Long-Form vs Short-Form Presentations

Next weekend 13 of my graduate students are presenting their projects at our graduate symposium.  In the past, there have been one or two students finishing up at a time and the students were required to present their work at our undergraduate end of the year open house.  However, with so many students completing their research projects at one time, the long-form 20 minute presentations were not feasible.

This year we are moving to a short-form poster presentation.  In this new format half of the students will stand by their posters and carry out short and informal presentations to attendees as they approach the board.  After the first half of the presentation period, the second group of students take over and present their projects.

Students will end up sharing their work multiple times during the session and have the opportunity to visit the other presenters when they are not presenting.  This provides the students with the opportunity to both share their work and to learn from the work of other students.  While this short-form poster style is not a new concept, it is the first time I have implemented it with my graduate students.  I'm eager to see how it works.