Make sure to view the lecture "Advice for Writing and Presentations" linked from the "Materials" section before the main presentations begin. It includes instructions for acting as the designated discussant.
Presenter
Enter your main paper and presentation by first adding a discussion topic and then attaching the paper and presentation as pdf files. Use the provisional title of your thesis as the title of the discussion, with the name of your group in parenthesis. For example, "Regulations, prices and entry in Nordic pharmaceutical markets (Group M2)".
Use this naming convention for your files: YourLastName_Main_Paper.pdf and YourLastName_Main_Presentation.pdf. These documents are due on the previous Thursday 24:00 before the seminar, at the latest. It is polite to notify your designated discussant as soon as you have made your submission, which is hopefully well before the deadline!
To indicate advisor approval begin your discussion topic entry: "My thesis advisor [ADVISOR NAME] has approved the attached paper and presentation on --DATE--".
Prepare for a 20 minute presentation; 25 minutes is the maximum allowed. After the designated discussant has given her/his comments you should first respond to them. Then you conduct the overall seminar discussion, where you should make sure that all students have a chance to make at least one comment or question.
The classroom has a computer, which is open at the MyCourses course page through which presenters and designated discussants have easy access to their slides.
Designated discussant
Prepare to give a 7-10 minute discussion of the paper from the podium immediately after the main presentation and before a general class discussion. Make a (very short set of) slides to give structure to your presentation. Submit your slides as an attachment to your reply to the main paper before the start of the seminar. You do not need to make online comments to the paper you are discussing.
Other students
Add a reply to a discussion of a member of your group with your comments on the research paper. A comment is usually a short paragraph, sometimes 2-3 paragraphs. The minimum requirement is at least three substantially distinct comments to each member of your group. These comments are due before the start of the seminar meeting. Your comments must not essentially duplicate comments made by others earlier in the thread! Written comments must be delivered as plain text in the comment field, not as attached files.
Participate in the general class discussion after the designated discussant has given her/his presentation. Remember that the audience has not necessarily read your online comments (you should not assume they have); and there is no problem if your discussion points overlap with those you made online. All screens and electronic devices are to be held closed during the classroom discussions.
Language
Presentations as well as all class and online discussions will be in English. However, the main paper can also be submitted in Finnish, which makes sense if you are writing your thesis in Finnish. In case of a Finnish-language main paper, we made sure that the designated discussant can read Finnish. (Thesis language was inferred from the pre-registered topic you submitted last semester.) As for the online comments, if you encounter a Finnish-language main paper but are not comfortable reading Finnish, then choose an alternative main paper from the parallel session held on that same day and comment that instead; in the original online discussion thread just add a reply stating which paper (group and presenter name) you commented instead of this one.
