Expo Info for Faculty Mentors
What is the Distance Learner Scholarship Expo?
The Distance Learner Scholarship Expo is a celebration of the research,
scholarship, and creative production of Bradley distance education students
from across the country in our distance education academic programs.
Students present digital poster displays of their projects and share a short
5-10-minute presentation about their work to a panel of volunteer judges
from within and outside the Bradley community in a virtual platform. Judges
evaluate the student’s presentation skills, making note of how organized
their poster is, how well they share their project with a generalized
audience, and their general public speaking and presentation skills. Awards
are offered to the best poster presentations made at the Expo.
What criteria will be used to judge my students’ projects?
Understanding that our judges volunteer to serve at the Expo, often as
informed generalists who may appreciate the work done in a disciplinary area
but with no real expertise in that area, we use evaluation rubrics that
focus on the basic poster organization and student presentation skills
demonstrated by the students. We explain to our judges that we leave
evaluation of the work itself to the faculty mentors who do have the
disciplinary expertise to understand and critique the actual research,
scholarship, or creative work being presented.
Why should I encourage my students to participate?
Students who have participated in Expo in the past have shared that they
value: (1) the chance to showcase their work to judges from outside of their
familiar Bradley community; (2) the opportunity to practice and hone their
presentation skills, particularly to a generalist audience; (3) the
opportunity to see what students are doing in other disciplines and from
other colleges; and (4) the recognition of their hard work in a
university-wide Bradley event that consistently includes the involvement of
our President, Provost, and College Deans, not to mention many senior
ranking persons from local businesses and organizations.
Who organizes the Expo each year?
The Expo Advisory Board, comprised of representatives from the disciplinary
areas of Bradley’s five colleges, as well as representatives from important
administrative offices such as the Office of Advancement, the Career Center,
and the Cullom-Davis Library, guide and advise the Expo Organizers on the
organization and structure of the Expo program. A list of our Expo Advisory
Board representatives is available on the Expo homepage. If you have any
ideas or feedback about the Expo, please share them with a member of the
Board or the Expo organizers so we can continue to improve on the event.
How can I get involved?
There are many ways to be involved in the Distance Learner Scholarship Expo.
- Register to serve as a judge.
- Help recruit judges.Finding qualified judges with a
working generalist knowledge of disciplinary areas in which students
present is always a challenge. Please reach out to your collaborators or
colleagues to let them know about this opportunity to see the work of
our students while giving the students a chance to practice their
presentation skills.
- Encourage your students to start thinking now about Expo.
The Distance Learner Expo takes place online using the RocketJudge
virtual event interface via the Zoom platform. Specific details
regarding the online interface will be sent to students after
registration.
Where can I find out more information about the virtual Expo?
E-mail any additional questions to the Distance Learner Scholarship Expo
Coordinator, Dr. Karin Smith at kbsmith@bradley.edu
