BEO FORUM 1 – 8TH NOVEMBER
Dear Group Leaders,
Welcome to the first BEO Forum post! This space is designed to address questions that you and your fellow Group Leaders may have along the way.
No question is too small or trivial—if something is unclear to you, it’s likely that others are wondering the same.
Every two weeks, we’ll publish a post like this one to address your questions and provide clarification. If you still have queries after reading our responses or if new questions arise, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Academic Team at cgomez@oxfordinternational.com.
Following our initial webinar, several insightful questions came up, including a few that were commonly asked. To ensure everyone is on the same page as we progress through the program, we’ll address those here.
Looking forward to an engaging and insightful journey together.
Warm regards,
The BEO Academic Team
Presentation events:
Q: There is a questions rubric, is this only for the assessed question time?
A: On page 18, you can see information for both unassessed and assessed question time. The rubric can only apply to the assessed question time. Unassessed question time does not need a rubric because, well, it’s not assessed.
Q: Are these questions assessed in the Question Time category in the main rubric, or separately?
A: Technically, both. Judges will use the rubric on page 18 to decide on a score. Additionally, on page 17, the standard judging criteria includes an area on Question Time.
Q: BEO Investigation is followed by Assessed Question Time. one of the penalties here is “Students answer more than two questions each”. Can you elaborate?
A: This penalty has been introduced to ensure all students are equally involved in the process of creating the presentation, researching, etc. We want all students to participate as equally as possible.
There are only 2 minutes for Assessed Question Time. This may not be enough time to answer more than 2 questions.
The team will not be penalised if only one student answers these two questions.
The team will be penalised if the judges are able to ask several questions and only one student is actively answering the questions.
More than one student can answer the question if they feel something is missing, or could have been misinterpreted.
We discourage students from answering the same question twice (student A answers the question, and student B repeats the same information using slightly different language). This can be seen as equivocation, fallacy and/or stonewalling.
Q: In the BEO Case Study there are stages where all team members can participate.
Does their participation count on the number of events they participate in?
What about the BEO Case Study Task 2 where a maximum of four students can participate? Does this participation count?
A: Participating in Case Study parts 1 and 3 will not count towards their minimum/maximum participation – no IDs will be collected, so no “official record” of participation. While the whole team must be at the venue, please, note that in parts 1 and 3 “the whole team can participate”.
For task 2, IDs will be collected to ensure that no team uses more than 4 students at this stage, but their participation does not officially count.
The only participation that counts towards their min./max. will be the presentation delivery.
Q: For the Case Study we have a timetable that shows Stage 3 (Preparation & Submission) is 2 hours long. However, within the submission area of the rules, it says “Teams must submit their audiovisuals at the end of the 90-minute allowance.” Do students have 90 minutes to complete, or do they have 2 hours?
A: While it is true there is a timetable, there is also a disclaimer that says, “timings are approximate, and they may vary”. Students will have a minimum of 90 minutes to complete Stage 3 but depending on many different factors (a very important one being the allocated centre), they may or may not have more time.
Q: For the BEO Investigation event, do we have to focus on “England’s prettiest village”?
A: No. The guidelines clearly state to “choose a place in your country or your region which is suffering […] from overtourism”.
If your students choose a local area, they will probably have first-hand experience of what the situation is, but it is not compulsory to choose a local spot. It does have to be in your country.
Q: The BEO Country Spotlight event doesn’t mention anything regarding songs. Can students perform songs as part of their presentation? Does the presentation need to follow a formal structure, or can the students be more creative?
A: The guidelines have no creative boundaries for the BEO Country Spotlight event.
However, the Assessment Criteria does include some information regarding the content: “Did the presentation include effective and relevant examples and illustrations?”. There are also pointers regarding body language: “Was movement and gesturing used well to enhance the presentation, or was it distracting?”
Remember the judges will base their decisions on these leading questions. If students include songs and performative dances that get in the way of the message they want to convey, they will be penalised with lower scores. There will not be any deductions.
Q: When we talk about tourism for the BEO Investigation, do we understand tourism as leisure, or do we also include business trips?
A: People to travel to a different area for work, whether this is for a very short period of time, or a longer stay, are not considered tourists (for the effects of this presentation event).
When we talk about overtourism, we are only taking into account those travellers who are visiting for leisure and recreational travel.
Creative events:
Q: In the Improvisation Challenge there are stages where all team members can participate.
Does their participation count on the number of events they participate in?
A: Improvisation Challenge: the whole team is allowed to work on the preparation and will not be part of the official participation chart. The students on stage do count.
Technology
Q: Will students have access to the internet when they’re preparing the Case Study?
A: Yes. However, technology is unreliable, and we cannot guarantee that there will not be any connectivity issues.
Q: Can students bring more than one laptop? Will they be allowed to use more than one laptop when preparing their Case Study?
A: All teams must have access to at least one laptop. When preparing for the Case Study, teams are allowed to use more than one laptop, they can use their phones, tablets, etc. Students need to be familiar with all equipment they use, as there will not be a dedicated IT person on site.
Q: Can students work on Mac computers?
A: Students can work on any type of device they prefer to use.
It is important to remember that the final product that students have to submit must be Windows compatible. The equipment used to project the students work will be a Windows Operating System laptop. There will not be any adaptors/cables to connect Mac products to the projector.
We ask all teams to submit their work to avoid connectivity issues: on previous occasions, plugging and unplugging equipment has resulted in loss of audio and valuable time.