Poster Presentations Allow for Sharing of a Wealth of Information in Large Classes.

Verena Van Fleet*, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Bloomington, MN 55431, U.S.A.

Purpose

“Factors that enhance or diminish the body's immune mechanisms are studied….” is one of the objectives of the course ‘Immunology and Clinical Microbiology’ at Northwestern Health Sciences University. This non-textbook content presents itself for self-guided student literature research projects. However, student papers or oral presentations are not feasible options to share findings in large classes; thus, the projects are presented in poster form.

Methods

Initially, the students are provided with guidelines, a time line, a grading rubric, and a list of potential topics. The project includes submission of an abstract, the presentation of the poster itself and the creation of a brief handout for peers. The poster grades are based on three instructor- and two peer-reviews.

Results

The posters are displayed in the hallways and have been very positively received by the campus community. The outcomes go far beyond the content of the researched topics; they include:

-       practicing reading original research papers

-       learning how to boil down a wealth of information for a presentation

-       realizing that there is still a lot to be researched

-       becoming self-driven learners

-       developing an interest active research

-       engaging in a creative activity in a very learning-intense environment

Conclusion/Future Directions

The students are very enthusiastic about their project and an evaluation with surveys before and after the project is planned for this fall. The goal is to manage the whole project via our Online Course Management System to help decrease the amount of work on the part of the instructor.