Sample Session Abstracts
The following is a collection of session abstracts from past conferences. These samples can be used as a guide to help when writing your own session abstracts.
Rx Laughter: Play with Seriously Ill Kids at Hole in the Wall Camps
9:00 am - 10:15 am Meridian West
Stephanie Utrup, Anar Patel, Emily Heeb, Meera Ramamoorthy
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
The student-run honors association at UC is an organization that provides enrichment opportunities for honors students and students at the University. The program organizes trips to a number of Hole in the Wall camps for seriously-ill children. Students volunteer for illness-specific "family weekends" which provide medically fragile children and their families with fun, respite and the support of other families who share similar challenges. Whether it be cancer, HIV/AIDS or a heart-related disease or disorder the children are able to discover a world outside of the hospital bed through swimming, boating, archery, woodshop, arts and craft, etc. all in a safe and fun environment. Through this volunteer experience, honors students develop hands-on and relevant leadership skills, gain practical experience to further their education, make a difference in the life of a child all while having a life altering experience of their own.
Get Organized: How to Grow and Develop Your Student Association
10:55 am - 11:20 am Meridian West
Joseph Harder
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Having a successful student association is about more than attendance numbers, free food, and good parties. With the constant turnover of a college environment, good planning is key to ensuring that the work your executive board does will last for years to come. This presentation will focus on the critical steps in building (or rebuilding) your student association. Various topics will be covered, including mission statements, group organization, team dynamics, programming, and strategic planning. The presentation will conclude with an open forum.
Maximizing Academic Performance through Meditation
10:30 am - 10:55 am Meridian East
Michael Francis
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, Indiana
The eastern tradition of meditation has found its way to western societies and into the field of science. Through psychological experimentation, it has been discovered that meditation can reduce habitual responding and affects the distribution of the brains limited resources. This research examines these and other experiments, the educational implications of these experiments, and how students may take advantage of meditation as a method of mental training, rather than a religious practice.
Show or Tell: Postmodernism and its Contribution to the Dominance of Visual Media in Western Culture
1:25 pm - 1:50 pm Meridian East
Rebecca Yeager
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, Indiana
Postmodernism has transformed the way the West views communication. According to postmodern theorists, it is impossible to reach beyond our modes of discourse to some foundational reality. Rather, humans transmit and interpret information through various social contexts which cannot be transcended. Communication, according to postmodern philosophy, is always colored by a particular viewpoint and thus fails to deliver epistemological certainty. This perspective differs vastly from traditional definitions of communication, which assume that words and images refer to the objective world. These contrasting definitions may be more amenable to certain types of media. While analysts contend that the image is fast becoming the central method of communication in Western culture, this project explores a potential connection between postmodernism, the decline of print-based media, and the rise of visual or image-based forms of communication.
Causes and Effects of Color Perception
9:25 am - 9:50 am Meridian East
Angel Dyke, Heather Brown, Adam Denney
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, Indiana
Because color perception plays an important role in both psychological and physiological functioning, it is important to understand how and why it affects us. While studies suggest that colors have universal meanings that are learned by association, they also demonstrate that various ages, sexes, and ethnicities sometimes attach different meanings to colors. This project examines to what extent factors such as age, sex, education, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity affect how people perceive and respond to colors through analysis of diverse individuals perspectives. It also examines one noteworthy physiological effect of color perception: appetite suppression.