Call for Major Workshops

26th Annual Workshop/Conference of the
Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE)

Bowling Green State University, Ohio
June 8-12, 2004

Deadline: November 14, 2003

The Major Workshop Committee is soliciting major workshops to be presented at the 26th annual meeting of ABLE at Bowling Green State University, June 8-12, 2004. Presenters of major workshops give their 3-hour long workshops twice in the same day. Each three-hour long major workshop includes doing the actual exercise and further discussion for instructors about the background and context of the lab. Revised workshop materials (student lab, instructor notes, and material lists) will be published in the ABLE Conference/Workshop Proceedings. See previous articles on the ABLE website for examples.

Each major workshop is given one conference registration waiver. In addition, upon submission of materials for the proceedings, each workshop will also receive a $300 honorarium to be split among multiple authors.

Background

Participants choose to attend the annual workshop/conference because of the experience of doing the hands-on laboratories presented. During the three very full days of the meeting, each of the approximately 150+ participants will be actively involved in four different 3-hour laboratory workshops and a full day of mini-workshops.

Approximately 18 workshops are selected by our peer review committee each year. Laboratory exercises are selected because they are deemed to be interesting, innovative, reliable, and compliment the conference program with a range of laboratories in the various sub-disciplines from cell biology to ecology to physiology to genetics, etc. Do you have a “tried and true” workshop you would like to share? Here is your opportunity to showcase one of your best.

In addition to the "tried and true" three hour labs, you might also consider a major workshop on:

1. "Lab design: from prescriptive to investigative" The focus of this session will be lab design taking a basic lab protocol and molding it into a solid investigative lab. If you have reworked a basic lab protocol which was more recipe-driven and made it into an effective investigative lab we invite you to submit your lab: please attach both the original and re-worked version and focus the session on the lab re-design process. This new lab category is an experiment to focus on the process of developing good labs, while most of the other workshops focus on giving you the finished product.
2. Inquiry laboratories in a problem based learning (PBL) course where the labs provide data to help answer the problem being investigated. (Please include the full explanation of the case/problem). These labs are investigative in the truest sense and in the context of the case/PBL scenario will be an excellent addition.
3. Two-hour lab exercises. Though we typically have three hour labs for major workshops, some schools have gone to a shorter lab time and have some excellent labs to share. If you submit a two hour lab, please include ideas of how the lab exercise could be extended to three hours.

Equipment and supplies for major workshops

The host institution typically provides laboratory equipment and materials for major workshops, providing that the equipment and materials list is feasible and received on time. Specific dates will accompany invitations to present; this year the equipment and materials lists plus material for the conference binder (abstract, key words, lab procedure, instructor notes) will be due mid-January.
We may ask presenters to bring some equipment such as micropipettors if too many workshops are requesting the same type of equipment at conflicting times. If the host cannot provide certain equipment or supplies, then the presenter will need to provide these at his/her own expense.

Animal Use: The use of vertebrates in a major workshop requires that an animal care protocol be approved by the host institution. As a presenter you would be sent a copy of the protocol to be completed and returned by late January.

Forms and Additional Information

Major Workshop Application for ABLE 2004 [Word file]
(Please submit this form PLUS a copy of your laboratory exercise electronically to Sue Karcher)

More information about ABLE 2004 will posted to the web site in February.
More information about ABLE

Contact Information

Questions or further information about major workshops, please contact either of the major workshop co-chairs:

Susan J. Karcher, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences
G-225 Lilly Hall
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1392
Phone 765-494-8083 FAX 765-494-0876
suek@bilbo.bio.purdue.edu

Anne Cordon
Department of Botany
25 Willcocks Street
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2
Phone 416-978-7431 FAX 416-978-5878
anne.cordon@utoronto.ca

Please also note the deadlines for mini-workshops (February 20, 2004) and poster sessions (March 1, 2004) on the ABLE Calendar of Events.