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On Friday, November 25, more than 160 Werklund School of Education students taking EDUC 201: Introduction to Educational Studies participated in the #EDUC201 Digital Poster Fair at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning. 

The fair, led by David Scott, Director of Student Experience (Community-based Pathway) in the Werklund School of Education and Ph.D. student Jason Ribeiro, provided a forum for the first-year students to present their research stemming from a significant educational issue of their choice. 

By presenting their posters on the digital displays available at the Taylor Institute, students were able to use novel presentation methods that included device pairing and toggling easily between a variety of multimedia resources. 

One student, playing for the UCalgary Dinos in the Vanier Cup in Hamilton, even used video conferencing to deliver his presentation alongside his group members before the big game. 

Modeled as a mini-conference, students presented their posters to the many faculty, graduate students, and members of the public that attended the fair; feedback from attendees and the Taylor Institute staff was overwhelmingly positive and many encouraged the students to submit their research posters to both professional and academic conferences.

The event was further enriched by the presence of Werklund School academics Dianne Gereluk, Mairi McDermott, and Catherine Burwell, who each provided a short keynote address at the beginning of the three sessions.

With 45+ posters presented over the course of the day, this was one of the first 'conference-style' events the Taylor Institute has hosted, and it provides a new model for authentic academic engagement for Werklund B.Ed. students and the university as a whole.