Abstracts
To view all the abstracts being presented at the 2009 BERA Annual Conference Please Click Here
Key Dates for Your Diary
Regulations for the Submission of Abstracts
Regulations For Submission
- All proposals should be submitted electronically via the web site www.beraconference.co.uk.
- The deadline for the submission of abstracts for Keynote Symposia is Friday 9th January 2009.
- The deadline for the submission of abstracts for the Student and Main Conference is Friday 23rd January 2009.
- Authors may offer no more than two submissions (excluding poster sessions) on which they appear as lead presenter.
- Only students or new researchers may submit proposals to the Student Conference. Participants may not submit the same paper to both the Student and Main conferences.
- All symposia, individual papers and posters when submitted must indicate the SIG which most closely relates to the topic of their paper.
- Authors of individual papers can opt for their proposal to be considered for ‘oral presentation only’ or for ‘oral or poster presentation’. Authors choosing this latter option would be offered a poster presentation even if their oral presentation was rejected in the review process.
- All individual papers and papers within symposia will be peer reviewed anonymously.
- The corresponding author (the person who submits the poster/paper/symposium) is responsible for communicating to co-authors and in the case of symposia, to lead presenters of individual papers the decisions of the reviewers and the dates and times of the presentations.
- The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the lead presenter is registered by 1st June 2009 or the paper/symposium will be removed from the programme. All deadlines will be enforced firmly.
- The reviews are of the abstract of a paper (not a presentation). It is expected that each presenting author will provide a full paper 4,000 – 6,000 words in length for distribution at the conference (not just PowerPoint handouts).
- All conference presenters are encouraged to submit their full conference paper to the EDUCATION-LINE collection for indexing and permanent on-line archiving. EDUCATION-LINE currently contains over 1000 BERA papers among its total of over 4000 texts. Papers can be sent before, during or after the conference. Guidelines for submission can be found here. Papers in the Education-line collection are also listed in the British Education Index.
Instructions for the Submission of Abstracts
Keynote Symposia Format
The Keynote Symposia are a special feature of the BERA conference. There will be six 90 minute symposia; three per day on Thursday and Friday during the lunch time period. In order to ensure that the quality of these sessions is high, and that they are likely to warrant this privileged position in the programme, they are selected by open competition. Symposium not chosen for these sessions will automatically be entered into the main conference review process and will be reviewed (using the same criteria) with other submissions.
If you wish to be considered for a Keynote Symposium you may submit only one proposal where you are the lead presenter. The proposal should include an overview (maximum) 400 words together with the title of the symposium and the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the Convenor, Chair and Discussant. It is expected that each symposium has a named Chair and Discussant, as well as a Convenor. An additional supporting statement of (maximum) 600 words, explaining the importance of the research addressed by the symposium (e.g. its timeliness; contribution to new knowledge etc. - see selection criteria below) should also be submitted. The symposium should comprise 3 or 4 individual papers (maximum 6), each submitted with an abstract of (maximum) 1000 words which should include the title and any references. Symposia should be submitted under the SIG which they feel most closely represents the topic area. Colleagues arranging symposia should consider the amount of time they would like to make available for discussion with delegates and plan the number and length of presentations accordingly.
After submission each proposal will be reviewed by two members of BERA Council and/or members of the National Advisory Panel. The selection will be based on a combination of the five criteria for the assessment of all abstracts together with the following four criteria:
- High quality of the research and overall coherence of the papers;
- Timeliness of the research in the current educational context;
- National/international significance of the research;
- Demonstrable impact of the research upon practice, policy or theory.
The submission will be rated against the 9 criteria on a 6 point scale which will equate to numerical scores covering very good, good, satisfactory, inadequate, weak and very weak. Authors will receive numerical feedback and brief comments. Please note that the Conference Committee reserve the right to make the final selection of keynote symposium in order to ensure an even spread and good balance of presentations. It is the expectation that presenter(s) should have full written papers, 4000 – 6000 words in length, to distribute in the session.
Student Conference Session Formats
Individual Papers - Not Refereed
Papers are oral presentations of 15- 20 minutes and will be scheduled in 75 minute themed sessions which will normally include 3 or 4 papers. An abstract of (maximum) 600 words should be submitted, this should include the title and any references. When abstracts are submitted they must be linked to the SIG that most closely represents the topic of their paper. The presenter(s) should have full written papers, 4000 – 6000 words in length, to distribute in the session.
Posters - Not Refereed
Posters are largely graphic presentations, which may be accompanied by a (maximum) 5 minute oral presentation. An abstract of (maximum) 600 words should be submitted, this should include the title and any references. When abstracts are submitted they must be linked to the SIG (see listing on page 6) that most closely represents their topic. Poster presenter(s) should have the abstract available, but a written paper of 1000 – 2000 words may also be provided. At the BERA 2009 Annual Conference, a prize will be offered to the best Student Poster (as in 2008). Posters will be judged at the conference and the prize will be presented during the Student and International Delegates Drinks Reception on Wednesday 2nd September 2009.
Main Conference Session Formats
Symposia - Refereed
Symposia are 90 minute conference sessions, organised by convenors, and usually structured to include 4 papers (maximum 6) or 3 papers and a discussant. The title of the symposium, plus the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the convenor and discussant (where appropriate) and an overview of (maximum) 400 words should be submitted which should address the overall coherence of the papers, together with abstracts of (maximum) 1000 words should be submitted, this should include the title and any references. Guidance on the writing of abstracts can be found below. Presenters(s) of each paper should have a written paper
length 4000 – 6000 words, to distribute at the symposium. The symposium must be linked to the SIG that the convenor/corresponding author feel most closely represents the topic. Each symposium is strictly one 90 minutes session. If a group of researchers or a SIG wish to link symposia in the programme they must submit each separately and specify who will present in which symposium. It should be indicated on the on-line submission form that this is part of a linked series. A symposium may be organized more flexibly, for example in the form of a workshop or expert panel discussion, if you think the symposium you wish to submit is of this nature please contact In Conference who will provide further information. Colleagues arranging symposia should consider the amount of time they would like to make available for discussion with delegates and plan the number and length of presentations accordingly.
Individual Papers - Refereed
Papers are oral presentations and will be scheduled in 90 minute themed sessions which will normally include a maximum of 4 papers, each of which will be given approximately 20 minutes for presentation. An abstract of (maximum) 1000 words should be submitted, this should include the title and any references. Guidance on the writing of abstracts can be found
below. When abstracts are submitted they must be linked to a SIG that author(s) feel most closely represents the topic of the paper. Presenters(s) should have a written paper, length 4000 – 6000 words, to distribute in the session.
Posters - Not Refereed
Posters are largely graphic presentations, which may be accompanied by a (maximum) 5 minute oral presentation. Poster presenter(s) should have an abstract available, but a written paper of 1000 – 2000 words may be provided. An abstract of 600 words (maximum) should be submitted, this should include the title and any references. When abstracts are submitted they must be linked to the SIG which most closely represents the topic of the paper.
The Review Process
Abstracts
Abstracts submitted for the main conference should not exceed 1000 words and should address the following:
- Background to the topic;
- Analytical and/or theoretical frame;
- Research questions and/or focus of enquiry;
- Research findings and/or contribution to knowledge.
- Research methods and/or mapping of literature;
Criteria For The Assessment of Abstracts
All abstracts will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Relevance of topic to BERA members;
- Robustness of analytical and/or theoretical frame;
- Clarity of research question(s) and/or focus of enquiry;
- Significance for educational practice, policy or theory.
- Appropriateness of research method(s) and/or literature;
In addition, the 400 word overview submitted with the symposium should focus on the overall coherence of the symposium.
Producers For Peer Review
- Referees will be recommended by SIG convenors, and these reviewers will, where possible, review the abstracts of all papers which have been submitted under that SIG in the submission process.
- With regards to symposia, a total score will be calculated by aggregating scores of individual papers. Convenors of symposia need to be aware that symposia will be accepted/rejected based on the average scores awarded to each paper therefore a weak paper could result in the symposium being rejected.
- Individual paper abstracts will be reviewed anonymously by 2 referees using a 6 point scale which will cover the range indicated below:
| Very good | 27-30 | recommend definitely accept |
| Good | 23-26 | recommend accept |
| Satisfactory | 19-22 | recommend accept if possible |
| Unsatisfactory | 15-18 | recommend probably reject |
| Weak | 10-14 | recommended reject |
| Very weak | 0-9 | recommended definitely reject |
Papers will be accepted/rejected on the basis of the average total score awarded by two referees.
- Abstracts for individual papers in a symposium will be anonymously reviewed by the same 2 referees. Using the same scale as above. Symposia will be accepted/rejected on the basis of the aggregated average total scores awarded to the papers in the review process. The symposium overview will be available to the referees as a context for assessing the abstracts of individual papers.
- With regards to symposia, a total score will be given and the symposia scores will be aggregated. Convenors of symposia need to be aware that symposia will be accepted/rejected based on the average scores awarded to each paper therefore a weak paper could result in the symposium being rejected.
- The conference committee reserves the right to moderate assessments across SIGs and across individual referees within SIGS.
- Reviewers will be encouraged to provide written feedback on their judgements.
Feedback on the Review Process
Corresponding authors of individual papers will have access to the scores awarded to their abstracts against each of the criteria and may receive some comments. Corresponding authors of symposium will have access to the scores awarded to individual papers in the symposium and will be responsible for disseminating this information to the presenters of individual papers.
Special Interest Groups
There will be a designated SIG area in the exhibition area which you should visit during the conference for more information on individual SIGs. In addition, SIGs may choose to organise an event on Wednesday morning (2nd September) and there is a SIG Business meeting session on Friday from 14.00 – 15.00 for SIGs to discuss and plan their activities.
Posters
Poster boards are 1.00m wide x 2.00m high. It is recommended that displays do not exceed 1.5m in length. The organisers cannot be held responsible for any posters left after this time.
Student and Main Conference Poster Prizes
Prizes will be offered for the Best Student Poster and the Best Main Conference Poster. Posters will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Imaginative Design and Layout
- Clear and Well Formulate Research Questions
- Clear and Appropriate Research Design and Methods
- Concise and Informative Presentation of Research Finding
Student Poster Display Times: Posters can be displayed from 08.00 on Wednesday 2nd September and must be in place by 15.00 on Wednesday 2nd September. The prize for the best student poster will be presented at the Student and International Delegates Drinks Reception which takes place from 18.30 – 19.00 on Wednesday the 2nd of September. Poster must be removed at 12.00 on Saturday 5th September.
Main Conference Poster Display Times: Posters can be displayed from 08.00 on Wednesday 2nd September and must be displayed by 18.00 on Wednesday 2nd September. The prize for the best main conference poster will be presented at 13.30 on Thursday 3rd September.
Audio Visual
Overhead Projector will be available on request only. A data projector, computer, flipchart, and a screen will be provided in each meeting room. We advise you to bring a copy of your presentation on CD and memory stick. There will be a charge for any other equipment which needs to be hired in, please fill in the Audio Visual section on the abstract submission form and the Conference Organisers will contact you with a cost. There will be a designated SIG area in the exhibition area which you should visit during the conference for more information on individual SIGs.