電気通信大学 ASE II: Final presentations・期末プレゼンテーション

Hello - and Happy New Year!

How are you? I hope you could feel refreshed over the New Year's holiday. Here is the post about the final presentation projects.

Our fall final presentation topic will be your choice! Like the second presentation topics, these will also be individual projects, but on a special time schedule on the presentation day.

While I have given all of you the handout about the final presentations, I will post it here as 

well as another way for you to remember what you can prepare for it.

Semester topic review

Here is a review of the topics we have done so far this semester:

     Educational systems

     Refugee issues

Special note – you can see on the syllabus that we had a third (3rd) regular topic scheduled – narratives – plus an optional extra topic about Japan and the future.

We are not going to have enough time to do one more regular topic. So as an option for you, you can choose one of these topics to do for a final presentation:

     Narrative about a famous person

     Japan and the future

Deadline (締め切り)

We will do these on January 30th (1/30), so this time you have four (4) weeks to prepare these. I would like to see a summary of your topic next week (1/16).

Guidelines & meanings

You are free to choose any one (1) of these topics, but with these guidelines and meanings:

1. Educational systems

You must present on a different system than what you did before – do not present the same thing on the same topic that you did already!

Like our two presentations we have done this semester, you must present

a two-sided argument about the merits or demerits of the system.

2. Refugee issues

Here again you must present on something different – do not present the same thing on the same topic that you did already!

Like our two presentations we have done this semester, you must present a two-sided argument about any of the issues affecting refugees.

3. Narrative about a famous person

Similar to what you did in the spring semester, you can present about a famous person and his or her life accomplishments, but this time in a story form. You must work towards a two-sided argument about the person - about the person's achievements, but also about any issues the person may have had in life or accomplishments that affect how we see the person. 

Of course - if you were in my class in the spring semester, you must present on a different person than who you presented on before!

4. Japan and the future

Here you can present about technological, social, or cultural trends you see that could happen in Japan in the future. This is a little different kind of topic as this will be more of an imagined sense of what you feel or see for Japan in the future. You must work towards a two-sided argument about what you see or believe for Japan in the future - things such as technological or scientific breakthroughs, but also some difficulties and dangers that you believe Japan should take care for, and work to avoid.

Here I can show you two blogposts on some American ideas from the past about what life in the future would be like check them out here, and here. How do they compare with Japanese ideas from the past, or even now, about what life in the future might be like? 

Schedule & conditions

This time, we will make a schedule that will include a presentation practice. In addition, for the actual presentation day, you cannot use notes - only index cards or pieces of paper with key words and key phrases about the presentation topic on them. Here is the schedule:

1/9 – introduction of project; selection of topics; brainstorming on ideas to explore in the topics; developing summaries of presentation topics and beginning outside class work 

1/16 – topic idea proposals with topic summaries; teacher review of work done outside of class; in-class presentation preparation (option for outside class work in library as well)

1/23 – in-class presentation preparation; mandatory presentation practice 

1/30 - final presentations 

Good luck on this! I will give you as much support as I can through my blog, and in class. 

Take care!

Image: By https://es.ifixit.com/User/524640/Sam+Lionheart - https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/gFgosPJbspyCBD5P, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41473740