Evaluation

Each student will present assigned papers and lead discussions in one class. You are expected to:

1. Send a draft of the slides beforehand. (20%)

2. Give a presentation about the paper(s) in class. (80%)

What the presentation should look like

The presentation should be about 15-20 minutes. You would not have time to mention every single detail of the paper, so focus on the most important points. This would typically involve:

• The research question of the paper. What is the question the authors are trying to answer in the paper? If there is, you should also describe the competing theories the paper is trying to argue against.

• Quick overview of the background (if necessary): Is the paper addressing a specific preceding finding?

• The experiment design: What are the methods they used? How does it address the research question?

• Key findings: How does the data support their hypothesis?

• Your thoughts about the paper: e.g., Which aspects are (not) convincing and why?

If there are more students than the papers on the reading list, you might be asked to collaborate with another student. Conversely, when there are fewer students than the papers, you might be asked to present papers in multiple classes. In the latter case, each of your presentations is graded but only the better one is reflected in your overall grade.

You should submit the slides by the end of the day before the presentation to the Discussion channel on Teams.

You will be evaluated for:

• Understandings of the paper.

• Communication of the important points of the paper.

• Critical thinking about the paper.

Tips for presentations:

• Don't fill the slides with words. Slides are not your manuscript, but are something that guide and supplement your oral presentation.

• Include as much visual aids as possible, such as key figures or diagrams. It is great to make your own diagrams to illustrate key points.

Draft slides

You have to submit the drafts of your slides so that I can provide some feedback about it. The aim is to make sure you are on the right track and to see if you need any help. You should submit your draft slides by the end of the weekend before the presentation. You are also welcome to meet me to discuss the presentation either before or after you submit the draft. You could either visit me in the office hours (preferable) or schedule a meeting if needed. Note that the draft slides are graded leniently regarding the quality.

Collaborative presentations

When multiple people are assigned to one presentation, it is mostly up to you how you split the work. However, you should follow the points below:

• Each of you should have checked and agreed on the content of the presentations (e.g., manuscripts, slides, etc) both before submitting the drafts and before the actual in-class presentations. For example, you should make sure every presenter is on the same page about the draft slides before submission. 

• Every presenter should take part in the in-class presentation. For example, you should not have one of you prepare all the slides and one of you do all the in-class presentations.

• Each of you submit a brief report about which part of the work was done by you, your collaborator, or together. e.g., "I prepared the slides and did the oral presentation for Experiment 1 ...". Please submit this before the end of the day for the presentation via Teams chat.

Students who are not presenting a paper will read the paper anyway and will come up with 2 discussion questions and send them to me by the end of the day before the class.

For example, you can think about:

• How is the paper related to other studies?

• Is there any concern about the study? Is the method valid?

• Is there another way to test the hypothesis?

• Is there any unanswered questions?

• Is there any follow up study you can think of?

The question should not be too vague. e.g., "This paper seems to be conflicting with X & Y (2021) in this specific results. How can we reconcile the two results?" 

You should think how you would answer the question. e.g., "I think this paper has such and such problems, and therefore this part of the argument does not stand. What do you think about it?"

You should submit this via Teams two days before the class. (e.g., if the class is on 10.10.2023, the deadline is 23:59 of 8.10.2023)

Coming to the classroom and participating in discussions are very important components of the learning experience in this course. You will be graded for being in class and being actively engaged in the discussion. This is different from preparing your discussion questions.

If you register for 7 credicts, you are additionally assigned a term paper. This will not be a simple summary of the literature, but you should make some points that former literature have not. For example, you might point out an unanswered question and propose a new study that addresses it. More details will be announced later in the sememster.