Student Inquiry and Research Program Details
The Abstract
Near the end of the second semester, each participant in Student Inquiry and Research must document current progress in an investigation abstract. This abstract summarizes key accomplishments and information about the investigation that will be shared at IMSAloquium, the annual showcase of student investigations. All abstracts are published in an annual showcase booklet that is used by those attending IMSAloquium to determine which student talks they would like to attend. The full set of past abstracts is archived for future reference.
Someone reading your abstract should get a good general sense of what you have accomplished and why, and be enticed to attend your talk or view your poster seeking greater depth of understanding of the investigation and implications of the work. Students presenting investigation results at venues other than IMSAloquium are expected to submit an abstract for inclusion in the venue's publication; the abstract written for IMSAloquium often meets this need without modification.
Abstract Guidelines
The SIR abstract guidelines suggest a document of two hundred words in length. The abstract should put the investigation in context with one or two sentences setting the stage for the background and rationale, then providing a succinct summary of the key points and accomplishments of the investigation.
An abstract does not go into in-depth background research. If the work is a technical and procedural project, then details of protocols are included; otherwise the procedures used may only be mentioned by name or not listed at all. Sample Student Inquiry and Research abstracts for a Biology project, a Social Sciences project, and a World Languages project may assist in clarifying guidelines for writing your abstract.
Abstract Submission
After the student has received verbal approval of abstract content from both the student's advisor and the SIR Coordinator, the abstract is ready for electronic submission for publication in the IMSAloquium Booklet. The student will be contacted with a "Call for IMSAloquium Abstracts" giving particular details on the submission process.
A web database provides the submission interface and gathers information about the investigation: student name, advisor name (selected via pull-down menu); abstract title (student must manually type in the abstract title); and abstract content (text is copied/pasted from the approved content in a MSword document). Specific practices and issues on the database are summarized each year in the call for IMSAloquium abstracts.
A hard copy of the submitted abstract is printed from the database. Students need to obtain their advisor's signature on this hard copy, which indicates final approval. After seeing the ITL/VPL Coordinator about presention needs and obtaining her signature, the signed abstract is turned into the SIR Coordinator who finally approves the abstract in the system.