Loyola University > Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship (CELTS) > Symposium 2013 > Symposium Overview

Symposium Overview

The Center for Experiential Learning is pleased to have hosted the Loyola Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium, Saturday, April 20, 2013, Mundelein Center, 12:30-4:30. ‌

A key event during the university-wide Weekend of Excellence: Celebrating Transformative Education, the 2013 symposium combined, for the first time, the Undergraduate Research Symposium and the Community Engagement Forum, allowing students to showcase their research or engagement projects. This newly expanded event offered an ideal venue to explore how undergraduates experience learning at Loyola.

The 2013 symposium featured the work of undergraduate researchers supported by LUROP Fellowships, almost all of whom present at the conference. Yet any Loyola undergraduate involved in a mentored or supervised research project during the previous year--through a course, a LUROP Fellowship, or an external fellowship--was welcome to present their research. Moreover, student researchers were welcome to present their work in one of two ways, either through the traditional poster session, or through an oral presentation.

Students involved in a community engagement project during the previous year were also welcome to present their work in one of two ways, either through an oral presentation or through a table presentation as part of the community engagement forum. Here too, any Loyola undergraduate involved in a community engagement project--through a service learning course, an internship, or a community partnership--was welcome to present their work.

In other words, the Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium featured three distinct ways for students to present, and for audiences to explore, research and engagement projects.

‌

Poster Session - The poster session has traditionally been the largest component of the symposium, and typically involves student researchers from the hard sciences as well as some of the social sciences and professional schools. The poster session runs for two hours in Jo Ann Rooney Hall, and participants should be ready to deliver a brief presentation explaining their research to anyone who passes by, and prepare to answer questions from visitors, who may not be experts in their field. Poster presenters will receive feedback from evaluators. Posters should be created following poster guidelines, and are due for submission by April 12th. You are strongly encouraged to attend a Research Poster Workshop. All workshops will be held on a Friday, from 4-5 pm in Sullivan 290. Sign up here to register for February 15, here for March 15, and here for March 29.

Oral Session - Students involved in either a research or community engagement project are welcome to present in an Oral Session in which each student or group gives an 8 minute oral presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions. Oral Sessions will be held in Mundelein classrooms with AV equipment. Oral presenters are strongly encouraged to use include visual aids via Power Point presentation, Prezi, or other supplemental materials. Students will be grouped together based on the topic of their research or engagement projects, and all will receive feedback from an evaluator. Oral presentations should be prepared following these oral presentation guidelines. You are strongly encouraged to attend an Oral Presentation Workshop. All workshops will be held on a Friday, from 4-5 pm in Sullivan 290. Sign up here to register for February 22 and here for March 22.

Community Engagement Forum - The Community Engagement Forum, which historically had been a separate event, has been integrated into the 2013 Undergraduate Symposium to further Loyola's mission of "putting knowledge in service to humanity." The Forum, which will run concurrently with the research Poster Session, offers students an opportunity to showcase the products and impacts of community-based service and research, including work completed as part of a service-learning class, internship, or student employment position, as well as philanthropy/outreach projects of Loyola student organizations. The goal of these ‌presentations is to educate Symposium participants about key social issues that are important to the Loyola community, and to inspire and empower them to become engaged in responding to them. Student presenters are encouraged to prepare community education/advocacy posters or other materials describing the key questions, issues, methods, and organizations that have framed their work; guidelines for these materials will be made available to registered presenters. Additional possible presentation modes and materials may include multimedia or interactive displays (video, audio, ePortfolio); table-top displays of student-produced materials; photo essays or other artistic products; etc. General guidelines for Community Education Forum presentations and for CEF posters/printing are available on the Engagement Forum page.‌