The Panthers Den was full of conversation during community hour yesterday as PSY-307 students presented their final research projects in a poster session open to campus.
Instead of giving traditional presentations, students stood by their posters and talked one-on-one with anyone who stopped by. Classmates, faculty, and staff moved through the room, asking questions and getting a closer look at what everyone has been working on all semester.
Senior Zaid Santo’s project, “Team Cohesion & Success in Sports Teams”, explored how relationships between teammates can shape performance.
“Team cohesion is a critical factor in athletic performance and psychological well-being,” Santo said, pointing to the impact strong connections can have both on and off the field.
From there, senior Kariyia Pickens shifted the focus to early development with her project, “Gentle Beginnings, Lasting Effects: Adult Functioning Following Gentle Parenting”.
She explained that the topic is still growing in research.
“There is not a ton of research on the effects of gentle parenting because it is still fairly new to us, but the bottom line is, how you parent matters,” Pickens said.
Sophomore Kayce Holland brought the conversation into the classroom with “Effects of Teacher Empathy on Student Engagement Motivation”.
“My study is important because teachers can and do make direct impacts on their students,” Holland said, emphasizing how empathy can influence motivation and engagement.
Expanding the conversation off campus, sophomore Amber Greiner’s project, “Children Caught in Conflict: How Do We Meet the Needs of Children in Conflict”, looked at the challenges children face in war zones and what it takes to support them.
“There are some countries out there where corruption is so high that they won’t allow INGO’s (International non-government organizations) to help, so in order to fully protect children in active conflict zones, collaboration between international humanitarian organizations, local communities, and governments works best,” Greiner said.
For Greiner, the topic connects to her future goals.
“I’d like to eventually travel internationally and help with humanitarian aid,” she said.
By the end of the session, the room had quieted, but the impact remained. Each project demonstrated that research is about more than numbers and data. For these students, the work was personal, reflecting what they care about and what influence they hope to make on the world ahead.
