MSU’s College of Education announces Graduate Research Symposium winners
Contact: Bryce Mitchell
Nine Mississippi State graduate students are receiving awards for their innovative research on display during the College of Education’s 2025 Graduate Research Symposium.
More than two dozen students participated in the annual symposium, which allows students to present their faculty-guided research to a broad audience. The poster presentations were formally judged by a panel of faculty with monetary awards given to the winners.
Winners include:
First-place tie
—Taylor Moore, applied behavior analysis, “Using Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Novice Behavioral Professionals Literature Searching Skills”
—Samantha Searles, kinesiology, “Comparisons of Hamstrings-to-Quadriceps Ratio in Female and Male Children and Adolescents Across the Velocity Spectrum”
—Katlyn Szczepanski, educational psychology, “My Way of the Highway: Utilizing Signaled Availability and Activity Schedules for Smoother Transitions”
—Abby Williams, applied behavior analysis, “Stop the Scroll”
Second-place tie
—Isadora McAllister, school psychology, “Effectiveness and Efficiency of Reading Interventions”
—Grace Austin, educational psychology, “Resolving Relative Underachievement Through an Achievement Motivation Intervention: A Single Case Study”
Third-place tie:
—Grayson Edwards, educational psychology, “Identifying Precursor Behaviors to Minimize Restraint: A Proactive Approach to Managing Self-Injury and Aggression”
—Jamie Moss, school psychology, “Menus to Mastery: Enhancing Functional Behavioral and Academic Interventions for an Individual with Autism”
—Sandys Seth Ayuumah, educational psychology, “Health Risk Behaviors Among First-Generation College Students: Exploring the Influence of Field of Study, Demographic Factors, and Mental Health Indicators”
“The Graduate Student Research Symposium is one of the highlights of the year for the College of Education,” shared Daniel Gadke, College of Education associate dean of research and department head. “We are incredibly proud of all the students who participated and showcased such thoughtful, impactful work. The quality of the presentations was outstanding across the board, and our award winners truly exemplify the excellence we strive for in graduate research.”
Research projects represented the Department of Counseling, Higher Education Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations; Department of Kinesiology; Mississippi Institute on Disabilities; and MSU Meridian’s Division of Education.
Winning students received $100 for first-place, $75 for second-place and $50 for third-place presentations.
The event was hosted by the College of Education during the university’s Research Celebration. Learn more about the College of Education, home to five academic departments, a division of education, one research unit and numerous service units, at https://www.educ.msstate.edu/.
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