Poster Guidelines

Poster presentations have become a central component of ISSOTL conferences. ISSOTL 2013 posters will be on display during a poster session and reception from 5:30 to 7:00 PM on Thursday, October 3, 2013, in the Ballroom Lobby of the Raleigh Convention Center. Poster presentations are particularly useful for presenting emerging work and preliminary attempts at SOTL, but may also be an excellent means of engaging in detailed dialogue about completed projects. Poster titles and descriptions are listed in the conference program.

Poster Dimensions

• Each conference poster will be allotted 1 side of an 8 foot (horizontal) x 4 foot (vertical) board space (2.4 x 1.2 meters). You may use this space as you wish. Large posters printed on poster paper are encouraged, but series of individual smaller sheets also are welcome.
• Posters should not exceed 6 feet (72 inches, or 1.8 meters) wide by 3 ½ feet (42 inches, or 1.1 meters) tall. This size limit will ensure that you have adequate room to position yourself to the side of your poster and speak with delegates without blocking your work.

Poster Guidelines

• Your poster should present the focus of the inquiry and the way(s) in which it contributes to current scholarship, much like a conference or journal paper.
• Posters serve as conversation starters; be selective about the content you include on your poster and balance text with visual representations.
• While some people will stop to hear about your work in detail, many will spend only a few minutes reading each poster.
• Use graphic support or objects where appropriate.
• Consider creative ways of engaging participants to interact with your poster (e.g., embedding questions, activities, or discussion prompts within it).
• A brief handout describing your project (50+ copies recommended) can be used to provide more details. You also might consider directing poster session attendees to supplemental representations of your project (e.g., a project website).
• A number of poster templates are available online for general use. If you wish to use such a template to help you construct your poster, you might start by consulting the following collection, developed at the University of Alberta: http://tomorrowsideasnow.blogspot.ca/p/poster-templates.html. In addition, North Carolina State University hosts a helpful resource on “Creating Effective Poster Presentations”: http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/.
• Please remember that we are committed to making this conference accessible to all participants. You are strongly encouraged to consider physical, sensory and intellectual accessibility when crafting your poster. For example, you might:
  • Use a font of at least 36pt for body text on your poster, one of 46pt or larger for section headings, and one of 72pt or larger for titles. Likewise, consider using large text (18pt font) on handouts, or having large print copies available.
  • Use Sans serif fonts (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Helvetica) wherever possible, and ensure that there is a strong contrast between text and background.
  • Take into account participants with motor disabilities when designing interactive poster components
  • Avoid unnecessary jargon or technical language
  • Be prepared to describe your poster to participants with low vision.

Presentation Suggestions

• At least one author must attend the poster session in order to present and discuss the work with other conference delegates.
• During the poster session, be ready to summarize your work for delegates in 2-3 minutes. Highlight the key details, and particularly the way(s) in which the project contributes to enhancing teaching and learning.
• Be prepared both to answer questions and to pose questions that might encourage further discussion and exchange.
• Try to balance being engaging and assertive with giving delegates time and space to read through and think about the poster on their own.
• Make it easy for delegates to contact you afterwards. Consider having business cards on hand, or including your contact information as part of a handout.

Set Up & Presentation Timing

• Posters should be set up in the Ballroom Lobby of the Raleigh Convention Center during the afternoon break (3:00-3:30 PM) on Thursday, October 3. ISSOTL conference volunteers will be on hand to assist you during the set up time.
• Each poster will be assigned a specific board. Please mount your poster on the board that has your session number (e.g., PS1, PS2, PS3, etc.) on it. Your session number can be found in the conference program.
• All materials can be affixed to your board with pushpins.
• No multi-media support is available during the poster session, but please note that wireless internet access is available throughout the Raleigh Convention Center.
• You do not have to remain with your poster throughout the afternoon. The initial poster display time (3:30-5:30pm) is meant to provide delegates with an opportunity to peruse your work in detail and to select individual posters about which they’d like to have further discussion during the main poster session.
• On the other hand, it is imperative that at least one author remains with your poster at all times during the poster session and reception that runs from 5:30-7:00 PM in the Ballroom Lobby.
• Presenters should remove their posters at 7:00 PM on October 3. Any unclaimed posters will be taken to the registration desk.

Electronic Poster Archive

• Posters will be included in an electronic archive that will be available from the conference website after the event. This electronic ‘poster gallery’ will enable conference delegates and others to return to and continue conversations about the posters well after the ISSOTL 2013 conference is over.
• To submit your poster to the electronic poster archive:
  • Save your poster as an Adobe .pdf document. Maximum file size is 5MB.
  • Name the file according to the following convention: ISSOTL2013-PosterNumber-LeadAuthorLastName (e.g., ISSOTL2013-PS42-Smith.pdf) 
  • In late September, poster presenters will receive further instructions via email regarding how to upload their posters to the poster archive page.

These guidelines are adapted from the ISSOTL 2012 poster session guidelines. Click here to view the ISSOTL 2012 Poster Archive.