Abstract
Scientific communication skill is crucial for research and other professionals alike in the 21st century. This ever-growing demand of effective presentation skills across disciplines lead to the common presentation training in higher education. However, the current training model lacks flexibility and context awareness. Therefore, in this study, the innovate approach to developing effective presentation skills includes authentic tasks for personalized goals to better prepare the learners for the challenges at workplace. The authentic tasks include self-promotion pitches based on individual research topics, TED talk dubbing, and a 3MT mock-up competition. With real audience and a real purpose, the learners can develop skills for real-world situations. This study follows an action research cycle and includes consistent reflections on student feedback and classroom observations. Student perception of and attitude toward these authentic tasks were explored in written reflective essays, questionnaires and simulated-recall interviews. The questionnaire results indicate that students have highly positive evaluations of authentic tasks and suggest that these practices significantly enhance their presentation skills. Post-course interviews focus on the experience of participating in the NTHU 3MT competition, and the students reported they had improved presentation skills and also gained a deeper understanding of their own research. The participating students reported that they received more praise and have learned much more than they expected. Altogether the authentic practice and real hands-on experience help the target graduate learners to further refine their scientific communication skills for various audience. Additionally, the design integrates students' topics, fostering a spirit of self-directed learning. By participating in public competitions, learners engage with real audiences, acquiring real-life language use beyond textbook examples.