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The American Camp Association invites
researchers to present results of camp-related
studies at a Symposium to be held during
the Association's 2009 National Conference
at the Disney's Coronado
Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida: www.acacamps.org/conference. This
year's conference theme is The Power of
the Experience, which highlights the opportunity
to communicate the benefits of the camp
experience to a wide audience.
Description of this
Research Symposium for Conference Participants: Research results
can improve the way we do our jobs and
increase the program quality offered. Come
hear brief presentations focused on direct
applications of results from recent studies
about the camp experience.
Symposium Submission
Details: The focus
of this symposium is to communicate the
practical applications of completed research
to camp professionals. A blind, peer-review
process will examine the appropriate use
of the research process, but the presentations
need to be free of academic jargon and
easily understood by camp directors without
research backgrounds. Upon participant
request, full study details should be made
available.
The research symposium proposals should
include (and will be rated on) the following
areas: relevance of purpose and research
question(s) to professional needs and interests,
theoretical context, methodology, analysis
procedures, conclusions, and practical
camp applications. The submission of research
proposals is an online process but is set-up
to allow for pasting in the proposal. The
submission site allows for 6500 characters,
or approximately 1000 words in 12 pt Times
New Roman font. Graphs and charts may be
included but should be limited. Keep
in mind these reduce the character counts.
The expectation is that the research be
completed with a minimum of preliminary
results at the time of abstract submission
and that the paper has not been previously
presented or published. If you have any
questions, feel free to contact Jeff Jacobs
(Symposium Coordinator) at jacobs@calpoly.edu.
The symposium consists
of two presentation formats: verbal presentations and poster
presentations. The author(s) will be asked
for a preference but that request can not
be guaranteed. A blind peer-review will
occur with all submissions with no distinction
around presentation format. The verbal
presentations will be moderated and will
consist of 15 minute time slots followed
by a brief question and answer period.
Related topics will be grouped together
to form topical sessions. The poster session
will be held for a two hour time block
during unopposed program time. While the
research symposium proposals should include
the traditional research details for the
review process, the presentations should
focus primarily on practical application.
All conference attendees will have access
to the abstracts for additional information
or details on the other aspects of the
research process. All papers accepted for
the symposium regardless of presentation
format (verbal, poster) will be displayed
in poster form at the conference. The ultimate
goal is to post the research summaries
and practical applications on the ACA Web
site so the information is more widely
accessible.
We welcome student research as well as
studies completed by faculty or other researchers.
Student researchers may want to submit
their project for consideration for the
Marge Scanlin Outstanding Student Research
Award. This Scholarship will be awarded
each year to a deserving student who has
contributed to the camp research body of
knowledge. The purpose of the award
is to encourage students to undertake camp
research and present their findings at
the annual ACA conference. A scholarship
of $750-1000 will be awarded to the student
whose abstract is selected for the Scanlin
Award. The student is expected to
attend the conference to present their
research and use the scholarship to help
defray conference expenses. The student
selected must join ACA, if not already
a member. For more information on the Scanlin
Award, see the ACA Research webpage (www.acacamps.org/research).
Submission Deadline and Timetable
Call for Papers closed September 30, 2008
E-mail notification by October 30, 2008
Presenter expectations: If a proposal
is accepted for presentation, we expect
the author to attend the conference to
fulfill that obligation. It is expected
that people speaking at the conference
will register for at least one day. Professionals
share a joint responsibility to help "grow" the
profession, so we appreciate the contributions
made by the researchers through their participation
in the Symposium and the conference in
general.
Review expectations: Summaries will undergo
blind peer-review by a review team with
expertise in camp and youth development
research and other related areas. Submissions
for the Marge Scanlin Research Award will
undergo a separate review process. Papers
may be rejected due to ineffective development
of the summary, weaknesses in the study
itself, lack of developed practical applications,
or time and space limitations. Recent research
that connects with the conference theme
will be given priority.
Review guidelines: The three page abstracts
will be rated based upon the following
categories:
- Relevance
of research purpose and question(s) to
professional needs and interests
- Theoretical
Context
- Methodology
- Analysis
procedures
- Conclusions
- Practical
applications
We hope you will submit your research for
consideration and look forward to offering
a premier symposium on camp-related research.
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