The surprising truth about who engages in a non-assessed, credit-free undergraduate conference and what they present

Abstract

This poster will discuss an annual undergraduate research conference, hosted at Keele University. Undergraduate research conferences have been found to lead to a number of reported benefits for participants, namely the development of research and presentation skills, as well as increased self-authorship and disciplinary identity. The poster will first detail what students choose to present, with 70% of all presentations in non-assessed topics of interest. As well as showing a year-on-year growth in presentation numbers each year, this poster will demonstrate that such impactful initiatives can recruit students typically underrepresented at significant levels. The conference regularly recruits BAME students, students with disclosed disabilities, international students and students from a POLAR 1 (Low participation in HE) background at levels above institutional benchmarks. With student delegates also coming from all levels of undergraduate study, the poster will demonstrate that such extracurricular conferences stand as inclusive and impactful teaching and learning practices.

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