Nicholas E RoweUniversity of Lapland · Ex-Faculty of Education
Nicholas E Rowe
PhD BSc(H) FHEA QTLS FSET
About
56
Publications
223,720
Reads
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313
Citations
Introduction
I am a trans-disciplinary educationalist, with interests in scientific communication, continuing education and professional development. A dual fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and the Society for Education and Training, I have lectured internationally and published a range of academic works. I spent 5 years as a full-time time UK university lecturer supervising @ 300 UG students.
My PhD was entitled: ‘Poster, poster, on the wall; were you even there at all?’ - a mixed method research into the efficacy and perceptions of conference poster presentations’.
My current research investigates the impact of the student-supervisor relationship on doctoral student mental health and wellbeing.
Feel free to get in touch :-)
Additional affiliations
August 2013 - April 2019
Position
- PhD
Description
- ‘Poster, poster, on the wall; were you even there at all?’ : a mixed method research into the efficacy and perceptions of conference poster presentations https://lauda.ulapland.fi/handle/10024/63741
April 2011 - present
The Written Word. eu
Position
- Specialist Academic Editor
December 2005 - August 2010
Education
August 2013 - April 2019
Publications
Publications (56)
Background:
Posters are a popular way of presenting information at conferences. However, little research has been conducted into their development, and the patterns and extent of their use are unclear.
Objectives:
A mapping review was performed to chart the development and utilisation of the poster medium, and to highlight the main literature th...
Conferences form a major part of our professional and continuing education practices. They allow us to meet and share information, and stimulate collaboration. Organising conferences has become an industry in itself, and events are becoming ever larger and more elaborate. However, underneath the eye-candy of illustrious key-note speakers, busy prog...
https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/content/a-cinderella-story
A Cinderella story for early career academics: (fiction?) by Nicholas Rowe
~ Once upon a time, there lived a young adjunct lecturer named Cinderella. Fresh from her final undergraduate exams, she worked long hours in a typical university, where her days were spent mainly teaching a...
Poster presentations are a common-place feature of many modern academic and professional settings. Based upon the wide range of professional groups that utilise the medium and the multitude of local, national and international meetings at which they are presented, it may be fair to estimate that millions are undertaken every year. As a stand-alone...
Poster presentations are a common form of presenting health information at conferences and in the community. Anecdotal evidence within the discipline indicates that health information framed in a poster presentation may be an effective method of knowledge transfer.
A state of the art review of the literature was performed to determine the effective...
"The medical community should use this moment to promote international scientific conferences that are more environmentally friendly."
https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/08/27/sustainable-medical-conferences-in-the-post-covid-19-world/#content
Conference attendance and presentation are ubiquitous practices across international academic, scientific and professional communities. However, their financial costs and implications have been little studied. Through an empirical analysis of a UK educational conference over three years (N=1,261), this paper examines the financial cost elements of...
The permanent address of the publication is
http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-337-139-2
Conferences are generally acknowledged to be a well-established activity of academic, scientific and professional (ASP) practice. However, there is no established mainstream field of conference learning, and the literature and opinion on the topic is scant, and t...
With an active market of over 22,000 higher education institutions, 17,500 scientific societies and associations, 8.4 million researchers and immeasurable professions, the Academic, Scientific and Professional (ASP) sector is a major publishing client group. In this sector, the mainstay media of text and journal article publications form the establ...
Conferences are generally felt to facilitate knowledge exchange and interactions between delegates, and to support formative higher education and continued professional education. However, the motivations and needs of conference delegates are sparsely researched and subjective in nature. This paper presents a mixed method analysis of the needs and...
Conference schedules are often full-on affairs, involving administration tasks, attending and giving presentations, and professional socialisation and networking. Add to this the requirements of travel and being away from home, as well as keeping tabs on 'the day job', then attending a conference can be quite challenging in terms of time management...
Commissioned Feature Article in 'Times Higher Education':
Conferences may be fun, but they do little to advance and disseminate knowledge. To justify the public spending that supports them, such events must do more to provide benefits to those who don’t attend and to society more widely.
The academic, scientific and professional (ASP) workplace is a global phenomenon, encompassing an innumerable body of researchers and practitioners. Their means of communicating information is a process of scientific and scholarly communication, and includes a range of formal and informal information channels. Journal publication is the most promin...
Despite massive global engagement, conferences receive a mixed reception among academic, scientific and professional (ASP) communities. The Events industry describes a multi-billion dollar activity, but although conferences seem to generate personal value, their external value is seldom measurable. Using the SHRE 2015 and 2016 conferences as a case...
In his new book, Nicholas Rowe presents his research in the field of continuing professional education, and challenges the way posters and conferences are used as a medium of scientific communication.
Across science, academia and the professions, conferences are used as a way for people to meet each other, share ideas, and build collaborations for...
This chapter looks to help establish our reasons for attending a particular conference and to ensure that we are best placed to achieve tangible results for our efforts and investment. It considers the benefits of presenting as well as attending and how the chosen conference activities are able to meet your goals. This chapter links with Appendix 3...
This chapter looks at the use of text and imagery in posters. In particular it considers emotions and rhetoric and how these influence our choice of both words and images. Practical advice is given on how to create high-quality images and also the legal issues of copyright when reproducing images from other sources. Tables, graphs, and other ways t...
Posters are limited in the amount of information they can convey, and further information is often required by the viewer. The depth of information reflects directly on the quality attribution of both posters as a genre and also the specific work that is being presented. This chapter briefly explains how extended text links to sources and informati...
This chapter explores why we attend conferences, how they work, what we get from them, and how poster presentations feature in this setting. It shows that despite being a major medium of scientific communication, posters face a number of barriers in achieving effective knowledge dissemination and facilitating the networking opportunities they were...
This chapter explores how knowledge is transferred in the conference setting. By studying how we communicate and exchange knowledge, it is possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our current practices. It then looks at how posters are placed in facilitating communication, and by evaluating their own experiences, readers will be better...
Posters have long been regarded as a visual means to present information. As well as imagery, this chapter examines the other elements that are inherent to poster practices, including our limited capacity to read textual information. As well as their educational potential, posters are also explored for their potential to attract attention and to ad...
This chapter examines the use of posters to give a visual representation of an issue and to facilitate dialogue between the presenter and their audience. It presents a chronological history of poster compilation and offers advice on compiling traditional and electronic posters, with an emphasis on using nonspecialist design platforms. While most po...
This concluding chapter looks toward the future and reinforces the need to further develop the poster medium and conferences as a whole. Current figures show the predominant place of poster presentation at conferences, together with a continuing growth in published presentation rates and also conference expenditure. It stresses that many of the iss...
This chapter looks at the actual process of presenting a poster during a conference session. It explains the importance of developing short “flash talks” and “elevator pitches” and the issues involved in delivering these to the wide variety of delegates seen at international conferences. Poster sessions are unpredictable as to how they will meet yo...
![Fig. 19. Color and its associations [after Kanner 2005]](profile/Nicholas-Rowe/publication/319466139/figure/fig1/AS:893506851725313@1590040042315/Color-and-its-associations-after-Kanner-2005_Q320.jpg)
This chapter looks at the use of themes, color, tone, and aesthetics in poster compilation. Expanding on the concepts often expressed in poster compilation literature, this chapter looks to determine why we “like” what we “like” – our visual culture. Attracting attention requires layouts that show key points and concepts clearly, create a suitable...
This chapter looks at how we determine what makes a “good” poster, particularly from the perspective of formal assessment. It explores the limitations we face when trying to evaluate large amounts of posters and offers a range of solutions that can help the process. Poster rubrics are also considered, and the chapter links to Appendix 2 which offer...
This chapter continues the theme of how we “see” posters, this time from the perspective of visual literacy and looking. Again looking from individual and collective perspectives, we look at visual literacy and visual competence and how these either encourage or discourage us to engage with what we see. By presenting “story” and “core” layout alter...
This book offers the first comprehensive guide to poster presentation at academic, scientific and professional conferences. Each chapter explores different factors that impact upon how posters function, and how they fit within today’s conference practices, as well as provides guidance on how to address compilation and presentation issues with the p...
Nicholas Rowe reimagines Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in a modern university, with Professor Scrooge in charge of a target-driven department.
Should conferences become an open access activity?
The movement to promote open-access to information published in journals is now well established. However, much of the information we present at conferences is either missed or fails to reach the wider community. Conferences are traditionally closed affairs, limited by time and location, despite...
In CPE activities, conference attendance is a popular means of gaining knowledge. We also purport to share knowledge, and it is this exchange that forms the legitimising basis for conference attendance. At local, national or international events it is the keynote and oral presentations that grab the headlines. Illustrious presenters offer a level o...
Posters at Academic / Scientific Conferences: meeting the needs of viewers, presenters and society
Nicholas Rowe. Faculty of Education. University of Lapland, Finland
Generally, posters are used to give a visual aspect to opinions or findings, with the aim of engaging and swaying a wider audience. Posters are the second most prolific form of kn...
http://blog.f1000research.com/2014/08/20/the-use-of-scientific-posters-to-disseminate-research-data/
Help poster sessions to grab attention
Research findings at conferences are now more often conveyed using posters than by oral presentation. Yet
the development of posters as a medium has not kept pace with the steady increase in their
popularity.
Posters were first used to convey scientific results 45 years ago at the 6th meeting of the Federatio...
This paper follows a previous paper (Hewitt-Taylor et al, 2012) in which the authors summarised their reflections on the literature relating to the application of research in practice. This paper builds on these reflections and reports on the findings from one aspect of a study that explored nurses’ views on using research in practice. Quantitative...
Nurses are not averse to applying research findings to their clinical practice; however, there appears to be a number of barriers to achieving this. Generally, barriers include lack of time and the need to provide more education surrounding the use of research. While these are both valid points, the authors suggest that perhaps the solution to the...
Academic poster presentations are used as a medium of knowledge transfer by a wide range of health professional groups. Posters also provide a means of publication for academic and professional contributors. Posters are designed to give a visual representation of an issue that firstly attracts attention, and then conveys an intended message. Whilst...
Towards the end of last year, I attended a nursing scholarship conference in the UK. It started off with two presentations; the first looked back on the experiences of nursing during the First World War, and this was followed by an overview of experiences of nurses working in today’s Afghanistan
MediaPoster. A graphical representation of the 'MediaPoster'.
Research knowledge is commonly facilitated at conferences via oral presentations, poster presentations and workshops. Current literature exploring the efficacy of academic posters is however limited. The purpose of this initial study was to explore the perceptions of academic poster presentation, together with its benefits and limitations as an eff...
Academic poster presentations are used within nursing as a medium of knowledge transfer and provide an acknowledged medium of publication. Posters are designed to give a visual representation of an issue that firstly attracts attention, and then conveys an intended message. The limitations of the existing two dimensional (2-D), page limited format...
Workshop Aim:
To examine & discuss the aims & structure of Evidence Based Practice, with a view to empowering practitioners, within the full range of employment levels of healthcare.
Healthcare provision centres around providing the best available treatment for ‘Mrs Jones’. Research and evidence-based practice (EBP) are key underpinning components...
The credentials of Higher Education are increasingly valued by society, and yet the appreciation of the Academic Institution is in decline. Employers and students in programmes that commonly utilise Work-Based Learning, often experience difficulty in relating the theory of Higher Education, to practical skills assessment in the workplace setting....
ODPs are currently employed in a wide range of roles within health care and education. In this article, the author proposes that a structured record of CPD activity can be used to both meet the requirements for HPC registration, and also to help shape the wider workforce development. In particular, consideration is given to demonstrating the contri...
How consideration and inclusion of the inter-professional NHS workforce can improve the teaching & implementation of evidence-based practice. This poster presents the findings and resulting conclusions of the author, drawn from an investigation into the barriers posed to evidence-based practice / healthcare, and consideration of the inter-professio...
Practice Assessors of NHS Trusts locally involved in the delivery of the Dip HE Operating Department Practice (ODP) programme, expressed on-going difficulty in establishing the suitability, depth and academic level of evidence, as required for the assessment in practice of student ODPs at level C and level I.
Set requirements for the assessment and...
In October 2004, operating department practice (ODP) was the first additional profession to be included in the newly formed Health Professions Council (HPC). This final step towards formal regulation, established ODPs as professionals, and yet there still remains a disputed boundary with the Nursing profession, within the bounds of peri-operative c...
Pre-registration education in healthcare often comprises a large element of placement learning, that falls out-with the direct ‘jurisdiction’ of the Education Provider. As such, there is a need to clearly establish the programme objectives and to ensure that both students and assessment staff are equipped to gain maximum benefit from the learning o...
Caring for women whose condition is at risk of deteriorating often requires midwives to use their clinical skills in conjunction with medical technology. Knowledge and understanding of specialist monitoring technology and equip-ment will assist midwives in providing care for critically ill women as well as enabling them to recognise if the situatio...
Midwives are often required to administer fluid replacement therapy in different situations such as shock and pre-eclampsia. Therefore, an understanding of the need for appropriate fluid replacement and the actual intended action of the fluid is crucial. Inappropriate fluid replacement could have the potential to compromise the woman's condition an...
Questions
Questions (67)
Lots of people in academia (not just 'juniors') say they experience Imposter Syndrome, where they really doubt their own expertise and capacity. But when you think back on some of the non-sensical reviewer comments you have seen, or the sage ramblings of some 'expert' conference attendee who was intent on sucking all the oxygen from the air, is it possible that Dunning-Kruger is actually more prevalent?
Feel free to offer your views (expert of course 🤣) !
There is a growing trend for those who have completed their PhD coursework, but NOT gone on to submit a thesis/dissertation, be examined, or be awarded a PhD degree, to write 'ABD' on CVs and profiles. Some may see this is as a negative thing where somebody is creating an impression of somehow having a PhD level 'qualification' despite not completing a programme (which many don't, and not always through their own fault), and others may see it as a justified flagging of having achieved at a higher study level, despite not going on to earn the award.
What does the ABD flag mean to you?
Every Monday, up pops a notification that I have X number of 'reads' and that 'Your contributions were the most read contributions from your institution'. Great, but the number is pretty much the same (+/-50) every week .... and it's been going on for years. I deleted my Academia.edu account because the similar metric was clearly being manipulated by the system (lots of consistent readers from non-descript places). Is the RG metric score just some ploy for ego-boosting?
Even if we are established in our fields, people often have difficulty finding suitable and available external examiners for PhD defences/vivas. Is there a database/service where people can register details, expertise and potential availability, and where they can be contacted/recruited directly? If not, would this be a good thing to set up?
In 1969, the 'Inglefinger rule' was used to protect journals from potential dual publication. Now, authors wait long periods of time for their submissions to be processed (sometimes up to 6 months before it is even sent for review), and face longer waits for decisions before they can submit to another journal. Given that the journal publishing industry is extremely profitable and often relies on the voluntary work of others (authors, reviewers, +/- editors), should Inglefinger only be applied to non-profit publishers, and let those that earn a profit fight for our free work?
Many of our top scientists and academics publish affordable books that are well cited and seen as seminal work. However, there are also books that go on sale for $1000 or more, written by relatively unknown authors, supposedly to disseminate knowledge and research.
- Who buys these books (individuals or libraries spending someone else's money)?
- Who writes these books (does it indicate author quality or motivation issues)?
- Who publishes these books (are 4 (or even 3) figure prices a sign of 'predatory' publishers)?
If we use citation as an indicator of who has read and valued them, is there some sort of correlation between making a book financially available, and the real contribution it makes to our field (e.g. increased price = less access = less citation +/- less worth)?
Apparently I have 5 'account nominations' available, and can enter people's email addresses to invite them to join me on RG .... couldn't I just send them an email myself?
I always imagine that if someone is not on RG, it is because they don't want to join ;-)
Projects
Projects (3)
Despite the popularity of conferences, there is very little research that explores the conference setting - our needs and motivations, the mechanisms of knowledge dissemination, and the way that our presentations and activities help to facilitate interactions and beneficial outcomes. The major means of presentation at conferences is by poster, but again, comparatively little work has been done in the area.
This book looks to address some of these shortfalls, and in addition to practical advice on poster presentation, it introduces theory and critique that helps to explain what works, and what doesn't. Although the shortfalls of poster presentation are examined in some detail, the book maintains a positive approach, and outlines areas which can be improved and developed. Having just completed the initial draft, I feel that conferences offer true potential to offer an academic currency that reflects our engagement and endeavors within our peer communities. In particular, poster presentation has been out-paced by a massive increase in participation, whilst still retaining many of the perceptions and practices of its early years.
Introducing much new and novel research, the book identifies how poster presentation (and conferences as a whole) can be further developed to meet contemporary needs.
Everyone is familiar with conferences & oral presentations, but as more & more people wanted to present their work, the medium of poster presentation was introduced. Little has been done with poster presentations since they were introduced in the 1960s. My research has shown an exponential global growth in their global use and a multi-billion $ annual expenditure, but also that they are not generally effective in attracting individual attention, transferring knowledge, or giving a measurable ROI for presenters & funders. This is particularly disturbing, given that in terms of numbers produced, poster presentations come second only to journal articles as a medium of disseminating information across science & academia.
My work looks to establish the causes of these shortcomings, & develop the management of poster presented information so that it will give greater benefit to presenters, viewers & those who would benefit from the information they contain.
