Examining the single slide in three minute thesis presentations: Image types and slide-speech relations

Overview

This study investigates the visual and multimodal characteristics of single static slides in Three Minute Thesis (3MT) presentations, specifically examining how PhD students in electrical and computer engineering employ images and text to communicate specialized scientific knowledge to non-specialist audiences. The research analyzes 50 slides from 3MT presentations with emphasis on multimodal communication strategies and the relationship between visual elements, textual components, and accompanying speech.

Methods and approach

A corpus of 50 slides extracted from 3MT presentations in electrical and computer engineering was assembled for analysis. The methodological approach focused on multimodal analysis, categorizing image types used by presenters and examining the functional relationships between slides (images and words) and accompanying speech. The analysis encompassed all rhetorical moves across presentations to identify patterns in how visual and verbal elements interact to support audience comprehension.

Key Findings

Two primary findings emerged from the analysis. First, 3MT presenters predominantly employed non-specialized or less-specialized imagery when visually recontextualizing their specialized scientific knowledge, utilizing image categories classified as Popular Imagery, Photographs, and Illustrations. Second, the images and accompanying text on slides functioned to facilitate audience comprehension through two primary mechanisms: either reinforcing the speech content through concordance or extending speech content through complementary information. These patterns were consistent across the full range of rhetorical moves employed throughout presentations.

Implications

The findings contribute to understanding of visual communication practices within the 3MT genre and establish empirical evidence regarding multimodal strategies for academic communication directed at non-specialist audiences. The identification of predominant image types and slide-speech relations provides a descriptive foundation for understanding how specialized knowledge is translated visually for broader comprehension.

Pedagogical implications extend to postgraduate students and academic instructors engaged in preparing presentations for non-specialist contexts. The documented patterns of visual recontextualization and multimodal coherence between slides and speech offer actionable insights for developing communication materials. Understanding which image types and functional relationships between visual and verbal elements support comprehension can inform instructional guidance for presentation design in academic settings where specialized content must be communicated to audiences without domain expertise.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.