Announcements

The 2018 NACTA Conference at Iowa State University, June 12–15, will serve as a venue for faculty and graduate students in agricultural, environmental, natural, and life sciences to share their scholarship of teaching, innovative teaching and advising ideas, and other relevant teaching and learning information through the theme of "Grow Your Adventure.”

1. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
   SoTL is research grounded in how professors systematically investigate the teaching-learning process. Examples of SoTL scholarly assessment include: student learning (i.e. knowledge gained, problem-solving skills, communication skills), student interpersonal skills (i.e. attitudes, motivation, personal development, teamwork); courses; curricula; programs, etc. Empirical evidence is collected via multiple means (i.e. interviews, observations, journals, content analyses of student work, achievement or performance measures, questionnaires, etc.) and impact can be documented.
2. Innovative Teaching Approaches
   Teaching that facilitates learner-centeredness, deep processing, student engagement, empowerment, and responsibility. Creative teaching ideas may include; experiential learning, interdisciplinary learning, problem-based learning, service-learning, and technology-enhanced learning. Innovative approaches to student advising (i.e. academic, student organizations, judging or competition teams) can be submitted to this category
3. Other Educational Topics
   Approaches that do not fit into one of the two topic areas described above.
4. Communicating the Value of Science (new for 2018)

Past conference participants have suggested adding a track that will encourage conversation around issues that impact NACTA members’ work in a broad way. A “Communicating the Value of Science” theme was selected for 2018 as a follow up to formal statements made by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) in spring 2017. The organizations noted: “Communicating the value of science is a vital undertaking that will continue long after the March for Science”, AAAS.  The organizing committee invites proposals that describe strategies, programs, outreach efforts, etc. that are being used across the disciplines of agricultural, environmental, natural, and life sciences to communicate the value of science to students (K-12, or higher education), stakeholder groups, and the general public.

Abstract Format

Accepted abstracts will be a concise summary of factual information. A high-quality abstract contains the following key elements (without designating them as such): (1) a brief introduction, including objectives of the presentation; (2) relevant experimental conditions indicating the scope of study or survey (authors of predominately philosophical works may substitute other appropriate criteria); (3) observations, results, or data (however, data should be in summary form and not presented in tables or graphs) - philosophical abstracts must demonstrate application of said philosophy; and (4) a concise summary.

• Abstracts are limited to one paragraphof 250 words, not including title and by-lines.
• Create the abstract with MS Word or compatible software, using Times New Roman, 12-point font or similar
• Title of abstract should be brief (70 to 90 characters including spaces), precise and in bold.
• Author(s) name(s) and affiliation(s) follows the title.
• First author/submitting author should be the contact author.
• Presenting author’s name should be followed by an asterisk (*).
• Body of the abstract is single spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font or similar.
• Use single space.
• Do notinclude illustrations or bibliographical references in the abstract.
• Indicate if you would like to be considered for an oral presentation. Those not chosen for oral presentations will be posters.
• If an author submits multiple abstracts, the topic and content of each must differ substantially.
• Abstract should stand alone and contain valuable information for both those in attendance as well as those who read it in the NACTA Journal. Abstracts are subject to editing before publication in the NACTA Journal, volume 62, supplement.

An abstract is unacceptable if it:

• Has significant grammatical errors and (or) meaningless statements such as: "The results will be presented."
• Includes no statement/s relating to the objective(s).
• Fails to comply with submission requirements.
• Presents opinion/speculation with no demonstrated application for teaching or advising efforts.

If you have any questions contact the NACTA Journal Editor, Rick Parker, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Deadline: February 1, 2018. All abstracts are reviewed by the NACTA Journal Editorial Board and the Editor. The author submitting the abstract will be notified of its status two weeks after the deadline.