It is very important that the presentation is based on credible research.
By credible research, I mean actual research data in the form of statistics as recorded in scholarly research studies. You can access such research studies via Google Scholar as well as the databases listed on the Brooklyn College library homepage. If you are in doubt about whether the material you have collected is appropriate for the presentation, just ask me via email. It is also important that the presentation is value-neutral. You are not arguing a point; you are simply informing the audience about what is known about your topic.
You can choose any subject of general public interest; the most important thing, again, is that the entire presentation is based on credible research, which is nicely summarized and discussed during the presentation.
The presentation should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It also should include a bibliography of all the material on which it is based. Here is what you need to do in each part of the presentation:
The Beginning
Introduce the topic of your presentation by explaining its importance and discuss how the rest of your presentation is organized. The presentation should have a logical flow, which is clearly explained and justified.
The Middle
In the main part of the presentation, you provide a comprehensive and nuanced review of what research has discovered about your chosen topic, nicely organized into sub-topics, which you clearly introduce to the listener. It is important that your properly integrate and synthesize the research data that you discuss instead of simply discussing one individual study after the other. The presentation should have a coherent story line and be organized into main points and sub-points. Do not mention the names of researchers, their affiliations, or make any methodological comments. Just focus on the research data.
The End
You should end the presentation by briefly summarizing your main points and discuss any gaps in the research that future research should address.
The Bibliography
Please include an alphabetized list of all the material on which your presentation is based.
