Together Apart

A virtual symposium elevates learning during COVID

by Tanya Vickers

Editor's note: For undergraduates, the opportunity to share their work during a poster symposium is a powerful learning experience that mirrors professional science conferences and a career in research. The challenge of continuing that opportunity in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic was not lost on the School of Biological Sciences’ (SBS) Tanya Vickers. In addition to teaching in the SBS, Tanya is the Director of ACCESS, a College of Science program which provides freshmen and transfer students a supportive path into STEM degrees and careers. In this report she discusses how new platform has transformed the way we thinking of engaging students in a symposium.

Science is about preparing the next generation of innovators, explorers, and connoisseurs of curiosity. In the spring of 2020, I was motivated to find a way to preserve the longstanding tradition of hosting an ACCESS research symposium and provide talented first-year student scientists a venue to showcase their experiments in spite of the unique challenges presented by COVID. Just six weeks before the event, I decided to develop and launch a novel virtual research symposium to ensure ACCESS students could still present projects they’d invested so much in during their first year at the U. Despite the considerable challenge, it was also an opportunity to pursue and explore innovative approaches to hosting a research symposium virtually that, if not for COVID-19, would be stagnant in its delivery.

It’s been six months since the virtual symposium and I am still surprised by its success. The merits and results of the platform challenged the notion that in-person is best. Data from the spring 2020 ACCESS Virtual Research Symposium revealed the platform garnered 6,000 page views in a mere three days, and upwards of 500 guests attended student scientists’ live Zoom presentations, including Q and A sessions. In contrast, the in-person symposia typically only yielded about 200 guests each year. The virtual platform is a model that continues to be used in various applications for ACCESS. It has also been the foundation for other similar conference outings at the University of Utah, such as the first ever virtual SBS Science Retreat in August of this year.

How a novel virtual symposium was realized in just six weeks’ time involved many moving parts, departmental support and cross-campus collaborations. My experience teaching and using Canvas, a learning management system in place at many universities, including the U, shaped the content, and with the collaboration and support of Micah Murdock, Associate Director of Teaching and Learning Technologists (TLT), a novel virtual research symposium was fully realized.

“Nearly all other events were cancelled,” said Sahana Kargi, Math major. “I was surprised [Tanya] had scheduled a meeting with us. When we spoke, she was so excited about the virtual symposium and I was just as excited by the end of it!”

The platform was a lofty goal that required three defining features: a webpage for students to introduce their project, a message board for peers, guests, and mentors to pose questions, and a live Zoom presentation with question and answer. Each student’s personal web-page featured their research poster, a three-minute video summary of their project, and a personal bio. These elements provided guests with project introductions analogous to an in-person symposium, but without any time constraints. Thus, questions and comments could be primed for using one, or both, forum tools—the student scientist’s discussion board, or the thirty-minute Zoom live session scheduled on the last day. The dividends of the new symposium approach are sometimes hidden.

Screenshot of SCI3000, summer course

Tessa McNamee found the symposium critical to illuminating holes in her understanding. “I realized that the communication aspect to science was a side I had never given much thought to, and the experience [made me appreciate] my professors and other professionals who are able to clearly articulate difficult concepts.”

We wanted to build a tool with the future, as well as other disciplines and applications, in mind. In just a matter of months, this new tool has been adapted and repurposed for different uses campus-wide. Most recently, it was chosen to serve as the cornerstone of a novel College of Science high school outreach program called Science Now. The spectrum and variety of applications the platform has already been used for, including connecting U students with non-student and nonUniversity populations, demonstrates its utility and potential.

“The symposium being virtual allowed me to interact with people who may not have been able to attend the in-person event. My high school Chemistry teacher was able to visit during my [Zoom] live poster presentation.”

—Tayla Chiang, Biology major

“The nature of a virtual symposium also means that we will have our own 2020 symposium online for years to come, … something we can look back on and be proud of the effort we all put in.”

—Emma Kerr, Physics major

Novel educational tools and teaching strategies are emerging across campus and around the world as we learn how to be “together apart.” The virtual symposium platform, like most projects, has been successful because we were able to quickly leverage existing tools like Canvas, and with the collaboration and support of Micah Murdock, Associate Director of the U’s Teaching and Learning Technologists (TLT) and Samantha Shaw, College of Science Program Manager. The rigor, flexibility and permanent nature of the platform will undoubtedly remain in use, even long after social distancing is a thing of the past and campuses are bustling once again.

In our darkest hours, we find a space for new forms of unity and growth, and can challenge ourselves to create and expand. As a species and as scientists, we always look forward to new ideas and what can be done. COVID has been undeniably difficult for everyone, but the development of new platforms and technologies…show that we can still be together while we are apart, and sometimes, when we are forced to make changes to long-held traditions the outcome reveals hidden opportunities to go beyond finding an equivalent, and make what we thought was “best,” even better.

In addition to the technical help I would like to recognize the thirty-five ACCESS students, and their faculty mentors, for their willingness to adapt and produce the required materials, and most of all, for believing in the vision and potential of a virtual research symposium.