College Poster Competition
Colleges are invited to put forward their best student work in poster format (one entry per college; we will print your posters). The poster can be on any sport topic but should reflect an assignment that has already been completed by your students. It should be informative and interesting to professional coaches and sports educators. It can be an individual or group poster (maximum three students). The posters will be displayed and judged on the day and the top three posters will be awarded a prize for students and their college. Each college that submits a poster will be given complimentary tickets to the Conference for two staff members, each student presenter and students’ parents/carers.
General guidelines for poster preparation
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Posters should be designed in suitable desktop publishing software (for example, PowerPoint, Publisher, Illustrator)
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We will print and mount the posters (landscape) onto A0 mounting board (1189mm high x 841mm wide).
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Posters should be readable from at least a metre.
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A well-designed poster should contain very little text, with most of the space being used for graphics/photos.
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The poster should be self-explanatory and the author should not need to explain its content.
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Aim for clear and simple presentation of data.
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Avoid non-standard abbreviations, acronyms and excessive use of jargon.
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Keep in mind that more does not mean better, so do not overload your poster.
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Ensure that your poster is dyslexia-friendly:
- Use a ‘dyslexia-friendly’ font – sans serif typeface is best, for example, Arial or Helvetica.
- Font size should be at least 40 points.
- Justify text to the left.
- Use a coloured background (cream or pastel); it is easier to read than text on white paper.
- Use strong visual contrast by avoiding closely–related colours, particularly against incompatible background colours.
- Use bullet points to help with accessing information.
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Make obvious the order in which the poster is meant to be read, with material flowing top to bottom, then left to right. Use numbers or arrows to facilitate the flow and lead the viewer.
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Posters need planning – they should not be put together at the last minute.
The Poster Content
Your poster should only contain the key highlights of your research so that passers-by can decide whether to view the poster. If they are interested in your poster you can then provide more detail. Try to include the following sections:
Title - The title should be concise, aligned to the centre, written in a large font and attention-grabbing. Centred below the title should be the author(s) name(s) and college name. The college logo should also sit somewhere.
Introduction - This section should succinctly provide a rationale for the study and lead to the statement of the purpose of the study. You will also wish state the hypothesis or research question.
Method - In this section the methods employed should be described, detailing the participants, research design, data analysis and ethical considerations (if appropriate).
Results - Summarise the key results. This may be most effectively presented by simple tables, figures, illustrations, and/or photographs. Use most of the available space to illustrate the results.
Summary and Conclusion - This section should be brief, with a concluding phrase or set of bullet points, stating the implications of your work.
Acknowledgements/Bibliography – Use to recognise institutional support and individuals who have contributed but are not listed as authors as they have not contributed substantially to the work. Also include alphabetised sources of reference and/or wider reading.