Preparing for the Entire Research Project
Students who submit abstracts to an academic conference (usually set in the spring) will likely spend most of the academic year on their project. They will prepare their research projects in Fall and submit an abstract, and then prepare their presentation in Spring before presenting at the conference. Each year, there are KSU students who are accepted to present at academic conferences but who withdraw at the last minute. There are several reasons for the withdrawals -- for example:
- Students submit their abstracts as a requirement for a Fall course, and because the conference isn't until the next semester, some students do not feel compelled to follow through with the presentation as they are no longer earning a grade for the project.
- Students underestimate the amount of time required to complete the project or procrastinate, and they withdraw because they haven't finished their project in time.
- Students do not see the conference presentation as important as other duties, such as working, studying for finals, etc. When they feel overwhelmed, they sometimes prioritize these other responsibilities over their presentations.
- Students experience genuine emergencies that prevent them from presenting (e.g., sickness, death in the family).