Class Presentations
Schedule (tentative)
Guidelines
- You will have (at most) 30 minutes for your entire presentation followed
by up to 15 min. of discussion. It is entirely up to you how you spend this
time (e.g., you may want to present the theory first, then give an example
if you are presenting a theoretical paper, you may want to invite questions,
etc.). Once your time is up, however, I will more or less abruptly interrupt
any presentation (similar to the way it is done at conferences), so make
sure that your presentation fits within the allotted time.
- You should use visual aids to help people follow your presentation
(the choice is yours: overhead or slide projector, beamer, etc.). You may
also want to prepare a handout that summarizes the main points of your talk
(although this is not necessary). If you decide to use the computer, you
might want to consider a HTML or PDF format for your presentation/handout
(which I can then link to the course web page and other people can easily
print out).
- While you may assume that people will have skimmed the paper, it is
always a good idea to assume they haven't and start by reviewing the most
important basic concepts as well (if only to get people back in the right
frame of mind). At the same time keep in mind that people will be able to
read the paper afterwards again, hence it is not necessary (and most likely
not possible either) to present *all* the material. Rather, you should attempt
to give an overview of the material at a level detailed enough to be interesting
and worth listening to with a focus on one or two subtopics, but without
getting caught up in details all the time--it is a good thing, though, to
present the topics of focus in great detail.
- It is often very helpful to keep track of what you found difficult
to understand in preparing your talk as other people might find it hard too.
That way you can plan ahead of time, which topics will need more attention
(sometimes you will get interrupted by questions, which may trigger a discussion
or may force you to go over a topic again, possibly presenting a different
example; it is a good thing to be prepared for such occasions, e.g., by thinking
of other additional examples before hand, even if you do not intend to present
them).
- While I leave it up to you how to structure your presentation and what
to focus on, make sure that you explain your points well (i.e., don't gloss
over necessary detail, spend more time on complicated concepts, give examples,
make sure everybody is with you from time to time, etc.). If you have any
questions about the material, send me email and/or schedule a meeting with
me (you may also consult and use additional sources and use other materials).
In any case it is important that you know and understand the material you
want to present.
This page is maintained by:
Virgil Andronache
Copyright © Virgil Andronahce, 2004
University of Notre Dame
All rights reserved.
Last revised on January 09, 2004