Experiential Learning Student Showcase: A Fall Symposium
What Is the Experiential Learning Student Showcase?
The Experiential Learning Student Showcase celebrates the scholarly and creative work that grows out of experiential learning at Grand Valley. This new fall symposium invites undergraduates to share what they've built, discovered, or created through research, creative practice, project-based coursework, community-engaged projects, internships, and study abroad, along with the range of experiences in between.
Have you interned this year? Studied abroad? Built a creative practice alongside your coursework? This showcase is your chance to share that experience too, not just traditional research.
We designed this symposium as an on-ramp for our students. For many, this will be their first formal presentation, and a meaningful step toward Student Scholars Day and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR).
How to Participate
Submissions open October 12 and close November 13. Every student who submits will present, there is no competitive review process.
Students submit a title and abstract, following the same guidance as Student Scholars Day, and indicate a faculty sponsor. Students may present individually or as part of a group.
At submission, students choose one presentation type:
- Poster presentation, following the same specifications as Student Scholars Day
- Lightning talk, a short, timed presentation (typically 3 to 5 minutes)
- Zine, a small, self-made booklet that translates the work into a visual format
Submission form coming soon.
Types of Presentations
Poster
A large poster, 36x48, that explains the scholarly and creative work in a visual format. The student stands next to the poster for questions and conversation.
Lightning Talk
A short, timed presentation (typically 3 to 5 minutes) that distills a project down to its core question, approach, and findings. It's a fast, focused way to share work without slides-heavy formality.
Zine
A small, self-made booklet that translates scholarly or creative work into a visual, accessible format, mixing text, images, and design. It's a good fit for students whose work doesn't lend itself neatly to a poster or a talk.
For Faculty
We're sharing this early so you can start thinking about which students and which courses might be a good fit, including internship, study abroad, and creative practice courses, not just research-focused ones. Because every submission is accepted, this is a low-risk, high-reward opportunity to build into a class, whether as a capstone assignment, extra credit, or a way to formalize the work students are already doing.
Students will need you to serve as their faculty sponsor when they submit. Full details on how to build the opportunity into your course will follow in the coming weeks.
Questions?
In the meantime, reach out to [email protected]. We look forward to celebrating this work with you in December.