Business Meeting All divisions and SIGs must hold a business meeting to conduct the business of their unit.
Demonstration/Performance Demonstration/performance sessions are directed to using, showing, or illustrating a particular technique, tool, or method to convey the value of the approach for research or to illustrate or present understandings or findings through such a method.
Fireside Chat Fireside chat sessions offer participants an open forum to discuss ideas on topics of interest to a group of professionals. The majority of fireside chats are geared toward topics of interest for graduate students.
Invited Session An invited session features presenters who have been invited as guest speakers because of their prominence in the field. Invited sessions are open to all attendees.
Off-Site Visit Off-site visits offer participants site-specific learning, such as observation of a school in session. This format takes advantage of the unique attributes of the city where the Annual Meeting is held and connects researchers with concrete examples of relevant work. Visits are to be spent at a site other than the meeting rooms, such as a school, museum, science lab, or community agency.
Paper Session In paper sessions, authors present abbreviated versions of their papers, followed by comments/critique, if there is a discussant, and audience discussion. A typical structure for a session with four or five papers is approximately 5 minutes for the chair’s introduction to the session, 10 minutes per author presentation, 20 minutes of critique, and 15 minutes of discussion. Session chairs may adjust the timing based on the number of presentations and discussants scheduled for the session. Individuals must be attentive to the time allocation for presenting their work in paper sessions. In the case of multiple-authored papers, more than one person may present, but presenters are urged to be attentive to the total time available to them so that allowing more than one speaker does not detract from the overall presentation of the work or keep others from presenting their work.
Poster Session Poster sessions combine the graphic display of materials with the opportunity for individualized, informal discussion of the research throughout a 90-minute session. Individual presenters set up displays representing their papers in a large area with other presenters. Each poster session has roughly 70 posters.
Roundtable Session Roundtable sessions allow maximum interaction among presenters and with attendees. Each table has three to five researchers of accepted papers clustered around shared interests, and each table has a designated Chair knowledgeable about the research area, to facilitate interaction and participation. Because the emphasis is on interaction, there are no discussants. Each roundtable session is scheduled for a 90-minute time slot. Each roundtable session has roughly 15 roundtables.
Please observe the general code of conduct for roundtables, which is posted at the sessions. This helps create the most conducive environment for successful roundtable sessions.
Symposium A symposium provides an opportunity to examine specific research issues, problems, or topics from a variety of perspectives. Symposia may present alternative solutions, interpretations, or contrasting points of view on a specified subject or in relation to a common theme. Symposia may also use a panel discussion format targeted at a clearly delineated research issue or idea. Symposia may be quite interactive: A large portion of the session may be devoted to activities such as discussion among the presenters and discussants, questions and discussion among all those present at the session, or small-group interaction.
Structured Poster Session These sessions begin with attendees viewing poster presentations, then move into brief oral presentations to the audience gathered as a group, followed by direct discussion with poster presenters. Posters are conceptually linked in terms of education research issues, problems, settings, methods, analytic questions, or themes.
Working Group Roundtable Working group roundtables encourage substantive exchange and interaction among researchers working on a common set of research issues, problems, or themes. Participants in these sessions discuss areas that are cross-cutting, where there are shared research problems or issues that would benefit from cooperation and exchange, or where researchers with complementary interests would benefit from new, synergistic discussions.
Workshop A workshop provides an opportunity to exchange information or work on a common problem, project, or shared interest. Presentations are brief, allowing adequate time for reflective discussion and interaction. Didactic presentations are limited, and learning by doing occupies most of the session.