Using Posters in Academic Assessments

A good poster should appear to be concise, visually effective and easy to understand; however, somewhat ironically, these strengths also represent its greatest disadvantages. Couple this with the fact that while academic posters have now become commonplace within the sciences, their integration in a business or law school curricula is often seen as more unusual, and it is unsurprising that this type of assessment may be perceived as challenging. This chapter therefore contains a number of best practice recommendations for integrating poster assessments within the curriculum. For ease of reading, these tips have been grouped into five thematic areas: demonstrating academic credibility; structuring the poster; resolving design and layout issues; attaching bibliographic and reference material; and finally demonstrating the importance of a tangible artefact.