CRELLA Postgraduate Forum

11 December 2013

Sharing your story : developing your academic conference skills

Aims and objectives

• to teach/improve some practical skills needed when submitting to, presenting at, or simply attending academic conferences in our field

• to reflect upon the experience of attending an academic conference and how to get the best out of it, both professionally and personally

Writing a successful conference abstract

STEP 1 : Knowing the conference Do some basic background research– what’s the conference for?– who organises it?– who goes to it, and why?– how long/big is it?– how does it work? what sorts of sessions/presentations?– is there a conference theme?

What can you learn from the Call for Proposals? (sometimes known as the Call for Papers)

Relevance

“Our main theme reflects contemporary research interests and concerns within the language testing and assessment community (at both national and international level)….”

Activity Look at the Call for Proposals handout and find the answers to these questions:– how clear is the conference theme? is it explained in detail?– are there sub-themes or strands?– what different types of presentation are possible?– is it clear how these are different?– what’s the method for submitting an abstract proposal?– are there evaluation criteria? if so, highlight the key words– who evaluates the proposals?– is there a word-limit on the abstract? how about the title?– when’s the deadline for submission?

STEP 2 : The title of the abstract

• Look at the handout with a list of abstract titles.

• Choose 2 papers you would accept for the LTRC conference.

• What were the reasons for your choice?

Other conferences

• AAAL– no overall theme – but multiple topic strands– stricter presentation policies, e.g. wordcount, abstract

+ abstract summary, upper limit on submission as 1st author

• EALTA – Call for Papers

• LTF

Not all conferences are the same, so…

• … always check carefully the conventions for each conference – they can vary from event to event

• … don’t simply assume you can submit the same abstract for different conferences – it may not fit the brief

STEP 3 : Choosing a presentation mode

• Poster (LTRC)– to present projects, new tests, technological innovations, etc– informal, flexible, v interactive – extended timeslot (1-1.5 hrs)

• Work-in-progress (LTRC)– to present/discuss research in progress or at planning stage– less formal, more interactive – 15-20 mins, small groups (x 4)

• Research Paper (LTRC)– to present theoretically oriented or completed empirical

research– formal style - 20 mins presentation + 10 mins Q+A

Remember…

• Presenting at a conference is a chance for you to ‘tell a story’ about the research subject or area you are interested in, and that you hope/believe others will find interesting too

Telling your story

A conference abstract is an advance organiser:

– it tells the reader a story, a tale of what they can expect if they attend this session

– it tells a reviewer something slightly different: it makes a claim about why this proposal is worth accepting, why it’s worth letting other readers hear the story

So make your title and your abstract informative, but no more so than necessary

STEP 4 : Writing your abstract

Key components

SPSE:Situation Problem Solution Evaluation

Genre: Introduction Method Results Discussion

(The two are in many ways the same: but it is often found that SPSE, being more general, fits better with social science and humanities research while IMRD fits classic ‘scientific method’ research.)

SPSE

• Situation– provides background/context

• Problem– what is the question/issue, and why does this matter?

• Solution– what was done and has it worked?

• Evaluation– main findings and their significance; any weaknesses;

further studies?

Selling your story

SP E• abstracts at LTRC – and many other non-scientific

conferences – often don’t include the ‘solution’ element• the closer you get to the Humanities, the less likely it is to

find a Results/Solution element in the abstract• saving the S or R element for the research presentation itself

is like revealing the climax of a movie near the end!• HOWEVER, if your study has found something really

exciting/unique, you may want to outline that as part of selling the interest value of your ‘story’

Activity Look at a copy of an abstract :

a. Pick out the most attractive feature of the titleb. Underline the most dramatic words in the abstractc. Try to find a statement of a research ‘gap’d. Why might you think these presenters would be

competent to discuss this issue?e. What other valuable characteristics of an abstract might

you want to have in this one?

Halleck and Connor’s “rhetorical moves”

• Territory• Gap• Goal• Means• Reporting previous research

• Outcomes• Benefits• Competence claim• Importance claim

Winning features of successful abstracts

• Importance of the topic, originality of the research and contribution to the field, including appropriate reference to relevant literature (embedding)

• The care taken in the research design (including appropriateness of design, use of instruments, data-collection procedures)

• The appropriateness of the quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies used to address the research questions and the care taken in data analysis and interpretation

• Validity of the conclusions including awareness of the ‘limitations’ of the study and its conclusions

Planning and managing a conference poster

What’s a poster for?

• Remember the Call for Proposals?

• Poster (LTRC)– to present projects, new tests, technological

innovations, etc– informal, flexible, v interactive – extended

timeslot (1-1.5 hrs)

What does a poster session look like?

Where does it happen?

How does it work?

What do you have to do as a poster presenter?

What does a poster do?

Posters can work on multiple levels:

• As a source of information• As a conversation starter• As an advertisement of your work• As a summary of your work

Three ‘golden rules’ for posters

1. A poster needs to be FOCUSED

2. A poster needs to be GRAPHIC

3. A poster needs to be ORDERED

Activity

Look at some examples of recent posters

Think about their content (not their presentational features)– how has the content been selected and organised

in each poster? – is there a common approach? – in what way do the approaches differ?– is the poster focused? is it ordered?

Content organisation (1)

A standard approach (sometimes slightly adapted):

• Introduction• Objective• Method• Results• Discussion

(plus contact details, acknowledgement, etc)

Content organisation (2)

Less of a sequential flow or unfolding story

More of a ‘photo montage’ – but still a logical development?

Often well-suited to presenting new tests, technological innovations, etc

Activity

Look at the same posters again

Now think about their design features, i.e. use of colour, lettering (size/font), graphics, photos, etc.– why have these features been chosen?– what works/doesn’t work?– what attracts or confuses?– is the poster graphic?

Some design features to think about

Look at the handout Guidelines for Poster Presenters - produced for LTRC 2010:

- dimensions- text- illustrations, graphs and diagrams- design

Some final things to think about

• Mounting your poster (e.g. a photo)

• Travelling with your poster (e.g. carry-tube)

• Displaying your poster (e.g. timing, equipment)

• Presenting your poster (e.g. handouts)

Getting the most out of your conference experience

Some useful practical advice…

• check the programme• identify what interests you• plan ahead• use a highlighter• manage your time and

energy• don’t try to attend

everything• take time to relax• drink plenty of water and

eat sensibly• introduce yourself to others

• don’t worry if you don’t understand some papers

• don’t feel intimidated by all the ‘experts’

• talk to fellow students• talk to senior scholars when you

have the chance• notice what/how questions are

asked and answered

• in summary… LISTEN AND WATCH AND LEARN!