<p>Has anyone ever been required to do a presentation in front of the class for a grade? I'm doing an ABET accredited Electronics Engineering technology program, and unfortunately, I have the biggest ****** in the world as a teacher. He's basing our midterm grade on a lab report and an oratory presentation--which I bombed.</p>
<p>I guess the real reason why I'm asking this question is because I want to avoid having to talk in front of people about stupid things like the depletion zone. If I had to memorize details about it for a test I'm good, but I've never even made an oratory presentation that has been anything close to decent.</p>
<p>Also, does anyone with experience in an electronics/electrical engineering technology program remember ever having to do any sort of presentation?</p>
<p>All California State Universities have an “oral communication” general education requirement, although it is not specific to engineering majors.</p>
<p>However, oral presentations are not necessarily required at all schools’ bachelor’s degree programs. Some schools may have a required or optional technical communication course for engineering majors.</p>
<p>Thanks man, you don’t know how much I needed that response.</p>
<p>This thing is, if we have a course that requires a certain level of oratory skills to pass, then shouldn’t he at least try to have the curriculum adjusted so that a public speech course is a prerequisite to class? I’m on scholarship, the whole bit with his class seems like a set up!</p>
<p>True, if oral presentation is a necessary part of the course, and the expectation is that the student already has the skill at higher than beginner level, then it makes sense for an oral communication or technical communication course be listed as a prerequisite.</p>
<p>Some level of speech skills will be necessary if you ever want to get a job or internship…</p>
<p>I am not sure what your complaint really is. You are not required to take an English class before taking a course with written reports, are you? Engineering requires both types of communication, and it is up to professors whether or not to include such communications as part of their grading rubric. The only time advance notice is warranted is when it is not realistic that someone could complete the course without that knowledge - if, for example, the speech class teaches you specific formats and rules that you MUST follow.</p>
<p>So I guess here are some questions back to you, OP:</p>
<p>1) Was the oral report mentioned in the class prior to the end of the add/drop period (when you could get out of the course without penalty)?</p>
<p>2) What proportion of your fellow students have taken a speech class, and is there any correlation between presentation grades and completion of that speech class?</p>
<p>3) Is this your first semester, and if not why have you not addressed your weakness by taking the speech class already?</p>
<p>4) What feedback were you given with your grade, and if you did not get any, why haven’t you asked the instructor for some?</p>
<p>FWIW, I was required to give oral presentations all the way through my studies, well before either the recommended or actual semester where I took speech communications. As a working engineer, I have had to do so as well - my second week on the job I had to give a 5-minute status report on a billion dollar program in front of top executives from 4 Fortune 500 companies (including my own).</p>
<p>A fairly substantial number of my undergraduate engineering courses had some sort of project that often ended in an oral presentation to the class. It really is not uncommon, and we didn’t have to take any sort of oral communication prerequisite. Usually the main purpose of those presentations is to help you get experience giving presentation, after all, when you get out into industry or graduate school, you are going to have to communicate your work to others, often via oral presentations, and just getting that job in the first place will involve presenting yourself to an interviewer.</p>
<p>I believe ABET actually has a requirement for students to do a minimum number of oral reports, and they consider it a positive when a school requires more of them.</p>