About
The EAPRIL 2023 conference will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK) from November 22 - 24, 2023. This conference will be jointly organised by EAPRIL, Visit Belfast and Tourism Northern Ireland, supported by the City of Belfast.
Belfast is a vibrant city with a rich and varied history, making it a perfect host for the EAPRIL conference! Home to the Titanic, which was designed, built and launched in Belfast, the city also played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, both as a major port and one of the biggest linen producing areas in the world.
Behind the scenes, we are working hard to provide all conference participants with a wonderful experience in Belfast. Watch this space as more updates and information will be made available.
Theme
One for all, all for one: Building bridges by working together
Collaboration in education and educational research is essential for providing opportunities for all. This conference focuses on the inherent challenges of bridging differences whilst working for a common goal. This collaboration may transcend many levels from classroom practice, to curriculum development and implementation, and research projects. Especially when the aim is to foster inclusivity, the challenge in collaboration is to ensure that differences between students, teachers and researchers become enriching rather than dividing.
Discovering the potential benefits of different types of collaborations is one of the main focuses of this conference. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to understand the strategies and procedures necessary to successfully collaborate in creating learning environments, research projects and innovations which offer opportunities for all. The conference will discuss the difficulties that frequently arise during the implementation of methods of collaboration and will propose answers that may be used in real-world settings.
Thought-provoking speakers, researchers, teachers and leaders in the education field will be invited to share their own experiences as well as the methods that they have found to be the most successful. The conference will also feature a number of interactive workshops, during which attendees will have the opportunity to apply the concepts that they have learnt in the context of their own learning settings. At EAPRIL 2023, attendees will be offered the opportunity to develop unique and successful techniques to enhance collaboration within their educational institutions and beyond.
The conference encourages attendees to contribute their knowledge, experience and insights about the conference theme and connected issues. EAPRIL offers a warm, welcoming and inclusive community to share ideas and explore avenues of thought. In this productive atmosphere we seek answers to today’s challenges in education such as inclusivity, collaboration and equity of opportunity.
Submit
Submissions for EAPRIL 2023 will run from the 6th of February until the 20th of April 2023 (midnight CEST).
Guidelines
Consult our general submission guidelines below.
For format-specific guidelines, click on the highlighted name of each format below.
Present & Discuss
Present and Discuss sessions allow presenters to present their research and findings in an in-depth manner. These presentations are individually submitted and have already data and results to present. Two or three presentations are scheduled together on similarities in topic, methodology and/or objectives. Each presenter is given 15 minutes presentation time followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussion. At the end of all presentations, a 10-minute collective discussion is organised by the chair.
Present & Discuss sessions consist of 3 linked presentations that are scheduled together in a 90-minute session.
Symposium
Symposia provide an opportunity to present research on one topic, often from multiple perspectives, compiling a coherent set of papers for discussion. Symposia sessions are directed by a chair, involving three presenters and one discussant. Each presenter will get 15 minutes to present his/her research. After all presentations, the discussant has 15 minutes to present his/her reflections on the preceding presentations and to introduce one or two general statements to the delegates. After these contributions, a general 30 minutes discussion is organised to discuss the theme of the symposium and the related statements in-depth.
Symposia are scheduled for 90 minutes.
Poster
A poster communicates the main ideas, objectives, results and conclusions of an ongoing research project. Each presenter will be given 3-5 minutes to present his/her poster. Afterwards, the delegates have time to ask questions or start an in-depth discussion with the presenters. Finally, a general discussion (10-15 minutes) will take place in which the main ideas, conclusions and directions for future research and practice are discussed.
Poster sessions are scheduled for 90 minutes.
Workshop
Workshops are a highly interactive, collaborative session format that demonstrates the practical outcomes of a research project. They induce learning-by-doing, hands-on experience, and an engagement in in-depth active learning. A formal presentation by the workshop leader as such should remain brief. Creative and/or innovative approaches are encouraged, such as brainstorming, associating, panel discussion, role play, debating, voting on statements, think tank, flipping-the-classroom, systemic approaches, simulations, mystery guest and so on.
Workshops are scheduled for 90 minutes.
Case Study
Case studies invite researchers to present a case from practice. A research component can be added to this session but this is not a required condition. Instead, the floor is given to practitioners who wish to share their experiences when designing, implementing or evaluating a practice in class / school / college / university / workplace. In this format there is more time for reflection and in-depth discussion about the case via a hand-on approach. Within one session two thematically linked case studies will be presented. Each practitioner is offered 20 minutes to present his/her case followed by 25 minutes that are dedicated to an in-depth discussion with the audience.
A case study session consists of two linked case studies and is scheduled for 90 minutes.
Roundtable
A roundtable focuses on unfinished or starting projects. In other words, the projects don't have to have actual results. This type of session will not be set-up as a formal presentation but rather as a talk between colleagues. No formal presentation by means of a slideshow presentation is expected. Instead, a 1 page screenshot is advised for the participants of your session that summarises the main ideas and questions central in the discussion. Each presenter will get 15 minutes to outline the main ideas and objectives of the project, as well as to propose 1 or 2 questions that he/she wishes to focus on. This is followed by a 30-minutes discussion per research project.
Two submissions are scheduled together in a timeslot of 90 minutes.
Meet-Up
A Meet-Up aims to provide an opportunity for delegates to explore and discuss collaboration in starting practice-based projects or research. This session requires no formal presentation but is intended to meet up with colleagues in a more informal context to explore and discuss potential partnerships or collaborations.
All meet-ups are organised together during one parallel timeslot of 90 minutes.
Award
The EAPRIL Best Practice-Based Research Award wishes to acknowledge an outstanding and innovative project that deals with learning and development in the workplace and educational field. More specifically, practice-based research which has a profound impact on the development of both theory and practice is particularly of interest.
At the EAPRIL Conference the nominated projects get the chance to present their project during an exclusive plenary Award Session. The winner will be announced on the last day of the conference.
Thematic Track
The thematic track format focuses on a specific theme and welcomes all contributions that fit within this theme.
All accepted submissions for the thematic track will be clustered together in one or two time slots of 90 minutes.
Review
The review process is the most important aspect of organising the EAPRIL conference, as the outcome of this process will determine the quality of the participants' experience. As a result, EAPRIL strives to ensure that the process is rigorous and transparent.
The review process will start once the submission deadline has passed and always consists of two rounds. In the first round all proposals will be reviewed by two reviewers. In the second round all proposals who received a discrepant result in the first round will be reviewed by a third reviewer. Results will be announced once these two round have been concluded.
Each reviewer will be asked to:
- Provide a numeric score from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent) for a number of review criteria, as outlined below;
- Provide constructive, qualitative feedback describing the strengths as well as the areas which could be developed further.
Conference Dinner
We are beyond excited to host the EAPRIL 2023 Conference Dinner in the Belfast City Hall on the 23rd of November 2023. This prestigious building is centrally located in Belfast and home to the Belfast City Council and Lord Mayor. It opened its doors on the 1st of August 1906, after Queen Victoria granted Belfast its city status in 1888. One of the features of City Hall which visitors enjoy is the collection of stained glass windows that are located throughout the building. The windows which illuminate the Grand Staircase, East Staircase, Principal Rooms and Chamber are all original to the building from 1906. Since opening stained glass windows have been unveiled in City Hall to mark historic events or celebrate the contribution to the city by various individuals, organisations or groups.
We thank Belfast City Council for their kind generosity for the use of City Hall.
Important Dates
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Submissions Open
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Submission Deadline
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Thematic Track Submission Deadline
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Review Deadline
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Review Results Announced
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Registrations Open
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Early Bird Deadline
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Presenter Registration Deadline
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22 - 24 November 2023
Partners
EAPRIL 2023 is realised through a unique partnership between EAPRIL, Visit Belfast and Tourism Northern Ireland, supported by the City of Belfast and Belfast City Council.
City of Belfast
Visit Belfast
Tourism Northern Ireland
