The narration should complement and enhance the writte

PSYC0031 Cognitive Neuroscience Assignment Brief 2024-25 | UCL

PSYC0031 Assignment Brief

The Cognitive Neuroscience module is assessed with coursework that you complete at home. The coursework consists of a written scientific poster that is complemented by a recorded narration of maximally 4 minutes in duration. The narrated poster accounts for 100% of the module mark and should be submitted via the module’s Moodle page.

PSYC0031 Assessment Lecture

The information in this assignment brief complements the lecture on the assessment delivered in week 3 of the module (on 30th January 2025). If you did not attend the lecture, be sure to review the recording and other supporting material under Topic 6 (“Guidance for the assessment”) on Moodle.

What you will gain from this Assessment

The narrated poster captures the core features of a typical poster presentation at a scientific conference. The narrated poster will give you the chance to display the knowledge that you creatively gained from the module, using different skills than what is tapped into with essay or exam assessments. Importantly, the narrated poster also allows you to develop key transferable skills that will benefit your career. For example, in addition to learning about cognitive neuroscience, you will learn how to condense complex information into concise and simple language, how to use and critically evaluate evidence to conclude, how to give a clear and engaging oral presentation, and how to employ text and graphics effectively. The poster is expected to be enjoyable to create and to complement other types of assessment in your degree programme. You can tailor the poster to your interests.

Content of the Poster

The poster should provide an answer to a question in cognitive neuroscience, using evidence from the literature. You formulate your question based on the material that is taught in the module. This question becomes the title of your poster. You then answer this question by considering the lectures, reviewing the literature, choosing the best evidence concerning your question, and putting all of this together into a critical argument that you present on the narrated poster. Most questions can be answered in different ways, and it is up to you to decide how to best answer your question.

Your poster must be based on the material taught in the Cognitive Neuroscience module (i.e., covered in the lectures). You are not allowed to base your poster on material from other modules or your research project, or on topics not covered in the module. This is to ensure that the assessment captures the learning objectives of the Cognitive Neuroscience module.

To formulate a question, choose a lecture topic or set of topics that you find particularly interesting or are excited about. You can link more than one topic if you feel that they overlap or both contribute in some way. You do not have to cover an entire topic; a smaller question within a taught topic is fine. To formulate a question, think about unresolved issues, gaps in knowledge, contrasting theories or functional roles of brain activity, among other things. Sample questions are provided on the Lecture 6 slides, and you can also use past essay exam questions of the Cognitive Neuroscience module as a guide.

Getting Your Poster Question Approved

Your poster question must be approved by us. This is to ensure that it is appropriate and captures the material taught in the PSYC0031 module. Once you have formulated a question, type it into the relevant submission inbox on Moodle (under the “Assessment” tab). Please do not email the module convenor, a lecturer, or anyone else with your poster question. The marking should remain as anonymous as possible. You will receive approval for your question, or an explanation as to why the question is not suitable, as soon as possible (within a few days if you submit within working hours). It is highly recommended that you do not start working on your poster until your question has been approved.

Structure of your Poster

Once you have formulated a question, create a written scientific poster to answer that question. Target the poster to an expert scientific audience, that is, assume that your poster will be reviewed by scientists who are familiar with cognitive neuroscience and its methods. Your poster should be based on the lectures of the Cognitive Neuroscience module, the assigned readings, your own literature search, your own reading and evaluation of relevant literature, and your own critical thinking. Your poster should answer your chosen question via a logical and critical argument, using evidence from the cognitive neuroscience literature that is carefully selected and critically evaluated. You are expected to use evidence from a range of cognitive neuroscience methods in your answer, as relevant to the question.

There is considerable flexibility in how to compose and structure a good poster. Apart from the criteria in this assignment brief, there is no particular format that you have to use. The poster structure, clarity and use of text and graphics are part of the marking criteria. Creating a poster is not the same as writing an essay; information can often be more effectively conveyed via figures rather than text.

You decide what information to include in your poster and how to structure the poster. However, your poster must contain the following elements, in addition to others:

  • An explanation of your research question.
  • A justification of your approach to answering the question. Why did you choose this particular evidence (e.g., tasks, methods, populations) for your critical argument? What made them better than others?
  • A Conclusion
  • A reference list.

You can have a maximum of ten references on your poster. This limit is imposed to force you to select a subset of all papers that exist on a topic. This will help you evaluate the evidence and put it together into a critical and clear answer. The 10-reference limit encompasses both the written poster and narration.

You must acknowledge sources that you use in your written poster, and your poster must contain a reference list. References should be in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. For an introduction to this style.

You are allowed to use figures from the literature as long as you acknowledge their source. You are also allowed to create your figures or edit existing figures. If you make your figure, you must make this explicit on the poster. If you edit an existing figure, you must again mention this and include the source of the original figure.

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Narration

You are expected to narrate the poster to explain its content and message. Imagine that you are presenting your poster to a scientific audience. The narration should complement and enhance the written poster and not merely repeat it. In the narration, you could for example explain the background to the answer you provide, explain the precise question of interest, explain your main critical argument, summarise the evidence that underlies this argument, explain what is shown in the figure(s), justify the methodological approach, and/or emphasise the main conclusions. It is up to you to decide what to cover in the narration. The main critical argument should be clear from the written poster, but the narration is expected to enhance the poster and not merely repeat the text on the poster.

The narration should be created by you and spoken by you. The narration should last no more than 4 minutes. This is an absolute maximum; only the first 4 minutes will be marked if your narration is longer than 4 minutes. You are advised to plan your recording/editing to fit the narration within 4 minutes, using a normal speed of speaking. Do not speed up the narration artificially to stay within the 4-minute maximum. This will lead to an unnatural presentation that will not attract a high mark. The narration should be part of the PowerPoint file that you submit (see below). The narration is not done in person.

How to Create the Narrated Poster

The narrated poster must be created in Microsoft PowerPoint. You are not allowed to use any other software package. You need to create a single PowerPoint file (in PPTX format) that contains both your written poster and the narration. The file must be no more than 500MB in size. The name of your file must include your candidate number. Also, state your candidate number at the top of your poster and in the title of your submission on Moodle. Do not use special characters in the file name (e.g., a question mark) as this may prevent the file from being read on some platforms. Do not use your name or student number anywhere on the poster or in the file name.

The written poster should be A0 (841×1189 mm) in size, and you can choose to use either portrait or landscape format. You are allowed to use one of the UCL AO research poster PowerPoint templates if you wish, or you can design your own. Text blocks on the poster should use a minimum 18-point font size. The reference list must fit within the poster and must also be in at least 18-point font. Again, you are allowed to use at most ten references.

The 18-point font size is an absolute minimum. You can use larger font sizes (indeed, most good posters have larger font sizes), but not smaller ones. Do not be tempted to use a small font size to include more information, as this will affect the visual quality of a poster. Instead, use concise and precise text.

Do not create your poster in another package and then copy and paste it into PowerPoint. This usually leads to a loss of size or other crucial information and may affect your mark.

The recommended method for creating the narration is to record it within PowerPoint itself. PowerPoint has a narration feature. The way in which PowerPoint incorporates narration depends on the version that you use. In many versions, you can narrate your poster by going to “Slide Show” and then “Record Slide Show”. In other versions, go to “Slide Show”, “Set Up” and then “Record Narration”. It should also be possible to record sound by going to “Insert”, “Audio”, and then “Record Audio”. You will need a working microphone that is set to a suitable sound level.

Once you have recorded your narration, make sure that you save your presentation. When this has been done successfully, an audio (speaker) icon will appear on the slide; this can be difficult to see, so look carefully. Place this icon at the top of the poster, to the left or right of the poster title. It is your responsibility to ensure that the narration is present and can be heard. Carefully check that the duration of your recording is at most 4 minutes.

If you prefer, you can record your voice outside of PowerPoint and then embed the audio file into the PowerPoint PPTX file. For example, you can record your voice via QuickTime or Sound Recorder. The audio file must be in MP3 format (not, for example, in WMA format) to ensure that the narration can be read on all platforms and to limit the size of the PowerPoint file. You may need to convert the audio file into MP3 format, depending on the recording software that you use. Once the audio file has been created, you can embed it into Powerpoint by going to “Insert”, “Audio”, and “Audio from file” and selecting the file that you created. Again, make sure that you save your presentation, that an audio (speaker) icon appears on the slide, that the recording is at most 4 minutes and that it can be played within PowerPoint.

How to Submit the Narrated Poster

Your narrated poster must be contained in a single PowerPoint file with pptx extension. The size of the file should not exceed 500MB, and the file name must include your candidate number. Also, use your candidate number in the title of your submission on Moodle. Please do not convert the PowerPoint file to PDF or another file format, as this will eliminate the audio component.

You do not have to print the poster or present the poster in person to an audience.

Submit your PowerPoint file via a link on the module’s Moodle page, under the “Assessment” tab. You must submit your file via the link that corresponds to your level of studies. There are three links:

  • one for undergraduate students on FHEQ level 6 (BSc students, BASc students, affiliate students and MSci integrated Master’s students in year 3 of their studies);
  • one for undergraduate students on FHEQ level 7 (MSci integrated Master’s students in year 4 of their studies);
  • one for postgraduate students on FHEQ level 7 (MSci integrated Master’s).

Please be sure to upload your file using the correct link. If you are unsure what type of student you are, check your enrolment on Portico or contact the administrator of your degree programme as soon as possible. Detailed instructions on the upload process are given on Moodle.

To upload successfully, you will need a decent internet connection. Leave yourself enough time for the uploading process; do not leave this to the last minute. After you have uploaded your file, you should check that you can download and view/listen to it in PowerPoint. Technical errors do not normally count as extenuating circumstances, and it is your responsibility to ensure that you upload the correct file and that the written and audio components are accessible.

You can overwrite your submission until the deadline; the version that is present at 1 pm (13:00:00) UK time exactly on Wednesday, 9th April 2025, will be taken as your final submission (unless you have an approved extension). Being even a minute late will incur late submission penalties.

Your work will be put through Turnitin to detect plagiarism. You can check your assignment for overlap with existing sources before final submission by running it through TurnitinUK. 

How the Coursework will be Marked

Your narrated poster will be marked using the marking criteria provided on the module’s Moodle page. Note that different criteria are used depending on your level of study. The expectations are higher if you study in a more advanced degree programme, and the pass mark also differs.

The mark will be based on the combination of the written poster and oral presentation. The marking will consider the following issues:

  • Well-explained poster question.
  • The quality of the approach that is taken to answer the question of interest.
  • Quality of the structure and flow of the poster.
  • Clarity of communication.
  • Quality and critical evaluation of the evidence that is used. Integration of information across topics/methods/studies. Depth of insight and critical argument.
  • Degree of overlap with lecture content or chosen reading(s). Sense of innovation and novel perspective.
  • Appropriate graphic design to convey the main message.
  • Quality of the graphic design.
  • Balanced use and integration of media (graphs/text/audio).
  • Clear and engaging narrative that complements the written poster.

Sample Posters

There is a learning activity under Topic 6 on Moodle for you to practice what makes for a good written poster. This activity revolves around three sample written PSYC0031 posters from a previous year. This activity also involves the written poster; the accompanying narrations are regrettably not available.

There are also sample narrated posters under the “Assessment” tab. These posters cover cognitive neuroscience topics, target an expert scientific audience, and incorporate a 4-minute narration. However, they were created for another purpose and do not fully adhere to this assignment brief. Do not copy these posters, but try and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Use the PSYC0031 assignment brief to create your poster.

Special Arrangements

If you have a condition that affects your ability to complete the assignment, please consult with your wellbeing advisor to assess whether a reasonable adjustment could be put in place. You may already have reasonable adjustments in place for coursework. If you are not able to submit the poster on time, the usual UCL Extenuating Circumstances policy applies.