Poster Presentation for Final Project

This document provides all logistics and expectations for the final project poster sessions.

When and Where

When: Last week of classes

Morning Lecture 10 (9:35–10:50 AM)

Location: Room 204 Corcoran Hall (new location!)
Setup: Posters will be mounted on the whiteboards.

Afternoon Lecture 11 (12:45–2:00 PM)

Location: MPA B07 (same as the lecture)
Setup: Posters will be displayed on easels provided in the room.

Schedule & Attendance

The poster session will take place over two class days.
Half of the groups will present on Tuesday, and
the other half will present on Thursday.
The instructor will announce which groups present on which day on
Friday of Week 13.

Attendance is mandatory on both days.

All students must be present for both poster session days, regardless of which day they present.

Expectations When You Are Presenting

On your assigned day:

Dress presentably.
Stand by your poster during the entire session.
When someone approaches your poster, politely ask:
“Would you like to hear about our project?”
Be prepared to give a clear summary and answer questions.
Highlight your individual contribution, but also be ready to discuss any part of the group’s project.

Expectations When You Are Not Presenting

When it is the other half of groups presenting:

You will walk around the room, view posters, and engage with presenters.
You will complete a peer‑review worksheet about
three designated presenters and their projects.
These worksheets ensure you are paying attention and actively participating.
Your worksheet responses will NOT be shared with the students you’ve reviewed.

Poster Printing Logistics

Where to Print

The GWU Library CREATE Digital Studio provides free poster printing services for the GWU community (with per-semester limits).
Website: https://go.gwu.edu/create

CREATE offers:

Large-format printing
3D printing
Workstations with full Adobe Creative Cloud
Loanable equipment (GoPro cameras, audio gear)
A studio for podcasting or other digital content creation

Poster Size Requirement

GWU Poster printing: Large-Format Printing page

Your group will create one project poster at 36” × 48”.
CREATE can print this size without issue if you export your file as a JPEG.

There is a form you can complete to request large-format printing.

You can also use their Canva template. CREATE Digital Studio recommends this option. It might be a workable, free collaborative tool.

You can find more instructions for different tools (e.g. Powerpoint, Adobe, Google Docs) for Preparing Posters for Large Format Printing here.

Timeline and Scheduling

Printing appointments fill quickly toward the end of the semester.
A JPEG copy of the poster is due November 30 on Gradescope.
CREATE’s printing turnaround time is 1–2 business days (Sunday–Friday).
To be safe, someone from your group should submit the print request at least 3 days in advance.

File Format & Preparation

Before you submit your poster to CREATE to be printed:

Check resolution of plots and figures (300 dpi recommended).
Ensure the canvas/slide is set to 36” × 48” in your design software.
Zoom to 100% to get a sense of how the text will read; viewers will stand 4-10 feet from your poster.
Export your poster as a 300 dpi JPEG.

Pickup

After printing:

Check the poster for alignment, cropping, and color issues.
Bring a tube or folder if you want to keep it protected during transport.

Required Poster Elements

Please consult the NYU guide on creating academic posters:
https://guides.nyu.edu/posters

Project Title

Clear, concise, and descriptive.

Full Names of Group Members

List first and last names.

GWU Affiliation

Example: The George Washington University — DATS 1001 (Fall 2025)
Place this under the title in smaller font then the authors below that.

Introduction / What You Studied

State the main research question(s) you explored.
- If multiple, list them clearly (e.g., RQ1, RQ2, RQ3).
Provide 1–2 sentences of motivation:
Why is this dataset or topic interesting or important?
Briefly introduce the dataset:
- What it contains
- Types of variables
- Any special features

Methods / Approach

Explain what your group actually did:

Data Cleaning
- Handling missing values
- Removing outliers
- Fixing data types
Exploratory Data Analysis
- Histograms, bar charts, scatterplots
- Summary statistics
Methods / Models Used
- Regression
- Classification
- Hypothesis testing
- Bootstrapping
- Clustering
- Or other techniques used in your project
Variable preprocessing
- Creating indicators
- Combining variables
- Log transforming variables
- Normalizing or scaling variables

Keep explanations brief and in plain language.

Major Results

This is the most visual section of your poster.

Include:

Plots, charts, or tables that directly answer your research questions
Each visual must have:
- A clear title
- Labeled axes
- A short caption explaining what it shows

Make your results easy to understand just by looking.

Examples:

Scatterplots with regression lines and confidence intervals
Bar charts or box plots comparing groups
Model accuracy tables

Avoid heavy text — focus on visuals.

Conclusion(s)

Summarize what you learned.

Answer your research questions clearly
Highlight your most important findings
Explain why the results matter
Note any limitations
- Biased sample
- Small dataset
- Messy data
- No causation claims
Suggest possible future analyses if you had more time or more data

NYU Poster Guide Highlights

The NYU guide emphasizes:

Use bullets and short statements rather than paragraphs
Maintain a clear layout with visible section headings
Ensure important information is readable from ~10 feet away
Use a consistent, clean font style and limited color palette
Visuals should be high‑resolution and central to your poster’s story
Posters should flow in a logical order:
Title → Motivation → Methods → Results → Conclusion

Refer to the official NYU documentation for additional design guidance:
https://guides.nyu.edu/posters