Symposium to Highlight Graduate Research

VALDOSTA -- Graduate students at Valdosta State University invite the public to explore more than 45 collaborative research efforts during the second annual Graduate Research and Scholarship Symposium from 4-6 p.m. April 30, in the UC Magnolia Room.

Students and their faculty advisors will be available for questions during the professional poster session as they display the results and implications of their projects. Dr. Karla Hull, dean of the Graduate School, said graduate research enables students to apply their knowledge and skills to their respective fields; the symposium allows students to share their contributions to education and scholarship.

“As graduate students, there is an obligation to learn the research/scholarship of the profession and to give back to the profession. These graduate projects represent examples of the ways in which students are applying that knowledge to give back to the community and or the profession,” Hull said. “We want to highlight that fact that research endeavors represent the products of study, but also that these products have a larger impact on the disciplines, people and community that are a part of the different projects.”

Projects featured span all areas of graduate research, scholarship and creative endeavors. Education students will share the results of using games to improve multiplication fact retention as well as the impact of peer editing on the self-editing skills of second-grade students. Marriage and Family Therapy students will explain the systematic view of domestic violence. Master of Library and Information Science students will explore self-censorship in public libraries, while music students will highlight the composers’ intent behind “American Music.” Graduate researchers in Biology will present findings about gopher tortoise hatchling demography. Criminal Justice students will share research about the application of current juvenile justice strategies in Lowndes County.

“Graduate programs at VSU provide a solid foundation for continuous learning as our students grow as scholars and professionals," Hull said. "This is an honor for the selected students and it provides them with an opportunity to showcase their ability use their research and scholarship knowledge and skills to address the needs of their communities and their professional disciplines."

Refreshments will be served during this free event. Call the VSU Graduate School at 229-333-5694 or e-mail gradschool@valdosta.edu for more information.