#Final Reflection!!!!!!!!!??!!!?!!!!!!!!

So, AP Research and, with it, my entire high school years are over! I didn't use gifs all year because I thought I wasn't cool enough but in celebration of a successful end of AP Capstone, I will use puppy gifs to signify THE END OF AN ERA.

I think especially before AP Seminar, my presenting skills really sucked. I used to get really really nervous and the gross type of nervous where my hands get super clammy. My eye would start twitching because I wouldn't be able to sleep and my TMJ would get really extreme, so I'd have an awful face (#notusual, #nofilter) and headache. Needless to say, the first Seminar presentations were rough. I remember during one practice one, I completely blanked and in one video there is a full 10 seconds where I don't say anything (#awkz). So the main thing AP Capstone has helped me with is the ability to present without nervousness manifesting in biological setbacks (#science). For my Research presentation, there were the initial bit of nerves that comes with any big event, but I think I performed significantly better than I would have as little junior year me (#literallyjustborn). With so many practice and recorded presentations under my belt (I don't wear belts), AP Capstone has helped me build up my confidence and presenting skills (#positivevibes). In college and life in general, this is particularly useful in basically most classes and careers (#realworld). Being able to talk in front of people and express your points is key to getting anything you want in the real world (#yougogirl, #girlboss, #whoruntheworldgirlz).



AP Capstone also helped in time management, organization, and individual work (#thebestthingscomeinthrees). With having to basically set out schedules (with some necessary advising from Mrs. Haag from time to time #necessary, #respect), we had to rely on our own work ethic and self-awareness to get the job done (#zen). We had to make sure to conduct our methods in time, leave room for editing the paper, and then practice the actual presentation in front of family and friends. When it came to the school-less days (#hallelujah), WE WERE FREE (#birdz, #coolbeanz). But with freedom came the price of actually setting tasks to do every day unless we wanted to drown in our failures (#werk). This will be very pertinent when college starts. With no parents or personalized attention from teachers, we have to look to ourselves to achieve greatness (#deep, #majorkey).



My ability to form an argument was greatly improved with these two years. So, like I wasn't topic sentence, 3 body sentences, conclusion sentence-bad, but I was not the best at formulating arguments and writing extensive papers. I didn't realize how far researchers had to go to show that they were credible, that there were other works in their respective fields, and the importance of a literature review. This was especially heightened for our high school selves, inexperienced newborn lambs (#spring, #SPRAAANGBREAKKKKK, #baaaah, #sheepnoise). The ability to make sources converse with each other (#almostpersonification) was vital to ensuring we had a cohesive research project. Also creating our own method with embedded validity precautions was crazy. It is amazing to be able to have such a unique opportunity as a #teen (#angsty, #IT'SNOTAPHASEMOM).



Ok, so this is where I leave you as I've run out of puppy gifs (lol jk there are infinite puppy gifs on the internet bc puppies are #pure and #smol). But, it had to end sometime (#tears, #emotional). I would like to thank my classmates for all the times you guys read my paper and commented on my blog (#bros, #community). I would also like to thank Mrs. Haag for not only witnessing my awkward adolescent years (that haven't ended weirdly?????) but also for being constantly supporting and helpful during these years (#grateful, #thanksgiving). Here marks the end of our crazy times, but the AP Research #mems and #skillz shall live on with me forever (#wowza).

 

Thx pals!!! Catch you on the flippity flip, my dudes.

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Practice Presentation Reflection

With the first round of practice presentations completed, it is a relief to be so close to completing the class and have something like this presentation and the final paper to show for it. Less than a week and it will truly feel like my senior year of high school has finished.

Presenting on Friday was extremely beneficial for me. Mrs. Haag, Mr. Molk, and Mr. Holt all gave me specific advice to improving my slides at places I did feel unsure about. I thought my practice presentation went really well and what I did focus on throughout the week leading up to it were executed well: eye contact, timing, and information. I made eye contact with the teachers throughout, was done in about 15 minutes, and didn't forget any vital information. 

There were a few things that I could work on for next time (and have changed in my slides). There was a slide or two that the teachers and I felt I spent too much time on and creating an additional slide not only will maintain the interest of the audience but also alleviate some of the pressure for me as I will have an additional cue to move on to the next topic. I found that some of my animations weren't perfectly aligned with my presentation, sometimes lagging or unnecessary (specifically in regards to the severity scale-- it was better just to take these animations out completely, as I end up explaining the scale in one sentence and quickly). The teachers also had a really interesting idea of adding in a check mark to symbolize I checked for statistically significance, shaving off explanation time but still ensuring that I took all validity precautions. In the script itself,  the teachers advised me to emphasize more about what makes my research different from typical neurofeedback therapy research. NFT research so far focuses on and establishes the efficacy in treating ADHD for a more general population, while my study filled the gap with finding the comparative efficacy between adults and children. Also, I need to be more clear that I chose to analyze patient records for variables specific to NFT research on ADHD patients, as opposed to other mental disorders and treatment methods. Overall, the teachers gave me some great ideas that will help me be more concise and fine-tune the presentation to make it better both visually and content-wise. 

I felt pretty great about my presentation and allocated appropriate time to each section. I do have this irrational fear that I will somehow forget everything before the final Friday, so I have been still practicing like crazy every day multiple times (my parents claim they could present my presentation now).  I have also been rereading my final paper to ensure it is my best. 

My next practice presentation is Wednesday and with these modifications in place, I think my presentation will be really effective. Comparing it to my Seminar presentation from last year and the years of nervousness I have felt from public speaking in general, I feel great that I have come such a long way in terms of confidence. I think it helped that I was so passionate about this subject, and I truly feel like an expert in this area, which is something I've never felt before. For the first time for a presentation ever, I don't feel as scared or nervous that I'll mess up but rather really ready to do well and be done with a successful year. 

(584)

Practicing Presenting

With presentations less than 2 weeks away, most of my time this week will be practicing my presentation. I think an ideal PowerPoint is one that does not take away focus from the presenter, but also adds to the presentation visually. It supports the presentation, but does not distract. I think visualizing statistics in general is hard, so the PowerPoint enables the audience to understand what the numbers mean. Pictures are really important to add interest. The presentation also has to be fast moving, but relate to the presenter's point as they express it.

Looking back on my Seminar presentation last year, I basically didn't do any of what I listed above, or did it pretty badly. I think for the type of paper I was presenting, it worked well in that it was simple, albeit boring. It could have benefited from more animations, quicker transitions, and more relevant pictures. I think our presentations for Research are extremely different from the Seminar ones. My research paper has so many different sections to go through and so many more technical terms to explain. Research presentations warrant more slides to explain everything and more animations to keep interest for the long presentation. While Seminar was more of a presenting of past work, Research is presenting our own work. In this way, I think there is more pressure to show that you are credible and what you conducted is valuable as a Research presenter. Seminar was more of a consolidation of previous thought, and relying on others credibility to support your point, so I think it was less individual-focused, and thus the slides were more vague and more outside sources. Our Research presentations depends on our passion for the subject and our expertise to showcase all our work for an entire year, a greatly different experience than Seminar.

I got to greatly improve my slides this week to fit more of that Research purpose. With Mrs. Haag helping me incorporate the beauty of animations, I feel like the inclusion of my tables and graphs for the results section is more purposeful. I added visual cues to more directly forge that link between audience and PowerPoint, facilitating interaction with those listening. I added more slides, instead of having a large portion of my script remain on one image/text box. I think what I could improve on, the more I practice, is adding more slides and determining if my slides are enough to keep capturing interest. But overall, I am happy with how they look and think their minimalistic nature and contrasts really will help the audience visualize my research.

In terms of practicing the actual presentation, I will be trying to fit in multiple practice runs a day, probably like 4 or 5. With this being my primary focus right now, I need to dedicate time to it every day. I will be practicing after I get home from work and will practice more the days I am free. I will probably get my parents to watch and friends doing SRP/Lucia when we hang out. I think rehearsing will be easier than Seminar last year, I feel like I know my topic like the back of my hand after spending a year working on it and a lot of school-less days entirely dedicated to it. I think rather than knowing the information, I need to more practice making eye contact with the audience and making sure I am changing slides/animations on time. With this week dedicated to practice, I am sure I will be more than ready for the practice presentations!

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