{"id":52044,"date":"2022-05-17T08:09:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T12:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=52044"},"modified":"2022-05-18T11:37:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T15:37:14","slug":"psychology-students-present-research-with-one-winning-best-paper-at-state-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2022\/psychology-students-present-research-with-one-winning-best-paper-at-state-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychology students present research, with one winning best paper, at state conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Four psychology students presented their research at the Virginia Association for Psychological Sciences conference<\/a> on April 1. After two years of cancellation due to COVID, seniors Garrett Cash<\/strong>, Avery Trinh<\/strong> and Katie Zuercher<\/strong>, and  junior Joshua Wenger<\/strong> were finally able to present their research from last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among all the participants, Wenger came away with the the Frederick B. Rowe Award for Best Undergraduate Paper, a paper that he also recently published in an academic journal<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference schedule includes opportunities for students and professionals to present research as well as professional development sessions for practitioners in assessment challenges such as competence, multimethod approaches, resource-seeking, ethics, state regulations, diversity and culture, and incorporating assessment technologies. Presenters included speakers from the board of psychology.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was Trinh\u2019s first in-person conference. He presented two sets of research: a psychology senior research project with Scott Barge<\/strong>, vice president for institutional strategy and chief information office, using a survey on sense of belonging. The other was with professor Susannah Moore\u2019s childhood maltreatment data. \u201cIt was cool to connect with all the different people, and really nice to see what other universities are doing research-wise,\u201d Trinh said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was also an opportunity to network: Trinh received several business cards from different university faculty members, a newsletter seeking submissions, and graduate program information from nearby James Madison University. He was also able to reconnect with a former coworker at JMU, where he did institutional research last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuercher also appreciated the opportunity to see what other researchers were doing. “VAPS was a great way to continue viewing the research process and continued to give me a newfound respect for our fellow researchers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was great to be able to see other topics of research and really just shows how much of our psychological world we have to explore.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychology professor Susannah Moore accompanied the researchers. \u201cThis conference provides students the opportunity to showcase their strong research abilities in a professional setting,\u201d said Moore. \u201cMany of our students are looking toward grad school, and this is a great experience to learn about how academic research is communicated to a broader audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cash also found value in the preparatory aspect of the experience. \u201cIt was good preparation for future research and conferences,\u201d said Cash. \u201cI appreciated the opportunity to share my research and receive feedback from peers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wenger \u201cvalued the opportunity for both poster and oral presentation sessions,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was good practice and helped me solidify my preferred presentation style.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presentations included: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oral Presentations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n