The digital poster is a visual presentation of your five-page paper. It must ‘stand alone’, meaning that the viewer should be able to understand it without your presence to explain or supplement the information. Students are free to select the software program that they are most familiar with (Powerpoint, Word, Adobe, Prezi) to create the poster, but it must be saved as a .jpg image. As noted in the syllabus, excellent posters will be included on this course website unless otherwise notified in writing before the assignment deadline. Review previous student work in the gallery.
Posters will be graded according to: 1. grammar, organization and writing style; 2.use of material presented in the course (terms and concepts from the lessons); 3. content (researched data, infographics, appropriate representation of the community), 4. use of scholarly sources, and 5. design and aesthetics. Note that all images, charts and graphs must be cited; ‘Google Images’ is not a proper reference.
Digital Posters for Academic and Professional Development
Research posters are one of the many ways to present research and information at professional and academic conferences. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with poster presentation formatting and guidelines if you plan to attend graduate school or enter into the professional arena in the future. For seniors and graduate students, posters provide an opportunity to introduce your research activities effectively and efficiently while trying to negotiate the, often times intimidating, atmosphere of an academic conference. In addition, many academic associations hold student poster competitions and provide awards for the ‘winners’ such as travel funds and waiving costly conference fees. At professional conferences, posters can act as an ice-breaker or catalyst for networking and making professional contacts in your field.
Designing a Poster
A research or professional poster should communicate information to the viewer without the accompaniment of a speaker. In most cases, a viewer will spend only a few short minutes observing the poster, so it important that the poster conveys the most significant information or details in an efficient manner. This is why it is essential that the poster is clean, well-organized, and concise.
The research poster to the right presents findings from ecological research conducted in Glacier Bay National Park by students and faculty at the University of Alaska. Consider the attributes that make this a successful poster.
Right away the title of the poster conveys a significant amount of information. We know immediately that the research addresses the sleeper shark, and that the shark is a potential predator of the harbor seal. We do not need to look for the researcher’s names, and the inclusion of a photo of the researchers give us additional, albeit superficial, information about them. The University of Alaska and National Science Foundation logos tells us about the hosting institution for the research and their funding sources.
The logos are an excellent example of the way that an image can provide a more effective means of communication information than words, especially under circumstances with limited space such as a research poster. The poster makes great use of graphics to communicate research data, pinpoint the location of research on a map, illustrate the environmental setting, and capture a moment in the research process. Images are a great way to break up text so that it does not overwhelm the viewer.
Too many words, or dense text, and disorganization will discourage the viewer from attempting to read and digest the information in your poster. This is why it is important to ensure that the elements on your poster are clean, clear and well-organized. In English reading cultures, most people read from left to right. It therefore makes sense to organize the elements in your poster from left to right beginning with the introduction and ending with the conclusion. If aesthetics and design is not your thing, there is no need to worry. Programs such as Powerpoint include a wide range of templates that you can download for free.
Infographics
- For free-use images, visit Freefoto and Flickr Creative Commons
Software for Poster Design
It does not matter which program you use to produce your paper, provided you can save the image as a jpg. Powerpoint, Microsoft Publisher, Canva and Easelly are simple and powerful tools to use. Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Prezi can produce amazing posters, yet they are not easy to learn within a short amount of time. Given the limited amount of time available to produce the poster during a summer term, it might be best to stick with a program you are already familiar with. Click on the icon or link below to watch poster-making tutorials.
Powerpoint
Powerpoint (.ppt) is the most widely used presentation software programs in American Colleges and Universities, and if you are taking a face-to-face class, your professor is probably using Powerpoint to present their lectures as a series of slides. If you do not have a version of ppt on your computer already, you should be able to find it on any campus computer. To create a poster, you will compile all of your information on ONE slide that will serve as your poster. When your poster is complete, you must save it as a jpg or pdf using the ‘Save As’ drop down menu. Important: always save your poster as a ppt first, so you can go back and revise it. If you only save as a jpg or pdf, you will not be able to edit it. Click on the Powerpoint icon here to watch a brief tutorial to get started.
MS Publisher
MS Publisher (.pub) offers a quick and easy way to create publications such as banners, brochures and posters. It provides more graphic design opportunities than Powerpoint, yet it is less complicated than graphic software such as Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. When your poster is complete, you must save it as a .jpg or .pdf using the ‘Save As’ drop down menu. Important: always save your poster as a .pub first, so you can go back and revise it. If you only save as a jpg or pdf, you will not be able to edit it. Click on the Publisher icon here to watch a brief tutorial to get started.
Easelly is a free online software program to create info graphics. You can either start anew and build your own poster from scratch or use one of the many existing templates available on the site. Keep in mind that the existing templates may not meet all of the criteria specified here, and you will need to modify it accordingly. Click on the icon here to learn more about easelly.
Canva
After you have decided on the program that you will use, review the assignment description to be sure that you include all of the expected elements. Use the checklist below to ensure that you do not forget anything. Every semester at least one student forgets to include their name – one of the most important elements. It is also important to include the date. By now you should know that cultures are dynamic and always changing – yet your poster will remain the same. By including the date, you are referencing your information to a particular time and will enable your poster to remain useful for many years to come.
As you create your poster, keep in mind that it is not necessary to include everything from your paper. Think of the poster as the movie trailer to your paper. It should only include significant tidbits as a way to bait and hook your viewers by compelling them to read your paper. Obviously, your coursemates will not have access to your paper, but you can launch them toward conducting their own research about your selected community (starting with the scholarly references that you included in your poster) and thereby opening their mind to Peoples & Cultures of the World. If you have any questions, please post them on the ‘Class Communication’ forum so that your classmates can benefit from the information.
Final Poster Checklist:
- Content
- presents researched data (in-text citations are a clue)
- several infographics (map, charts, graphs, images, etc.)
- appropriate representation (see Orientalism lesson)
- does not use ‘they’ to refer to community
- explains diversity within the community (to avoid generalizations and stereotyping)
- includes socio-historical context of community
- includes tangible and intangible cultural expressions
- Use of Material Presented in the Course
- includes several terms and concepts introduced in the course (put in bold or italics to make them stand out to the reader)
- References
- at least five scholarly sources
- properly formatted in any citation style
- intext referencing throughout the poster
- infographics and imaged are properly cited
- Grammar, Organization, Writing Style
- no spelling or grammatical errors
- language is academic in nature
- Design & Aesthetics
- Title & Subtitle
- Name (photo and email optional), Date, Course Number
- School Logo
- Includes Introductory Overview of the Poster
- Reads left to right or top to bottom
Additional Resources
For Discussion: Find an excellent example of a anthropological research poster online. (Do NOT use an example from the student gallery in this website.) Upload the poster to the discussion and using the material in this lesson explain exactly why it is an excellent poster.