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Nature of Discovery Symposium

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Symposium Details
Schedule
Registration
Guidelines for Abstract
Guidelines for Poster
Guidelines for T-Shirt Design
Directions and Parking

The Nature of Discovery Symposium brings together RI high school biology teachers who are participating in Project ARISE, their students, Brown scientists and graduate students for poster presentations and discussions focused on the research and discovery process as a way to connect inquiry to the relevance of science to everyday life. 

Collaboration between scientists and communication to the general public is an important part of the scientific process.  The Nature of Discovery Symposium gives high school students first-hand experience in this important aspect of science.

Students will have an opportunity to present their original ideas, including how they chose their experiments; how they determined what questions to pose;  why they designed their experiments a certain way and how they chose to collect and analyze data. 

Students will also hear from Dr. Kenneth Miller, Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular Biology Biochemistry and coauthor of four different high school and college biology textbooks which are used by millions of students nationwide. He is also the author of Finding Darwin's God (A Scientist's Search for Common Ground between God and Evolution).  

During a panel discussion, participants will meet current graduate students, learn about how they became interested in science and hear about their research.

Symposium Details

WHAT:  Nature of Discovery Symposium
WHO: ARISE teachers and their students
WHEN:  Saturday May 3, 2008
WHERE: Andrews Dining Hall Brown University, Providence RI
COST:  There is no registration fee.

Schedule of Events

Registration

We are no longer accepting registrations for the Nature of Discovery Symposium.

Guidelines for Abstract Submission and Presenting at the Nature of Discovery Symposium

Project ARISE teachers and their students are invited to Brown University for the Nature of Discovery Symposium.  Students will be given the opportunity to present on research performed independently or with their classmates.  Student work should represent original ideas.  The process of inquiry should be the focus of the presentation. 

Content does not need to be related to topics covered during ARISE workshops (of course, with the exception of inquiry).  Emphasis should be placed on the process by which students chose their experiments.  How did they arrive at the questions they posed?  Why did they design their experiments in a certain way?  How did they choose to collect and analyze data? 

Abstracts

Students should submit an abstract that introduces the project they wish to present. Abstract submission deadline is April 4, 2008.

Students should complete the abstract submission form. 

The abstract should not exceed 250 words and should address the following points:

1. Topic.  What is your research about?
2. Purpose.  How did you arrive at the questions posed?  What questions did you hope to answer by doing your research? 
3. Hypothesis.  What did you predict your research would reveal?
4. Experimental methods.  How did you test your hypothesis?  Why did you design your experiments as you did? 
5. Results and Conclusions.  How did you choose to collect and analyze data?  List the most important conclusions.  Was your hypothesis supported?

Posters

At the symposium, the majority of student work will be presented in the form of a poster.

Posters should be able to fit onto poster boards that are 48 inches wide x 78 inches high.

The poster should include the following information: 

1. Title
2. Authors
3. Introduction – including purpose and hypothesis
4. Materials and Methods
5. Results
6. Conclusions
7. References

Tips for poster preparation:

1.  Posters should stimulate discussion, not give a long presentation.  Therefore, keep text to a minimum and emphasize graphics.
2.  Materials should be easily read at a distance of 4 feet.  Use a font size of at least 14 point and double space.
3.  Place related materials (photo with accompanying text) close together.

T-shirt Design Submission
Students of ARISE teachers are invited to submit a design for Project ARISE T-shirts. T-shirts with the winning design will be provided to all Nature of Discovery Symposium participants. Please adhere to the following guidelines when submitting your entry:
The design should include the name and year of the program (ARISE and 2008).
Artists should include their signature at the bottom of the design.
Designs should incorporate a concept from the ARISE program - for example, a topic covered, or an experiment performed using the lab equipment. 
The T-shirt Design Submission form should be completed and included with your design entry. 

Oral presentations

Two students will be chosen to present their work in a 10 minute oral presentation.  If you would recommend a student for an oral presentation, please indicate on the submitted abstract. 

Directions and Parking

Andrews Hall is located north of Meeting Street between Brown and Thayer Streets on the Pembroke Campus of Brown University (map).  To access Andrews Hall from Meeting Street, walk to the far end of Pembroke Quad.  To access Andrews from Brown Street, walk down Cushing Street (dead end) into the Pembroke Campus and Andrews Hall is on the left.
On Saturdays, parking is available on many streets around campus.