Twelve students from five faculties explained their research to an audience attending the preliminary 3MT Challenge event Thursday, Feb. 15. Presenters had three minutes and one slide to tell the story of their research.<\/p>\n
Topics ranged from the environmental impacts of human population growth to developing a support system for fathers of newborn infants to the effectiveness of Ontario laws regarding services for adults with developmental disabilities.<\/p>\n
A three-judge panel evaluated presentations on their use of plain language, structure, flow, capturing audience interest and other aspects of communication, comprehension and engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was extremely impressed,\u201d said judge Giulia Forsythe, Special Project Facilitator with Brock\u2019s Centre for Pedagogical Innovation. \u201cIt was exciting to see the amazing research and scholarship that\u2019s happening on campus, and how articulate our students are.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it was \u201cexceptionally difficult\u201d for her and fellow judges Kara Renaud, Supervisor, Career Education, and Brad McLean, Associate Director, Innovation and Commercialization in the Office of Research Services, to select five presentations.<\/p>\n
After being selected to move on to the next round, Kitchings said the competition paves the way for a key part of the research process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think knowledge mobilization is really important,\u201d she said. \u201cAn opportunity like 3MT to talk about your research to people who aren\u2019t necessarily experts in that field not only showcases the research that\u2019s happening, but enables understanding it in a different way so that it can be shared with a wider population.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kitchings, who is president of the Graduate Students\u2019 Association, and the other four finalists, will give their presentations at the March 29 final round, where the winning student will receive $500 and advance on to the Ontario Regional round at York University on April 19.<\/p>\n
Now in its sixth year at Brock, the 3MT Challenge originated in Queensland, Australia in 2008 as a way for students to explain their research to a broad audience in plain, accessible terms. More than 40 schools in Canada participated last year.<\/p>\n
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