Documenting: Viva Voce (1 Viewer)

[anti]

Viva Voce questions, setting, and hints from previous students:

We watched each others and each went for 15-20 mins. We had our ext teacher and head teacher and advanced teacher. It wasn't informal, but it was pretty laid back. We got the questions beforehand, I just wrote dot points to make sure I covered everything. They flipped through my journal, asked additional questions...just about my progress, obstacles encountered, further plans, etc. I will post my questions when I am home to give you an idea.

if urs is an informal interview, talk casually but sophisticated and intelligent at the same time. Do not use "like". It may be casual, but you're not telling your teachers about what u did on the weekend, "and like this guy, he like came up to me, and like he told me...." etc.

Ours are formal interviews, but at times the teachers like to liven them up with pathetic jokes. lol It's funny coz the jokes are sad, so everyone ends up laughing anyway!

Anyone ppl wanted the questions so here they are

VIVA VOCE 1 (im paraphrasin cant find the exact questions)
1. What is your medium and why did you choose it
2. What is your idea and what has influenced you
3. How has your research influenced and/or changed your ideas
4. What are your strengths and weaknesses
5.What do you wish to achieve in ee2?
There was also impromptu questions

VIVA VOCE 2 (havent had this one yet its in 2 weeks)
1. how has your major work progressed
2.have you made any significant changes
3. have you discovered any limitations or problems with your chosen medium
4.how has your research impacted on your major work
5.Do you believe you are achieving your goals in your major work
6.What immediate and long term goals have you set for the development of your major work.
And there will be impromptu questions again

some practice questions (and sorz for caps, cbb to re-type it)

WHAT PROGRESS HAVE YOU MADE TOWARDS COMPLETING YOUR MW TO THIS POINT IN TIME?

WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN YOUR MW AND THE ADVANCED OR EXTENSION ONE WORK YOU HAVE DONE?

HAVE YOU CHANGED THE CONCEPT OR FORM OF THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AND WHY?

WHAT RESEARCH HAVE YOU UDNERTAKEN AND HOW HAS IT INFORMED OR SHAPED YOUR MW?

HOW HAVE YOU USED YOUR JOURNAL? HOW HELPFUL HAS IT BEEEN IN MAKING PROGRESS WITH YOUR MW?


HOW HAS THE NATURE OF THE INTENDED AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE INFLUENCED THE LANGAGE, FORM AND FEATURES OF YOUR MW?

WHAT PROBLEMS OR DIFICULTIES HAVE YOU ENCOUTNERED AND HOW HAVE YOU DEALT WITH THEM?

WHO HAVE YOU TALKED TO ABOUT YOUR MAJOR WORK AND WHAT IMPACT HAS THIS HAD ON YOUR WORK?

WHAT ARE THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT THIGNS YOU HAVE LEARNT FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THIS COURSE?

It was good...atmosphere was relaxed, and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be.

We had to do a prepared speech for about 12 mins (I just had a few points on palm cards that I elaborated on in there off the top of my head), then read a short excerpt of our MW and finally answer a series of questions (which were all based on what we'd said before) for about 8-10 mins. The questions were hard...the teachers were very perceptive and asked a few very cutting and insightful questions that I really wasn't expecting. Verbal dancing and acrobatics was needed half the time to figure out what in the hell they were asking before I got onto my answer - but obviously I pulled through.

If anyone hasn't done it yet, don't stress over it too much before hand. Go in as relaxed as possible, and make sure you know every little thing about your major work. If they ask something you have no answer to (that may focus on a tiny little nuance of your work) - say something like that's something I need to further consider, as this is still very much a work in progress etc.

And we already know the questions we'll be asked. :-\
1. In what ways can your investigation be described as “on going, systematic and rigorous”?
2. How have you used your investigative process journal to monitor, document and reflect on your investigation and process?
3. Explain the stages of the process of your major work.
4. How successful do you feel you have been to date in developing your concept and achieving your aims?

Watch out for suprises.

We were given a sheet of possible questions we might be asked, with the instructions that we would be asked a certain amount of those questions (i.e, those questions and those questions only).....in the end none of us were asked any of the questions we'd been anticipating and were all shocked when the teachers began disecting our major works with any criticisms they could find.

Also, if you can...crack a joke or two - show your personality. I mean seriously, it's a 20 minute speech/discussion. If I was marking and had to sit through a 20 minute yawn fest, with someone speaking in a boring monologue, shaking like a leaf and showing the personality of a lobotomised door handle I wouldn't be too happy about it.

okay, what i would do is write down each question at the top of a page in your journal... leave a page or two for writing... and write down ideas about what the questions asking, ie for the second one, write in dot points how you've used your journal and how it's helped the process... it's better to have the ideas there in front of you during the vv, but be able to transition smoothly from one idea to another, because if yours is anything like mine, you won't get asked exactly those questions, but some questions will lead to information that you wrote down as answers for the prep questions... does that make sense?

 

[jhakka]

Justin's guide to the Viva Voce

Farout, I didn't realise the Viva Voce was so early for some of you people, but seeing as there are threads up about it, I'll make my own little guide.


Layout:
The layout of the Viva Voce is pretty simple. Different schools will probably have different systems, but here's what I feel is a pretty standard Viva Voce.

-Short time to get ready (set up presentations, etc).
-Short talk and/or presentation about your major work, research, mentors, etc.
-Short interview-ish thing. They ask you questions. You answer them and try to lead the conversation to what you feel are the strengths of your work/process.


Preparation:
OK, this is the most essential thing for you Viva Voce. Make sure you have something to show the marker and audience. This is absolutely essential. If you haven't written or even started a draft don't stress, because it's still very early in the game. Just make sure you have something.

I would suggest some of the following:
-A Powerpoint/Flash/whatever presentation that can be going in the background while you talk about your major work or your ideas.
-Handouts. While not absolutely necessary if you're showing something on screen, it's still good to have something to give your audience.
-A timeline of what you've done so far in terms of research, development of ideas, composition and so on.
-Your journal. I didn't use it, but it's good to have some parts there to illustrate your processes.
-If you've done a draft, have a copy with you. Or at least a copy of what you've done. If you're doing a presentation, have a copy on your disk so you can load it up if you feel the need. If you have a hard copy you can some out.

Make sure you know what you are going to talk about. Odds are you'll be expected to do a short talk (a couple of minutes, which isn't nearly enough) about your major work. You don't want to be going way over or way under time. Prepare everything. Don't read off your presentation if you do one. You want to be facing your audience rather than the screen.

Try and find out who will be marking and act accordingly. If you know a teacher who lacks a sense of humour will be assessing you, don't put too many jokes in there. If you know the teacher is easygoing and can appreciate a good joke every now and then, prepare a funny comment on the side or a more casual style in which to present your talk.

Most importantly know the criteria! Make sure you know what they want so you can do it! It's no use talking about your cat when they want you to talk about how many words you think your work will be (for example). Make sure you address everything they want to hear before you go off on a tangent. Most of your marks will come from addressing the criteria (make sure you stick to the stuff about how you present your Viva Voce... very important) so focus on that. Then you can go off and do what you think is important and get more. When you prepare, prepare what they want to see first.


In the assessment:
Relax. The Viva Voce is the most fun of the assessments. It's a chance to show off how cool your work, your idea or even lack both. Enjoy it. I'm not one for public speaking, but I had a blast in my Viva Voce. And the audience (Year 11 Extension 1) loved me too.

Eye contact. Duh.

Make sure you're speaking clearly, and that what you say makes sense. If someone asks you a question, pause for a second to come up with an intelligable answer rather than rushing and blurting any old thing out.

Refer to your work as much as you can. Mention parts of the work that you didn't show in your presentation so that the marker will ask about it, or even ask to see it (if you have a copy of your work on you). Again, it's best to have it on disk so you can show it via the projector. Gives them a better idea of what your work is about and where it's going. It's good to use the mouse to highlight or point to particular sentences too.

Talk about everything! Do not focus on your work and not mention research. Similarly, don't talk about your research and ignore the work itself. They want to see how you can balance and manage your time.

Don't move around too much. React to your audience. If they like the way you're going, keep it up. If they don't, change approach.

And this is one for those emotional people out there: Don't cry. Seriously. More likely than not, it won't help you.


That's all I can think of for now, but I will add things as I think of them or if someone suggests an area I didn't talk about.

Good luck.

-Justin

 

[glitterfairy]

And if you do happen to be an emotional person like myself, completely ignore Justin. It's ok to cry.

That being said, don't cry just with the intention of hoping the markers take sympathy on you. If you DO cry like I did in one EE2 assessment, ask for a tissue, have a few deep breaths (the markers are people and should give you some breathing space) and continue on as best you can. You can still get full marks with tears streaming down your face, so long as you fulfill the criteria

 

[glitterfairy]

It really isn't that much of a deal... but you know, the big fat word "assessment" tends to have an effect on people nonetheless.

But as you walk out, it'll hit you that it was probably one of the most enjoyable assessments you've ever done in your entire life.

Actually, random note here. The teachers at my school were so passionate about wanting us students to speak from the heart and not give a prepared speech that they gave us ONE yellow palm card on which we were allowed to write on and bring in (and obviously we weren't allowed to bring in any other palm cards). It worked In fact, I didn't even write on mine - just drew a pretty picture that demonstrated the concept of my story

 

[Sweets]

Our Viva is only for like 5 mins. All we have to do is make a opening statement about the intent of our work. We will then be bombarded with random questions about it. Then we have to refer to a extract from our journal of something which represents a important stage in our process of something. Theres something else we have to do but i forget what.

Viva sounds fun. Ours isn't till May though and 40 freaking %

 

[snowblack]

did any of u guys have to hand in compositions of your MW ?
my teacher asked me to try to finish my crit response....is this meant to be normal cos im finding it a bit hard to write a 5000 word essay after 2 months of research ><

 

[jhakka]

My Viva Voce was some time in Term 2, and they didn't expect a draft from us. We just worked at our own pace, and although our teacher would have liked a draft done early, he didn't put that kind of pressure on us.

 

[glitterfairy]

My teachers strongly - very strongly - encouraged us to have a first full draft by the end of the term 1/term 2 holidays. The vast majority of them weren't all that polished at all, but it did give us something to work off. Not everybody finished in time (I think we had some people whose first full draft still wasn't finished a few weeks before that actual MW was due) but it's certainly good to have some kind of gameplan - remember that once Trials starts looming closer, you'll have a heck of a lot more to worry about, particularly if you're doing other major works as well.

 

[snowblack]

so basically you just need to talk about your "processes" and your journal for about 15 to minutes right ?

 

[glitterfairy]

It depends on whatever your school sets. Mine was a five-minute speech.

Oh, and it may be a good idea to quote some texts Just a few vital ones, that is.

 

[jhakka]

All that note taking is just like a driving test.

But remember that teachers need to take notes. They can't just sit there and think "20/20".

 

[spezzy]

Hi Guys,
These are some notes I made for my viva voce last year (of course you can't take notes in with you- at least I couldnt- but I found these helped).
One is a general outline of what I thought you needed to include and the other some more detailed notes about what I wanted to say.
Hope it helps

 

[zenger69]

Here are questions from my upcoming viva voce

1. Tell us about the inspiration for your Major Work and explain what you have done so far.

2. Discuss the texts you have investigated and how they have assisted you.

3. Describe the process you are using. Comment on your concept, your intended audiences, purpose structure and the language features you are using.

4. Have you experienced any problems or challenges? How have you overcome these, or do you forsee any problems or challenges? How will you overcome these?

5. Have you changed or refined your proposal in any way? Justify these changes or refinements

6. What have you gained/learned so far in doing the Major Work? What do you expect to gain/learn?

7. Do you have anything further to add?

Question 7 is a bit stupid, but I guess it allows you to go back to any question you couldn't answer because of nerves and you forgot your pre-prepared answer.

 

[jhakka]

Merged this thread with my "Justin's Guide to the Viva Voce" thread and removed posts not relevant to the layout/marking of the assessment.

 

[jhakka]

Thread closed.

Lynn and I want to do some work on this forum, including fresh threads for the Assessments. Stay tuned.

Justin