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Dr. Mike Trevisan

Dean's Perspectives

Three Minute Thesis: A great program building momentum

The College of Education recently held the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. This was the third competition in as many years. It is clear 3MT is becoming part of the culture of our college, and of the doctoral student experience here in Pullman. Information and photos from this event can be viewed by clicking on this link https://3mt.wsu.edu/education/

Here’s a bit of background about the event. 3MT is a doctoral-level competition that has students deliver their thesis to a panel of judges – in three minutes or less. The purpose of the program is simple: encourage its participants to learn how to effectively speak about their research to non-specialized audiences. 3MT was started in 2008 by the University of Queensland, in Australia. It is a copyrighted competition with specific branding guidelines and rules that must be followed. In 2014, our college sought approval from the University of Queensland to host our own 3MT event. They granted our request. The College of Education hosted its first competition in May 2014. Then-provost Dan Bernardo was one of the event’s judges and immediately saw the value in taking the event university wide.

As a top research institution, WSU values doctoral students gaining their own research experience. But more today than ever, learning how to communicate this research, often times in plain talk, and in a succinct manner, will be vital to gaining important stakeholder attention and helping solve our societal grand challenges. In both 2015, and this year, the competition has been sponsored by the Office of the Provost, and administered by the College of Education.

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the College of Education 3MT. The winners are:

  • First Place – Andrew Iverson; Educational Psychology
  • Second Place – Amir Gilmore; Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education
  • People’s Choice – Abir El Shaban; Language, Literacy, and Technology

The above individuals won cash prizes. As a first place winner, Andrew Iverson will also compete at the university-level event for a sizeable travel award. He will face off against the winners of other WSU colleges.

Here are the details for the WSU 3MT, which is part of Academic Showcase:

Date: Tuesday, March 22

Time: 1:00 p.m. PDT

Location: CUB Junior Ballroom.

Please join us at the event to cheer for Andrew Iverson and the other doctoral students as they work to develop their presentation skills in three minutes!