Oral Presentations: Preparation and Performance

A short lecture on presentation skills in an academic environment

The use of oral presentations in Higher Education : CLIL vs. English as a foreign language

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Podcasting Oral Presentations

This presentation tells how podcasts can be used to enhance the learning experience of English as a Second Language (ESL) students registered in a content-based language immersion program. The students were placed in groups of four and asked to prepare an oral presentation. The topics of the presentations included Financial Aid, College Courses and Course Schedules and Academic Policies. Each presentation was podcasted to give students an opportunity for self-evaluation and feedback.

Oral Presentation: Exploring Oral Presentations of Homework Problems as a Means of Assessing Homework

In this action research study of my freshmen Algebra I class, I investigated a method of assessing homework based on completion and presentations. When I changed the method of grading from checking answers to looking for completion and presentation of selected problems, I found that the majority of the students enjoyed the method because it allowed them to explore other methods of solving and helped them gain an understanding of the problems. This resulted in less stress on obtaining “the” answer. I also realized that I viewed homework differently and had a better understanding of the students’ thought processes, which caused me to check tests differently. These results led to a better relationship between the students and myself. As a result of this research, I plan to change my methods of assessing homework from the traditional right or wrong to a rubric assessment based on presentations and completion of the assignment.

Can homework become more meaningful with the inclusion of oral presentations?

In this action research study of my 7th grade math class, I investigated the inclusion of homework presentations to see if they would improve students’ attitude toward mathematics, participation, and understanding. I discovered that although the implementations of presentations into our homework routine did not drastically influence grades, or even improve attitudes (according to test grades and student surveys), a multitude of other changes surfaced. These changes consisted of an increase in discussion, a team effort among students in my class, and an overall “learning community” effect. I plan to continue to pursue presentations as a major part of my homework routine, and also incorporate presentations into review sessions.

Oral Communication and Presentations in Mathematics

In this action research study of my classroom of eighth grade mathematics, I investigated the attitudes of students toward mathematics along with their achievement levels with the use of oral presentations in my Algebra class. During the second semester the class was divided into groups of two for each presentation, changing partners each time. Every other week each group was given a math problem that required more work than a normal homework type problem. On the last day of that week the students gave a short presentation on their problem. I discovered that while there was no significant evidence that student achievement increased, the students did enjoy the different aspect of presentations in a math class. I plan to implement presentations in my classroom more often with the intent to increase student enjoyment.

A ferramenta VoiceThread em uma abordagem hibrida: o desenvolvimento da produção oral e da habilidade de noticing na aprendizagem de inglês como L2

VoiceThread (VT) is a collaborative and asynchronous web 2.0 tool, which permits the creation of oral presentations with the help of images, documents, texts and voice, allowing groups of people to browse and contribute with comments using several options: voice (microphone or cell phone), text and audio-file or video (webcam) (BOTTENTUIT JUNIOR, LISBÔA E COUTINHO, 2009). The hybrid experience with VoiceThread allows learners to plan their speech before recording it, without the pressure often existent in the classroom. Furthermore, the presentations can be recorded several times, enabling students to listen to them, notice the gaps in their oral production (noticing) and edit innumerous times before publishing them online. In this perspective, oral production is seen as a process of L2 acquisition, not only as practice of already existent knowledge, because it can stimulate the learner to process the language syntactically (SWAIN, 1985; 1995). In this context, this study aims to verify if there is a relation between the oral production of the learners more specifically the grammatical accuracy and the global oral grade and their noticing capacity, how the systematic practice with VoiceThread, in a hybrid approach, can impact the learners global oral development, their oral production in terms of fluency (number of words per minute), accuracy (number of errors in hundred words), and complexity (number of dependent clauses per minute), and on their noticing capacity (SCHMIDT, 1990; 1995; 2001), that is, the learner s capacity of noticing the gaps existent in their oral production. In order to answer these research questions, 49 L2 learners of English were divided into an experimental group (25 students) and a control group (24 students). The experimental group was exposed to the hybrid approach with VT during two months and, through a pre- and post-test, we verified if this systematic practice would positively influence these participants oral production and noticing capacity. These results were compared to the pre- and post-test scores from the control group, which was not exposed to VT. Finally, learners impressions in relation to the use of this tool were also sought through a questionnaire applied after the post-test. The results indicate that there is a statistically significant correlation between the learners speech production (accuracy and global oral grade) and their noticing capacity. Besides, it was verified a positive impact of VoiceThread on the learners speech production variables and on their noticing capacity. They also reveal a positive reaction by the learners in relation to the hybrid experience with this web tool

6th International Immunoglobulin Symposium: poster presentations

The posters presented at the 6th International Immunoglobulin Symposium covered a wide range of fields and included both basic science and clinical research. From the abstracts accepted for poster presentation, 12 abstracts were selected for oral presentations in three parallel sessions on immunodeficiencies, autoimmunity and basic research. The immunodeficiency presentations dealt with novel, rare class-switch recombination (CSR) deficiencies, attenuation of adverse events following IVIg treatment, association of immunoglobulin (Ig)G trough levels and protection against acute infection in patients with X-linked agammaglobulinaemia (XLA) and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), and the reduction of class-switched memory B cells in patients with specific antibody deficiency (SAD). The impact of intravenous immunoglobulin on fetal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, pregnancy and postpartum-related relapses in multiple sclerosis and refractory myositis, as well as experiences with subcutaneous immunoglobulin in patients with multi-focal motor neuropathy, were the topics presented in the autoimmunity session. The interaction of dendritic cell (DC)-SIGN and alpha2,6-sialylated IgG Fc and its impact on human DCs, the enrichment of sialylated IgG in plasma-derived IgG, as wells as prion surveillance and monitoring of anti-measles titres in immunoglobulin products, were covered in the basic science session. In summary, the presentations illustrated the breadth of immunoglobulin therapy usage and highlighted the progress that is being made in diverse areas of basic and clinical research, extending our understanding of the mechanisms of immunoglobulin action and contributing to improved patient care.

International conference paper presentations: A multimodal analysis to determine effectiveness

International conference presentations represent one of the biggest challenges for academics using English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). This paper aims to initiate exploration into the multimodal academic discourse of oral presentations, including the verbal, written, non-verbal material (NVM) and body language modes. It offers a Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) and multimodal framework of presentations to enhance mixed-disciplinary ELF academics' awareness of what needs to be taken into account to communicate effectively at conferences. The model is also used to establish evaluation criteria for the presenters' talks and to carry out a multimodal discourse analysis of four well-rated 20-min talks, two from the technical sciences and two from the social sciences in a workshop scenario. The findings from the analysis and interviews indicate that: (a) a greater awareness of the mode affordances and their combinations can lead to improved performances; (b) higher reliance on the visual modes can compensate for verbal deficiencies; and (c) effective speakers tend to use a variety of modes that often overlap but work together to convey specific meanings. However, firm conclusions cannot be drawn on the basis of workshop presentations, and further studies on the multimodal analysis of ‘real conferences’ within specific disciplines are encouraged.

A comunicação oral formal: a exposição oral

Relatório de Estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º Ciclos de Ensino Básico

Undergraduate teaching of ideal and real fluid flows: The value of real-world experimental projects

This study describes the pedagogical impact of real-world experimental projects undertaken as part of an advanced undergraduate Fluid Mechanics subject at an Australian university. The projects have been organised to complement traditional lectures and introduce students to the challenges of professional design, physical modelling, data collection and analysis. The physical model studies combine experimental, analytical and numerical work in order to develop students’ abilities to tackle real-world problems. A first study illustrates the differences between ideal and real fluid flow force predictions based upon model tests of buildings in a large size wind tunnel used for research and professional testing. A second study introduces the complexity arising from unsteady non-uniform wave loading on a sheltered pile. The teaching initiative is supported by feedback from undergraduate students. The pedagogy of the course and projects is discussed with reference to experiential, project-based and collaborative learning. The practical work complements traditional lectures and tutorials, and provides opportunities which cannot be learnt in the classroom, real or virtual. Student feedback demonstrates a strong interest for the project phases of the course. This was associated with greater motivation for the course, leading in turn to lower failure rates. In terms of learning outcomes, the primary aim is to enable students to deliver a professional report as the final product, where physical model data are compared to ideal-fluid flow calculations and real-fluid flow analyses. Thus the students are exposed to a professional design approach involving a high level of expertise in fluid mechanics, with sufficient academic guidance to achieve carefully defined learning goals, while retaining sufficient flexibility for students to construct there own learning goals. The overall pedagogy is a blend of problem-based and project-based learning, which reflects academic research and professional practice. The assessment is a mix of peer-assessed oral presentations and written reports that aims to maximise student reflection and development. Student feedback indicated a strong motivation for courses that include a well-designed project component.

Conference scene: Immune signatures in the tumor and beyond.

Led by key opinion leaders in the field, the Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium of the Cancer Research Institute 2012 Scientific Colloquium included 179 participants who exchanged cutting-edge information on basic, clinical and translational cancer immunology and immunotherapy. The meeting revealed how rapidly this field is advancing. The keynote talk was given by Wolf H Fridman and it described the microenvironment of primary and metastatic human tumors. Participants interacted through oral presentations and panel discussions on topics that included host reactions in tumors, advances in imaging, monitoring therapeutic immune modulation, the benefit and risk of immunotherapy, and immune monitoring activities. In summary, the annual meeting gathered clinicians and scientists from academia, industry and regulatory agencies from around the globe to interact and exchange important scientific advances related to tumor immunobiology and cancer immunotherapy.