2007-2008 POSTER  SYMPOSIUM
         Poster sessions are "a popular way of presenting [scholarly work] at [many professional] meetings. Advantages include the opportunity to browse among many different posters and spend time on the ones of greatest interest, as well as [ask] focused questions [of] the author(s) of the poster" (McBurney, 1994, p. 359, Research Methods). The poster symposium is designed to provide all students, regardless of discipline, with an opportunity to share their scholarly activities, enhance student written and oral communication skills, increase campus and community exposure to the variety of scholarly activities conducted by students and faculty, and encourage students and faculty to participate in future research symposiums. Cash awards ($1300 in prize money) for top-judged posters are funded by the Honor Society of PHI KAPPA PHI and the Judith and G. Richard Locke Awards.

WHAT  TO  EXPECT  AT  THE  POSTER  SYMPOSIUM
The symposium is held in various campus locations, and this year's venue will be the second floor of Shilling Hall. The audience will be a mix of Millikin students, faculty, judges, visiting high school students, and invited guests (e.g., parents, Board of Trustees) examine, read, and chat with the student authors about their scholarship. Poster authors will stand near their posters and answer questions from passesrby. Questions typically range from "What did you do, Why / how did you decide to do the study, What problems did you encounter while conducting your study, what can you do with your results, etc. Past presenters report they enjoyed chatting with others about their research, and felt the experience increased their confidence and ability to make public presentations.

POSTER  SYMPOSIUM   PARTICIPATION  GUIDELINES

1. To participate in the 2007/2008 symposium, your scholarly work should have been conducted sometime during the Spring 2007 (not reported at the Spring 2007 symposium), Summer 2007, Fall 2007, or Spring 2008 semesters on or off campus. Examples of scholarly work includes student-faculty collaborative projects conducted in regularly scheduled courses, seminars, independent study, directed study, internships, or JMS projects. Scholarly work includes, but is not limited to, such activities as formal experiments resulting in data, performance art, literary expositions and critiques, or creative artistic displays.
   
   
2. A FACULTY MEMBER MUST REVIEW AND SPONSOR YOUR PARTICIPATION TO ENTER THE POSTER SYMPOSIUM. The faculty sponsor's review and sponsorship consists of the evaluation process used when the student work was evaluated. To participate in the symposium, your faculty sponsor will certify to me via email that your scholarly work meets the minimum requirement of B grade work. Your entry is not complete until I receive your faculty sponsor's email AND you submit poster information properly formatted.  Name your file using the last names of all the authors on the poster in the order they will appear on the poster.
   
   
3. To expedite the development of a symposium program, your entry should be sent in an email as an attached Word or Rich Text file (VIRUS FREE) using Arial 12pt font and single spacing (this document is written in Arial font).
   
   
4. ONLY the title, authors, and sponsor of your poster presentation must be submitted to rverry@millikin.edu by March 15 to be included in the Celebration of Scholarship program brochure. If there are authors who are listed on more than one poster in the same order, name the files with the authors last names followed by a 1 or 2 to indicated the different files. Failure to follow the instructions described below will disqualify you from participating in the symposium until you submit them in the proper format.   (see the sample below)
   
   EXACT RESEARCH  TITLE OF  YOUR  POSTER  ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS.  ALL AUTHOR NAMES, ORGANIZED, BOLDED & ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS, Affiliation in upper and lower case. Sponsor: Faculty name, Department of the faculty sponsor.
   
   
   
5. The poster abstract is due Monday, April 21, by NOON.  Please resubmit your poster title , authors, and now the poster abstract to rverry@millikin.edu  so that imformation you previously submitted to enter is correctly linked to your abstract. This information will be used to develop a hard bound program for presenters. (see sample below)
   
   DEVELOPMENT   AND   COMPARISON   OF   MEMBRANE PERMEATION    ASSAYS   USING   SPINACEA   OLEARACEA AND   RHODOBACTER   SPHAEROIDES.   EMILIE   A. PORTER  &  DR.  ANNE   RAMMELSBERG,  Millikin University.  Sponsor: Dr. Anne Rammelsberg, Department of Chemistry.
   
   Assay preparations were developed to test whether Spinacea oleareaca thylakoids and/or Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers are useful for testing the membrane-disrupting properties....(remainder of abstract).
   
   
   
6. The 2007/2008 Poster Symposium will take place on Friday, April 25, 2008 on the second floor of Shilling Hall. Presenters will be able to set up their posters beginning at 8:00am.
   
   
7. At least one of the poster's authors (when multiple authors exist) must be present and available throughout the symposium to answer the symposium judges and audience questions. Poster authors will be identified by name tag (symposium provides) to facilitate conversation and judging. Dress is professional (i.e., suit or dress for women; slacks, shirt, and tie for men, with suit jacket optional).
   
   
8. If you have special setup needs (e.g., VCR & TV monitor, projection screen, power cords, table, etc.) please note these needs in your email that contains the Word file attachment of your poster information. Any questions about participation, poster construction, etc. may also be directed to Dr. Rene' Verry, 423-F Shilling Hall (424-6398).
   
   
   

POSTER  PREPARATION  GUIDELINES

1. Your presentation / paper should be affixed to poster board with maximum dimensions no larger than 5' wide x 4' long (4 standard pieces of poster board taped on the back with duct tape will approximate these dimensions). Posters will be secured to the wooden scaffolding using push pins (supplied by symposium). Your paper and poster board may be any color, with the caveat that it be readable from a distance of 5 feet.
   
   
2. A variety of design layout options for your poster exist and are posted in Lighty Tabor Science Hall. As you organize your poster, think how others will view it. It's best to place your pages in several columns, so people can read from top to bottom of one column, and move from left to right as they read each successive column. The number of pages of text, tables, and figures displayed on the poster are limited only by the 5'x 4' poster dimensions. The appearance and arrangement of your paper on the poster should be carefully considered to create an arrangement that is both pleasing to the eye and aids with a logical progression through the sections of the paper. Try to minimize text - people will not stop to read a full-length paper, so create a brief or digest version of your research. Use your judgment and the guidance of your faculty sponsor. Presenters may choose to have copies of their paper available to hand out to the audience.
   
   
3. You will be assigned a presentation number that indicates your location in the presentation hall in RTUC. The poster location numbers will be assigned after all admissions have been received to facilitate grouping of persons with complementary needs. Your poster number is noted in the Program of Participants you receive before the symposium as well as on the map at the poster session. The poster numbers will be attached to the scaffolds and should be attached to your poster with a push pin.. Do not change poster numbers or locations as the judges will use these numbers to locate and evaluate the posters for the cash prizes.
   
   
4. Print your poster in any easily read, 18 point font using appropriate margins. Fonts larger than 18 point may be used if your paper is short. You may use standard or legal size typing paper (check with the poster symposium coordinator if you wish to use alternative poster materials). The font size for the title and author's name(s) should be 60 point and all upper case letters in the same font as the paper. Your paper should be double spaced throughout.
   

PAPER SECTION GUIDELINES  
     Your paper should conform to the style guidelines of your discipline or your professor's requirements. Some examples of acceptable format styles include: MLA, Turabian, American Psychological Association, Journal of Animal Behavior, or the style guidelines of your discipline. The format guidelines are intended to result in a presentation that will enhance the understanding and interest of an audience with diverse backgrounds. The following list includes both required and optional components of posters:

Title (required of all)
    The title should succinctly (maximum of 15-20 words) and in an interesting manner state your thesis research question. The title should avoid redundancy, jargon, or abbreviations. Under the title, include the names of the authors and the faculty sponsor so that they match the entry information. Examples of titles that attract reader interest may be found in a variety of style manuals or in consultation with your faculty sponsor.

Abstract / Summary (required of all)
     Regardless of the type of scholarly work, the abstract or summary should be limited to 100-150 words and be a succinct, self-contained, comprehensive summary of the focus or objectives of your work. You have two options for presenting the abstract / summary information.

OPTION 1 -- If your poster presents scientific research, then your abstract should include: a statement of the problem under investigation, discussion of variables and their predicted relationships, the type of research method used, the general findings and conclusions or interpretations. Do not include references or citations in your abstract.
OPTION 2 -- If your poster presents a review, expository writing, or theoretical analysis, then your summary should describe: the topic, purpose, thesis, or organizing construct; scope of the paper; types of sources (e.g., diaries, letters, published works); conclusions; and any implications and / or applications of your research.

Introduction (required of all)
    The length of the introduction will depend upon the type of paper (i.e., research or review) you write. The length of the other sections of your paper is dependent on the space limitations of the poster dimension. You again have two options depending on the type of scholarship you have completed.

OPTION 1 -- If your poster presents scientific research, then the introduction should be a selective, not exhaustive, review that succinctly describes the topic, defines any jargon or special language used in your paper, develops the problem or thesis, summarizes relevant arguments, and or describes your research strategy and hypothesis.
OPTION 2 -- If your poster presents a review, expository writing, or theoretical analysis, then the introduction will comprise the majority of your paper. It should also contain an abbreviated review of the relevant literature, definitions of any jargon or special language, development of the problem or thesis, summary of relevant arguments, and/or description of your research strategy and hypothesis.

Method & Materials (required if reporting research)
    Your paper should contain a methods section with standard subsections that describe the subjects, apparatus, procedures, or features relevant to that science's specific reporting format. Papers should conform to the guidelines of your discipline.

Results (required if reporting research)
     Your paper should contain a results section that reports only the data without interpretation. Interpretation will be covered in the discussion section. In general, and particularly when the audience has a diverse background, it is wise for papers containing data to first briefly describe the main results or findings before launching into particular statistics or references to tables or figures. Orient the reader by providing an overview of the kind of data employed in your analysis (e.g., raw or transformed) and your main findings. Then, discuss the particular statistical tests or empirical support for your findings.

Discussion (required of all)
      You again have two options depending on the type of scholarship you are reporting.

OPTION 1 If your poster presents research, then your discussion should briefly review the findings, discuss the extent to which the findings are consistent or inconsistent with existent research, discuss the significance and any theoretical interpretations of the data, and note the implications of your research.
OPTION 2 If your poster consists of a review, expository writing, or theoretical analysis, then your discussion will occur at the end of your paper. You should note your conclusions or implications of your theoretical analysis.

Created and maintained by Dr. Rene Verry.