What is the Webinars Worth Watching (W^3) competition?

Virtual programming and presentations, such as webinars, are becoming more and more common in education and the workforce. But how many webinars have you been to that are boring, where you end up browsing the Internet? Graduate students need to be able to present their work and research digitally, as well as communicate the information effectively and quickly within the virtual programming tool.

The UNCG Graduate School and UNCG University Libraries will have a competition for face-to-face and online graduate students to determine who can give the most effective webinar or virtual presentation in 10 minutes. We will put out a call for proposals to all of the graduate programs and select students to compete. Over 1 week, the competition will run virtual webinar sessions of 4-5 students in each session, with 3-4 finalists selected based on a rubric. At the end of the week, we will have 1 virtual session of 4 students and declare a winner.

The finals for 2023 are: Friday, February 24th, 2023. Time TBD.

Finalist W^3 Judges 2023:

• TBD

Finalist W^3 Judges 2022:

• Greg Bell, UNCG Graduate School, Dean

• Amy Harris Houk, UNCG University Libraries, Assistant Dean of Teaching and Learning

Finalist W^3 Judges 2021:

• Karen Bull, UNCG Online, Dean

• Kelly Burke, UNCG Graduate School, Dean

• Michael Crumpton, UNCG University Libraries, Dean

Contestants for Spring 2022:

• Kayla Baker, Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, Advisor: Dr. Leila Villaverde, The Backbone is Speaking: Uplifting Black Women Voices on the Socialization of Black Youth - 1st PLACE

• Claire Newman, Kinesiology, Advisor: Dr. Michael Hemphill, Centering Player Voice as a Means for Equity - 2nd PLACE, People's Choice

• Meg Oslund, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Advisor: Dr. Danielle Bouchard, Horror and the Horrorific: How modern horror is interacting with horror nostalgia through shifting lenses - FINALIST

Why Participate?

Inclusion

All UNCG graduate students (including fully online and distance) can participate in this competition.

Prizes

There are cash prizes for the winner and second place participants, as well as a People's Choice.

Prizes are first place ($300), second place ($200), and People's Choice ($100).

Skills development for research candidates

Preparing and delivering an effective webinar develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills, while emphasizing students' ability to explain their research effectively in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Contestants for Spring 2021:

• Mackenzie (Mac) Pierson, Kinesiology, adviser Chris Rhea, Implementing OPTIMAL Theory in Lower Extremity Tasks to Reduce Risk of Injury - PEOPLE'S CHOICE

• Morgan Frost, Biology, advisor Sally Koerner, Implications of invasive grasses for multiple trophic levels of rangelands - 1ST PLACE

• Kelsi Hobbs, Economics, advisor Christopher Swann, Explaining the Variation in Rental Housing Eviction Rates across US Counties - FINALIST

• Sajedeh Pourianejad, Nanoscience, advisor Tetyana Ignatova, Developing 2D Heterostructure-Based Sensors

• Tianjiao Li, Nutrition, advisor Zhanxiang Zhou, The role of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) in alcohol-induced hepatic steatosis and lipotoxicity

• Elvis Foli, Kinesiology, advisor Dr. Sandra Shultz, The Influence of Birth Control Pill Biochemistry on A Risk Factor for ACL Tears in Active Women

• Yuki Sugimoto, Kinesiology, advisor Scott Ross, The Study of Individual Perception in Coordinating Postural Control When There Is an Increase in Complexity of the Task and Environmental Constraints in CAI Individuals Compared to Healthy Controls - 2ND PLACE

Contestants from Spring 2020:

• Elvis Foli, Kinesiology, "Biomechanics, Birth Control, and Biochemistry: Examining a Risk Factor for ACL Injury Using a Multidisciplinary Approach" - Finalist

• Stacey Garrepy, Music Education, "Music Education in Germany and the United States as an Example of Internationalization: a Philosophical Inquiry"

• Jessica Navarro, Human Development & Family Studies, "Divine Thanks: Are Religious People More Grateful?" - 1st Place

• Kyoungyoun (Anne) Park-Braswell, Kinesiology, "Differences in the Brain Function and Structure between Various Degree of Knee Laxity Individuals" - 2nd Place

• Sajedeh Pourianejad, Nanoscience, "Interaction of 2D Materials: Graphene and Beyond"

• Mark Snow, Kinesiology EdD, "Creation of Online Active Learning Faculty Development Page" - People's Choice

• Yuki Sugimoto, Kinesiology, "Effects of Visual Manipulation on Gait Biomechanics and Recovery from Sudden Tripping in Individuals with and without CAI"

Judging Criteria

***UNCG W^3 Judging Rubric****

At every level of the competition each competitor will be assessed on the two judging criteria listed below. Please note that each criterion is equally weighted and has an emphasis on audience.

• Comprehension & Content: did the webinar design and presentation help the audience understand the research?

• Engagement & Communication: did the webinar make the audience want to know more?

Rules:

• A PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation is permitted, with no more than 10 slides.

• Webinars are limited to 10 minutes maximum and competitors exceeding 10 minutes are disqualified.

• Webinars are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).

• Webinars are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts the presentation through speech.

• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.

Additional Information:

• The slides must contain the participant's name and department affiliation.

• It is strongly recommended that you do not use an oversize slide. These are generally wider than the normal PowerPoint slide format and will appear with a white band at the top and bottom.

Webcast Best Practices