Call for papers

Conference announcement and call for proposals

On this page you will find information on the call for proposals, e.g.

  • Central theme
  • Formats
  • How do I put in a submission?
  • Guidelines
  • Important dates

Call for proposals

The EFYE network and the University of Helsinki look forward to welcoming you to Helsinki.

The conference will provide the opportunity to:

  • share the outcomes of new pedagogical and scholarly research
  • share and develop new theories on students in transition
  • share and develop good practices
  • meet with other academics, managers and support staff committed to enhancing the first year student experience.

Central Theme

“My University – making the most of the first year experience”

This call for abstracts will focus on the following topics:

  • Best practices
  • Retention
  • Leadership and management
  • Students for students
  • Guidance and counseling
  • Curriculum and course development
  • Student participation in the community
  • Ways and tools of communication
  • Supporting student learning

Formats

There will be four different session formats:

  • workshop
  • learning group/round table
  • inspiration session
  • open space/poster

Workshop

Workshop sessions are intended to include a significant amount of audience activities and participation. We expect that the coach of the workshop is an expert in the workshop’s subject.

Learning Group/Round table

A Learning Group is a question based group where participants can elaborate further on learning questions formulated in advance. A learning group is more open than a workshop. In a learning group everyone is his own expert and everyone is focused on learning from interaction with other participants.

You can also volunteer to be the chair person for a learning group on the subject you propose.

Inspiration session

Inspiration sessions are  presentations of  inspiring research or  teaching practices (10  till 20  minutes) followed by  a discussion with  the  audience   (10  minutes).  Participants ask their questions and bring  in  their experience at  the  same  subject. The sessions will be directed by a chair person who moderates the discussion.

Open Space/Poster

During the conference we will provide time to stroll into our Open Space Market with different posters concerning research and good practices. You will be able to ask questions, engage in discussions and get new and fresh ideas.

How do I put in a submission?

Please submit abstracts (maximum 2000 characters) by using the electronic form available at https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/39803/lomake.html. The form opens January 7th, 2013, at 9:00 Finnish time and closes on February 20th, 2013, at 23:59 Finnish time. Abstracts should be submitted for any of the formats listed above.

In the electronic form you will need to provide the following information:

•   Personal details: Name, email address, job title and the organisation that you represent. (If there is more than one author, please identify the key contact.)

•   Session details: Title of session, a topic from the list above and type of session (workshop, learning group, inspiration session, open space/poster)

• Abstract text:

  • Workshop:  which method would you use, amount of participants (minimum, maximum), which views you would like to share with the participants?
  • Learning group:  which question do you have or which topic would you like to discuss? This can be a concrete case, but it may also be a more theoretical (scientific) question.
  • Inspiration session:  which topic will you be presenting?
  • Open Space/poster: which topic will you be presenting?

All submissions will be peer reviewed.

Further details will be sent to you if your submission is accepted.

Guidelines

1.   Please consider the relevance of your proposal to a European audience.

2.   Please be as explicit as possible about the content of your session to enable participants to make session selections.

3.   Please identify up to four key words or topics (cf.  supra) that  are  relevant to your submission e.g. student transition, retention, concept of FYE.

4.    Please include any evaluation or assessment of your work in your submission even if this is on-going.

Important note

The language of the conference will be English; however keep in mind that there will be a range of people for whom English is not their first language.

Important dates

  • January 7th, 2013: Call for papers
  • February 20th, 2013: Deadline for submissions
  • February 28th, 2013: Notification of acceptance
  • March 6th, 2013: Opening of registration for participants
  • April 17th, 2013: Last day of registration
  • May 13th – 15th, 2013: 7th European Conference on the First Year  Experience in Helsinki

See you in Helsinki!