Senior Sequence

Poster grading criteria and important stuff

Dear Students,

Many of you have registered and joined your research team on SciVee. Thank you. Your compliance along these lines will go a long way to ensuring a smooth approach to the finish line. If you haven’t gotten your SciVee account or joined your SciVee group yet, please do so immediately.

During yesterday’s class a few great points came up which I repeat here.

QUESTION
Are we still going to do a Senior Sequence class of 2010 reader?
ANSWER
Yes, we are!. To get your 5 points for this part of your USP 187 grade all you have to do is the 250 word abstract/summary of your work and be sure to upload that into your Senior Sequence on line research portfolio (there is a designated text box for this inside your portfolio, it was due on March 4, 2010).  I will be depending on the team leaders, and a couple students editors, to bring these pieces together. The main thing is that each of you do a great job on the 250 words (do the best you can to convey the most essential part of your research—this can be done in abstract format, or as a more focused on a key theme or finding). I will work with the team leaders, and a couple designated student editors,  to pull it all together.

Here is a link to the reader instructions you already got: reader.pdf

QUESTION
How will we grade the posters/postercasts, which together are worth 20% of your grade?
ANSWER
*To begin with the work must be done on time (by midnight 3/9/10). I will check to be sure your postercast is in place on the SciVee web site (also : don’t forget to also put a link to your SciVee postercast in the designated place inside your Senior Sequence research portfolio).

Grading Criteria: How do I earn the full 20% for this assignment? /em>
To earn the full 20%, meet the targets listed below (the first two weigh most heavily):
1. CONTENT: All required poster content is there (title, your name, date, research question(s), abstract or summary, findings and analysis, methods). You can also include acknowledgments, contact info, images, graphs, etc).
2. SUBSTANCE: The poster’s content (listed above) is substantive—i.e., it has depth with respect to scholarly effort. In other words, it is apparent that your poster has serious research behind it. The content is well integrated (e.g., the abstract/summary captures well the overarching presentation, the findings and analysis have meat on the bone, the poster gives some clear take home points).
3. Aesthetics: the poster has a pleasing look to it (the layout is well done with good graphic quality)
4. The Postercast version of the poster communicates well, in 3-4 minutes, the main points of your poster.

QUESTION
Can we do a cut and paste job on oak tag or cardboard, since the cost of posters is high.
ANSWER
Yes, but keep two things in mind. (1) It won’t look as good, and (2) you’ll still need to create a digital version of your poster in order to do the postercast.

I strongly encourage you all to put quality time into this part of your requirement. First of all, you represent one of the best Programs on campus (Urban Studies and Planning). Our Program is leading the way in connecting our research university to the community. We are a model for the campus. This is our 20th anniversary doing the Urban Expo. It is special. The Urban Expo attracts a lot of people, important people from the community and campus. They may not all scrutinize your particular poster, but they certainly do get an overarching impression from the collective effort. Each of you together generate that high quality look and feel of the event: great research, well presented.

Here is an annotated version of a poster that you should find helpful: Keithmlinn_demoposter.pdf

I also want to remind you about the poster/postercast awards.

POSTERS
1st place prize:  $250
2nd place prize: $150
3rd place prize: $100

POSTER CAST
1st place prize $100, plus SciVee T-Shirt
2nd place prize: SciVee T-shirt
3rd place prize: SciVee T-shirt

Keep trucking,
Keith