Notes on Student Presentations

From Simson Garfinkel
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Notes for Students

Making a scientific presentation is a challenge for many students, so it is an important learning experience.

Goals

There are many goals in making a presentation on a scientific topic:

  1. First and foremost, you are seeking to present information that is technical. Make sure that your presentation has **sufficient technical depth**.
  2. If you are presenting about a specific discovery or advance, you need to **put the contribution in context**.
  3. You need to explain its **significance**, also called the **contribution** of the research.

References

Here are some excellent references for putting together a scientific presentation:

The best resource that I know of is the website and book of Michael Alley, who developed the assertion-evidence approach to scientific presentations and has a website, some videos, and a book that discusses the technique. He also has some templates that you can use:


Other resources that you may find helpful:

Notes for Faculty

What to present

  • Have students give presentations early in the course: it helps to integrate the class.
  • Have students present a paper
  • Have students present final projects

The presentations

  • Have students submit their slides at least 4 days before the presentation, so you can offer criticism with enough time for the students to improve them.
  • Force students to turn in draft presentations by having a grade assigned for turning them in (1 point)
  • Format really doesn't matter.
  • Give students a time limit
  • Enforce the time limit