Call for Proposals

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The committee for WALS2012 invites submission of proposals related to this year’s conference theme “Challenging Practice, Enhancing Partnerships, Nurturing the Child”. The strands for WALS2012 are:

• Teacher Professional Development
• Action Research
• Pedagogies and Teaching Strategies
• Designing for Learning with Quality in Specific Subjects
• Research on Lessons in Different Cultures
• Issues about Leading Lesson Study
• Learning Communities for School Reform
• Developing Communities of Practices
• Creating Knowledge in Practice
• Student Learning and Development

Types of Sessions

Presenters have a choice of 4 types of sessions

1) Paper presentations (30 minutes)
Research papers and case studies are welcomed for this category of presentation. There will be 3 paper presentations for each parallel session. Each paper will be allocated with 20 minutes of presentation time and 10 minutes of Q&A. The following types of papers are encouraged for submissions:
a) Research Papers 
Completed research papers in any of the strands listed above or related areas. 
b) Student Papers 
Research done by students in any of the strands listed above or related areas.
c) Case Studies 
Case studies in any of the strands listed above or related areas.
d) Work-in-Progress Reports or Proposals for Future Research 
Incomplete research or ideas for future research in order to generate discussion and feedback in any of the strands listed above or related areas. 
e) Reports on Issues Related to Teaching 
Reports related to innovative instruction techniques or research related to teaching in any of the strands listed above or related areas.

2) Symposium presentations (1.5 hours)
Participants are welcomed to organize symposiums consisting of papers on related topics. 90 minutes are allocated for each symposium. It is common practice for 3 inter-related paper presentations to be grouped together for a symposium. Symposium organizers are advised to elect a chairperson as well as a discussant for their symposium.

Examples of Symposiums
1) Researchers from the same field may wish to collaborate to organize a symposium consisting of 3 research papers which covers inter-related topics. 
2) A school may be interested to organize a symposium consisting of 3 presentations from school leaders’ perspectives or teachers’ case studies. 
3) Teachers may wish to collaborate across schools to present case studies of similar subjects or focus.

3) Workshops: 1.5 hours
Workshops are informative, interesting and interactive sessions and may be targeted at the general conference populace or designed for specific target groups (teachers, school leaders, educators, researchers). Workshops are 3 hours in length and may consist of hands-on activities, demonstration, and/or discussion. We welcome workshops which cover the following topics:

- The implementation of Lesson Study.
- Leading and facilitating Lesson Study.
- Pedagogical innovations.
- Teaching strategies specific to disciplines.
- The use of technology in the Lesson Study process.
- Research methodologies for the analysis of Lesson Study processes.
- Other topics related to the implementation, understanding and analysis of Lesson Study.

4) Poster presentation: 1.5 hours
Posters may include reports of ongoing research or case studies of professional practices. Research reports should clearly include the research topic, the research question(s), methods of data collection, data analysis and preliminary research findings. Posters of good practices should include relevant information such as the background of the school, the context of the case study, data analysis (where applicable) and findings/recommendations. Presenters are encouraged to prudently use texts and graphics in the layout of their posters.

Audio Visual and Technological Support

Each room will be equipped with a computer, an overhead projector and a whiteboard. The computers at the conference will be able to support Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Reader. Presenters are advised to save your presentation document(s) in a thumb drive and transfer the file(s) to the local computers prior to the start of your presentation. To facilitate the smooth running of the conference programme, the use of personal laptops is discouraged. Requests for any additional technological equipment may be made in the online registration form.

Language of Presentation

English.

Submission of Abstracts

Each abstract should not exceed 350 words. Submit the abstract of your proposal electronically here (closed).

Review Criteria

Paper/Symposium/Poster Proposals 
• Clarity of aim/formulation/conceptualization
• Quality of writing and organisation
• Relevance of research topic for this conference
• For symposiums, a critical criterion is whether individual presentations are sufficiently inter-related.

Workshop Proposals
• Appropriateness of topic 
• Clarity of aim and design
• Presence of interactivity element
• Relevance to practice

Conference Registration

Upon acceptance of abstracts, please login to make payment of conference registration fees. <Register now>
Early Bird Registration opens 2 July and closes on 30 September 2012.
Conference registration closes on 30 October 2012.
Note: All presenters and co-presenters must register and pay to attend the conference.

Membership Registration

If you are unable to attend WALS2012 but would like to join the World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) as a member, click <here>. Members of WALS will receive access to full papers from past WALS conferences and online access to the International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies (IJLLS).

Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 09:53

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