Presentation by postgraduate students

I have never attended any presentation by PhD or Master students before in Malaysia. But, here is something to share from my experience of attending one here in DSU, Korea. It was the end of the semester and it was time for the presentation of the research topics by the postgraduate students. One of our seniors there invited us to see his presentation. The presentation was held in a small classroom and it was closed seminar. A few professors and postgraduate students were there. Some of the professors were from other universities. Korean students presented in Korean whereas international students presented in English.

The presenters were bombarded with questions from lecturers as they were presenting. All of a sudden, it is as if they were having discussions on the topic presented. Sometimes, the professor even came in front and wrote something on the whiteboard. I heard from my seniors that one Korean girl was bombarded with questions from her own professor. Her professor seemed to be unsatisfied with her explanation and seemed to be scolding her. His volume increased as he asked more and more questions. It seemed that she was not given any time to think or answer the question. The questions asked seems to be very detail, such as why a formula is like this etc.

Finally, it was the turn of international students to present. The atmosphere was definitely different from the previous presentations by Korean students. It is like a sudden change. The professor who keeps bombarding questions just now seems to keep quiet. Hardly any professors ask him questions. Or perhaps it is because that they do not really understand the presentation in English. After his presentation, another professor walked in front and explained the whole topic again in Korean. We were like having a shock. My seniors told us that sometimes they did so. The professors’ explanation seemed to be more detail. The way he explained was fascinating. He was very action when presenting and even use different level of volumes. It was as if he was navigating a story and there was climax.