Give a Major Workshop session at our upcoming annual conference to share your successful labs with others, get ideas from participants, and add a publication to your CV. See details and the link to the proposal form below.
- ABLE Participants and Presenters
- Major Workshops
- Preparing and Submitting a Proposal to Present a Major Workshop
- Selection Process and Peer Review
- Important Dates
- Publication in Advances in Biology Laboratory Education
- Major Workshop Committee
ABLE Participants and Presenters
Founded in 1979, the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE) promotes information exchange among university and college educators actively concerned with teaching biology in a laboratory setting. The focus of ABLE is to improve the undergraduate biology laboratory experience by promoting the development and dissemination of reliable and engaging laboratory exercises. Conference participants and presenters are instructors who either teach or coordinate undergraduate biology laboratories. Examples of past programs are available here. During the three days of the meeting, each of the approximately 225 participants will be involved in four different 3-hour Major Workshops held on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as several mini workshops held on Friday, and an evening poster session.
Major Workshops
Each major workshop is 3-hours long and is usually given twice, with morning and afternoon sessions on the same day. During the workshop, participants will gain hands-on experience with the actual student exercise, discuss the background and context of the lab, and receive enough information to allow them to implement the lab at their home institution. While many participants are interested in introductory labs, presentation of intermediate or advanced labs is appropriate as well. Conference vendors and sponsors may participate in the presentation of a Major Workshop only if they are partnered with a faculty or staff from an academic institution who is teaching the exercise to students and who is the primary author and presenter of the workshop. Each Major Workshop is given one conference registration fee waiver. This waiver of registration does not include the required ABLE membership fee for the membership year following the conference (currently $50).
Preparing and Submitting a Proposal to Present a Major Workshop
We encourage those interested in presenting a workshop to submit a proposal. Guidelines for preparing the proposal can be found here, and it should be submitted as a pdf document. Proposals are submitted through ProposalSpace. In addition to the proposal, presenters are asked to provide detailed requirements for their proposed workshop. This information collected in the ProposalSpace application includes the following.
- Organisms Provided by the Host Institution
Identify live and preserved organisms and if possible, where they are sourced. Identify which organisms the host will provide, brought by the presenter or donated by a vendor. For live organisms, provide details on care and maintenance. The use of vertebrates in a major workshop requires that an animal care protocol be approved by the host institution. As a presenter you will be sent a copy of the host institution animal use protocol to be completed and returned to the host institution by late January to allow time to process. Identify any biohazards and address potential safety concerns. - Equipment from the Host Institution
List all instruments and approximate numbers that the host will provide including electrophoresis rigs, PCR machines, and micropipettes. Highlight any specialized equipment required and, if possible, suggest how to adapt the lab at other institutions. Identify which equipment the presenter will bring. Identify any hazards. - Reagents and other Supplies from the Host Institution
List all dry supplies, chemicals, and reagents and their approximate amounts that the host will provide or which the presenter will bring. Identify any hazardous chemicals and what precautions should be taken. The composition or recipe for solutions should be provided.
Selection Process and Peer Review
Workshops are selected by a peer review committee each year. The criteria for selection are detailed in the Major Workshop Review Criteria. In addition to the initial peer review for selection of the workshops, additional peer review stages give the presenter useful feedback before the laboratory exercise is published in the conference proceedings, Advances in Biology Laboratory Education:
- A written assessment (short form) is solicited from the approximately 40 participants in the morning and afternoon workshop sessions.
- A written assessment (long form) is solicited from 4 participants in the morning and afternoon workshop sessions.
- The publication editor reviews the chapter.
Important Dates
- Proposal submission deadline: October 31
- Notification of acceptance: January 15
Publication in Advances in Biology Laboratory Education
It is expected that presenters will publish an article on their workshop in the conference proceedings. This peer-reviewed publication is available to ABLE members, and then the broader public after two years. Advances in Biology Laboratory Education is central to ABLE’s mission for the dissemination of high-quality undergraduate labs. After the conference, you will be sent the peer review comments about your workshop to guide your final edits of your manuscript before submitting to the publication editors. Upon publication, each workshop will receive a $200 honorarium. Manuscripts are submitted through the submission portal on the ABLE website, and are due by August 15th following the conference at which the workshop was presented.
Major Workshop Committee
If you have questions or need additional information about major workshops, please contact any member of the major workshop committee.