Student conference

Online conference (via Zoom) in VT2020 due to the covid-19 crisis

Dear students,

This extra section here extends the information given below under section Oral presentation and opposition to account for the unusual online conference setting this course round (dkand20). So, the information about the duration of the presentation as well as the opposition remains the same but this time it is all held remotely via Zoom. In the conference schedule you will find a link to the Zoom session. In short, each session will be hosted by a session chair and evaluator (recruited from the supervisors in the course), and will be organised in the following way:

1. The session chair will open a session and explain key rules.
2. A student group will present their work sharing the slides via Zoom (up to 15 min).
3. Opponents will provide feedback and ask questions for the presenting group to address (up to 8 min in total).
4. The session chair will turn to the remote audience for extra questions/comments. If there are no volunteers, the session chair has the right to randomly ask one of the students in the audience to share some reflections about the presentation.
5. In the meantime, the evaluator will provide feedback on the presentation (via chat, direct email or some other way).
6. The session chair will request another group to start their presentation.

Please bear in mind that there are extra challenges imposed by the online/Zoom format of the conference so it is important to consider certain aspects of the interaction that you would not otherwise consciously reflect on. Therefore, we list here some extra advice, requests and suggestions what to keep in mind preparing for the remote conference:

• when you present your work please keep in mind that you should synchronise your presentation with your project partner already starting from introducing yourselves, it is worth practicing in advance and planning on who shows the slides (if you present from two different computers, keep in mind that you need to switch sharing the screen via Zoom - one students stops so that another one could start sharing)
• make sure that you have your mic muted when other students are talking
• please keep sharing your slides via Zoom until the end of the discussion with the opponent and the audience
• when you want to ask a question, either wave your hand having your camera on or use "raise hand" option in Zoom (in the "Participants" menu), do not forget to unmute your mic
• you are urged to ask questions even if you are not a reviewer/opponent; this is particularly important given the online format of the conference; if there are no questions from the you may be asked personally to share a comment about the presentation upon session chair's request
• you are requested to switch your camera on, if possible, even if you are not speaking. It helps those who are speaking to feel that they are actually presenting in front of their colleagues - communicating with the actual audience (eye contact is helpful to many presenters)
• you are expected to stay in the session(s) you are assigned for the entire duration.

If you have any questions, please post them via Discussion on Canvas or directly send us email, if needed.

Oral presentation and opposition (muntlig presentation och opposition)

Oral presentations during the planned student conference should NOT be longer than 15 minutes. This is a very important constraint. It is also expected that the corresponding oral opposition usually made by two students should be wrapped up within 6-8 minutes including the time available for the authors' responses. For the allocated time slots, the conference schedule will be published in due time. 

Please bear in mind that the presentation serves as an inciter of interest for your report and the most important conclusions. Therefore you must be selective and very well prepared. Think through what you want to say, make notes and prepare a few slides to support your presentation (not too many and avoid overloading slides with information, especially textual). The audience is unlikely to have read your report beforehand so try to be as clear as possible. To this end, you also need to structure the presentation very carefully with the research question, key findings and conclusions at the centre. Please, make an attempt at the same time to discuss the topic and outcome of your investigations in a broader perspective. For example, present your research problem, motivate its relevance and your interest in it, describe what you have done, briefly outline the most important results you have come up with, discuss the importance of your work and problems you have encountered or issues you have not been able to resolve and/or share your thought on the suggested future extensions.

Oral opposition is supposed to stimulate a constructive discussion about the project, its strengths and weaknesses. The key selected comments extracted from the written peer review may serve as your point of departure. However, the main focus is on the presentation, not only its technical quality but also how well it informs about the project: the research question, decisions made by the authors about their approach, key findings and their discussion. Please, try to balance more general and specific issues, constructively comment on both strengths and weaknesses. Then move on to the central part of the opposition - questions to the presenting students, please formulate your questions in an open way giving an opportunity to the authors to clarify their point of view. Bear in mind however that the time is limited (3-4 min per opponent) so you should concentrate on the most important issues (very detailed questions and particular points of rather minor/secondary importance should be made in a written review). Please use your time effectively as your constructive feedback is a valuable contribution helping the authors improve their reports and a unique opportunity for them to receive feedback on their presentation style and content. A meticulous approach to the peer review process is much appreciated, which can then be acknowledged by the authors in their final report.

Finally, please attend a full session (not only the time slot you assigned to) either as a presenter or opponent.

It is recommended that students familiarise themselves with extra resources and information about oral presentations and opposition made available within the course.

Good luck!

Schedule (Schemat)

The conference schedule for the course round in 2020 (dkand20) is already available in Canvas.