JoinCall for Proposals
NSTA National Conferences
| Current Status | ||
| Call for Proposals | Proposal Reviews | Approvals |
| September 2-30, 2024 | October 2-31, 2024 | November–January, 2024 |
The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) invites you to submit a proposal for educator sessions at the 2025 National Conference on Science Education in Philadelphia, PA. NSTA conferences offer a place where all teachers and partners see a place for them to either share their expertise and/or learn about something important to them. If you've been working on something that reflects the best thinking in our field, now is the time to submit your proposal and share it with the community in Philadelphia in March 2025.
Proposal Requirements
To be accepted as a presenter, you must:
- Be a NSTA member or have a free NSTA user account.
- Be comfortable with using the NSTA My Account to obtain and review the most up to date information about your session proposals.
- If your session(s) are accepted, you must confirm your proposal and register for the National Conference as an attendee by the early bird deadline to avoid cancellation. Exhibitor badges will not be accepted for educator sessions.
- Ensure that the session proposal aligns with NSTA's mission, position statements, and review criteria.
- Presenters must comply with all the instructions, guidelines, and deadlines to keep their proposals from being declined. View Policies & Guidelines
To support the submission of a successful proposal please register for our web seminar • Submitting a Successful Proposal to Present at NSTA’s National Conferences, August 27, 2024
Session Types
Educator Session Types
Proposals must be submitted via our submission portal for one of the session types listed below.
Please note: Presenters and co-presenters are limited to a maximum of three 30-, 60- and/or 120-minute proposals. This includes presentations, roundtables, and workshops. In addition, presenters and co-presenters may submit up to two poster sessions and one speed-sharing session that do not count toward the limit above.
Poster Sessions
During a designated time, presenters can describe strategies or tools by referencing the various graphics, texts, and/or illustrations from your prepared poster and table space provided in a share-a-thon format. Educators are also encouraged to share a poster as part of a “lesson showcase” where attendees can collect resources to support teaching and learning in the classroom. The “lesson showcase” poster shares all lesson resources as well as what happens before the featured lesson and after the featured lesson in the classroom. Poster sessions are great for new presenters to share their expertise as well as seasoned presenters to share a go-to strategy from their classroom or professional experience. For those who desire support, mentors will be available in January and February to help with the planning of the poster session.
Speed Sharing
Each presenter will share a strategy or tool during a 10-minute presentation. Three presenters will be scheduled within one hour, grouped by theme. Moderators will be assigned to each team (two to four people) of presenters to support the planning for the session. The last 15 minutes will be dedicated to informal discussions and Q&A with the presenters led by the moderator. This is a great first session for new conference presenters or a way for seasoned presenters to share a go-to strategy or tool.
120-minute Professional Learning Workshop
A two-hour, interactive session that provides attendees with in-depth lessons, group activities and engaging experiences.
60-minute Presentation
A 60-minute opportunity to share an innovative teaching idea, results of research, or to discuss a topic of general or specific interest.
60-minute Workshop
A 60-minute opportunity that engages the audience in immersive learning to experience a portion of a science activity, investigation, or strategy that focuses on supporting classroom teaching and learning. This session should include audience participation in student hat or from a student’s perspective.
30-minute Presentation
A 30-minute opportunity to share an innovative teaching idea, results of research, or to discuss a topic of general or specific interest. Presentations are clustered and staggered by topic in adjacent rooms, so attendees can explore a topic of interest in greater depth by hearing from multiple presenters.
30-minute Roundtable
A 30-minute roundtable discussion exists in one of two formats. 1) An organized and moderated discussion between panelists who bring expertise and a variety of perspectives to a topic. 2) A moderated discussion where participants in small groups organized in round tables share their expertise and experiences around a topic.
Share-a-thon
An informal setting for multiple invited presenters to share information about related projects or findings in a two-hour session. The session takes place in a special area in the Exhibit Hall to encourage free-flowing movement from one project to another. Such a session can include a myriad of offerings, including poster presentations, "make-n-take" opportunities, etc.
These sessions are organized by committees and groups that invite participants to share ideas related to specific grades or topics. If you are interested in joining a share-a-thon, please provide your contact information so it can be forwarded to the share-a-thon organizers.
Additional Information
Travel and Conference Registration
Exhibitor badges will not be accepted for educator sessions. The cost associated with attending the NSTA Conference, including registration, is the responsibility of the individual presenters. Presenters are not provided with honoraria or registration discounts.
Publication Materials
If your session proposal is accepted, your session title and description may be edited by the NSTA staff for publication purposes.
NSTA Presenter Cancellation/No-Show Policy
Before accepting the role of presenter or submitting a conference proposal, presenters should be confident that they will attend the meeting and make the presentation as scheduled. To cancel, presenters should notify the Conference Planner (conferences@nsta.org) of the intent to cancel 45 days prior to the start of the meeting. Individuals who are designated as a presenter of an accepted presentation must do one of the following:
- attend the meeting and deliver the presentation
- notify staff and their co-presenters of the intent to cancel 45 days before the start of the meeting
- arrange for the presentation to be delivered by a substitute presenter (only if there is an unforeseen event)
The presenter will be designated as a no-show if none of these actions are taken.
A presenter who is a no-show for one or more sessions at a single meeting will receive a warning. If the speaker no-shows again within three years, he or she will be suspended from giving an oral presentation for the next two years.
Refund requests must be in writing and postmarked or emailed 45 days before the event. All cancellations that qualify for a refund are subject to a $20 processing fee. Ticketed events are nonrefundable. Presenters who are no-shows do not qualify for a refund.
Non Commercial Policy
NSTA's policy is that any session promoting a saleable product, program, or service must be conducted as an exhibitor workshop and NOT as an educator session. Companies must be exhibiting at the conference to submit an exhibitor workshop proposal. While nonprofit organizations and government agencies are invited to submit educator proposals, those proposals should focus on freely available resources and not have any fee attached for participants to utilize said resources fully. Presentations focused on offering a product(s) for sale, paid training or professional learning opportunities, supplements, or additional resources for a fee will need to be submitted as an Exhibitor Workshop. The window for exhibitor workshop proposal submissions opens September 2024. For information, contact Marcelo Nunez at mnunez@nstaalliances.org.
Questions or concerns?