Thesis tutorial

Teacher(s)

Dumont Patrick; Toubeau Anne-Julie;

Language

English

Main themes

1. Training in scientific presentation skills, focusing on biology issues ( taught by an English language teacher of the Institut des Langues Vivantes, UCL) 2. Public presentation in English of the state of progress of the student's master thesis.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	After this module students should feel fairly confident when giving a scientific presentation in English focusing mainly on the academic field of biology.

Content

Training in scientific presentation skills, focusing on biology issues (taught by an English language teacher of the Institut des Langues Vivantes, UCL). Public presentation in English of the state of progress of the student's master thesis.
After this module students should feel fairly confident when giving a scientific presentation in English focusing mainly on the academic field of biology.
The seminar consists of three parts :
1. Training sessions on effective oral presentation techniques in science: facts and figures (graphs, comparisons, likelihood etc.), visual aids, systematic pronunciation of recurrent terms in science and biology.
2. Once the training sessions are over, students can rehearse their presentation individually with the the help of the language teacher.
3. Final presentation: public talk about the state of progress of the student's master thesis followed by a question time.

Teaching methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

The seminar consists of three parts :

1. Training sessions with the whole group on effective oral presentation techniques in science: facts and figures (graphs, comparisons, likelihood etc.), visual aids, systematic pronunciation of recurrent terms in science and biology.
2. Individual training sessions: students can rehearse their presentation individually with the the help of the language teacher (1 or 2 meetings per student, 30 minutes each)
3. Final presentation: public talk about the state of progress of the student’s master thesis followed by a question time. (15 minutes of actual presentation, 10 minutes of Q&A)

Evaluation methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

Presentation of the Master's Thesis in English in front of the Faculty professors, English teachers and peers. This presentation usually takes place in week 14, the last week of the first semester.
The assessment focuses on the quality of the talk rather than scientific content. As to the English language command, assessment will focus on the student's progress throughout the language sessions, with specific attention to the pronunciation of recurrent terms, overall fluency and the way the student has actually applied the presentation techniques developed in class.

Other information

The assessment takes place right after the final presentation and focuses on the quality of the talk rather than scientific content. As to the English language command, assessment will focus on the student's progress throughout the language sessions, with specific attention to the pronunciation of recurrent terms, overall fluency and the way the student has actually applied the presentation techniques developed in class.

Teaching materials

• Syllabus et la plateforme Moodle

Faculty or entity

BIOL