Research and Learning Center Managing Director Wins Three Minute Thesis Competition

Fort Worth, TX (December 21, 2018) — Doctoral students at the University of North Texas (UNT) successfully prepared and competed in this year’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition on Saturday, November 17. Each competitor had just three minutes to explain their research in a captivating manner to a non-specialist audience of 120 people. A Fort Worth Museum of Science and History staff member came in first place at the competition.

Deborah Cockerham, the Managing Director of the Museum’s Research and Learning Center (RLC), focuses her research on the responsible use of smartphones in the Department of Learning Technologies at UNT. Cockerham is a PhD candidate in learning technologies with a minor in psychology. She won first place in UNT’s 3MT® competition with her presentation “Smartphones, Smart Teens.” Watch Cockerham’s presentation here.

The disciplines of participating contestants ranged from educational psychology to computer science. Each contestant fiercely condensed years of research into a concise, three minute presentation. The competition challenged students to convey technical details and abstract ideas to a general audience in a compelling oration.

3MT® was founded at The University of Queensland in Australia in 2008, and it has since grown to an international event. More than 350 universities now hold 3MT® competitions.