Strike-a-Spark

Abstract Submission Guidelines

If you want to present your work at a regional or national conference, you will most likely be asked to submit an abstract as part of the application process. An abstract is essentially a brief summary of your work, which should make a reader want to see your presentation. The abstract you write should be short and understandable to a general (campus-wide) audience:

• Have a clear title
• Be concise (the abstract should be 200 words or less in length)
• If possible, avoid trade names, acronyms, abbreviations, or symbols (you would need to explain them, and that takes too many words)
• The required font for the abstract is Times New Roman, 12 point.
• Complete the online proposal submission form to submit your abstract.
• Deadline for submissions is March 20, 2026. All proposals must be submitted by midnight, EST to be considered.

How to Write an Abstract

If you have never written an abstract before, here are the basic components of an abstract in any discipline (this is adapted from the University of Kentucky guidelines):

1. Motivation/research question: What motivated you to start this project? Why is it of interest? Why should we care about this problem? What practical, scientific, theoretical or artistic gap is your research filling? (e.g. does your research create new knowledge or involve a new idea, method, process or product?)
2. Methods/approach: What did you actually do to get your results, or what do you intend to do? (e.g. analyzed three research articles, completed a series of watercolors, interviewed 25 social work students, monitored water quality at three lakes)
3. Results/product: What did you learn/create, or what do you expect to learn/create once your project is completed?
4. Conclusion/implications: What are the larger themes or implications of your work? (e.g. what is the “big picture” take-home message from your presentation?) How does this relate to the research question or knowledge/artistic gap you identified in step 1? These can be expected conclusions if the project is still in progress.

The emphasis given to each of these four abstract components can vary by subject. It may help to look at some examples from last year’s conference, at the end of the page. We also recommend composing your abstract in a word processing program (such as Microsoft Word), so that you can proof read it, then pasting your proposal into the text box provided in the online submission form.

Abstract Examples

Abstract Example – Creative Works

Throughout my college career I have been researching social and environmental issues surrounding food for classes and independently. After several years of making functional pottery, it seemed natural to combine these interests. This set of six plates features hand drawn scenes in black underglaze on white stoneware portraying issues from the food industry. I have chosen to highlight subjects touching on immigration, biodiversity, and our relationship with what we consider edible. The food industry in the United States is complex and controversial. My goal with creating Food Plates is not to convey a specific viewpoint, but to serve as a reminder of unseen things that are occurring every day before food becomes available to us.

Abstract Example – Poster (Social work)

Prejudicial attitudes are a pervasive and complicated problem in modern America. Social service agents often fill the gap of compassion that can be created by an unwelcoming community. When social service agents are battling prejudicial attitudes of their own, care can be compromised, and clients will ultimately suffer. Research is lacking on the ways in which rearing environments impact attitude development; social service students of a public, rural university in southwestern Pennsylvania were asked to complete a survey in order for the researcher to evaluate whether there might be any statistically significant connections between one’s upbringing and their attitudes in the social services setting. The goal of this research was to examine these connections and ultimately find ways to address them in social service (more specifically, social work) education. 

Abstract Example – Poster (Anthropology)

Forensic anthropology relies on the skeletal material that is retrieved during the recovery of remains. The more intact the skeleton, the easier the job is, just as the more damaged the remains are, the harder the job becomes. One of the most fragile parts of the skeleton, the skull, tends to be used for sex estimation when the os coxae, the pelvis, is not present. In cases where the skull and the os coxae are not present, alternative sex estimations must be used. This study looks at the application of alternative sex estimation methods on a box of commingled archaeological remains. The remains are Monongahela, which was a southwest Pennsylvania Native American tribe and were excavated at the Campbell Farm Site. Methods were tested on a sample of previously sexed individuals within the population and then applied to the commingled remains to determine accuracy of the methods on the specific population.

General Presentation Guidelines

In designing an effective poster, first think about what you want viewers to learn from your presentation. What will they need to know in order to understand your work?

You will need to:

1. Provide some context for your work. What is the problem or central question you are addressing, and why is it important? (Why should viewers care about your work?) What background information does a viewer need to know to understand your work?
2. Explain what you did to get your results.
3. State what you learned/created during your project. You project does not have to be complete – this is what you have learned so far.
4. Consider the larger themes or implications of your work (e.g. what is the “big picture” take-home message from your presentation?). How does this relate to the problem or question you described in your background section? How does your work fit with what we already know about this topic?

Oral Presentation Guidelines

Oral presentation should be approximately 10-12 minutes in length, and can be individual or group presentations. There will be an additional 2-3 minutes at the end of each presentation to answer any questions the audience may have. All rooms are equipped with a computer and video projection system for displaying PowerPoint/Prezi presentations.

Poster Presentation Guidelines

Creating a Poster

The maximum poster size is 48 inches wide by 36 inches tall. You can use software like PowerPoint to create a single page poster. It is a good idea to start by setting the correct dimensions for your poster. To set the correct dimensions for your poster in PowerPoint:

1. Click on the ‘Design’ tab in PowerPoint.
2. A menu bar will appear with a ‘Slide Size’ tab.  Click on the down arrow (▼) next to ‘Slide Size’ to access the dropdown menu, then choose ‘Custom Slide Size…’.
3. In the dialog box that appears, select Slide size for: Custom, Width: 48”, Height:36”, and Slide orientation: Landscape, as shown in the screenshot below.

Layout

• The title should be short, clear, informative and large (if printed, viewable from 8ft away, 80 pt or bigger). This should be followed by the names of the presenters (at least 60 pt).
• Split your poster up into a series of sections with clear headings.
• Make sure the flow of information is logical and easy to follow. The headings you use can help you to guide readers through your poster, and can help to convey your findings.
• Make sure your layout is consistent and neat.
• Don’t be afraid to leave some blank space, it helps to organize and define your sections.
• Create a balance between visuals and text: posters are a visual medium, so you don’t want to have too much text.

Download a PowerPoint template for your poster presentation. Choose the format that works best for you, or modify one of the templates to suit your needs.

Download PennWest Template

Download California Template

Text

• Text should be short and to the point. To minimize the amount of text you use, consider keeping any text elements to 50 words or less.
• Consider using bullets, instead of paragraphs.
• Make text large! All text should be at least 24 pt (at least 36 pt for headings).
• When you make a statement or include a statistic, cite the source, otherwise readers will lose confidence in you as a source of information. 

Visuals

• Good graphics are the key to an effective poster.
• Use simple, relevant images and graphs to illustrate and enhance your poster. Make sure the images you choose are freely available to share (e.g. from creative commons).
• Photos help to illustrate your work and can help convey your message to viewers.
• Consider whether you can use an image or graph, instead of text, to communicate a concept/relationship/idea.
• Use graphics to attract attention.
• If you have only a few illustrations, make them big! 

PennWest California will cover the cost of printing posters for the April 15 Strike a Spark Conference.

Please make every effort to complete your poster as soon as possible to ensure all posters are printed in time for the conference.  All posters must be submitted for printing before midnight Wednesday, April 1.

Follow these instructions to ensure efficient and accurate printing of your poster.

1. Create your poster – See Poster Presentation Guidelines section for information on how to set the correct dimensions for your poster, advice on the layout of your poster, and poster templates.
   Be certain that you set the appropriate size for your poster!
2. When your poster is laid out to your satisfaction, save it as a pdf file. To do this in PowerPoint, click on the “File” tab in the upper left of the PowerPoint screen, choose “Save as”, then “Download as a pdf”, as shown in the screenshot below.
   
3. Submit it for printing using the link below. Please be sure the file is in pdf or PowerPoint format. SharePoint files cannot be accessed for printing!

Submit Poster for Printing

If you are not presenting in person (live or via Zoom) on April 16th, you will need to record a video of your presentation. This video will be available on the Strike a Spark website during the conference. Here are the steps you'll need to follow to make and submit your recording.

Instructions for recording a PowerPoint lecture or poster using Zoom 

If you are using different software to make your presentation, follow the Zoom instructions below and use your software in place of Microsoft PowerPoint

1. Make a large format poster or slide show presentation using PowerPoint. Please visit the Presentation Guidelines page for information on how to prepare your presentation.
2. Go to D2L and log in to Zoom (to do this go to communications tab and choose Zoom Portal log in from the dropdown menu).
3. Open up your PowerPoint presentation.
4. In Zoom, click on the green “Share Screen” button at the bottom of the zoom window. Choose Microsoft PowerPoint from the options you're given, then click on the blue share button.
5. In PowerPoint, open your presentation to its maximum size. To do this, go to the View dropdown menu and choose "Slide Show" or go to the Slide Show drop down menu and choose "Play from Start" or click the Slide Show icon at the bottom of the PowerPoint.
6. When you are ready to start your presentation, click on the three dots (... ) labeled "More " at the top right, then select "Record” and “Record to this computer" from the dropdown menu.
7. This will generate a file that will be saved on your computer. Please save the recording as an mp4 (.mp4) file.

Submitting your presentation

Once you have recorded your presentation, please save it as an mp4 file (.mp4) and use one of the following file name formats. 

your full name-poster (if your presentation is in the category “Poster”) 
your full name-oral (if your presentation is in the category “Oral/Paper”)
your full name-creative (if your presentation is in the category “Creative Works”)

Here is an example: marksmith-creative.MP4

Send your presentation to your faculty sponsor to review, and ask them to sign your faculty sponsor form.

To submit your presentation and your signed faculty sponsor form, use the form link below.

Submit Your Presentation

TAYLOR SQUARE’S FORGOTTEN STATUE

MURAL ANALYSIS

AN OPEN LETTER

VIRTURE OF APPEARANCE

TWILIGHT ZONE