8. Share Research

Share Research

Sharing your research is important, because not only are you getting the opportunity to show off what you’ve learned, but you also are taking a courageous step to be a part of a scholarly community by participating in the scholarly discourse.  It can be nerve-wrecking sharing your research, but it’s important experience.  You never know what the future may hold; being able to give an elevator speech (a shortened presentation), and fielding questions, and explaining your line of reasoning are all important skills beyond the community college classroom.

You may present in front of your class.  This is good experience.  You should actively seek opportunities to present your research in a larger forum outside your classroom.  In STEM, the Mathematics Department has a Math Symposium; Student Life also holds a Multicultural Awareness Conference; soon, PPCC will have its own Undergraduate Research Forum.  There’s a regional opportunity with the Colorado Undergraduate Research Forum (CSURF).  Taking these opportunities are resume or curriculum vitae builders.  Not only can they help you secure a place in a highly competitive university, but they can hone the skills necessary for your next job. 

Sold? In what format may you be asked to present? 

•  An Ignite Talk, or a Pecha Kucha Presentation.  These presentations limit the amount of PowerPoint Slides, which usually have a prescribed time that automatically switches slides. The slides usually have images relevant to the topic, and they demand that you as the speaker the images to life with the ideas of your research.  This means that these presentations take deliberate practice.  The idea of these time presentations is that you are concise, and those attending the presentation will follow up with question.  You don't need to purchase any programs: access PowerPoint through your Student Office 365 account, found in your Student Portal.
•  A traditional PowerPoint presentation.  This is an elongated presentation that demands you get into the detail of what you’ve researched.  This will give you more time to dive into your thesis (argument), and present a more in-depth analysis of your evidence and conclusions. 
•  A Poster Board Presentation.  Using either a template or a PowerPoint slide, the student creates a 36”x48” poster.  In this poster, you will have the following elements: an abstract and overall question that guided your research, a definition of the problem, methodology used, charts of showing results of your own experimentation, the literature important to the research usually cited in a bibliography section, and finally your conclusions.  You will stand by your board and greet those who show interest.  You give a presentation structured by the logic of your board.  You will typically receive questions or comments from those who are present.