IDEC Virtual Symposium 2025

1. Scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL)
2. 60-minute teaching workshops
3. Work in-progress scholarship on emerging pedagogies
4. “Spark Sessions”, geared toward innovative, wild card sessions (e.g., mentorship sessions, community building sessions and panels) that will intrigue faculty across career phases, emerging educators and/or graduate students

1. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) abstracts should focus on relevant teaching practices, projects, curriculum, or pedagogy within the interior design discipline. Abstracts must identify the innovative pedagogical development under one or more of the listed themes/topics and describe the development process, instructional methods, and student outcomes, work, or learning. Additionally, the abstract must provide insights into the implications for teaching and learning. It is expected that the scholarship presented will have reached preliminary conclusions and/or implications that can be shared with the audience. Submissions should reflect completed work at the time of submission, which must be indicated in the abstract.

All SOTL submissions must include an appendix. Submissions lacking an appendix will be disqualified and not reviewed. (Please refer to the submission requirements below for detailed appendix guidelines.)

The presentations will be 30 minutes in length, including time for discussion. When preparing a presentation, please plan for and leave time for the Q and A session. See rubrics for evaluation criteria.

2. Teaching Workshops: Workshops are interactive sessions designed to equip participants with skills, knowledge, and experiences that extend beyond the conference. These sessions focus on collaboratively exploring specific topics or providing educational tutorials on a particular theme. Workshops may be proposed by individuals or teams.

Your workshop should offer an open platform for discussing cutting-edge topics and methodologies while also engaging with the dynamic and evolving landscape of interior design education. No appendix is required for the workshop submission.

The workshops will be 60 minutes in length, including time for discussion. When preparing a presentation, please plan for and leave time for the Q and A session. See rubrics for evaluation criteria.

3. Work In-Progress: Work in-progress scholarship focuses on emerging pedagogies. This category represents the dynamic, iterative phase of academic inquiry where research and creative projects are still being developed, refined, and tested. Unlike polished, final outputs, these works are shared intentionally in their preliminary state to invite constructive feedback, spark dialogue, and foster collaborative improvement.

The presentations will be 30 minutes in length, including time for discussion. When preparing a presentation, please plan for and leave time for the Q and A session. See rubrics for evaluation criteria. No appendix is required for this category.

4. Spark Session: Leave a lasting impression on your audience by sparking new ways of thinking about familiar topics. The wildcard “spark sessions” are reserved for presentations that break away from traditional formats to showcase unexpected, creative approaches to interior design education. It’s a chance to surprise, engage, and experiment with innovative methods! Live demonstrations, multimedia integration, storytelling, unique angles, real-time collaboration, and risk-taking can all be involved.

The wildcard presentations will be 30 minutes in length, including time for discussion. When preparing a presentation, please plan for and leave time for the discussion. See rubrics for evaluation criteria. No appendix is required for this category.

This category can also include community-building panels that support design educators around a given topic or issue. If a panel is submitted, the panel presentations are 60 minutes in length, including time for presentation and discussion. Panels encourage open discussion and opinions. Topics could include knowledge networks, unique collaborations, team building, etc. Up to two moderators may submit the abstract proposal and invite up to five additional participants. No panelist names should appear in the abstract, though their names should be listed as co-presenters at the time of submission (this facilitates conflict-free scheduling). The topic proposed in the abstract would benefit from diverse opinions and open discussion.

Title of abstract

• Maximum 75 characters, including spaces.

Abstract

• Ensure the abstract follows the requirements for the intended category and format.
• Maximum 4000 characters, including in-text citations and headings. The online submission does not support footnotes or endnotes.
• Please follow the guidance/submission requirements above for workshop submission.

References

• Must include one reference for all submissions. May submit up to five.
• Authors may utilize APA, MLA, Chicago Style, or any nationally recognized format that best represents the author’s style of scholarship.

Appendix

• Required for all SOTL submissions. Any of these submissions without an appendix will be disqualified and will not be reviewed.
• The Panel, Workshop, In-Progress, and Spark submissions do not need an appendix.
  • If an abstract submission category or format does not require an appendix, the author may still choose to include one.
• File *Submission Information (*To ensure your work is included in the 2025 proceedings, please follow this appendix format):
  • Up to 5 pages in a single PDF file (maximum file size of 10 MB) of appropriate supplemental material, including (but not limited to) project outlines, project statements, examples of student outcomes, images, tables/charts, and/or other.
  • 8.5 x 11”/Portrait Orientation
  • 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) margins
  • NO headers or footers
  • Use a standard font, including Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman
• Please name the appendix using an abbreviated title of the abstract (e.g., titleofabstractsyllabus.pdf or titleofabstractproject.pdf). No identifying information (author name, school name, author photo, any included photographs/images, course name and number, etc.) is allowed in the appendix. Any submission with an appendix that includes identifying information will not be reviewed.

Additional Information: The following information is required for all submission categories and formats, but is not included in the anonymous review process.

• Author(s): Use the online submission form to list author(s) and institution(s) in order. All panel, presentation, and poster primary authors and co-authors must be listed to facilitate accuracy in scheduling presentations.
• Summary: A summary of the submission, which will be published in the conference brochure exactly as submitted. Maximum 200 characters.

Checkboxes: The submission portal will ask the author to verify the following before submitting an abstract for review:

• My submitted abstract and appendices (if included) have no identifying information.
• I have only submitted my abstract to one presentation format.
• I have not submitted my abstract to another conference or venue, nor has my abstract been published or presented previously
• Does your abstract promote health, safety, and welfare? If yes, please check the box.

Fees: Submissions requiring payment must be made online through the submission portal. Only credit card payments are accepted. Submission fees are nonrefundable.
Rates:

• – IDEC Members: A maximum of two submissions (in any presentation format or category) as first author are free for IDEC members. A valid membership number must be provided. Any additional submissions beyond the first two will incur a fee of $55 each. Members may not submit more than four submissions in total.
• – Non-Members and Additional Submissions by IDEC Members: $55 per submission.
• – Non-Member Students: $25 per submission.

All abstracts are due by 11:59pm Jul 9, 2025

Schedule of Presentations
The content areas will be used to schedule the presentations. Additionally, every effort will be made to avoid conflict in presentation times when the conference schedule is created. The inclusion of co-author/co-presenter and panelist names is necessary at the time of submission, even if their attendance has not yet been confirmed. Once the schedule is set, changes are not possible due to the pairing of paper topics and the many demands of conference scheduling. We appreciate your understanding.

Conference Proceedings
All submissions accepted and presented at the conference will be published in the Conference Proceedings. The abstract and appendix submitted for the review process will be printed in the proceedings following the conference. If the appendix requirements noted above are not followed, a submission will not be included in the proceedings. There will be no opportunity for additional edits. Those who do not present at the conference will not be included in the conference proceedings.