Presentation Proposal

Proposal and Presentation Preparation Guidelines

Possible Presentation Topics

Presentation Titles from Previous Students

Concrete Examples Supporting Good Presentation Topics

 

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Proposal and Presentation Preparation Guidelines

Presenting in Chinese at a formal conference may sound challenging.  But, like all previous FS students, you too will deliver an impressive presentation in excellent Chinese, so long as you choose an appropriate topic, structure your proposal and presentation well, provide convincing and concrete examples, and work closely with faculty advisors and Chinese teachers throughout the revision and rehearsal process.

Choose a Good Topic

Your 3 to 5 page long Chinese or English proposal submitted along with your application will be the base of your 20 minute formal presentation. It is thus important to choose a right topic and perspective, which will give you a smooth starting point. You need to ask yourself two questions when choosing a topic.

First, do I have personal experiences relevant to and supportive of my topic? The more you are personally involved in the subject matter, the more confident and passionate you will feel about the topic, and the more effective your project will be.

Second, will my topic interest the audience? The audience who attends your sessions at the conference will primarily consist of experts in education and Chinese teachers working in rural schools in different parts of China. Most of you are not trained in education; this is why we do not expect you to present an educational research study, which may overwhelm you and make your presentation vulnerable to criticism. You also want to avoid those topics that do not allow you to provide enough specific teaching practices/examples/procedures that rural teachers can employ. Such topics will not likely arouse enough interest.

A successful FS presentation needs to be a presentation of your own positive personal experience in the American educational system as a learner. The presentation should also feature enough vivid and practical teaching/learning examples for rural teachers in China to learn from your American education experience. Writing from an American learner's perspective using good learning/teaching examples (such as the ones attached to these guidelines), you will give Chinese educators valuable information. You want to constantly remind yourself of this perspective from your proposal to your final presentation.

Structure Your Proposal and Presentation Well

Structure your proposal and presentation in the following way:

1. An introduction to the main points and an explanation of their significance and relevance to Chinese educators (We encourage to be as creative as you can).
2. Detailed illustration of your main points with convincing and concrete examples.
3. Suggested course of action and/or conclusions

Students tend to neglect the first part of this structure when writing their proposals and presentations, however it is crucial to briefly but clearly lay out your main arguments/points and explain their significance right at the beginning.  You want to do this to attract your readers/audience’s attention from the beginning and to give them a necessary roadmap to your proposal/presentation.  This is called ???? in Chinese and has long been regarded as one of the most effective writing and presenting strategies. To arouse more interest, you may want to add in a lead-in anecdote before the introduction.  But you should keep the anecdote brief and highly relevant.

You want to continue applying the ???? strategy when providing detailed illustration of your main points.  Each passage you write should start with a topic sentence clearly telling your readers/audience which point you plan to illustrate in the passage.

Provide Convincing and Concrete Examples

The examples you use to support main points should be primarily about your learning experience. And the examples should be of practical value to rural teachers in China. Good examples from your own experience can make your presentation original and convincing.   However, make sure to relate your personal experience to the overall educational goals that you believe one should achieve in a society. Such educational goals could include: academic achievement, intellectual development, creativity, leadership, critical thinking skills, personal growth, life learning skills, among others.  You are also welcome to use some research findings and data that are highly relevant to your experience to give your presentation more academic depth, but remember you are NOT an expert of education and this is not meant to be a research presentation. Your Chinese audience will be interested in new ways of looking at/thinking about education and will be counting on you to provide them with information regarding the American educational system.

Your proposal needs to briefly but clearly describe what examples you plan to use in the presentation. Your presentation draft should give vivid details of the examples. You want to use plenty of images (personal pictures showing your educational experience are especially welcome) on your PPT to help illustrate your points. Three concrete examples supporting good topics used in the past are attached at the end of these guidelines for your reference.

Work Closely With Faculty Advisors and Chinese Teachers Throughout the Revision and Rehearsal Process

You will work closely with several faculty advisors and Chinese teachers throughout the revision and rehearsal process. Before June, a pre-departure faculty advisor will oversee your writing progress and help with revision. Under the faculty advisor’s guidance and supervision, you will focus on the content and organization of the presentation. You will be asked to revise the presentation and PPT drafts as many times as needed until they meet basic FS conference presentation standards. After you arrive in China, you will further revise the presentation and refine your Chinese language with the help of ACC instructors to ensure the quality of your presentation.  At the same time, the ACC instructors will also help you rehearse your presentation, correct your pronunciation, and improve your oral presentational ability. This extended process of careful revision guided by experienced faculty advisors and Chinese teachers will not only guarantee a high quality final presentation, but will also significantly improve your abilities to express sophisticated ideas in formal Chinese.

We expect your pre-departure presentation draft to be approximately 5,000 Chinese characters long so that you have enough.

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Possible Presentation Topics

• Your most meaningful learning experience in a U.S. school (K-12)
• Building self-confidence in a classroom setting
• College practices for environment protection
• The variety of school-based extracurricular activities
• Development of foreign language skills in U.S. schools
• Community services and volunteering in the U.S.
• Development of personal skills
  • Ability to learn independently
  • Ability to summarize information
  • Ability to communicate and work in a group
  • Ability to analyze
  • Problem solving ability
  • Creative and critical thinking

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Presentation Titles from Previous Students

• Building Bridges: Storytelling and Empathy
• A Popping Balloon: Childhood Fine Arts Education, Creativity, Individuality, and Stress Alleviation
• Understanding through Teaching: The Advantages of Peer-to-Peer Education Methods
• Nutrition, Education, and Money: How Teacher Disposition, Food Provision and Budgets Affect the Health of Students
• Using Experiential Learning to Reinforce Class Material and Foster Skills Not Taught Through Didactic Teaching Methods
• The Negotiator in Us All: Cultivating a Culture of Debate in the Educational System
• Music Education and Self-Expression
• Individualized Instruction as a Means to Encourage Specialization and Independence
• Information and Communication Technology’s relationship with the Classroom: A study of the interdependence and inconsistent relationship between technology and education.
• Foreign Language Learning across Secondary and Tertiary Education Programs in America: Models for Emulation (and Avoidance)
• Athletics and Development
• Extracurriculars: The Benefits of Learning to Write Creatively
• Homeschooling and Student Achievement
• The Importance of Cultural Literacy in Language Study
• Students’ Freedom and Independent Thinking
• The Challenges and Importance of Science Education in the United States
• Cultural Diversity and Writing: Preparing Students for a Global Village
• The Impact of One-on-One Tutoring in Elementary and Middle Schools
• Discipline Without Disciplining in the United States: The Role of After School Programs
• Arts Education in the United States: Reinvigorating and Inspiring Students
• Developing Leadership/Teamwork Skills, Voicing Personal Opinions, and Exploring Social/Career Interests through Publicly-Funded Extracurricular Student Organizations: How After-School Activities Supplement Academics and Advance Preparation for Higher Education
• The Importance of Visual Imagery in American Education
• Promoting Volunteerism and Academic Awareness in American Public Schools: National Honor Society
• Learning through Play: Exploring Creative Lessons
• The Importance of Mentorship Programs for Personal and Community Development
• Improving China’s Ethnic Minority Schools: Borrowing Lessons from Jewish Day School in America
• The Educational Value of Athletics
• Health Education in the United States

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Concrete Examples Supporting Good Presentation Topics

Example 1:
• ???(Christine Chambers, Indiana University Bloomington)«??????»
• ppt11?????????????,????????????,????????“???”,???????????????????,??????????????????,???????:”???????,???????”??
•  ??????,???????????????????,????????????,??????????1?2???????,????????????????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????“???”,??????????,????????????????????????!
•   ????,?????????????,???????,???????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????????
•   ????????:????????????????,??????,?????“????”??????,??????,?????????,???????,???????,??????????????,?????????,??,????????,???????????,???????,??????????,????????
• ????????????????????“27?”—— ???????????

• Example 2:
• ???(Ursula Friedman, Oberlin College)«?????»
• ???ppt    
• ?????????????????????????????? ????:???????,????????????????????????????,????????????????????????????,??????,??,???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ,??????????? ????,??,??,??????????????????????????????????????????????,???,?????????????????????,????????????????,?????????????,????????????????,???,??:??????wang3,??????dai4???????,?????????????,???????????,????????????????,??????????,?????????????,????????????????????????,??????????????,????????????,?????????????????????
•   ???,???????????????????????????????????????,???????????
• ???ppt/ ???ppt 
•     ??????????????????,???????????????????????,???????  
• ?????????????????????????,??????????????????????? ?????????????,??????????,??????????,??????????????????????????????????????????
•     ????,?????????????????????????,??????????????????,???????????????????,?????????????????????????????????????????????,??????,???????????????????,????????????????????,????????????????????????????????????????,??????????????????????????????,??????????????????,????????????????,????????????????????????????,??????????????????????????,????????????????????????????,??????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????????,??????????

• Example  3:
• ???(Sam Jeong, Williams College)«?????»
•     ???,????????????????????????????,????????????????????????????????????,??????,????????????????????????,??????????????????????????????????????????????,????,?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????????????,???????????,????????????????(??:????????????,???,??)??????????????????,???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
• ?????«????????»?«??????»,?????????????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????????????????????????,???????????????:??,??,??,????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????«?????»????????????????????????,????????????????????,??????????????????,???????????,???????????????????????,???????????????????????????
• ???????????????????,????????????????????????
    ?????????,???????????????????????????,????????????????????????????????????????
    ??????????,????????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????????????,?????????????????????????,?????????????????????
• ????«??????»,?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????: ????????????????????:“??????????????”????????? ???????????,?????????????????????????????????(????????????)?????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????????,????????????????????????????????????????,????,??????????????????????????,?????????????????
    ??????????,????????????????,?????????,???????????????,????????????????????????????????????????????:????????,??????????,??????????????,?????????????????????,???????????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????????????,?????????????
    ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????,??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????????????????????????????????
    ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????!

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