September 23, 2011 - Poster conferences provide a unique and optimal opportunity for students to showcase their research, and the program planned for Education graduate work on October 13th is no exception.
What the students will learn next month, according to the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Education, is that the showcase provides benefits to both those who present, and to those who attend.
“Any chance students get to take their research into a venue where it can inform and raise questions for others helps them grow as researchers,” says Dr. Tom Strong “In this case, we want all graduate students from Education to attend. We hope there will be at least 40 posters on display and students--undergraduate as well as graduate--are welcome to attend, as well as faculty, staff and the general public.”
Students have until October 7th to register their work, and on October 13, they will present their research by way of poster displays (hence the name “poster conference”); everyone is welcome to come and discuss the work with the students—to ask questions and learn more about a particular area of research.
“This is great for our students,” says Strong. “It provides a real opportunity for them to describe their work and to learn more about responding to others’ questions about their research”.
Marnie Rogers is one grad student who will be showcasing her work into popular media’s perceptions about con-habiting couples—those who choose to live together outside of marriage. Marnie wanted to discover how these couples find and maintain a sense of “we,” or a feeling of closeness and mutuality in their relationships.
“I am interested in counselling with couples and families, and the increase in cohabitation that has taken place in recent decades represents a significant shift in how these relationships are being structured,” Marnie explains. “But cohabitation is still controversial, and I could see this in the research literature, in media, and in conversations with those around me.”
In the case of her poster for this show, which was a pilot study of sorts for her thesis research, Marnie examined discourses used to describe co-habitation in the popular media. Perhaps it is evident in her poster title (How to Shack Up, Share Space, and Keep it Sexy: Cohabitation Discourses on Magazine Websites) that Marnie’s goal was to make her pilot study both fun and informative.
Says Strong, “In Marnie’s case, the poster conference provides a great opportunity for her to talk with students and faculty members about her poster and about her thesis research more generally.”
Strong adds that he hopes a lot of graduate students turn out to present their research posters, and to talk with each other about their research and about their research ahead.
To see Marnie’s research and the work of many others, everyone is invited to attend the 4th annual Education Graduate Students Poster Conference, to be held on Thursday October 13, from 3-4 pm. The event takes place in the Technology Enhanced Research Area, or TERA, in the Education Tower--Room 830. Refreshments will be served.