Poster Judging Categories

Judging Criteria

The purpose of a poster exhibit is to convey to a wide audience a research project's significance to scholars in the field and its potential significance to the general public. In addition to the categories listed below, judges will be asked to give their feedback on whether or not each project is of high enough quality to represent the campus at the regional research event. Exhibits will be judged on their quality in four areas:

Content

  • Student name (or names, if more than one student is presenting the exhibit)
  • Collaborators, adviser(s), and department(s)
  • A short title of the exhibit
  • Funding sources (if applicable)
  • Objectives
  • Significance to the field
  • Significance to society in general
  • Methods
  • Results, interpretation of results and conclusions, and directions for future research if the project is completed (creative exhibits must include discussion of meaning and/or reflections on the body of work exhibited)
  • Use of references to document sources used for the project.

Display

The core of each exhibit is a poster with text and graphics intended for a general audience. PowerPoint-style presentations are not allowed as a substitute; however, a laptop or tablet may be used as a supplement to the poster or exhibit:

  • Poster should attract attention and convey important information about the project.
  • Language should be simple and descriptions brief. Excessive jargon should be avoided; necessary technical terms should be defined.
  • Spelling and grammar must be correct.
  • Photographs, drawings, charts, tables, or graphs should be simple, well organized, and carefully chosen when used to explain complicated technical concepts to a wide audience.
  • Poster should not exceed 42 inches (3.5 feet) in width and 48 inches (4 feet) feet in height (NCUR recommendation 42" wide x 36” tall).

Oral Presentation

  • Students should prepare a short overview of their work to introduce attendees to major points. This overview should be clear and concise and tailored to make the work understandable to a non-expert audience. These short presentations should be in the 3-7 minute range, with an average goal of 5 minutes (not including Q&A or discussion with attendees).
  • Students should also prepare to engage in conversation with attendees about their work, including responding to attendees' questions.
  • In cases where the student worked with collaborators, including his or her adviser, the presentation should clearly explain the student's role in the overall project.

Thoroughness

  • All in all, does the project show creativity?
  • Are there indications of original, critical thought?
  • Does the project exhibit a thorough investigation of the topic?

Information Literacy

The University Libraries Undergraduate Research Award: Excellence in Information Literacy recognizes scholarly work based on a foundation of careful background research and literature review. The award is given to entries that demonstrate excellence in information literacy through integration and synthesis of sources, as well as critical reflection on sources.
 
In order to demonstrate excellence in information literacy, students should be prepared to address and discuss key reflection questions such as:
 
  • At what point(s) in your project did you use sources and why? 
  • What did you learn from your sources during your research? 
  • How did your sources fuel your project? 
  • Did any of your sources show you new ways of looking at your topic? 
  • How do you think your work adds to research on this topic?
  • How do you think about the research process now? Is it different than when you started?