Judging and Evaluation of Presentations
The Research Symposium Committee engages a formal process for evaluating student presentations. Judges selected
for the Symposium at Tennessee State University include academic and corporate professionals, external to the
University.
All student presentations, graduate and undergraduate, are part of the competition. The committee uses evaluation
forms developed with criteria that best reviews originality, creativity, knowledge, and overall image of the student’s
presentation, whether oral or poster.
Oral presentations are judged for originality and creativity, organization of content, oral presentation, knowledge of
material, clarity of artwork (charts, graphs, slides), and overall presentation. Students are given 15 minutes for their
presentation including questions from the judges. A number of judges will evaluate the oral presentation based on the
student presenter’s explanation of the research, the content, dialogue with the presenter, and delivery of the
presentation during the student’s 15-minute time allotment.
Posters presentations are judged for organization and creativity, organization of content, technical procedures
employed (when applicable), oral delivery, knowledge of material, clarity of artwork (charts, graphs, images),
appearance of poster, and overall presentation. For poster presentations, three (3) judges evaluate each poster
presentation based on the student’s explanation of the research, their ability to answer questions about the research,
and the content and appearance of the poster. Students come to the Symposium prepared to explain their poster to a
judge who is not familiar with their field and to one who may be an expert in the field.
Evaluation forms for judging are available below. These forms are made available for students to know the categories
for which their presentation will be evaluated. This information can be useful for practicing ahead of the Symposium.
