EPQ Presentation Evening Review

Overall, I found the EPQ evening informative and interesting. I attended talks by other students on the spread of blue tongue disease in cattle and sheep, fluoridation of water systems, the feminist movement, malaria cures and how a parent’s affection can affect a child’s brain development.

I found that the talks I went to mainly focused on the topic chosen, rather than talking about the actual process of the EPQ. I learnt a lot about the different subject areas but in terms of how the students went about researching and collating their findings, I don’t think I learnt that much. A few questions from the floor revealed how some of the students had gained information, for example the student who talked about malaria and its cures had completed work experience at the school of tropical medicine.

I was impressed at the way the students spoke and explained their topics to an audience; however a few used technical terminologies which I think some audience members may have struggled with. The structure of the speeches was also good and the points made were ordered and clear. I found the best speeches were the ones in which the students really tried to connect with the audience and make it conversational rather than purely reading off a script. I also think that being able to answer questions on their topics from extensive research was a good skill to have.

Watching the EPQ talks will definitely aid me with my own EPQ. Not only in showing me the sort of topic areas and research other students have carried out but I now have experience of the environment in which you complete your speech and the sort of questions audience members are likely to ask.

In terms of my own EPQ project, watching the EPQ talks has made me realise the importance of focusing my project so I am not trying to cover too wide a topic. However, as we have a fair amount of time to conduct research I think I would like to keep my topic open for a while and then narrow it down when I have researched further. The research around my initial question, 'how far can illiteracy rates halt the development of a country' could perhaps focus on education, an area I am quite interested in. However, I would still like to utilise my skills on the economics side for coming to a conclusion.