Thursday, October 09, 2008
Toward the Oral Defense and Beyond
The day of my defense approached rapidly and I felt how anxiety was building up. I was nervous, but just enough to work as much as I needed to get ready for this important meeting.
I purposely choose to have this meeting on a Wednesday, so I could meet with my advisor prior to that day and also after, if needed. And so, I got to Gainesville on Sunday and met with her on Monday morning.
This was a week of many revisions that little by little polished my presentation. First, I worked with my advisor, and then with a group of students. Questions were what I was looking for, as I tried to have the best presentation possible: one that could show my work throughout this process; one that could clearly and concisely show my research.
We had a couple more meetings before the Defense, in which we worked more with the presentation. She suggested using diagrams to summarize my ideas, and this was an excellent idea. It allowed me to talk about my research instead of reading or getting more nervous, looking insecure, maybe even showing I did not prepare enough.
My defense meeting was great. After 26 minutes the presentation was done and a session of questions and answers started (two hours). Of any presentation I've done, this is the part I like the most because it allows me talk freely about my work, not being restricted to a specific format. It felt good to share my work with the professors and to clarify and answer their questions.
Once we were done, my advisor asked the students present in my defense and myself to step out for a few minutes. And then, when she came out, she congratulated me. I had passed my oral defense and my committee members greeted me congratulated me as Doctor Ortiz :)
The title of my dissertation is: In Search of a Mathematics Discussion Model: Constructing mathematics knowledge through online discussion forums.
I purposely choose to have this meeting on a Wednesday, so I could meet with my advisor prior to that day and also after, if needed. And so, I got to Gainesville on Sunday and met with her on Monday morning.
This was a week of many revisions that little by little polished my presentation. First, I worked with my advisor, and then with a group of students. Questions were what I was looking for, as I tried to have the best presentation possible: one that could show my work throughout this process; one that could clearly and concisely show my research.
We had a couple more meetings before the Defense, in which we worked more with the presentation. She suggested using diagrams to summarize my ideas, and this was an excellent idea. It allowed me to talk about my research instead of reading or getting more nervous, looking insecure, maybe even showing I did not prepare enough.
My defense meeting was great. After 26 minutes the presentation was done and a session of questions and answers started (two hours). Of any presentation I've done, this is the part I like the most because it allows me talk freely about my work, not being restricted to a specific format. It felt good to share my work with the professors and to clarify and answer their questions.
Once we were done, my advisor asked the students present in my defense and myself to step out for a few minutes. And then, when she came out, she congratulated me. I had passed my oral defense and my committee members greeted me congratulated me as Doctor Ortiz :)
The title of my dissertation is: In Search of a Mathematics Discussion Model: Constructing mathematics knowledge through online discussion forums.
Labels: oral defense
