The Language Teacher
01 - 2003
Poster Presentations for Engineering Students
Larry Pudwill & Brian Cullen
Nagoya Institute of Technology
QUICK GUIDE
Key Words:Poster presentations
Learner English Level: All, but learners should be aware of technical terms
Learner Maturity Level: University
Preparation Time: A few minutes
Activity Time: Three or four weeks
Materials: One A2 size piece of card or bigger per group, access to the internet or other suitable resource material
Oral presentation is an important skill for many students to acquire, particularly engineering students. In their future jobs, engineers will often be asked to give technical explanations on product applications (how things work) or manufacturing processes (how things are made). In this article, we discuss procedures to prepare engineering students for research-based poster presentations. These poster presentations are carried out both in front of the entire class and as exhibitions to smaller groups of students. The procedures are based on our own experience of 20 to 30 second year engineering students, divided into groups of four students, in a Technical English class at a Technical University. This activity can also be adopted for other teaching situations.
Choosing the Topic
Students are first given an outline on how to choose a topic. The topic must first answer one of two questions; How does a ______work? or How is ______ made? Second, the scope of the subject should be kept specific, so that it can be explained in detail. For example, How does a TV work? is too general as there are too many parts functioning in a TV. A much better topic would be How does the TV volume control work? or How is the cathode ray tube made? Avoiding too broad a topic should be constantly stressed.
Student-generated Materials
Groups must prepare three items: a speech outline, a poster, and a worksheet.
Speech outline
Students prepare an outline of their speech on a small card rather than an entire speech. In this way, they interact more with the poster, using it as a point of reference. Students should communicate in their own words from knowledge they have gained from researching the topic rather than reading from a paper.
Poster
This should be big enough to be seen easily from any part of the classroom, at least A2 size, but preferably bigger. The posters should have the topic title written in big letters at the top, two or three diagrams or pictures, and key words. Students should avoid writing too much text on the poster. This can lead the presenter and listener to read directly from the posters as if reading aloud from a book, rather than encouraging the speaker or listener to communicate orally. In addition, hand drawn diagrams usually work better than pictures because they are less complex and drawn to fit the size of the poster. Color adds considerably to the poster's aesthetics and to the students' understanding.
Worksheet
The other required material is a worksheet with 10 wh questions and the key words for the topic. These worksheets are copied and handed out to the other students in the class to be answered during the presentations. The main topic question should be written across the top of the worksheet. As the groups are researching their topic, questions that they have and words they don't understand will come up. These are the questions and key words they should include in their worksheet.
Procedures
Week one
After explaining the requirements, the students form groups and choose their topic. Four students per group is optimal for involving each student in the research and preparation. We require that each group's topic be approved before continuing with their research. This assures that the groups keep the topic specific. After approving the topic, the groups discuss the details of their topic and may begin their research.
Week two
Much of the research must be done outside of class, so we hold this class in the library or another room with internet access so they can continue gathering information and begin making their posters and question sheets. We circulate between groups to offer advice or answer any questions they have. Many groups' speeches tend to stray from the original topic or they don't use questions or key words that are pertinent.
Week three
Groups present their topic in front of the entire class one group at a time This gives each presenter experience speaking to a large audience, and the other students (audience) can begin to understand the other groups' topics. The groups pass out their worksheets to all students before they present in front of the class. As the other students listen, they try to answer the questions on the worksheet. Student presentations usually last between four and five minutes. Each member of the group is required to have approximately equal speaking time during the presentation.
Week four
All groups exhibit their posters in a less formal setting, allowing the exhibitors to answer questions on their worksheets previously given to the other students. We cut the exhibition presentation into two 45-minute halves. Then, two students from each group circulate round the other groups to ask questions, and the other two students stay to answer questions about their group's topic. After 45 minutes the roles are reversed.
Note
A related paper may be found at:
www.edsys.center.nitech.ac.jp/lang/a07edc04/Publications/NIT2001.html
This paper analyzes in detail the performance of students in a poster presentation session based on these procedures.
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