Guidelines

This page contains guidelines and examples of Descriptions and Abstracts as well as general guidelines for Poster Presentations and Creative Performances. As they are an addition for the 2010 Symposium, detailed guidelines for Oral Presentations will be posted by Friday, December 18.

Note on all submissions: This year, Submissions must be approved by a faculty member before they will be accepted. The sign-off should involve checking for flow and coherence as well as grammar, general proofing, and following posted word limits. As submissions will only be accepted electronically, the sign-off will include partipants listing the faculty member and the date of the sign-off meeting.

Participants may only present a single presentation in only one category. For example: you cannot give both an oral and a poster presentation and you cannot give two poster presentations.

Oral Presentations:

• Complete Oral Presentation guidelines are yet to be announced as this is a new option for the 2010 Symposium.
• Presentations are strictly limited to 10 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions.
• Technology will be available for PowerPoint presentations.
• Presentations should be targeted for a general audience (i.e. intelligent, educated individuals who may not have expertise in the area).

Additional guidelines and resources will be posted by Friday, December 18.

Poster Presentations:

• Posters must be set up between 8:00 am - 12:00 pm the day of the event to be considered for judging.
• Presenters are encouraged to be available the entire time allotted for poster presentations (3:30 pm - 5:30 pm).
• Presenters stand by their posters to provide additional information and answer questions about their research.
• Posters must fit in the 4’ x 4’ poster board panel space provided.
• Presentations should not be simply the printing out and posting of PowerPoint slides.
• Presentations should be targeted for a general audience (i.e. intelligent, educated individuals who may not have expertise in the area).
• Look at our Workshop Page for resources and suggestions on poster preparation and presentation.

Creative Performances:

• Performances will be from 6:00 - 9:00 pm in Davis Hall.
• Performers must be flexible within the 6:00 - 9:00 pm timeframe.
• The work must be performed live.
• Performances are meant as a venue for non-research based work.
• Possible performances include: musical, theatrical, dance, and readings of creative writing and poetry.
• Length is strictly limited to 8 minutes or less.
• The schedule will be determined after all registrations have been received.

Descriptions and Abstracts:

• Be sure your description of work and abstract supplement the title, rather than just repeating what is stated in the title.
• Be as clear and concise as possible.
• Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are the responsibility of the participant and submissions should be carefully proofread.
• Submissions must be approved by a faculty member before they will be accepted. The sign-off should involve checking for flow and coherence as well as grammar, general proofing, and following posted word limits. As submissions will only be accepted electronically, the sign-off will include partipants listing the faculty member and the date of the sign-off meeting.
• Acronyms should be fully defined the first time they are used (i.e. American Psychological Association, not APA for the first occurrence)
• Submissions received with description or abstracts that do not follow the guidelines, are too long, or have glaring errors may be rejected.

Sample Descriptions (50 word maximum):

• This presentation looks at nuclear films, commercial and governmental, that were released between 1951 and 1964. Special attention is paid to the recursivity that existed between the propagandic, often outrageously inaccurate Civil Defense films made by the United States government and the subversive popular films made by visionary dissidents.
• The program begins with the Grand Duo Concertant by Carl Maria von Weber. Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet and piano will be performed second, followed by Willson Osborne’s Rhapsody for solo clarinet, and concluding with the Trio Pathetique by Mikhail Glinka.
• This presentation compares perceptions of parental rejection, peer rejection, peer victimization, and depression in a sample of children from the Midwest. Results supported the hypotheses that rejection and victimization are related to childhood depression, and indicated possible gender differences in perceptions of rejection and victimization experiences for school-aged children.

Sample Abstracts (250 word maximum):

Poster Presentations

• Comparing Learning Sign Language Using Motor learning Guided Approach Versus the Traditional Approach
  Janet Thomas
  • Sign language use is automatic or programmatic, which allows signers to think about what they are going to say, not how they are going to move their hands. The purpose of this investigation is to compare the application of the Motor Learning Guided (MLG) technique to a relatively traditional approach in learning and retaining sign language. This investigation may shed light on the efficiency with which sign language is taught. Sixty phrases, represented by two combined signs, were chosen for this study. The phrases and signs were chosen from signs that may be taught during a beginning American Sign Language (ASL) class. The signs were rated on appropriateness and difficulty by an instructor who teaches beginning, intermediate, and advanced ASL classes. Fifty subjects were taught 20 randomly assigned signs drawn from 60 phrases. They learned 10 different signs via both methods (MLG approach and the traditional approach) with the order of teaching randomized. The results of this study show that with the design and constructs used, MLG approach is at least as beneficial as the traditional approach in teaching sign language. Previous research suggests that if post testing had extended beyond 24 hours, motor learning may have proved better for long-term retention. Indeed, that trend was observed but not found to be statistically significant. Further study is needed to show that motor learning is more effective than traditional methods for learning ASL sign sequences.
• Humorous cartoons for teaching science concepts to elementary students: Process and products
  Derek Sallis
  • Elementary school science is an often-neglected subject in the current literacy-focused political atmosphere. However, reading informational trade books about science in literacy class can help children increase their science knowledge. Incorporating humor through content-related cartoons is an effective way to engage students in deeper understanding of content and creative play with language. The author, who is enrolled in a graduate course in instructional design, acted as a consultant to a faculty member teaching a course in literacy methods for preservice elementary teachers, and engaged undergraduates in creating humorous cartoons to teach science content. The preservice teachers read science trade books designed for an elementary school audience and listed science content ideas and terms about a given topic (earthquakes, volcanoes, fossils, crystals, glacier, or caves). They also noted confusing topic-related terms that were homophones, words with multiple meanings, or words what sounded very similar to other common words, thus identifying possible wordings for puns. Next, they analyzed given cartoons for science content and humor, making suggestions for their improvement. They completed partially-finished cartoons to convey science information in a funny way. Finally, they created original cartoons of their own. The process of cartoon creation in this course is examined along with presentation of humorous cartoon products.
• Immigrant Women: Redefining Self
  Ki H Park
  • This qualitative study examines the gender roles of Latin American immigrant women. Specifically, how their gender roles have been shaped by immigration, and structural and individual conditions over time. Media attention of Latin American immigrant women focuses on policy debates, which are primarily related to economic interests, which also separates the subjects (immigrants) from these debates. In fact, these debates are mostly focused on number of immigrants needed, securing the border, measuring the competition in the job market, and the cost of welfare. This study comprises qualitative interviews with Latin American women, centering on their gender roles both within the family and the community. Initial findings indicate the importance of social capital, the structural barriers redefining the self, and perception of societal values that may define their roles. Perhaps, stories from immigrant women may be seen as personal account of immigration process, yet they also reveal structural conditions of our society. Their stories are not only about them, but also about us.

Creative Performances

• Carl Reneicke Sonata Undine, Op 167 for flute and piano
  III. Andante tranquillo
  IV. Finale: Allegro molto
  Jenny Thompson
  • The Sonata Undine, Op. 167 by Carl Reinecke represents a major piece of repertoire for flute and piano. Published in 1882, the Sonata was inspired by an 1811 novel written by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. Undine, a spirited water nymph, hunts for an immortal soul she can only obtain by winning the love of a mortal man. Similar to other stories of nineteenth-century Romanticism, Undine endures both triumph and failure before ultimately returning alone to the water. This piece is not programmatic, telling a literal story through music. It is the emotion of the tale and its characters which become the music. This piece and works by François Couperin, Claude Debussy, and Jon Deak were performed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music.

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