By Kyle Carruthers | Echo
The culmination of intensive labor, analysis and research occurred yesterday during a poster session in the Euler Atrium. Students presented, aided by large printouts from the ETC, in order to communicate their accumulated expertise to various professors, students, visiting specialists and alumni. Most of the topics were based on research acquired over an entire semester.
Almost ninety students participat- ed, with more who contributed to the posters in some way, overall creat- ing 60 posters. Multiple departments were represented: computer science, physics and engineering, mathematics, exercise science, chemistry, psychology, environmental science and media communications.
The session went from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The physics and engineering posters were also presented at an earlier session to fulfill a requirement for accreditation from ABET, previously known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. This year is the ninth anniversary of the sessions.
"Poster sessions are a way for presenters to share their work in a visual manner," said Sue Gavin, director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, which organizes the event. "Taylor's student poster session is a way for students to share what they have been working on, encourage discussion among faculty and students as well as alumni and friends."
The presentations also show the benefits of interdepartmental cooperation. Sophomore exercise science major Kelsey Fitzjarrald has worked with psychology students every other
week for two years while studying the impact of motivational coaching on holistic development.
"It's great getting actual experience and actually working with people because my major is all about interacting with people," Fitzjarrald said. The presentation counts as a required senior project for some students, but Fitzjarrald took on the research solely for the experience."When I was a freshman, I asked Dr. (Matthew) Renfrow to get involved with research," Fitzjarrald said. She has been a part of the research ever since.
Senior psychology major Ashley Spickler also used the presentation as an opportunity to present personal research information rather than to fulfill an academic requirement. During the fall semester, Spickler independently sought out and worked worked with Ball State University on neuroscience research. She is planning on doing graduate work in neuroscience, and was glad to get the opportunity to add relevant research experience to her resume.
"Neuroscience isn't really something people are interested in here," Spickler said. Her participation in the poster session shared research that would not have normally influenced the Taylor scientific community.
Although many projects were the result of collaboration, there were also projects based primarily on individual work. Senior exercise science major Brennan Myer did his research on pain medication usage at Taylor independently.
It is the hope that this will not be the last stop for some the posters. According to exercise science professor Erik Hayes, last year three of the posters in his department went on to be presented at at a conference by the midwest chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine.
The exercise science department had a trial run last week in order to hone the presentations and posters as much as possible. Professors and students worked for as much clarity as possible.
"It forces communication," Hayes said regarding the benefits of the event.
The sessions were required for many students because it emphasized the the knowledge gained from hard work is worth little unless it is capable of being shared, of being communicated with the society. By communicating, the students were able to exercise the skills necessary to utilize their skill sets to influence the world.
