After preparation and writing a successful proposal and getting the green light to work on the proposed research proposal, the researcher conducts the research within the timeline outlined. The proposal acts as the blueprint to the architecture and approach to the research topic. After implementing the methods that were proposed with an aim to answer the main question being investigated, a dissertation is prepared under the supervision and guidance of a supervisor. It ought to be noted that this is a document that gives the findings, implications, and significance of the concluded research. The documentation must be approved and certified by a committee that comprises of highly ranked academic professionals in the field of the dissertation (Amiri, & Puteh, 2018). The key unique characteristic of a dissertation is its purpose of increasing and improving the current knowledge on the field. This document acts as the official documentation of the research work and thus needs to be flawless as future research will be built on its conclusions and recommendations. To ensure that the documentation is professionally sound and done with uttermost academic integrity, the researcher much presents an oral defense to the methods, concepts, findings, and significance of the documentation to the committee (Ebel, 2017). This paper looks at the components, preparation, presentation, and characteristics of an oral defense of a dissertation.
Preparation of the oral defense should start conveniently early to give ample time to make the presentation successful. The preparation should be done with the close guidance of the supervisors in order to be in line with the required standards and key elements. This post defense presentation period usually involves the documentation preparation making sure it is free from erroneous content or unguaranteed statements that can mislead future users of the documentation (Kaur & Ali, 2017). All the claims and conclusions made in the document should be backed up by hard data and accepted principles in the field of the dissertation. Another vital aspect that should be done during the near post-presentation period is enhancing presentation skills that are going to be vital when facing the committee. A copy of the documentation should be availed to the supervisor and the accessible members of the committee. Thus, one will be able to get their opinions on the areas to improve and possible questions and queries that are likely to emerge during the presentation. The entire work of a research project is greatly anchored to the defense presentation exercise (Amiri, & Puteh, 2018). The presentation should be prepared in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. Communication skills, body language, mastery of content should on top of the list during this period. The ideas, concepts, and conclusions in the dissertation should be meticulously and clearly presented to the committee leaving no room for ambiguity and errors. Clarification should be sought from the supervisor in order to get the specific details that are needed in the context of the department. Rehearsals of the defense presentation should be done in order to mater the content in the slides.
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During the presentation, the researcher should presentable and dressed accordingly as per the requirements of the department that they are allied with. The presentation, which takes around ten minutes, should be optimally utilized to get the defense of the dissertation across to the committee. At the start, the researcher should present themselves to the committee as a worthwhile scholar in the respective field by emphasizing the impact and significance of the dissertation (Barrett & Liu, 2016). This helps in establishing a professional and academic responsibility for conducting the work that is being defended in the presentation. The defense of the dissertation should be focused on how the research work that is being presented fits the field and other researches that have been done in the field.
The defense presentation should clearly report on the problem that leads to the research work that is being presented. In addressing this, one should ensure that the problem that prompted the research project is related to the field in which the dissertation is based. For instance, a dissertation in the English and Literature department should first explicitly solve problems that are in English and Literature before considering other fields. Another key element that should be considered is other similar research work that has been conducted on the topic of the dissertation. This is to provide assurance the work being presented is not a subset of other researchers' work, but rather the dissertation adds a superset with extra knowledge to the field.
The next section is the methods that were used to solve the problem that was identified. This section reports on the exact methods that were used to prepare, collect, analyze, and present the data in the dissertation. The effectiveness of the methods towards data collection and analysis should also be reported outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the methods that were used. The time is taken, and the cost that was incurred should also be stated as it is an important factor in the overall value of the research project. Unrealistic cost of a research project and prolonged-time is taken to complete the research project reduces the value of the research as it will be difficult for another researcher to build on the work being presented (Suñol, Arbat, Pujol, Feliu, Fraguell, & Planas-Lladó, 2016).
The major finding is the other section that must get the spotlight during a dissertation defense presentation. This is because the purpose of undertaking the research was to collect findings of a certain question and to use the findings to make a logical and realistic conclusion concerning the research problem. The research findings should be primarily a consequence of the methods used and other secondary sources of findings that are viable for the research project (Barrett & Liu, 2016). The findings of a dissertation can either support or annul the thesis question that was being investigated, in which case they are still significant. In the case the thesis problem is proved wrong, the research is just as viable as when the thesis question. Possible sources of errors on the findings should be identified and factored in a while, drawing conclusions.
The conclusion is the part that contains the verdict of the research project. Depending on the findings of the research, the conclusion should clearly indicate whether the objectives of the research were met and, most importantly, whether the claim of the thesis question was reinstated or revoked (Suñol, Arbat, Pujol, Feliu, Fraguell, & Planas-Lladó, 2016). The implications, significance, and application should be the focus in this section as they make the committee members identify themselves with the work and hence supporting it.
In conclusion, it has been established that defense dissertation presentations should be prepared for in advance. The documentation and the PowerPoint should be prepared in a catchy and appealing way. Presentation skills should be refined in order to present in a meticulous manner. The presentation should be done in a chronological manner outlining the important aspects of the project salient to the committee members. Possible physical, psychological, and technical uncertainties should also be factored in the planning of the oral defense presentation.
References
Amiri, F., & Puteh, M. (2018). Oral Communication Apprehension among International Doctoral Students. English Language Teaching , 11 (2), 164-171.
Barrett, N. E., & Liu, G. Z. (2016). Global trends and research aims for English academic oral presentations: Changes, challenges, and opportunities for learning technology. Review of Educational Research , 86 (4), 1227-1271.
Ebel, H. F. (2017), Written seminar paper, oral presentation of project status during semester (status meetings), final project defense, poster presentation. Module Compendium , 4.
Kaur, K., & Ali, A. M. (2017). Exploring the genre of academic oral presentations: A critical review. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature , 7 (1), 152-162.
Suñol, J. J., Arbat, G., Pujol, J., Feliu, L., Fraguell, R. M., & Planas-Lladó, A. (2016). Peer and self-assessment applied to oral presentations from a multidisciplinary perspective. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education , 41 (4), 622-637.
