|
A viva - more properly a viva voce examination - is a
form of examination where you have to defend your work
verbally in front of at least two examiners. This form of
examination is always used instead of the poster
presentation for students who are resitting a failed
project externally but very rarely for any other student.
If a viva is necessary it will be timetabled for 30
minutes at a date before the end of term for
undergraduates and the academic year for postgraduates and
you will be warned several days in advance. It
is an examination and, for external resit students at
least, failure to attend the viva without a compelling
reason is an automatic fail.
The viva will be formal. As well as your two markers, there
may be a moderator (another member of staff) who will
oversee the viva. The moderator will only see the
introduction and conclusion chapters of your dissertation,
so it is important that the introduction clearly sets the
scene for the project and the conclusion presents all the
main findings.
At the viva, you will be expected to defend your work,
state the main achievements, discuss shortcomings and
respond to detailed questioning from the examiners. Often
in vivas, the examiners ask you to begin by briefly
describing your project and its main findings. If you are
asked to do this, be brief. You are not required to do a
formal presentation (e.g using an OHP or powerpoint). All
you are doing is providing a short verbal overview of your
work - you could note the main points of your work on cue
cards in advance of the viva to help you do this.
For the viva, you would probably be given a couple of
minutes to briefly describe your project and its main
findings before detailed questioning began. This tests
your ability to summarise informatively. The viva should
make clear that the work is your own, that you understand
what you have done, can explain how the project was
developed, can clearly explain why particular tools were
used from amongst those available, can show that you have
read widely, can accept the project's shortcomings and
discuss its achievements and can show an understanding of
how it could be improved or worked on in the future.
|
