| 9:00 – 10:00 |
Writing Workshop |
| 10:15 – 10:45 |
Peer Mentorship Session |
| 11:00 – 11:30 |
Pitch Talks |
| 11:45 – 12:45 |
Lunch with Leaders |
| 1:00 – 1:45 |
Panel Discussion on Educator Needs |
| 2:00 |
Main Conference Begins |
| 8:00 – 9:00 |
Networking Event |
Writing Workshop 9:00 - 10:00
Communication across disciplines is an essential part of the MBE field. In this session, Dr. Brookman-Byrne will advise trainees on best-practices outside traditional academic journals/textbooks (e.g., blogs, columns, social media channels or books for non-academic audiences) when communicating research/areas of interest to others.
Peer Mentorship Session 10:15-10:45
Given that many MBE trainees do not find themselves in an actual MBE program, one challenge they may face is connecting with peers who view their work through an MBE lens. This session would provide a valuable opportunity for peers to discuss affordances and challenges unique to the field. Based on post-conference surveys from the 2018 pre-conference, this event was well-received by trainees. We have even received several reports from participants that they have kept in touch with their peers, suggesting that this initiative is a valuable way to form ongoing mentorship relationships among trainees in MBE.
Pitch Talks 11:00-11:30
A key skill in academic life is being able to communicate complex ideas succinctly and clearly. In a translational field like MBE, this skill is especially crucial to develop. The goal of these pitch talks is to give trainees a platform to practice presenting their work to a broad audience as a way to expand their presentation skills beyond the experience provided by poster presentations and provide a stage to showcase their work to the trainee community and beyond. Each talk will be limited to exactly 3 minutes with one non-electronic visual allowed. The atmosphere of these presentations will be fun, supportive, and relaxed. We welcome both inexperienced and experienced trainees to try this challenging but important skill in front of an audience.
Lunch with Leaders 11:45-12:45
One leader and up to five trainees will have lunch and conversation at a table. Attendees of the pre-conference identify research areas of interest and will be placed at an assigned lunch table. The IMBES Trainee Board would facilitate the exchange of email addresses prior to the pre-conference event and encourage a welcome message from the leader and questions in advance from trainees.
Panel Discussion on Educator Needs 1:00-1:45
A key goal of the 2022 IMBES conference is to facilitate educators’ participation in the current MBE discussions by facilitating their attendance to the conference and by giving them a platform to share their experiences, needs, and concerns. It is indeed crucial that MBE discussions and advances are driven by both researchers and educators. One-way communication (from the laboratories to schools), might overlook teachers’ working conditions and take the risk to appear prescriptive. The educator perspective is critical to ensuring that research is relevant to practice and researchers are informed about the changing needs in the dynamic field of teaching. In the present symposium, 3 speakers will be invited to share: a) how MBE research informs their practice; b) their point of view about their collaborations with researchers; c) their needs (which topic / research questions would be useful to address in their practice).
Main Conference 2:00-5:00
Networking Event 8:00-9:00
The luncheon event is designed to begin conversations among junior scholars and between junior and senior scholars. The reception offers an opportunity to continue those conversations, and to make new connections and follow-up with panelists, leaders, presenters, or other junior scholars from earlier in the pre-conference.
