Description
In the final phase, you will give a short presentation to two csc343 TAs, via Zoom.
Timing
You will sign up for a time slot online; watch for an announcement about this. The time slots are 20 minutes long,
and will be divided up as follows:
• 10 minutes to present
• 5 minutes for questions from the TAs
• The remaining minutes are for you to set up your presentation, and a cushion for any technical problems
that may arise. Please arrive with the slides ready to go, however, so you can start promptly. Ideally, you
will require little over 15 minutes in total, and the TAs can use the remaining time to confer on your grade
and feedback.
Content of your presentation
Include one slide for each of these topics:
• Domain: Very briefly set the stage by describing your domain. This should be a sentence or two. Save your
time for the other topics.
• Investigative Questions: The questions you set out to answer.
• Results: Present one or two things you learned about your domain from your project. I’m hoping that
many of you gained some insight into your domain, and that you found it interesting. It’s possible that
you didn’t learn anything non-trivial. That’s okay as long as the experience of trying and failing to find
out something about your domain taught you something about databases – and you can discuss that under
Lessons. Consider plotting your results where possible as that will make it easier for you to talk about them
and easier for the TAs to follow your discussion.
If you have a presentation time that comes before Phase 3 is due, you may still be working on your queries
and results. In that case, talk about something you’ve learned so far (you do need to have some results to
discuss), and where you plan to take the investigation next.
• Challenges: Discuss one or two significant challenges you faced, and how you solved it.
• Lessons: Here, each partner should describe one thing they learned about databases (not about your domain)
through this project. It could be something technical, something about good ways to approach problems, or
anything that will stay with you after the course is over.
• Questions?: Put a slide up with this title while you answer questions from the TAs.
You may use more that one slide for a section if needed. (This may be the case, in particular, for Results).
However, don’t expand if it causes you to go over 10 minutes, or adds so much detail that it makes it difficult for
the listenter to absorb all the information.
The TAs will set a timer and will notify you via chat when your time is running out (for example, when
you have 2 minutes left, and when you have 1 minute left). It is very important that you practice giving your
presentation – out loud – to get the timing right and to achieve a good level of polish.
How you will be marked
You will be marked both for your content and quality of presentation. We are looking for insight into your data
and into your learning, good answers to the questions from your TAs, equal contributions from both partners
(each should present, and each should answer questions), and a clear and polished presentation.
Advice for how to give a good presentation
Keep your slides simple. It’s hard to read a lot of content while listening to the speaker.
Practice, out loud, with your partner. Put on a timer. Repeat until you can do it in 5 minutes. I cannot
emphasize this enough.
The hardest part often is just getting started and into the flow. Practice your own first few sentences as you
walk / wash dishes / whatever, until you have them committed to memory and they flow well.
It’s normal to be a bit nervous (maybe more than a bit for some of us!). This doesn’t mean you aren’t going
to give a good presentation. Think of this as being “up” for your performance. A certain amount of that is a
good thing. To keep it in control, a great technique is mindful breathing. I know it sounds corny, but it really
works. Count to 4 slowly while you take a breath in and let that breath expand deeply, not just high up into
your chest. Then count to 6 slowly while you breathe everything out. (The out is the important part.) You can
practise this in advance to make it routine. If you feel silly doing this, it may help to know that it is what I do
when I’m nervous before presenting. And yes, even at this point in my career, certain presentations can make me
quite nervous! So if you feel the same, you are not the only one. 🙂
What to hand in
You must submit your slides before your scheduled presentation time. This will help with marking.
