ALDinHE 2015: The Learning Development Conference Southampton Solent University 30th March – 1st April 2015 Writing a conference proposal Whilst review panels won’t expect you to have decided the finer detail of your workshop or presentation, it is important that the panel understands how your proposal meets the conference theme and if you are running a workshop, what your objectives are and how you intend to meet them. In previous years, the question most reviewers ask when returning a proposal for modification is ‘how will you do this?’ Your conference proposal should consist of a 250 word abstract and a session plan. Selection criteria for 2015 conference proposals The review panel will expect your abstract to show how your proposal:      Includes up-to-date content that shares research and/or practical experience in the field of learning development. Highlights initiatives that illustrate best practice and address challenges in the field of learning development. Supports the development of new materials, resources and approaches to learning development Is likely to elicit a good level of interest Is complete, accurate and clear The session plan should:  Clearly identify how you will provide opportunity for discussion and/or activity around the learning development topic.  Indicate creative use of presentation resources (PowerPoint, audio/visual aids, interactive resources etc). Choosing a session type (some text has been adapted from SEDA guidelines www.seda.ac.uk) 60 minute interactive workshops Is your topic comprehensive enough to fill a 60 minute session? Is there enough content? How will you make it interactive and engage participants in lots of discussion? Think about what the objective is and make sure your abstract shows how you are going to achieve it. These types of workshops should provide participants with a tangible ‘takeaway’ of information. The information doesn’t have to be paper based. It can be an idea, an inspiration or an action point. 30 minute paper presentation A paper presentation can be used to present the findings of some research that you have been working on. Many people engaged in research take the opportunity of presenting papers at a conference as a preliminary to getting a full piece of work published, but that isn’t always the case. Abstracts for conference papers should meet the review criteria and the conference theme. The review panel will want to know what is important about your research and why delegates will be interested. The ALDinHE conference has a strong practice orientation so reviewers and delegates will want to know ‘what is the value of your findings and can it be used to inform practice?’ If you are not engaged in research activity, you can use the paper presentation format to report on interesting examples of practice or developments in service provision. Lightning talks These are quick short presentations delivered in a Pecha Kucha style. This style of conference session has been introduced in the last two years and proven very popular. Presentations have to be delivered within a five minute time period, with questions and discussion taking place after all the presenters have finished. If you are interested in presenting a short lightning talk at the conference, the abstract should make it clear that your topic can be delivered in such a clear and concise way. Poster presentation If you haven’t created a poster before (experienced colleagues very welcome too) this is an ideal opportunity to submit a poster proposal. The possibilities are wide open and we would like to see poster proposals that show:        Particular aspects of your work – solo or team – that you are especially enthusiastic about, and want to share Projects or initiatives where you would like to share ideas and get feedback Research, including accounts of research in progress Presentations about themes or concepts that you are exploring Student development or staff development, in the context of student learning development Student perspectives, including posters by students about their experience of student learning development Any aspect of your work where you are keen to share ideas and build links with colleagues at other universities or colleges. Please submit a brief outline (maximum 250 words) using the online session proposal form and indicating the proposed theme of your poster. If you are also submitting a proposal for another session type on the same topic, please indicate your preferred format. Please address any queries to [email protected]