Conference Submissions

We are now accepting submissions for the 2012 conference. This page contains all the information you will need to make your submission.

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After you have made a submission for the conference you will be able to access the Speakers Zone where you will be able to review, update or replace your existing submission or upload a new submission.

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Submission Deadline - Monday 20th February, 2012 at 5pm

This deadline is for new submissions, or new versions of existing submissions uploaded before the due date. Other Important Dates can be found at the bottom of this page.

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Call for Submissions

The International First Year in Higher Education (FYHE) Conference Organising Committee invites submissions for its 15th Conference to be held in Brisbane from 26-29th June 2012.

There are three submission types: refereed papers, nuts and bolts presentations and poster sessions. Full submissions are required for refereed papers and nuts and bolts at the time of submission (the FYHE Conference accepts abstracts for posters only). Details of each submission type appear below.

All submissions should address the 2012 Conference theme ‘New Horizons' and one or more of the 2012 conference topics listed below. Accepted Papers and Nuts & Bolts will form the major part of the conference program and will be scheduled in 30 minute timeslots (with a 10 minute change over time). A separate Poster session will be scheduled to allow time for discussion.

The submission deadline is 20 February 2012.

Conference topics
The Conference is designed to disseminate research and practice based work that enhances the first year in higher education and lends itself to a wide variety of subjects.

The 2012 topics are:

• Institutional-level innovation for the FYHE
• Strategies that address social inclusion in HE
• Promoting Indigenous perspectives in the FYHE
• Academic and professional partnerships for an enhanced FYHE
• Intentional FYHE to Capstone experiences
• Assessing FY student learning
• Institution-wide curricular and co-curricular approaches
• Work integrated learning for FY students

Submission Types

Refereed Papers– should have a strong empirical or theoretical foundation and present new knowledge or findings, or report on the application of existing knowledge to a new domain. Full papers are required at the time of submission. Refereed papers will be double-blind reviewed to meet HERDC-E1 requirements. There is limited space in the conference schedule for these papers. Accordingly you should ensure that your submission is of the highest standard to increase the likelihood of acceptance. Refereed papers should not exceed ten (10) pages including title, author details, abstract, body and references. Authors of papers should plan for 20-25 minutes of presentation time and 5-10 minutes of audience questions and discussion.

Nuts & Bolts–should report on practice-based initiatives or the outcomes of early research. They are an opportunity to focus on the practical aspects of FYHE initiatives and innovations. Nuts & Bolts should explain what is done, how it is done, and the impact (or expected impact) of the initiative. N&B submissions should not exceed five (5) pages including title, author details, abstract, body, questions or issues for audience discussion and references. Authors of Nuts & Bolts submissions should plan for at least 15 minutes of audience participation or discussion about the initiative by posing one or two key questions or issues for discussion in the submission.

The conference program committee reserves the right to combine similar nuts and bolts submissions into moderated discussions.

Posters- are presented in the form of an A1 PowerPoint poster. Posters are most appropriate for providing a visual presentation on new initiatives or summaries of large complex programs that lend themselves to collegial and informal discussion. An abstract of the proposed poster which is not more than one (1) page in length and complies with the poster abstract submission guidelines should be submitted by 20 February, 2012. An electronic version of accepted posters will be required by 14 May 2012 for inclusion in the Conference Handbook and Proceedings.

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Quality Requirements

All submissions will be initially reviewed by the Conference Editorial Panel and are expected to comply with the following requirements.

• Align with Conference theme and one or more of the 2012 topics
• Refer to previous relevant published works
• Be of a high professional standard
• Be proof-read and publication ready
• Meet the guidelines of the relevant submission type and
• Comply with the submission format guidelines
  
  

Submissions that do not meet these quality requirements will be returned to authors for correction before being sent for review. Please see below for details of the formatting and length requirements.

Review Criteria

Refereed Papers
Refereed papers accepted for the First Year in Higher Education Conference will comply with the HERDC definition of research and will be categorized as E1 publications. That is, each accepted refereed paper will be:

• a substantial scholarly activity, as evidenced by discussion of the relevant literature, an awareness of the history and antecedents of work described, and are provided in a format which allows a reader to trace sources of the work through citations,
• original (that is, more than merely a compilation of existing works)
• a contribution to knowledge
• in a form that enables dissemination of knowledge.
  

In addition to these criteria and the quality requirements refereed papers will be assessed for inclusion using the following criteria:

• Contribution to existing body of knowledge and scholarship
• Suitability of methodology or approach
• Synthesis of relevant theoretical or empirical literature
• Currency of material and research supported by related and compelling evidence
• Originality of argument, ideas, or content
• Development of argument
• Organisation and structure
• Clarity of style and expression
• Complies with APA referencing system
  

Nuts and Bolts
In addition to the quality requirements, Nuts & Bolts will be assessed for inclusion using the following criteria:

• Reference to existing body of knowledge
• Relationship of reported initiative to existing bodies of knowledge and practice
• Currency of material
• Description of impact (or expected impact)
• Originality and practicality of innovation or ideas
• Organisation and structure
• Clarity of style and expression
• Includes key questions / issues to encourage audience participation

Posters (download instructions)
In addition to the quality requirements, abstracts of proposed posters will be assessed for inclusion using the following criteria:

• Currency of material
• Description of impact (or expected impact)
• Originality and practicality of innovation or ideasOrganisation and structure
• Clarity of style and expression
• Complies with APA referencing system

Submission Format Requirements (Download template)

• Font – Times New Roman, 12pt unless specified.
• Page format - A4 portrait, all margins 2.54cm
• Paper title – 14pt, bold, centred, sentence case, followed by 18pt spacing.
• Author details – 12pt, centred, title case, given name, surname, faculty or school or department & institution, followed by 18pt spacing. If more than one author from same institution/department please provide these details only once.
• Abstract – 12pt, italics, fully justified, indented 1cm from left and right margins, followed by 18pt spacing. Word limit is 150 words.
• Section headings ‐ 12pt, bold, sentence case, left aligned, no numbering. 12pt space before and after heading.
• 1st level subheading – 12pt, italics, sentence case, left aligned. 12pt space before and after heading. Do not number subheadings.
• 2nd level of subheading ‐ 12pt, sentence case, left aligned. 12pt space before and after heading. Do not number subheadings.
• Body Text and size – 12pt, single‐spaced, fully justified. 12pt spacing after each paragraph.
• References and citations – Please use APA referencing style. A simplified guide is available at http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/ Please:
• List references under a Section Heading “References”
• Use ‘hanging’ indents
• Provide long quotes (approximately 30 words or more) – as 12pt, indented 1cm from left and right margins, fully justified.
• Tables and figures – Captions in 12pt, bold, sentence case, centred under table or figure.
• Footer – 10pt, left aligned, same footer on all pages containing the following details: Paper title, submission type e.g. refereed paper, nuts and bolts, poster.
• Footnotes – 10pt, left aligned, should only be used for points of clarification not for references or citations. If used they should appear at the bottom of the page on which the relevant item appears, not at the end of the text preceding the references
• Page numbers –10pt, bottom of page, right aligned
• Length (please note different requirements for each submission type)
• Refereed Papers – not more than 10 pages in total.
• Nuts & Bolts – not more than 5 pages in total.
• Posters – not more than 1 page in total.

Special Announcement

The top ranked refereed papers and nuts and bolts submissions will be selected for publication in Volume 3 of the International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education.

Important Dates

Submission Deadline                                          20 February 2012
Notifications to authors                                        from 5 April 2012
Resubmissions & electronic poster files due        18 April 2012
Early bird registration deadline                            4 May 2012

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