Courses

What is a course?

Courses allow IDC attendees to extend their knowledge beyond their current area of expertise. Courses help people to 1) explore new methods, techniques, and practices, 2) develop new skills to innovate, and 3) become inspired to pursue new ideas. Participants will include professionals, practitioners, students and researchers.

Courses may be half-day or full-day in length. Courses run in parallel with workshops the day/s before start of the main conference. Courses can be designed for novices, experts, or audiences with general interest – the expected audience should be very clear in the proposal. Please note that instructors and attendees must register for both the course and the IDC conference itself.

Courses are different to Workshops: Courses are expert instructors, typically with established reputations, teaching people new to a topic. Workshops are meetings of experts exploring new knowledge.

Image Credit: Bennett Day School

Quick Facts

Important Dates

  • Submission Deadline: March 15
  • Notification: April 1
  • Revised Course Description & (optional) Course URLs: May 1
  • Course Notes & Room/Material Requirements: May 15

Formal Submission Details

  • Template: ACM standard template
  • Submission Format: abstract (ca. 100 words) for website and program, detailed Course Description (max 4 pages), and (optional) sample course material

Selection Process: Curated by an expert panel including the chairs.

Chairs: Michail Giannakos, Marcelo Worsley, Mike Horn (workshops-2023@idc.acm.org)

At the Conference: Accepted Courses with a minimum number of 8 registered participants (instructors not included) will be taught in a half or full day. Instructors of a realised course receive 2 free course registrations.

Archives: Accepted course descriptions will be published in the ACM Digital Library.

Preparing and submitting your course proposal

A Course proposal must be prepared according to the ACM standard template (up to 4 pages including references) (https://www.acm.org/publications/taps/word-template-workflow). It must be submitted by March 15th in a single PDF file. It must contain the following components:

  • Title and brief abstract (ca. 100 words)
  • Benefits: summarize the learning outcomes (skills and knowledge) the attendees will gain as a result of attending this
  • Intended audience(s): types of audience (researchers, students, practitioners, ) and the required background to understand the course.
  • Content and practical work: describe in detail the material that will be covered and the expected practical work in the
  • Instructors: provide a short biography for each instructor, including links to a website and other relevant resources that provide more information about the instructor.
  • Call for Participation: Provide a 250-word Call for Participation that will be posted on the conference website to recruit participants for your course. This should appear at the end of your paper, and should include the following:
    • The format and learning outcomes of the course
    • The intended audience(s)
    • The requirement that participants must register for both the course and the main
    • A link to the course website (optional)
  • References: Please add any relevant references within the 4-page

As part of the online submission process, submitters will be asked to also provide the following to help the jury and chairs understand the logistical constraints of the proposed course:

  • Duration of the Course (half day or full day)
  • Audience size: what is the preferred audience size? If you believe your course should be limited to a certain number for optimal effect, please state so. The minimal number of attendees is 8 (instructors not included).
  • Course history: if the proposed Course has been given previously, describe where it was given, the evaluation it received from attendees, and how it will be
  • Student Volunteers: specify and justify student volunteer help for your
  • Audio/visual needs: IDC can generally provide a projector, screen, computer audio, and podium
  • Promotional strategy: a description of your advertising/promotional strategy for attracting attendees
  • (optional) Course Material Samples (e.g., handouts, slides, )

Course Selection Process

IDC 2023 Courses will be curated by an expert panel, including the Workshop and Courses chairs. Acceptance of proposals will be based on:

  • Factors such as relevance of the course to the IDC community, the value provided to the intended audience, presentation methods and practical activities, and the diversity of the topics within this year’s program (only 2 courses will be selected).
  • Prior experience and qualifications of the

Courses should not contain sensitive, private, or proprietary information that cannot be disclosed at publication time. Courses that promote products (solely for marketing purposes) will not be considered. The courses may discuss techniques or products in the context of larger issues.

Submissions should NOT be anonymous. However, confidentiality of submissions will be maintained during the jury process. All rejected submissions will be kept confidential in perpetuity.