Posters/infographics

Being able to plan and deliver a professional presentation is valuable for both academic progress and professional life.

Student presentations deliver information to an audience in an engaging and interesting way.

They may be:

  • verbal only
  • accompanied by resources such as slides.

When to use a student presentation

Presentations are useful when students need to communicate their knowledge and understanding to an audience.

  • Can be quick to mark.
  • Promote other personal skills, such as self-confidence.
  • Promote skills related to future employment and research.
  • Allow students to engage in the discourse of the discipline/profession.
  • Allow for immediate academic and peer feedback.
  • Can be a scaffolding step towards developing an essay or a project.
  • Can be presented in an online meeting, as a recorded video or audio for e-assessment.
  • Recorded presentations can be viewed or listened to multiple times.
  • Timetabling is required when presenting in a synchronous online meeting.
  • Time zone differences may make real-time presentations difficult in a synchronous online meeting.
  • Training and support may be needed if using technologies.
  • Network fluctuations may affect communication.
  • Level of speaking confidence may affect students' capacity to express the depth of their knowledge

Things to keep in mind

A student presentation can be managed in a range of ways. For example:

  • It can be delivered in a synchronous online meeting and marked at the time of presentation.
  • Video or audio can be recorded by individual students and uploaded for assessment.
  • It can focus on the oral component only, or incorporate other resources and support material.
  • It may also involve submitted aspects, such as notes or a transcript.
  • It can be completed as a group presentation, with each student having a specified role.

Approaches to marking and feedback/feedforward:

  • Marking usually takes place at the time of presentation.
  • When recorded presentations are submitted, the marking time may increase slightly but timetabling issues associated with live presentations disappear.
  • Where presentation assessments also include elements such as transcripts, these can be submitted via EASTS, commented on and returned.
  • Comments can be presented as a video file or audio file, humanising the feedback process.

More resources

These resources can be valuable when designing student presentations: