Future TrendsTips for Prelims

23 Mar 2012Mr Daniel Siew

siewwj@hci.edu.sgCategory Manager

Essential items for Prelims Presentation

• Five potential challenges and an overview of the relevant research to be presented

• Fundamental problem to be presented

• A total of ten potential challenges to be updated in your online portfolio

Duration of Prelims PresentationFive mins oral presentation (all group members must speak)

Three mins Q & A

This means you need to manage your time well!

First Slide• Group Number• Project Title• Names of Project Members• URL of Online Portfolio (will be

recorded by me)

Structure of ProblemsThe judges are not looking for entire theses, rambling circular arguments. We are looking for clarity, logic, reason and with some luck, creativity.

Whenever in doubt, use the FPSP model of structuring problems.

RecapA Potential Challenge has 3 parts:Part 1: A FACT that can be derived from the scenario.Part 2: WHY this fact could pose a problem within the scenario (this is the problem that you infer here).Part 3: RESEARCH to support why you believe this could be a problem. Your research may be based on formal academic papers / journals, opinions from authoritative / credible sources (e.g. universities, government organisations, international non-profit organisations, reputable newspapers).

An example from elsewhereThe future scene states that students these days face increasing levels of stress from home (FACT, from future scene). This could be problematic in 2030 because if this trend persists, students may face such an insurmountable level of stress that many may turn to suicide (WHY). According to Dr Daniel Fung, Deputy Chief of IMH’s department of child and adolescent psychiatry, teenager suicide is usually caused by “relationship problems, especially with their parents” (RESEARCH).

An example from within the sceneThe future scene states that robots are used as domestic helpers, and massage beds are used as alarm clocks. This could be a problem because having technology permeating so many aspects of our lives necessarily means that a great deal of resources is used to power such technology, leading to depletion of natural resources. This is proven by / substantiated by / backed up by Dr XYZ of ABC, who predicted that BLEH.

Notice…Potential problems are always phrased as statements (not questions), and are always suggested as problems (using words like may, might, can, could) and not regarded as definite (not using words like will, would, shall, should, must).

The Fundamental ProblemYou may notice that out of your ten potential problems, a few may be related to the same significant theme that requires significant attention from you.

You may combine elements of these into the Fundamental Problem.

The Fundamental ProblemThe FP should always be one that BEST FITS your intent AND if solved, would MOST POSITIVELY IMPACT society as a whole / create the most change.

Pay special attention to your role in this scenario, and what you have been asked to do. You may infer many problems in Step One, but your FP must be related in some manner to your task.

Recap of your role from the scenario:

Memo from UN Secretary GeneralHumanitarian Officers: read the letter above. Your mission is simple. Highlight the problems that our counterparts are facing in the year 2042. Find out the most serious problem that they are facing and find ways to solve that. I am old, but you are young, and these will be your problems in future too. Save them, save yourself.

Phrasing of FPIt would be very much more realistic if your FP deals with something you and your team can address.Hence, you should aim to INCREASE, DECREASE, MINIMIZE, MAXIMIZE, REDUCE, IMPROVE a situation of your choice, as opposed to PREVENT, ELIMINATE, SOLVE, which are harder (and at times almost impossible) to do.

Example of FPGiven the logical inference we have made that teenagers in 2050 are likely to suffer from the potential problems of teenage depression, isolation, and side effects from frequent pill-popping, how might we improve the general well-being of these teenagers so that they will not succumb to mental and physical illnesses that easily in the year 2050 and beyond?

Analysing that FPThe previous FP shown is well-phrased, extremely clear, but not really adequate.

WHY?

Fail-proof Structure of Presentation Slides

Slide 1 – Opening Slide that shows group detailsSlide 2 – Problem 1Slide 3 – Further elaboration of research supporting Problem 1Slide 4 – Problem 2Slide 5 – Further elaboration of research supporting Problem 2(etc)Slide 12 – Fundamental ProblemSlide 13 – Bibliography (using APA format)

The APA FormatAPA stands for American Psychological Association. The APA format is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences.

How to cite internet sources using APA

Contributors' names (Last edited date). Title of resource. Retrieved from http://Web address for OWL resource

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Citing other sourcesSearch “APA format” in Google and click the first link. It should bring you to the Purdue Online Writing Lab, which details just about every single kind of source you can cite in APA format.

That said…As long as you present what is essential for Prelims, you are at liberty to style your presentation in as creative a manner as possible (e.g. gameshow, skit, speech of great rhetoric, etc). In fact, if your intention is to stand out from the rest and shine, you should aim to do this (just remember there is a time limit).

Things to omit from your presentation

Reflections (this year, oral presentation reflections are only required in the Grand Finals)

Role assignment for team members

Timeline

Any other thing that does not contribute to your score (refer to rubrics)

Other admin detailsTitle of Project – update the judges during Prelims 1 if there’s a change.

Venue, schedule of Prelims 1 – released through EMB.

Thank you, work hard & good luck!