Hey there! Do you also have a research study? Or anything related to research? Well, if you have, for sure you can also relate to this one.
WHAT IS A RESEARCH DEFENSE?
(This is my own definition only.)
Research is like a "thesis" when you enter college and have to conduct and present it. Defense is where you are trying to defend your study from the people, or if we were applying it to research, the people that we are talking about are the panelists. Combining those definitions, a research defense is when you are trying to discuss your study with the panelists, and after that, they will be asking you different questions based on your study, and you have to answer them correctly and precisely in order to defend it.
A PREVIEW OF OUR EXPERIENCE BEFORE THE DAY OF THE DEFENSE
A week before the defense, our research teacher announced that we would be having our final defense after the final exam. Everyone, including me, was shocked because the majority of us haven't finished our research study because our materials were at the laboratory and we're not allowed to get them because of the class suspension. However, our president told us to just focus on studying for our final exam and worry about the defense after, and so we did.
After our final exam, we immediately wrote a letter informing our school facilitators, as well as our principal, that we would get our materials from the laboratory to at least try to finish our device's frame and our programming. Luckily for us, our research teacher agreed, but with one condition: we have to take full responsibility for it once we get it off campus.
(Our materials were all inside this box for us to be able to carry them all at once.)
It was already 1 in the afternoon, so we decided to have a quick lunch break from the nearest store that is also selling some French fries and different types of drinks.
Me and my other classmates joined us.
Around 2 p.m., we then went to our leader's mini-store because there was a lot of space in there, and my other classmates also wanted to experience karaoke in their shop. We set everything up under the tree because this was the only space we saw that was not hit directly by the sun.
My groupmates started to analyze the codes and the sensors to see if they would work.
While me and my other groupmate are trying to create the box for our frame, unfortunately, after two attempts, the epoxy glue wouldn't work out. So we decided to only use glue sticks as an alternative solution because we couldn't think of something else at that moment. On the other hand, the coding was also a failure at that moment. Our problem was that it seems like the sensors or the wires of the sensors aren't working. Even if they tried it so many times, it still wouldn't work the way we expected it to. So we just gave up and decided to state our problem once the research defense starts.
THE DAY HAS COME
After everything, the day of our defense has finally arrived. Luckily for us, our research teacher understands that we weren't able to finish our studies due to the suspension. So she gave us a chance to continue our study after the defense.
Me and my other groupmates decided to meet up at our leader's house because we planned to only use one laptop to enter the Google Classroom. This is basically an online defense.
(Me on our way to our leader's house.)
Everyone from our group has finally arrived, and we set things up—just the laptop, actually. We prepared and also planned what part we were going to report on and discuss with our one and only panelist, our research teacher.
We were the 9th group to present our research study, and we couldn't help but feel nervous because what if we couldn't answer the given questions? So many what-ifs were passing through our minds until our group was called. We presented our report just like we planned, and our leader also stated our problem and what has happened to our coding and to our device's frame. Later on, when the Q&A came, our panelists called us one by one, and we couldn't help but feel nervous while answering. Thank heavens we were able to answer the questions, but we cannot guarantee if our panelists were satisfied with our answers. After we presented ours, we turned the laptop off because it had a low battery.
Our leader prepared a drink for us during the defense incase we get thirsty
Did I mention that our view was breathtaking and so relaxing? Just look at the calm ocean with the beautiful clouds. To be honest, this is one of the things that made me less nervous during the defense.
(The clouds were so pretty at that time)
That's all for today, and thank you so much for reading it! God bless! ❤️