I am not a big fan of ending undergraduate (or mixed undergrad/grad) classes with a research paper that is only read by me. So, in my ‘English Grammar in Use’ class, we end with a poster symposium instead, which doesn’t only give students the opportunity to learn to present their research in a different format (an opportunity most students really enjoy and consider relevant for their future careers, be they in academia or not), it is also a collaborative event — from reserving a suitable room, over organizing poster easels and printing flyers, to inviting fellow students and faculty and providing peer feedback on other students’ posters. I am grateful to my colleagues and PhD students who came to the symposium and asked students questions about the posters, just as one would do at a conference. Students did a fantastic job at explaining their research design and their findings. (The only drawback was that students who presented missed out on their peers’ projects — I need to build in some rotation next time.)
