Call for Submissions

Accepted full and short papers appear in the Proceedings of FabLearn 2016, which will be published and indexed in the ACM Digital Library.

Submissions website: bit.ly/FL2016-EasyChair (via EasyChair)

Call for Submissions as Google doc: bit.ly/FL2016-CallForSubmissions

FabLearn 2016, in-cooperation with Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI), invites submissions for its sixth annual conference, to be held on October 14-16, 2016 at Stanford University. FabLearn is a venue for educators, policy-makers, students, designers, researchers, students, and makers to present, discuss, and learn about digital fabrication in education, the maker culture, and hands-on, constructionist learning. We are seeking submissions for:

  • Research Papers (full and short papers)
  • Demos (projects, curricula, software, or hardware)
  • Workshops (demonstrating fabrication tools, skills and techniques to conference attendees)
  • Student Showcase (for elementary to high-school students to show their projects or share rich learning experiences)
  • Educator Submissions (for educators to share best practices and experiences)

Research papers (full and short papers) will be included in official ACM conference proceedings. All other accepted submissions will be made available and archived on the conference website.

Scholarships

We are proud to offer a limited number of need-based scholarship tickets and travel stipends for individuals to attend FabLearn 2016. For further details about scholarships and travel stipends, and to apply, please visit bit.ly/FL2016-ScholarshipApplication

The deadline to apply for scholarship tickets and travel stipends is July 13, 2016.

Deadlines

All submissions are due by July 13, 2016 by 11:59pm (Pacific Daylight Time).

All applicants will be notified about decisions in the first week of August.

Submissions website

bit.ly/FL2016-EasyChair (We use the EasyChair conference submission system)

Types of Submissions

STUDENT SHOWCASE PANEL ——————————-

For elementary to high-school students willing to showcase a project, technology, idea, or share a reflection on their fabrication space.

**We are also seeking incomplete projects, things that went wrong, and experiences that could be valuable lessons for other students and the maker community.**

Proposals should describe a completed (or not completed) project that could be brought to the conference and exhibited during the demo session or discussed by the student in a small panel format. Submissions may include a critique, project documentation, and/or stories about the student’s experience in a fabrication space.

If you are an educator and you have some great work in your class, please encourage your students to submit!

Submission guidelines:

 

WORKSHOPS ——————————————————

For educators and designers to lead a workshop for conference attendees demonstrating digital fabrication and/or hands-on learning activities, hardware, software, or non-digital techniques, used in classrooms, museums, and any other type of learning space. Workshop formats are available in two time frames: 100 minutes and 4-5 hours.

While adherence to the conference theme (“Diversity in Making: People, Projects, & Powerful Ideas”) is not mandatory, it is highly recommended: if applicable, please include an explanation of how your submission fits in with the conference theme.

Submission/presentation guidelines:

  • Presentation: 100-minute workshop during the weekend conference on October 15 or 16th, or 4-5 hour workshop on Friday, October 14
  • Word limit: 1000 words and 4 pictures. You may include links to videos as well.
  • Format: Use the FabLearn Workshop Submission Template (MS Word: bit.ly/FL2016-WorkshopSubmission-Word; Google Doc: bit.ly/FL2016-WorkshopSubmission-Google) in PDF format (you may need to reduce the file size of the PDF to submit to EasyChair)
  • Content: Every .pdf workshop submission should include: (1) Title and abstract; (2) short bios of the instructors; (3) description of the scope of the workshop, expected level of experience of participants, main topics covered, and outcomes; (4) explanation of the importance of your submission to the digital fabrication/makers/hands-on learning communities; (5) maximum number of participants and technology/space/material/logistics needs.
  • Submissions via EasyChair (bit.ly/FL2016-EasyChair) by July 13, 2016 by 11:59pm (PDT)

 

EDUCATOR SUBMISSIONS ————————————

Teachers, administrators, and program facilitators: we are looking forward to reflections on your experiences with maker-centered learning in classrooms, museums, and other learning spaces. Please include a description of the formal or informal educational experience, an explanation of its importance to the maker-centered/hands-on/digital fabrication learning communities, and thoughts about what can be learned more generally from your experience and its value for other educators. This category is not meant to be an “academic” paper, but rather a structured report of best practices and interesting experiences.

While adherence to the conference theme (“Diversity in Making: People, Projects, & Powerful Ideas”) is not mandatory, it is highly recommended: if applicable, please include an explanation of how your submission fits in with the conference theme.

Submission guidelines:

Presentation descriptions – Educators will participate in one of the following :

  • Panel – 5 minute presentations by each of 3-5 panelists followed by a discussion and Q&A for all panelists. Panels will be formed by the FabLearn Education Chairs.
  • Round Table – 10 minute presentations by 1-2 educators followed by intimate discussion.
  • Ignite Talks – A series of 5 minute high-energy presentations with 20 slides each.

 

FULL PAPERS ——————————————————

For researchers to present current and future projects in the realm of digital fabrication, hands-on science and engineering, and making in educational settings. Acceptances will be based on full paper contributions that report original work that has not been previously published. The paper must identify and cite published work relevant to the paper topic. It should explain how the work builds on previous contributions, and should indicate where and why novel approaches have been adopted. Papers should stress the importance of the submission to the digital fabrication/makers/hands-on learning communities.

While adherence to the conference theme (“Diversity in Making: People, Projects, & Powerful Ideas”) is not mandatory, it is highly recommended: if applicable, please include an explanation of how your submission fits in with the conference theme.

Submission/presentation guidelines:

 

SHORT PAPERS —————————————————

For researchers to present current and future projects in the realm of digital fabrication, hands-on science and engineering, and making in educational settings. Acceptances will be based on submissions that report original work that has not been previously published. Authors are encouraged to demonstrate work in progress and late-breaking research results that show the latest innovative ideas. We invite presentation of ongoing work and preliminary results, by experienced academics as well as young researchers and designers. Short papers are not expected to include as thorough a literature review as full papers, but should include some details on methods and analysis as well as initial results Papers should stress the importance of the submission to the digital fabrication/makers/hands-on learning communities. At the conference, authors of accepted short papers will participate in a ‘madness’ session, giving a very quick overview of their work. This will be followed by a poster session where they will have the opportunity to speak with attendees about their work.

While adherence to the conference theme (“Diversity in Making: People, Projects, & Powerful Ideas”) is not mandatory, it is highly recommended: if applicable, please include an explanation of how your submission fits in with the conference theme.

Submission/presentation guidelines:

 

DEMOS —————————————————————

For developers and educators to showcase new digital fabrication tools, hands-on learning platforms, construction kits applicable to education, and student projects. At the conference, authors of demos will participate in a ‘madness’ session, giving a very quick overview of their work. This will be followed by the demo session where they will have the opportunity to demonstrate their product or project. Your submission should contain a detailed description of the product or project being demonstrated, an explanation of its importance to the digital fabrication/makers/hands-on learning communities, and any power or space needs.

While adherence to the conference theme (“Diversity in Making: People, Projects, & Powerful Ideas”) is not mandatory, it is highly recommended: if applicable, please include an explanation of how your submission fits in with the conference theme.

Submission/presentation guidelines:

  • Presentation: Poster and demo table during the demo/poster session
  • Page limit: 4 pages. You may include pictures and links for one or two videos as well.
  • Format: Use the FabLearn Demo Submission Template (MS Word: bit.ly/FL2016-DemoSubmission-Word; Google Doc: bit.ly/FL2016-DemoSubmission-Google) in PDF format (you may need to reduce the file size of the PDF to submit to EasyChair)
  • Submissions via EasyChair (bit.ly/FL2016-EasyChair) by July 13, 2016 by 11:59pm (PST)

 

CONFERENCE CHAIRS AND ORGANIZERS

Conference Chairs: Paulo Blikstein (Stanford University), Matthew Berland (University of Wisconsin–Madison) & Deborah Fields (Utah State University)

Full Paper Chairs: Nathan Holbert (Columbia University) & Lee Martin (UC Davis)

Short Paper Chairs: Brian Gravel (Tufts University) & Victor Lee (Utah State University)

Demo Chairs: Deborah Fields (Utah State University), Arnan Sipitakiat (University of Chiang Mai), & Marcelo Worsley (University of Southern California)

Workshop Chairs: Richard Davis (Stanford University) & Nalin Tutiyaphuengprasert (DSIL School)

Publicity/Social Media Chair: Sylvia Martinez (Constructing Modern Knowledge)

High Tech Special Track Chair: Mark Cutkosky (Stanford University)

Educator Track Chairs: Christa Flores (Stanford FabLearn Fellow), Heather Pang (Castilleja School) & Aaron Vanderwerff (Lighthouse Community Charter School)

Young Makers Track Chair: Nico Janik (Ravenswood City School District) & David Malpica (Stanford FabLearn Fellow)

International Chair: Ole Sejer Iversen (Aarhus University, Denmark) & Tiina Korhonen (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Conference Coordinators: Claire Rosenbaum & Alicja Zenczykowska