Overview
Part 1: Summit e-poster
This is a poster style presentation in which you can share key learnings from your ongoing development as climate action leaders. Graduate programs often include a capstone project which is designed to push you to think critically about (critical reflection) on what you’ve learned through your graduate program and apply it in some way to a real-world issue or question. For those of you in the thesis stream, this is your research project as reflected in your thesis (where ever you are in the process); for those in the portfolio learning stream, with or without an internship, your portfolio learning is your capstone, as reflected in the portfolio itself. Those undertaking an internship or the CALS 692 Experiential learning course will be focused directly on climate related work and topics. Those taking electives or graduate certificates will need to interpret the work you have done with a climate action leadership lens; that is, these electives and certificates may or may not be directly focused on climate change but are still relevant to climate action leadership, so you will need to make these connections.
It is important that your poster reflect your passions and the synthesis of your learning as it relates to real world climate or climate related issues. Think about what learning and insights you really want to share with others – your peers and other guests who may show up. Our hope is that you will produce something that you can use in your portfolio and in other contexts – mobilizing the knowledge, insights, and perhaps ongoing questions that are the outcomes of your time in the MACAL program. This session is a knowledge mobilization activity – sharing a synthesis or highlights of your key learning from your time in the program, and in particular the capstone learning, and engaging with others interested in your topic.
If you are unsure about what to present, ask to meet with us to discuss to make sure you are on track. You can also check out the 2023 CAL student poster session at https://commons.royalroads.ca/macalprogram/2021-cohort-posters/?_ga=2.15796595.490914684.1718223929-1203841400.1718223929
FORMAT
The poster you create can be designed as an infographic, or in ppt., or in any other e-poster format (see below) and then saved as a pdf.
Your posters should reflect and communicate this learning as it has been or will be applied to real-world climate issues. The poster should, therefore, include or draw on your theory of change. In the poster you need to specify:
- If you have been engaged in thesis work your poster can reflect your thesis – the question(s) it is addressing or exploring, how you have approached this, and depending on where you are at in the thesis process, your findings or initial findings and their implications for policy and/or practice.
- If you went the internship route, similarly, your poster can reflect the applied project that guided your internship and, how other learnings from the program and the internship have shaped this project and its outcome.
- If you have chosen the e-portfolio without an internship, your poster will reflect what issue(s) drove your deep learning dive, key learnings from the courses/activities in which you engaged, and the implications of these learnings for practice and/or policy as it relates to this climate issue.
You will also create a pre-recorded 2-3 min video presentation of your poster so that people, including your peers, can review your posted and listen to your presentation in advance of the MACAL student poster zoom session (see schedule). Review the previous year presentation videos to get an idea of options for this short video.
See:
Masters, K., Gibbs, T, and Sandars, J. (2015). How to make an effective e-poster. MedEdPublish.
Informa (July 15, 2021). ePosters: A Powerful New Tool for Association Events.
Due Date: see Schedule
NOTE: a copy of your e-poster and presentation video will need to be submitted prior to the MACAL Climate Action Leadership Summit. See Schedule for due date. For details on the submission see below and tech details the Assignment 3: Part 1 Summit E-Poster in the course Moodle shell for details on the submission.
Part 2: Reflection (blog post)
Now that you have had an opportunity to participate in the MACAL summit, you will write a final, reflective blog post of approx. 700 -1000 words. This blog should focus on the key take-aways from the summit – a kind of capstone blog. The goal here is to consolidate your learning from the summit (the talks, the workshop, the poster session) and share that with a broader audience. Consider the following questions:
- What were some of your most powerful learning moments and what made them so?
- What were some surprising ideas that you encountered as you reviewed the conference posters and attended the sessions, and what made those surprising?
- How did the conference (or any specific session or sessions) inform (validate, challenge, invite revisions) your Climate Action Leadership Plan or your theory of change?
- Which one idea was especially intriguing to you? Why?
Post your reflection on your blog. You are expected to incorporate currently accepted APA standards for citations, formatting, and references and to back up your writing with evidence and appropriate academic literature as necessary. You are required to pay attention to grammar and clarity and to avoid colloquialisms. References are not included in the assignment word count.
Instructions
Part 1: Summit e-Poster & Video
Step 1. Develop an outline for your poster- what is the story you want to tell?
Step 2. Build the poster drawing on the guidelines provided in the resources above, or other ‘good practices’ for posters. Posters can use an infographic approach, ppt slide approach or others so your choice, but remember you are telling a story about the learning you have done as applied to a specific issue. This can also be a great culminating artifact for your professional portfolio.
Step 3: See Schedule for due date. For details on the submission see the Assignment 3: Part 1 Summit E-Poster in the course Moodle shell for technical details and tips on the submission.
Step 4: The goal for the interactive zoom poster session is designed to allow you to converse with anyone including your peers who has questions, or ideas sparked by your video and poster. The session will be a plenary session – see the Schedule – but there will also be options for breakroom discussions as needed or desired.
Part 2: Summit Reflection – Blog
Step 1. Following the summit, reflect on the key take aways and write your blog. The blog post should be uploaded to Moodle as always, and posted on your personal student blog site.
Assessment Criteria
The following assessment criteria apply to all assignments:
- Meets all competency-based assignment outcomes.
- Integration of evidence: assertions are backed up with evidence.
- Structure: is clear, compelling, and flows in a logical sequence.
- Format: is formatted and referenced according to current version of APA
The course is graded on a Credit Granted (CR) basis. Students must pass every assignment in order to pass the course. Competency-based Assignment Outcomes will guide the assessment. Passing grades are associated with demonstrating proficiency in, and self-reflection on the identified competencies.
Grading mode: P/F
Submit: e-Poster & Conference panel submission to Assignment 3: Part 1 Dropbox in Moodle
Submit: Reflection blog post on your personal student blog site and to Assignment 3: Part 2 Dropbox in Moodle
Reflective Blog Rubric
This is your final program blog. You now have lots of experience blogging, so take advantage of this last opportunity in the program to share your key learnings from the conference – focus is wide open.
| Assessment Criteria | Excellent (A+ to A) | Proficient (A- to B+) | Satisfactory (B to B-) | Unsatisfactory (F) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content 40% | Blog post is thoughtful and original, demonstrating insight and critical reflection. Relevant terms & concepts are identified and defined | Blog post is somewhat thoughtful and may include some original ideas and evidence of critical reflection. Relevant terms & concepts are mostly identified and defined | Blog post provides minimal insight and evidence of critical reflection. Relevant terms & concepts are not clearly identified or defined. | Blog post provides no evidence of insight or critical reflection. Concepts and ideas are neither relevant nor clearly defined. |
| Blog post provides a clearly articulated, focused point of view/thesis, and these ideas and arguments are effectively supported with examples, hyperlinks to relevant resources and websites. | Blog post provides a specific point of view that could be more focused & clearly articulated. Ideas and arguments are mostly supported with examples, hyperlinks to resources and websites, some of which may not be as relevant as they could be. | Blog post presents a point of view that is not always clearly articulated; while examples and links provide some support, this is not always consistent. | Blog post does not provide a point of view, or if one is implied, it is neither clearly articulated or adequately focused. There is a lack of supporting examples, links, or those that are provided do not add value or are not clearly relevant. | |
| Focus of the content of the blog post is clearly relevant to the learning outcomes/foci of the MACAL/GDCAL program and there is clear evidence of transdisciplinary thinking (patterns & relationships between multiple disciplines/theories). | Focus of the content of the blog post are mostly relevant to the learning outcomes/foci of the MACAL/GDCAL program and there is clear although inconsistent evidence of transdisciplinary thinking (patterns & relationships between multiple disciplines/theories). | Focus of the content of the blog post is at times relevant to the learning outcomes/foci of the MACAL/GDCAL program transdisciplinary thinking is not well evidenced. | Focus of the content of the blog post is not relevant to the learning outcomes/foci of the MACAL/GDCAL programs, nor is there evidence of transdisciplinary thinking. | |
| Composition 35% | Blog post is well written, creative, and designed to stimulate dialogue and commentary. | Blog post is well written and there is some evidence of creativity, and some elements are designed to stimulate dialogue and commentary. | Blog post is inconsistently written with little evidence of creativity, and only minimal elements that would stimulate dialogue and commentary. | Blog post is poorly written and is unlikely to stimulate dialogue or commentary. |
| Blog post is clearly structured and is well organized to support readers’ understanding and follow main points and sequence of ideas. | Blog post organization is clear but requires more thought and some reworking of sections to support readers’ understanding and help readers follow main points and sequence of ideas. | Blog post organizations requires significant restructuring, including transition statements/phrases. A clearer narrative structure is required to support readers’ understanding of the sequence of ideas. | Blog post is disorganized and fails to provide a clear and coherent narrative. | |
| Style 15% | Blog post clearly & consistently reflects the author’s voice and the blog style demonstrates a consideration of the intended audience., | Blog post clearly reflects the author’s voice but not consistently, and the blog style itself is inconsistent in relationship to the intended audience. | Blog post is written in a style that either does not make the author’s voice clear, or that does not consistently demonstrate a consideration of the intended audience. | Blog post has no clear voice and does not reflect a consideration of the intended audience. |
| Blog post demonstrates a clear grasp of effective academic writing style and elements (clear, concise, spelling & grammar & punctuation) are correct, evidence of proof reading). | Blog post demonstrates a grasp of effective academic writing style and elements (clear, concise, spelling & grammar & punctuation) evidence errors and lack of consistent proof reading. | Blog post only minimally demonstrates a grasp of effective academic writing style and many elements (clear, concise, spelling & grammar & punctuation) are absent or require proof reading. | Blog post fails to demonstrate a clear grasp of effective academic writing (clear, concise, spelling & grammar & punctuation) with many errors. | |
| Citations/APA 10% | All citations, media, and objects display appropriate copyright permissions and citations are accurate and consistently provided. | Most citations, media, and objects display appropriate copyright permissions and citations are accurate and consistently provided. | There are many citations, media, and objects that are missing appropriate and/or accurate copyright permissions. | There is minimal to no use of copyright permissions and citations. |
| Blog post includes thoughtful additions of high-quality graphics, multimedia that enhance the narrative and the visual appeal. | Blog post includes some thoughtful additions of graphics and multimedia, but these are not always enhancing the narrative nor the visual appeal (because of quality) | Blog post includes some additions of graphics, multimedia but these are not of good quality and do not consistently enhance the narrative or visual appeal (because of quality). | Blog post does not include additions of graphics, multimedia or those that are included do not enhance the narrative or visual appeal (because of quality or relevance). |