Session guidelines

Paper sessions

General information

A paper session consists of 2 or 3 conceptually linked papers. There are 6 time slots for papers, labelled PA.1 up to PA.6. Each paper session is supervised by a chair (see further information below). Each presenter has 15 minutes to present his/her work, followed by 15 minutes for questions and discussion. If possible, the discussion should be opened by the peer who read and commented on the full paper during the peer feedback process. The audience is invited to enrich this discussion with questions and suggestions.

For presenters

Please be in time for your presentation: make sure you are present at least 10 minutes before the session starts. You can use this time to upload your presentation to the computer. We advise you to use the provided computer equipment, because switching between computers (e.g. using your own private laptop) will take up valuable time of your presentation, and moreover, can cause problems which might not be solved quickly. If you wish to use your own computer, we kindly ask you to allow the other presenters in the session to upload their presentation to your computer as well, so switching between computers during a session will not be necessary.

Computer information for presenters

The session meeting room will be equipped with audiovisual equipment (computer, beamer, screen). The University of Frankfurt computers work with WindowsXP, so we recommend that you save your presentation in a format which is compatible with this software. If your presentation is designed under Office 2007, Vista or with a Macintosh (Apple) device, please save it in a Windows compatible extension such as .ppt (Powerpoint 97-2003) or .pdf and not .pptx. We also advise you to use common fonts for your presentation, such as Times New Roman, to prevent problems with your lay-out in case the Uni Frankfurt-computers do not support the font used. Give your file a name, which you and others can easily identify; we recommend a filename which starts with your own name, such as your name_presentation title.ppt. We also urge you to also put your presentation online, in case your memory stick fails to work for whatever reason. Moreover, we would like to recommend that you bring copies of your slides and a number of copies of your paper (or the extended summary), as well as business cards, to distribute to interested participants.

For the chair

Each paper session is supervised by a chair. The main task of a chair is to moderate a session in such a way that presenters and audience can benefit from each other in an optimal way under the constraints and intentions of the conference. In general, the chair opens and closes a session and gives the floor to the presenters (and discussants) according to the planned program. The following steps can help you to fulfil this task.

1. Before you go to the session meeting room, check the printed Bulletin and the "program changes board" to determine if there are any changes to the scheduling of the session that you are chairing.

2. If possible, arrive at the meeting room about 10 minutes prior to the start of the session and familiarize yourself with the controls for lights and computer equipment. If you encounter problems, you should immediately alert the conference organizers (student assistants present in the room or at the registration desk).

3. If the presenter does not show up, immediately alert the conference organizers (student assistants present in the room or at the registration desk).

4. Make sure that at the start of the session all PowerPoint presentations are saved on the computer and are ready to use.

5. Monitor the time in order to give each presenter a fair opportunity for discussion (take a watch with you). Foresee maximum 15 minutes for the presentation and 15 minutes for a plenary discussion. Alert the speaker 5 minutes and 1 minute before the allotted time for presenting is up. Communicate your time signals to the presenter before the session starts.

6. After the presentation, the discussion will be opened by the peer reviewer with 2 minutes of general comments and questions. The chair has to monitor the discussion and make sure that each person is given the opportunity to participate. Keep in mind that the session must end on time to ensure enough time for breaks between sessions.

7. If any problems arise that you are unable to handle, either go, or immediately send, someone to the registration desk to alert the conference organizers of the problem.

For the discussant

Since you are the one in the audience most familiar with the study of the presenter, we ask you to start the discussion after the presentation with a few questions or reflections about the presented research. As far as the program allows for, peers who reviewed each other will be scheduled in the same session. If you are not scheduled in the same session as the person of whom you reviewed the paper, we kindly ask you to attend his/her session to provide feedback to him/her. After the paper presenter has finished, a discussant will receive approximately 2 minutes to comment on the presented study (no PowerPoint required). A plenary discussion at a conference is of a different nature than a personal review. Therefore, we would like to provide you with some suggestions of how to prepare it. Because participants received their reviews beforehand, their papers might already be revised by the time of the conference. Therefore, it is not necessary anymore to repeat detailed comments on the structure, the language or the content of the paper. Detailed comments are also not interesting for the other participants in the session, since they have not read the paper. Some suggestions to reflect on the presentation and to start the discussion are given below.

1. What you liked about the study (you can use your positive comments of your written review, but try to express them in a general and understandable way)

2. Your take away point (e.g. one of the things I learned from this study is …, the conclusion that we should disseminate from this study is …)

3. Question about the choices made in the research (e.g., why did you choose a certain framework, a certain method of analyses, a certain interpretation of the results?)

4. Implications for further research (e.g. unanswerable or new research questions? Is anyone in the public doing similar research, and how does it relate to the presented study?)

For the audience

To find out which session is interesting for you, we advise you to look at the titles of the session and read the abstracts. Since the papers in one session are linked conceptually, we recommend you to attend the whole session. Of course, if you feel you must, you can switch sessions during a single timeslot, but we strongly urge you to do so as quiet as possible to prevent disturbing the presenters and audience.

Poster sessions

General information

The posters are also grouped conceptually into a session of 5-7 posters. There are 2 time slots for posters, each lasting 90 minutes (labelled PO.1 and PO.2). The sessions will be chaired by a conference participant or a member of the organising committee. Approximately 5 minutes after the start of the poster session, there will be a short plenary session for the whole audience attending the session, in which the poster presenters will subsequently give a brief oral presentation (max. 3 minutes). In this presentation the presenter has the opportunity to shortly highlight the topic and main findings of his/her poster. Before and after these introductions there will be time to individually walk around the posters and discuss their content with the poster presenters.

For presenters

Please be in time for your presentation: make sure you are present at least 5 minutes before the session starts. Display panels and tape will be provided to display your poster. Because of the physical configuration of this type of session, no additional audiovisual equipment, such as a screen or overhead projector, is provided. It is your own responsibility to attach your poster to the easel prior to the session. It is recommended that you bring a number of small copies of the poster (or the extended summary) with you, as well as business cards, to distribute to interested participants. The aim of the brief oral presentations is to give a short overview (max. 3 minutes) of the presented posters to the audience gathered as a group. Please use this time to highlight the topic and main findings of your poster. Please do not elaborate on your findings, this time is not intended for an extended presentation on your research. An in-depth discussion of your findings can be held after the brief oral presentations, when the audience will individually walk around the posters and discuss with the poster presenters. Your main job during the in-depth discussion is to supplement the information the poster contains.

For the chair

The chair opens and closes a session and gives the floor to the presenters according to the planned program. The following steps will help you to fulfil this task.

1. Before you go to the session meeting room, check the printed Bulletin and the "program changes board" to determine if there are any changes to the scheduling of the session that you are chairing.

2. If possible, arrive at the meeting room about 10 minutes prior to the start of the session and familiarize yourself with the room. If you encounter problems, you should immediately alert the conference organizers (student assistants present in the room or at the registration desk).

3. If the presenter does not show up, immediately alert the conference organizers (student assistants present in the room or at the registration desk).

4. Monitor the time (take a watch with you). Open the plenary part of the session about 5 minutes after the session has started. Foresee maximum 3 minutes for the oral presentation of each poster. Alert the speaker 1 minute before the allotted time for presenting is up. Communicate your time signals to the presenter before the session starts.

6. If any problems arise that you are unable to handle, either go, or immediately send, someone to the registration desk to alert the conference organizers of the problem.

For the audience

Because of the setup of the poster sessions, it is possible and even recommended to visit more than one poster session in a time slot. Since the poster sessions include brief oral presentations by the presenters, we urge the audience to be on time for the session. This way, you can first have a brief look at the posters, then listen to the short oral presentations and afterwards engage in a more in-depth discussion with one or more presenters, thereby getting the most out of this session. The moment for brief oral presentations is not intended for discussion with the presenters: please do so with the presenter in person. To find out which session is interesting for you, we recommend that you read the titles and abstracts in the abstract book for more information.

Round table sessions

General information

Round table sessions are designed for research in progress. These sessions are an opportunity to discuss not only outcomes but also the design of a research project or research in progress. Round table sessions allow maximum interaction with the presenters by abridging the formal presentation. Each round table session consists of 2 or 3 conceptually linked projects. There is 1 time slot for round table sessions (labelled RO.1). Each session is presided by a chair (see further information below). There are no separate tables for each presenter. All the projects will be discussed subsequently in a single room. We encourage the whole audience and the presenters to engage in the discussions.

For presenters

Each presenter has 5 minutes to introduce his/her project and raise one or two open discussion questions. A total of 25 minutes is intended for discussion. Presenters should prepare handouts for the other participants but NOT a PowerPoint presentation. Please note that you are required to bring your own copies (approx. 25) of your hand-out for the participants. No computer, beamer or screen will be provided in order to guarantee the interactive discussion format of the round table sessions.

For the chair

The chair monitors the discussion aligned with the discussion questions of the presenter and will make sure that each person is given the opportunity to participate. The chair opens and closes a session and gives the floor to the presenters according to the planned program. The following steps will help you to fulfil this task.

1. Before you go to the session meeting room, check the printed Bulletin and the "program changes board" to determine if there are any changes to the scheduling of the session that you are chairing.

2. If possible, arrive at the meeting room about 10 minutes prior to the start of the session and familiarize yourself with the room. If you encounter problems, you should immediately alert the conference organizers (student assistants present in the room or at the registration desk).

3. If the presenter does not show up, immediately alert the conference organizers (student assistants present in the room or at the registration desk).

4. Monitor the time in order to give each presenter a fair opportunity for discussion (take a watch with you). Foresee maximum 5 minutes for introduction of the hand-out and 25 minutes of plenary discussion. Alert the speaker 1 minute before the allotted time for presenting is up. Communicate your time signals to the presenter before the session starts.

5. In the presentation, the presenter will raise one or two open discussion questions. Your job is to monitor the discussion in line with these discussion questions. Try to make sure that the presenter has (at least) made some progress in answering these discussion questions in order to maximize the benefit of this interactive session format. Also, make sure that each person in the audience is given the opportunity to participate. Keep in mind that the session must end on time to ensure enough time for breaks between sessions.

6. If any problems arise that you are unable to handle, either go, or immediately send, someone to the registration desk to alert the conference organizers of the problem.

For the audience

This session format is intended to be very interactive. At a round table session, the audience is gathered at a round table to discuss the research of the presenters. Since the projects in one session are linked conceptually, we recommend you to attend the whole session. Of course, if you feel you must, you can switch between sessions during a single timeslot, but we strongly urge you to not to do so since leaving and joining another session half way will very likely disturb the discussion process. To find out which session is interesting for you, we advise you to look at the titles of the session and read the abstracts.

ICT demonstration

General information

Information and communication technology (ICT) demonstrations provide the opportunity for demonstrations and hands-on activities of technological tools for educational purposes (e.g. educational software, multimedia packages, e-learning and e-projects). Participants can experience and investigate new technologies and novel use of current technologies to support teaching, learning, research and collaboration. Theoretical and practical issues of the demonstrated technology are discussed with the participants.

The only ICT demonstration at JURE2010 will be scheduled within the round table slot (RO.1) in one session with 2 round table presentations. After the 2 round table presentations, the whole session will move to a computer laboratory for the ICT demonstration to allow for interactive hands-on activities.

For the presenter

You have 30 minutes for your presentation. Please note that you are required to bring your own copies (approx. 25) of your hand-out for the participants. We want to encourage you to bring your own laptop for giving demonstrations.