PhD Symposium Programme
A PhD Student Symposium took place on 24 October 2018 as part of the EDEN Research Workshop 2018 conference hosted by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 24–26 October 2018. The PhD Student Symposium has been designed to foster the exchange of experiences and knowledge among doctoral students doing research in the area of the event’s theme, “Personalized Guidance and Support for Learning” while providing a discussion forum for the advancement of doctoral research. The topics related to the EDEN Research Workshop theme are:

• Personalized learning: accompanying learners while addressing distinct learning needs, situations or preferences.
• Teachers’ and learners’ roles: rethinking teaching facilitation strategies using the potential of digital technologies.
• Open education: making the most of openness to ensure student success.
• Adaptive teaching: enhancing teacher decisions through course analytics and course awareness methodologies.
• Formative assessment: assessment for learning and the implementation of complementary ipsative approaches.
• Feedback: reinforcing teacher-learner dialogue through different channels in networked environments.

The PhD Student Symposium was led by a panel of international experts on e-learning and members of the EDEN Executive Committee.

The aims of the PhD Student Symposium are to:

• Create a community for intellectual exchange and support among e-learning doctoral students researching in the area of e-learning and support for learning.
• Give and receive practical feedback on research topics or specific problems or concerns about their research with their peers.
• Receive feedback on their research topics, problems and concerns from international experts in e-learning research who are experienced supervisors.

Call for presentations

Current doctoral students in the field of e-learning or educational technology are encouraged to submit short abstracts to present an overview of their research at the PhD Student Symposium. Each proposal must be related to one of the research topics listed above. PhD students must currently be studying, ie have had their research proposals approved but have not yet defended their theses. Preference was be given to students who have collected data to analyse. The abstract should be in English, and contain a 300-350 word description of the state of their research and a problem they would like to address in the symposium. It should include the research title, research objectives/questions and methodology.

There is no additional fee for the PhD Symposium. PhD students who want to attend the Research Workshop must pay the relevant registration fees. There is a reduced rate for young scholars.

Symposium presenters received a certificate.

The language of the conference was English.

Structure of the PhD Student Symposium

The students selected had to give a brief presentation (between 5-10 slides) face-to-face or via video-conference, which can include one or two questions for the expert panel and/or other students. This presentation must be designed to last a maximum of 10 minutes. At the end of each presentation, there was a group discussion, approximately 15-20 minutes per presentation, to answer the questions asked by each participant or offer research advice.

Intended participants

The PhD Student Symposium is an open-invitation event for all PhD students and their supervisors working in the field of e-learning or educational technology. It is aimed at current doctoral students enrolled in any university, both full-time and part-time. We encourage you to take this opportunity to network with fellow researchers, discuss your research, and receive feedback from international experts and your peers.

Young Scholars Grant

The Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in Open and Distance Learning will support FIVE young scholars or teams of young scholars with a grant of 600 Euros for successfully submitting a conference paper to be presented at the EDEN Research Workshop in Barcelona in October 2018.

Two weeks after the deadline for conference paper submissions the competitiors will receive a note from the Ulrich Bernath Foundation via EDEN Secretariat about the winners of the five grants. The grants will be handed out individually and in cash in Barcelona on Oct. 26th  or if wished by bank transfer after the Research Workshop.

Eligible for the Young Scholars grants are degree-programme and doctoral students, who individually or in teams submit conference papers that are originated for the EDEN Research Workshop in Barcelona and which will be presented by young scholar(s). Team work with senior scholars are accepted, however it must be declared that the major part of the paper has been authored by young scholar(s).

Young scholars, who apply for the grant will take part in a competition, and the best five papers will be awarded based on evaluation results that follow the standard evaluation criteria for EDEN’s Best Research Paper Award, which are: The paper deals with a research question; rigorous examination/research methods are applied; findings, results and outcomes are convincingly presented and critically examined; conclusions are thoroughly discussed (including aspects like applicability, transferability, and/or further research; literature is reviewed against the state of art.

Ultimately winners of the young scholar(s)’ grants may also become winners of the EDEN Best Research Paper Award.

Date and place of the symposium

The PhD Student Symposium will take place on 24 October 2018 at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The seminar will be streamed live for online participants.

Important dates

Open call for presentations: April 2018 – 12 September 2018

Notification of acceptance: 25 July 2018 – 25 September 2018

Confirmation by presenters: 30 July 2018

Publication of PhD Student Symposium programme: September 2018

Submission of participant presentations: 13 September 2018

PhD Student Symposium: 24 October 2018

Contact details

If you have any queries, or for further information, please visit the EDEN Research Workshop website or email barcelona@eden-online.org.

Symposium Agenda