Two of my laboratory’s master’s students recently underwent their interim presentation. Listening to the questions they received, I found them quite refreshing. Some questions touched on topics not often heard in Educational Technology, and some raised issues that researchers in Educational Technology as a whole need to consider.

#So, it felt a bit harsh to expect the students to answer them all… sweat
#This is something I have thought about since my own graduate school days, but questions directed at students are,
#often questions directed at their supervisors.

Our students received valuable guidance, and I believe they will be able to develop their research further. Considering the time remaining for writing their master’s theses, they have less than half a year left to conduct research, but I hope they will make it something excellent.

By the way, after listening to the presentations of our students and other master’s students at the interim presentation, I had various thoughts. These are strictly my personal opinions, and they are limited to the context of a master’s interim presentation.

1: You must practice thoroughly
It is immediately obvious whether someone has practiced or not. This is also apparent in how they handle the Q&A session. If you anticipate questions and simulate how to answer them, your responses during the Q&A will be confident, and you will leave a solid, positive impression on the audience. You must practice thoroughly.

2: Prepare supplementary slides
It is difficult to explain everything within a time limit. A strategy is to create supplementary slides for detailed information and use them during the Q&A. Rather than showing detailed information and spending time on it, it is better to move through it quickly and focus your time on the main points—such as results and discussion—to demonstrate the originality of your research. To do this, as mentioned in point 1, you must practice extensively and think about anticipated questions.

3: Use easy-to-understand media such as charts, diagrams, and videos
If a video or image conveys information better than an oral explanation, there is no reason not to use them.

4: It is a place for guidance, not a place to “fight”
Since it is a master’s interim presentation, faculty members do not expect the research to be perfect. Even if it were a doctoral student, it is still a master’s level. While faculty members express themselves in various ways, they are basically asking about “logical inconsistencies (lack of evidence, lack of data support, leaps in interpretation or expression), lack of thoroughness, or narrow perspectives.” The intention is for you to correct or consider these points as you proceed with your research. If you try to force an answer or cover things up, it will only lead to bigger holes, and your presentation will fall apart.

5: Even as a master’s student, you should be confident
Even though you are in front of faculty members, “you” are the one who conducted the research, and “you” are the expert on it. Although there may be many weak points in terms of theory, “you” are the person who can best explain the research. To do this, you must be the one who understands your own research the best. If you cannot do this, you cannot handle the questions either. In other words, you will not be able to judge what a question is asking, whether it hits the mark, or if it is off-base (which is often due to a misunderstanding of the presentation caused by insufficient explanation).

These are the main things I felt. To be able to handle these things quickly, I think it is good to get used to the environment by regularly presenting at national-level academic conferences starting from your first year of master’s studies, or if possible, even as an undergraduate. Of course, to get to this point, you must have conducted proper research. It is problematic if you reach the summer of your second year of master’s studies having done nothing, reviewed nothing, and having no data. The above points become important only after you have properly read previous research, planned your study, conducted it, and produced results as data, so please do not forget this.

Also, I previously wrote an entry on “Q&A Skills,” so I hope you will find it helpful.
http://mark-lab.net/?p=189