Section outline

  • Course Overview

    This course teaches you how to create impactful academic research posters that clearly communicate your work. You’ll learn essential design principles, strategies for engaging viewers, and techniques to present your research confidently. The course also covers using visual tools and Gen AI to enhance your poster, ensuring it stands out in professional and academic settings. By the end, you’ll gain the skills to showcase your research effectively and connect with your audience.

    Learning Outcomes

    This course will help you to:

    1. Recognize the conventions, purpose, and audience expectations of academic research posters to design impactful presentations
    2. Apply visual design principles, evaluate layouts, and use software and AI tools to create professional-quality posters
    3. Develop effective presentation skills, including crafting a concise pitch and confidently explaining your research to others
    4. Prepare for poster sessions by reviewing, printing, and responding to feedback to engage your audience and showcase expertise

    • Course Instructor: Randal Sean Harrison

      • Randal Sean Harrison

        Randy is the Emerging Technologies Librarian for the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame. There he assists faculty, staff and students with the identification, evaluation, and use of emerging technologies, innovative online tools, and related services, focusing particularly on identifying learning and engagement opportunities to support student research and promote student success. He also serves as concurrent associate teaching professor for other colleges and departments at Notre Dame, including the Mendoza College of Business, where he often instructs others on Data Storytelling and communication more broadly. 

        View Bio for Randal Sean Harrison

      • Pre-Course Self Assessment

        Before you dive into this course, spend a few moments reflecting on your familiarity with the topic and your current level of skills confidence. 

        You will then re-visit the same questions in our Post-Course Self Assessment and reflect on how the course has helped you develop in confidence and grow your skills. 

        • Module One: Fundamentals of Academic Research Posters

          This module will help you to:

          1. Recognize the genre conventions of an academic poster
          2. Assess the purpose, goals, and expectations of the target audience, leading to more impactful poster design
          3. Identify best practices by examining examples of well-designed posters and poorly designed posters

        • Module Two: Designing Impactful Visual Layouts

          This module will help you to:

          1. Apply key visual design principles from Gestalt theory to create visually coherent and engaging research posters  
          2. Compare and evaluate different layout structures to determine which best communicates your research findings  
          3. Select and utilize appropriate design software and tools to produce professional-quality research posters  
          4. Consider the pros and cons of leveraging current AI tools to enhance and speed visual design and creative workflows 

        • Module Three: Presenting Your Research for Maximum Audience Engagement

          This module will help you to:

          1. Develop a pitch that uses your academic research poster as a meaningful visual aid  
          2. Develop a strong presenting style and feel confident explaining your research to others  
          3. Review and print your poster for presentation at a conference or symposium   
          4. Respond effectively to questions and feedback to demonstrate your expertise and encourage dialogue with your audience 

        • References and Glossary of Key Terms

          In addition to the glossary you’ll find woven throughout the course, you can find the full glossary collated in one place here.

        • Post-Course Self Assessment

          Now you’ve completed the course, spend a few moments reflecting on where your familiarity with the topics and your confidence skills levels are at now. 

          Has the course helped you develop new skills and grow your confidence?

          You'll need to complete the Post-Course Self Assessment in order to download your certificate. If you didn't do the Pre-Course Self Assessment before starting the course, please go to the top of the page and reflect on your familiarity with the topic and your level of skills confidence before you started the course.

          • Completion: Certificate

            Completing all modules (plus the pre and post-course assessments) will unlock the course certificate, which you can then download here. Your course certificate will only be made available once you have completed all these sections.

            If you have difficulty accessing your certificate, please contact the Sage support team at: onlinesupport@sagepub.co.uk. You can also check out this FAQ page which may be helpful.

            • Give Feedback About This Course

              Did you enjoy the course? Please take two minutes to share your feedback. We use learner feedback in future course updates and developments to provide an excellent learning experience.

            • Accessibility

              We have high standards of accessibility on Sage Campus and as of May/June 2024 all activities within this course are keyboard and screen reader compatible. For more details on accessibility standards, please see the Sage Campus Accessibility Guide.

              For those using assistive technology, please note that within this course:

              • Tab components: JAWS and NVDA behave slightly differently. For NVDA to keep reading, it is best to exit focus mode and go back to browse mode. 
              • Matching: JAWS does not read out question label on dropdown focus.