Basic Presentation in Physics

Academic unit or major

Graduate major in Physics

Instructor(s)

Jie Shi

Class Format

Lecture (Livestream)

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

5-6 Tue (S3-206(S323))

Class

-

Course Code

PHY.P411

Number of credits

200

Course offered

2025

Offered quarter

1-2Q

Syllabus updated

Mar 19, 2025

Language

English

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

This course is designed for students who have had little or no prior experiences in English academic presentations at informal and formal levels. It trains students in the following two aspects:
(1) basic public and social communication skills, e.g. introducing oneself, impromptu speech and other types of short speeches, and communication with international researchers in research labs;
(2) basic academic presentations skills, e.g. describing experiments, giving definitions, group discussion, poster and ppt presentations, and Q&A

Through interaction between students and students and teachers in the class, students practice and acquire not only the basic skills of English for social and academic presentations also cooperative learning skills.

Course description and aims

At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:
(1) make a short self-introduction and an introduction on his/her current research
(2) make a short impromptu speech on social and simple academic topics of 3-5 minutes
(3) communicate with international researchers on social and research topics in labs and on campus
(4) understand the basic skills of how to describe experiments, give definitions as well as instructions
(5) participate in small group discussion
(6) make short poster presentations (with ppt presentations optional) and participate in Q&A sessions at poster presentations

Keywords

basic presentation skills, short speech, group discussion, poster presentation, Q&A

Competencies

• Specialist skills
• Intercultural skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

Each class is divided into four stages, the review, orientation and warming up stage, the lecture and controlled practice stage, and the free and application stage. Students are engaged in active participation in class activities either individually or collaboratively in small groups.

Course schedule/Objectives

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

None

Reference books, course materials, etc.

To be announced in class

Evaluation methods and criteria

Students are required to keep a high percentage of attendance and to actively participate in class. Creativity and critical thinking are highly encouraged and valued. As cooperative learning is a crucial point of training, students will need to be willing to work with other classmates in various kinds of activities. Student participation and collaboration in class are also part of the final evaluation.
Attendance, attitudes, performance and collaboration with other students in class: 30%
Presentations: 50%
Homework: 20%
Students' self-evaluation and peer evaluation will also be considered.

Related courses

• PHY.P611 ： Advanced Presentation in Physics

Prerequisites

None