When students need books, articles, or media for their classes, they often face paywalls and high costs. Many turn to free online sources鈥攕ometimes through legal platforms like open-access journals, and sometimes through pirate websites that share copyrighted content without permission. This project explores how piracy shapes the everyday experiences of university students. We want to understand why students use pirated content, how it affects their studies, and what it means for access to knowledge in higher education.

The project will give a first-year student the chance to take part in real, hands-on research. We will begin by gathering background information from news reports, blogs, and policy debates about piracy and digital access. The student will help collect and organize examples of how piracy appears in student life鈥攆or example, through discussions on social media, coverage in student newspapers, or conversations about affordability on campus. We will also look at how companies and universities respond to piracy, and what that means for students who rely on these resources.

The work will combine reading, note-taking, and digital exploration. The student will help build a research log that tracks patterns, themes, and stories about piracy. As the year goes on, we will analyze these materials together, asking bigger questions about what piracy reveals about inequality in education and the value of knowledge. The student will have the chance to learn basic research tools and strategies, practice summarizing and comparing different sources, and contribute directly to preparing presentations and papers.

This project is designed as a collaboration. The student does not need technical skills or prior experience鈥攋ust curiosity, attention to detail, and an interest in how media, technology, and education overlap. By the end of the year, the student will gain a clearer sense of how research works in the humanities and social sciences. They will also present their findings at KSU鈥檚 Symposium of Student Scholars, sharing what they鈥檝e discovered with the wider university community.

At its heart, this project is about more than piracy. It is about asking what it means to access knowledge fairly, how students navigate barriers to learning, and how digital culture is reshaping education today.

Students who join this project will gain a range of skills that transfer across academic fields and future careers. The work begins with learning how to find, organize, and evaluate information from different sources, including news stories, online discussions, and university policies. Students will practice careful note-taking, summarizing material, and comparing viewpoints to identify patterns. These activities build strong research habits that are valuable for any major.

The project also emphasizes critical thinking. Students will learn how to ask deeper questions about the information they gather鈥攕uch as what motivates people to use pirated content, or how access to knowledge affects student success. Through discussion and reflection, they will develop the ability to connect individual examples to larger issues in education and society.

Practical skills will include keeping a research log, working with digital tools to organize materials, and preparing written and visual summaries of findings. Students will also gain experience with collaborative research by meeting regularly with a faculty mentor, sharing progress, and receiving feedback. By the end of the project, they will have experience turning raw material into a structured analysis.

Finally, students will develop communication skills by presenting their work at the Symposium of Student Scholars. They will learn how to explain complex issues in clear, accessible language for a general audience. These skills鈥攔esearch, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication鈥攚ill prepare students for future coursework, internships, and professional opportunities.

Each week, students in this project will take part in research activities that move step by step from preparation to active data collection and analysis. Early in the fall semester, weekly duties will focus on background tasks: reading short articles about piracy and access to knowledge, summarizing them in plain language, and keeping a research log. Students will also help prepare materials for the Institutional Review Board (IRB) application by reviewing survey and interview questions and learning why ethical approval is necessary for research with people.

Once the IRB process is complete, weekly work will shift toward recruitment and data collection. Students will help share invitations to participate in interviews and surveys, keep track of responses, and schedule meetings with participants. During this stage, students will assist in setting up interviews, taking careful notes, and helping to organize survey data. These duties will provide experience in how social science research gathers information directly from people.

Later in the year, weekly activities will emphasize analysis. Students will review interview transcripts and survey responses, highlight key themes, and work with the faculty mentor to sort the findings into categories. Each week will include a mix of independent work鈥攕uch as reviewing materials and entering notes鈥攁nd collaborative work in meetings to discuss what the data means.

Throughout the project, students will also spend time preparing research updates and designing presentation materials. By spring, weekly duties will focus on turning results into a clear story for the Symposium of Student Scholars.

This research project is a unique chance to see the full life cycle of a research study from the inside and to develop skills that will serve students in any major. The project includes opportunities for external research conference presentations.

Dr. Law is deploying a mixed-methods research project that seeks to understand how first-year students use generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot in their academic writing. The basic project outline includes a two-part research protocol: (1) a brief questionnaire about their knowledge of generative AI use cases and writing practices.  (2) Study participants will then be given a topic and asked to complete a research exercise that will screen-record their generative AI on a computer, along with their spoken explanations of their choices.

First-year scholars will serve as research assistants for all aspects of this project, including assisting Dr. Law in running the 30鈥�40 minute research sessions on the Marietta campus or on the 最色导航 campus. This includes greeting participants, administering a brief questionnaire, and using our screen/audio recording software to capture their think-aloud as they work with an AI tool.

• Transcribe recordings. After each session, you鈥檒l use transcription software and your own careful listening to produce a written transcript of the participant鈥檚 spoken explanations. You will check these transcripts for accuracy before we analyze them.
• Assist with data analysis. Working with Dr. Law, you'll learn how to apply a simple textual analysis to the transcripts and screen recordings. We鈥檒l meet on Teams to discuss what we鈥檙e seeing in the data and to start identifying common patterns in how students approach AI-assisted writing.
• Prepare recruitment and research presentations. Early in the semester, you will help design in-class presentations to recruit participants. You鈥檒l help turn findings into posters and slides for on-campus showcases and other research conferences. This is a great way to build your presentation skills and to share your work with others.

No prior research experience is required; we will train you on everything you need to know. You will complete human subjects ethics training (CITI) before you begin.

This is a unique chance to see the full life cycle of a research study from the inside and to develop skills that will serve you in any major. I hope some of you will consider joining us!

If you are curious, reliable, and willing to learn, this is a great way to build transferrable skills, explore how research happens at the university, and add something unique to your r茅sum茅 as a first-year student. First-year scholars will engage with the full life cycle of a research study.

Some of the concrete skills and techniques you鈥檒l develop include:

• Research ethics and compliance. You will complete online CITI training in human subjects protections and learn how researchers safeguard participants鈥� privacy.
• Participant management. You鈥檒l practice creating recruitment materials, sending professional emails, scheduling sessions, and greeting participants. You will learn how to walk participants through the protocol in a clear, friendly way.
• Using recording technology. We will train you to use screen- and audio-recording software so you can capture participants鈥� interactions with an AI writing tool. You鈥檒l learn basic troubleshooting to make sure recordings are high quality and de-identified.
• Transcription. After data collection, you鈥檒l use computer-assisted transcription programs and your own listening skills to turn audio into an accurate written transcript. This will sharpen your attention to language and detail.
• Qualitative data analysis. In lab meetings, you鈥檒l learn what data analysis is and how researchers systematically identify patterns in text and talk. You鈥檒l help develop and apply simple codes to the transcripts and discuss what those codes reveal about how people think when they write.
• AI literacy. Because the study focuses on how students use generative AI, you鈥檒l get hands-on exposure to current AI writing tools and a critical understanding of their capabilities and limitations.
• Teamwork and professional habits. You鈥檒l be part of a small research team, meet deadlines, contribute in lab discussions, and get personalized mentoring from a faculty member.

First-year scholars will serve as research assistants for all aspects of this project, including assisting Dr. Law in running the 30鈥�40 minute research sessions on the Marietta campus or on the 最色导航 campus. This includes greeting participants, administering a brief questionnaire, and using our screen/audio recording software to capture their think-aloud as they work with an AI tool.

• Transcribe recordings. After each session, you鈥檒l use transcription software and your own careful listening to produce a written transcript of the participant鈥檚 spoken explanations. You will check these transcripts for accuracy before we analyze them.
• Assist with data analysis. Working with Dr. Law, you'll learn how to apply a simple textual analysis to the transcripts and screen recordings. We鈥檒l meet on Teams to discuss what we鈥檙e seeing in the data and to start identifying common patterns in how students approach AI-assisted writing.
• Prepare recruitment and research presentations. Early in the semester, you will help design in-class presentations to recruit participants. You鈥檒l help turn findings into posters and slides for on-campus showcases and other research conferences. This is a great way to build your presentation skills and to share your work with others.

This project establishes a working group to support research, publication, networking, and professional development through applied cartooning. Presenting scholarly research via comics (also called comics-based research, or CBR) is a growing area of creative-critical practice in a number of fields, including English, education, communication, anthropology, folklore, and many more. Additionally, the ability to conduct reflective autoethnographic research (or qualitative research including the investigator's lived experiences as part of the data) is an important step for any developing researcher, particularly one just joining a new university community and scholarly discipline), Additionally this work intersects with the increasing popularity of graphic memoir in both academic and industry publishing circles.

Participants in this group will meet weekly with the PIs over the course of the academic year to learn about ethnographic research methods (including autoethnography), practice cartooning craft, collect data, and develop original research projects that address a need in their community. If approved, funding will be used to support the working group's attendance at the Non-Fiction Comics Festival in Burlington, VT (Nov. 15), as well as the American Folklore Society's Comics and Culture Section Zine Swap in Atlanta (Oct. 20), and a mini-convention to present original research projects at the end of the year, with a goal toward publishing these projects in nonfiction comics venues such as Crucial Comix and/or as a foundation for a longer graphic narrative book proposal. Additionally, working group members will develop a research-informed short comic using folk narrative to frame personal storytelling, as a contribution to an in-development comics anthology project led by the primary investigators. 

• Ability to conduct research using ethnographic methods (including autoethnography--conducting interviews, field work, systematic notetaking and documentation, qualitative analysis, IRB applications, etc.)
• Ability to design and circulate scholarly-creative research using applied cartooning and comics-based research/CBR methods (including adapting research data into narrative form, writing scripts, creating thumbnails, developing comics pages, writing descriptive alt text, producing finalized project, etc.)
• Professional development skills (including networking, submitting work for publication, participating in a working creative-scholarly community, peer mentoring)
• Ability to reflectively situate yourself as a developing researcher-creator in a new university and scholarly community, in connection to your long-term professional, creative, and academic goals

• Weekly mentoring/workshop meetings with PIs
• Weekly data collection for original autoethnographic project
• Weekly cartooning practice
• Weekly feedback on peer work
• Ongoing preparation for conventions in fall/spring semesters
• Ongoing preparation for publication and professional networking

Dr. Erin Bahl, ebahl@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Shuchita Mishra, smishra2@kennesaw.edu 

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence have significantly improved the capabilities of online platforms that generate 3D models. A few years ago, these AI-generated models often lacked structural integrity, resulting in failed prints and wasted materials. However, current tools鈥攕uch as Meshy AI and Tripo AI鈥攁re now capable of producing high-quality, printable 3D models with much greater reliability.

This project aims to systematically evaluate and compare the performance of several AI-based 3D model generators. The research will involve generating a variety of models using each platform, assessing their geometric accuracy, structural integrity, and print success rate using standard 3D printing techniques and materials. Models will be tested for common issues such as non-manifold geometry, thin walls, and unsupported overhangs.

The study will also explore the time efficiency and usability of these platforms compared to traditional manual modeling workflows using software such as Fusion, Blender or Tinkercad. If AI-generated models prove to be consistently reliable, this could lead to significant time savings in 3d modeling design processes. 

An additional goal of the project is to evaluate the potential of these tools in educational settings. By lowering the barrier to entry for students unfamiliar with 3D modeling software, AI generators could make it easier to integrate 3D printing into STEM curricula, fostering creativity and hands-on learning without requiring extensive technical training.

1. Describe the fundamental principles and workflow of 3D printing, including hardware, materials, and common challenges.
2. Identify and explain the basic concepts of 3D modeling, including geometry types, file formats, and modeling techniques.
3. Formulate effective prompts for AI-based 3D model generators (e.g., Meshy AI, Tripo AI) to produce models suitable for printing.
4. Apply post-processing techniques to prepare AI-generated 3D models for successful printing, including mesh repair, scaling, and slicing.
5. Convert raster images to SVG format and integrate them into AI model generation workflows.
6. Conduct a literature review to summarize and evaluate current research on AI-generated 3D modeling and its applications in education and design.

This research project investigates the evolving impact of political environments on refugee resettlement policies in Germany and the United States over the past five decades. By tracing policy developments from the mid-1970s to the present, the study examines how domestic political dynamics鈥攕uch as party ideologies, electoral shifts, public opinion, and institutional structures鈥攈ave shaped national responses to global refugee movements. The comparative framework highlights both convergences and divergences in the two countries鈥� approaches, offering insights into how liberal democracies balance humanitarian obligations with political constraints.

In Germany, the study explores the legacy of post-World War II refugee reception, the influence of European Union directives, and the political ramifications of the 2015 refugee crisis. It analyzes how shifting coalitions, rising populism, and debates over national identity have influenced policy decisions, including changes to asylum procedures, integration programs, and border enforcement. In the United States, the research focuses on the interplay between federal and state-level policies, the role of presidential administrations, and the impact of security concerns鈥攑articularly post-9/11鈥攐n refugee admissions and resettlement infrastructure. It also considers the influence of advocacy networks, religious organizations, and local governments in shaping outcomes.

Methodologically, the project draws on archival research, legislative records, policy documents, and interviews with policymakers and practitioners. It incorporates quantitative data on refugee admissions and qualitative analysis of political discourse to assess how narratives around refugees have evolved in each country. The study identifies key inflection points鈥攕uch as the end of the Cold War, the Balkan conflicts, and the Syrian civil war鈥攖hat prompted significant policy shifts and public debate.

Ultimately, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of how political environments mediate the implementation of refugee resettlement policies. It argues that while both Germany and the United States have institutional commitments to refugee protection, their policy trajectories are deeply shaped by domestic political pressures and strategic interests. The findings have implications for current debates on refugee governance, democratic accountability, and the resilience of humanitarian norms in an era of rising nationalism and geopolitical uncertainty.

Undergraduate students participating in this project will gain a broad set of academic and professional skills through hands-on engagement with a comparative political science research initiative. They will develop:

• Qualitative Research Skills: Students will learn how to conduct archival research, analyze policy documents, and interpret political discourse. They will gain experience coding qualitative data and identifying themes across legislative texts and media narratives.
• Comparative Policy Analysis: By examining refugee resettlement policies in both Germany and the United States, students will learn how to compare political systems, institutional structures, and policy outcomes across different national contexts.
• Critical Thinking and Argumentation: Students will be trained to evaluate the influence of political ideologies, public opinion, and historical events on refugee policy. They will learn to construct evidence-based arguments and assess competing interpretations.
• Data Collection and Management: Students may assist in gathering and organizing data from government sources, international organizations, and academic databases. They will learn how to manage and document research data ethically and systematically.
• Academic Writing and Communication: Students will contribute to drafting literature reviews, policy summaries, and research findings. They will also have opportunities to present their work in academic settings, such as undergraduate research conferences or departmental seminars.
• Interviewing and Fieldwork Techniques: If applicable, students may participate in designing interview protocols and conducting interviews with policymakers, practitioners, or community stakeholders.
• Digital Literacy: Students will use research tools such as citation managers, collaborative writing platforms, and data visualization software to support their work.
• Professional Development: Through mentorship and collaboration, students will gain insight into the research process, build confidence in their academic abilities, and prepare for graduate study or careers in public policy, international affairs, or political science.

Undergraduate researchers will participate in weekly tasks that support the development and execution of a comparative political science research project focused on refugee resettlement policies in Germany and the United States. Each week, students will:

• Conduct literature reviews using academic databases to identify relevant scholarly articles, policy reports, and historical documents.
• Analyze policy documents and legislative records from both countries, identifying key themes, shifts, and political influences over time.
• Assist with data organization and coding, including qualitative analysis of political speeches, media coverage, and government statements.
• Participate in team meetings to discuss findings, refine research questions, and receive mentorship on research methods and writing.
• Draft summaries and annotated bibliographies to support the development of the final research paper and presentations.
• Maintain research logs and documentation, ensuring transparency and consistency in data collection and analysis.

U.S employees will spend an average of 2.8 hours per week involved with conflict, which will amount to approximately $359 billion in paid work hours (based on an average hourly rate of $17.95), or the equivalent of 385 million working days (The Workplace Institute, 2021). Research within Industrial Organizational Psychology has largely explored only the negative effects of conflict in the workplace, treating it as an occupational stressor. However, other disciplines task a more balanced approach to conflict, acknowledging that conflict may not always lead to negative outcomes and may even lead to positive outcomes.

This project will explore the effects of interpersonal conflict on attitudes toward workplace safety and health programming. While conflict itself can be a barrier to the implementation and use of programming, it can also have unintended positive outcomes, such as being the driving motivator behind organizational change. Therefore, we anticipate there will be a curvilinear relationship between conflict and attitudes toward safety and health programming, such that moderate levels of conflict are associated with the highest levels of intention to participate.

These expectations align with Social Exchange Theory, which finds that an employee will put in the work and effort as long as they feel the organization or leaders are reciprocating in the relationship. These hypotheses will be tested in two samples: a sample of working students recruited through SONA and a sample of employees working in high-risk protective service and healthcare occupations recruited through a snowball campaign via social media. These two samples will facilitate an exploration of conflict and attitudes toward safety and health programming among a breadth of occupations and in high-risk settings where conflict can be more frequent (Brockman, 2014; Kim et al., 2017) and barriers to participation in safety and health programming can be particularly salient (Horan, 2021). This study will promote a more balanced approach to conflict in IO Psychology, which is better aligned with other disciplines such as conflict management, and will provide useful insights for workplaces regarding the management of conflicts and the promotion of workplace safety and health.  

Are you interested in neuroscience? Well, who isn鈥檛, right? If you think neuroscience is as awesome as we do, please consider working with us!  It will be a great learning experience.  You will be able to work one on one with several professors and other students in our lab! 

What do we do? 

We look at the relationship among substance use, trauma, and psychological well-being with a focus on how these factors modify executive functioning. In addition, we are focused on how inflammatory biomarkers and gene variations at the level of single nucleotides can influence these relationships.  

What is executive function? 

Executive function is a term for the metacognitive processes that underlie decision making, planning, memory, and impulse control. These processes help you focus on tasks, solve problems, and let you make good, or not so good, decisions. 

What are biomarkers?  

Biomarkers are measures of what is happening in an organism. For example, blood pressure or heart rate are biomarkers! We get our biomarkers from saliva (don鈥檛 worry, we wear gloves)!  We are interested stress and inflammatory biomarkers like C-reactive protein and Interleukin-6 and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in COMT (Catechol-O-Methyltransferase) and BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor).  

What is your part: 

You would be part of a faculty led lab group that runs participants through a series of computer tasks and salvia collection.  

You would be working in our biomarkers lab conducting enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and quantitative polymerase chain reactions (qPCRs).  ELISAs are an elegant (and straightforward) procedure for looking for biomarkers in human samples and qPCR allows us to identify certain DNA sequences of interest.

Before you start with those tasks, we will teach you how to perform typical wet lab activities including pipetting, using lab equipment (e.g., centrifuge, -80 freezer) and the processes needed to perform typical lab duties (i.e., handling specimens, performing serial dilutions). Also, you will be trained on cleaning and analyzing data and relating existing literature to this process.  

You will have the opportunity to develop an independent research project using our variables to present at the Symposium of Student Scholars and possibly other undergraduate and professional venues.  

Involvement in this project will provide you with a solid foundation in neuroscience research and techniques! Please consider joining us! 

The students working on this project will: 

• Complete the safety and content certifications (CITI and CMS) required to work in a wet lab environment (e.g., Lab
• Safety, Hazardous Materials, Human Subjects Research). 
• Become familiar with and use typical wet lab equipment such as a centrifuge, pipets, and a plate washer.  
• Perform serial dilutions and create standard curves using the Pierce 660 assay.  
• Perform Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) focusing on two main biomarkers, CRP and IL-6 in human saliva. 
• Learn to program the Gen 6 software for reading plates. 
• Perform DNA extraction and qPCR.
• Work with the faculty members in analyzing data using appropriate statistical methods in SPSS or R. 
• Synthesize and critically analyze past research in their field of study. 

• Attend lab meetings (weekly or bi-weekly depending on lab activities) 
• Present research article summaries at meetings
• Run participants through the experiment
• Engage in training activities to become proficient at performing ELISAs. 
• Conduct ELISAs as needed. 
• Engage in training to perform DNA extraction and qPCR.
• Enter Behavioral Data into Spreadsheet 

Dr. Sharon Pearcey, spearcey@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Erica Holliday, ehollid1@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Cody Mashburn, cmashb10@kennesaw.edu 

What if every psychology class gave students the chance to do research, not just read about it? This year-long project will explore how hands-on research experiences (labs, demonstrations, and experiments) can deepen learning and engagement in psychology courses.

As a First-Year Scholar, you will help design and carry out a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study that examines the impact of integrating research directly into the classroom. Instead of only hearing about classic studies in neuroscience, cognition, emotion, and behavior, students in these courses will actively design and test their own demonstrations and experiments. For example, a class might explore memory by running a mini-experiment on how distraction affects recall, or study perception through illusions and reaction-time tasks.

Your role will be to collaborate with faculty in creating these activities, collecting data on how students respond to them, and analyzing whether they improve understanding, engagement, and attitudes toward psychological science. We will gather both quantitative measures (e.g., student performance and participation) and qualitative insights (e.g., student reflections and survey feedback). By comparing outcomes across multiple sections of psychology courses over two semesters, we can ask important questions: Do students who design and perform experiments feel more connected to the science of psychology? Do these activities make learning more memorable and meaningful?
This project combines the excitement of research with the practical goal of improving teaching and learning. You鈥檒l gain hands-on experience in experimental design, data collection, and analysis while also exploring what makes research experiences effective in educational settings. Importantly, you will not just observe but actively shape the study: helping craft classroom experiments, assisting in their implementation, and evaluating their impact.

No prior research background is required. Only curiosity, teamwork, and a willingness to explore how psychology can be taught in more interactive ways. By the end of the year, you鈥檒l better understand both the science of psychology and the science of learning, while contributing to knowledge that can transform how future students experience their classes.

By working on this project, you will gain hands-on experience in both psychological research and the science of teaching and learning. You鈥檒l develop a broad set of skills that will be valuable in college and beyond:

• Research Design & Experimentation: Learn how to design and run classroom-based psychology experiments and demonstrations related to neuroscience, cognition, emotion, and behavior.
• Data Collection & Analysis: Gain experience collecting real data from students in psychology courses, organizing it, and using basic analysis to evaluate results.
• Critical Thinking: Strengthen your ability to ask scientific questions, interpret findings, and consider alternative explanations.
• Collaboration: Work closely with faculty and peers to create innovative learning tools and experiments, practicing teamwork in a professional research setting.
• Communication: Improve your ability to explain complex scientific concepts clearly, whether in writing, discussion, or visual presentation.
• Educational Innovation: Explore the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), a field that examines how students learn. Contribute to research that has the potential to improve psychology education.
• Professional Development: Build confidence in reading and applying scientific literature, preparing you for more advanced research opportunities in psychology, neuroscience, or related fields.

You will also develop transferable skills like project management, problem-solving, and adaptability as you help design and test interactive learning activities. No prior experience is required. This project is designed for first-year students who are curious and motivated to learn.

By the end of the year, you鈥檒l not only understand more about psychology and neuroscience but also see how research can make a real difference in students鈥� success. You鈥檒l leave with stronger research skills, deeper confidence, and a meaningful contribution to improving how psychology is taught and learned.

Each week, you鈥檒l take part in activities that blend hands-on research with creative problem-solving. Your weekly duties will give you a chance to experience what it鈥檚 like to 鈥渢hink like a scientist鈥� while also shaping how psychology is taught.
Some weeks you will:

• Design and test experiments 鈥� Work with your mentor and peers to brainstorm and create classroom demonstrations and lab activities related to neuroscience, cognition, behavior, and emotion.
• Collect and organize data 鈥� Help gather information from psychology courses, including surveys, reflections, or performance data, and assist in preparing it for analysis.
• Analyze results 鈥� Learn basic tools for looking at patterns in data, drawing conclusions, and considering how the findings might inform teaching.
• Participate in team meetings 鈥� Meet regularly with your faculty mentor and fellow students to share progress, discuss challenges, and make decisions about next steps.
• Engage with the science of learning 鈥� Read short articles or discuss ideas about how people learn, remember, and stay engaged in class, and connect those ideas to your project.
• Create learning tools 鈥� Assist in building interactive activities, demonstrations, or online experiments that future psychology students will use.

Weekly time commitments will be a mix of independent work (such as organizing data or drafting ideas) and collaborative work (such as meetings, design sessions, and classroom observations). Most tasks will take place in a hybrid format, combining online meetings and on-campus activities.

By the end of each week, you鈥檒l see progress toward a larger research project, whether that鈥檚 refining a demonstration, collecting new data, or reviewing early findings. Every step you take contributes to real research that can improve student learning in psychology.

Approximately 50% of Americans will develop depression and/or anxiety at some point in their lives. While several psychological interventions are effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, very few patients are able to access these interventions due to multiple barriers. These barriers include, but are not limited to: (a) lack of availability of health care providers, (b) time constraints that preclude full engagement in these often time-intensive interventions, and (c) patients鈥� desire to work through their mental health symptoms on their own. Mindfulness-based interventions are effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Mindfulness is defined as awareness of present-moment experiences with attitudes of acceptance, openness, and curiosity. Unfortunately, despite the effectiveness of mindfulness programs, very few providers are qualified to facilitate these interventions, and they typically require more than two hours of commitment per week over an eight-week period.

Thankfully, researchers have begun to develop and test brief, self-guided, online mindfulness interventions to reduce barriers to access. These digital mindfulness self-help interventions are much more accessible, often free or low cost, and allow patients to work autonomously to improve their mental health, addressing several of the barriers described above. Many studies show these interventions are effective in reducing depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. While digital self-help mindfulness interventions are becoming widely available, it is still not yet known who would benefit most from them, nor do we fully understand prospective patients鈥� perceptions of these interventions and how such perceptions predict likelihood of engagement.

This project will examine perceptions (beliefs about the credibility of the intervention; beliefs about the acceptability or validity of the intervention) and whether dispositional (pre-existing) levels of mindfulness predict perceptions of digital self-help mindfulness interventions. This research is critical for developing promotional materials for potential patients and for gauging response to and palatability of these interventions. The goal is to reduce attitudinal barriers to accessing these already more accessible interventions, so that more people who need them can engage with them based on accurate information.

Students participating in this project will gain valuable hands-on research experience in psychology while working closely with a faculty mentor. Students will contribute to several key phases of the research process.

Specifically, students will:

• Review and synthesize research literature on mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions.
• Learn how to critically evaluate scientific studies and summarize findings clearly.
• Work with real data to conduct statistical analyses, which will translate to gaining practical skills in data handling and interpretation.
• Participate in the process of preparing manuscripts for publication, including writing sections, developing tables/figures, and editing drafts.
• Collaborate with peers and mentors, developing professional communication and teamwork skills.

By the end of the project, students will have a stronger understanding of how psychological research is conducted, from conceptualization through dissemination. The goal is to cultivate critical thinking, scientific writing, and data analysis. These skills that are highly transferable to future coursework, research experiences, and professional development.

Each week, students will participate in activities that build research skills and contribute directly to the project. While specific tasks may vary depending on the stage of the research, typical weekly duties will include:

• Literature Review: Reading and summarizing articles on mindfulness, digital self-help programs, and mental health interventions. Students will practice identifying key findings and synthesizing information across studies.
• Data Analysis: Working with survey data, learning how to clean datasets, run basic statistical tests, and interpret results under faculty guidance.
• Writing and Editing: Contributing to sections of manuscripts (e.g., literature review or results) and assisting with the preparation of tables, figures, and references.
• Team Collaboration: Attending weekly meetings to discuss progress, share ideas, and receive mentorship and feedback.
• Professional Development: Learning about the broader research process, ethical considerations, and opportunities for presenting or publishing findings.

On average, students will spend their weekly time combining independent reading and writing, with collaborative tasks in meetings. The goal is for students to steadily build confidence as emerging scholars while contributing to meaningful psychological research.

Loneliness among older adults is a pressing and growing public health concern, shaped by societal and economic shifts. A recent meta-analysis found that 27.6% of older adults experience loneliness, with the highest rates in North America (30.5%). In the United States, the problem is even more pronounced: approximately 37% of adults aged 50鈥�80 report feeling lonely, and 34% report feeling socially isolated. Despite the rapid expansion of digital technologies, older adults are often excluded from mainstream technology design. This exclusion creates a critical gap in interventions aimed at reducing loneliness and fostering social connection. Research indicates that the health and well-being impacts of co-designed technology are rarely studied, making it difficult to determine their effectiveness. Moreover, future co-design efforts must address barriers unique to older adults, such as limited digital literacy, accessibility concerns, and developers鈥� frequent oversight of their specific needs (Sumner et al., 2021).

To address this gap, our project adopts a stakeholder-inclusive approach that prioritizes the voices and perspectives of older adults and their support networks. We will analyze a series of interviews with older adults, family members, volunteers, and service providers to understand: 1) Needs and challenges in adopting digital tools; 2) Expectations for app features and usability; 3) Barriers to technology use; 4) Concerns about privacy and trust.  Insights from this qualitative research will inform the early development of a multidisciplinary framework that integrates a community-driven corpus, age-sensitive elicitation techniques, and inclusive validation strategies. By emphasizing inclusivity and co-design perspectives, our work seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical advances in responsible technology design and the creation of practical, empowering digital solutions that respect and support older adults in a connected world.

Dr. Israel Sanchez-Cardona, isanche7@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Paola Spoletini, pspoleti@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Maria Valero, mvalero2@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Valentina Nino, lvallad1@kennesaw.edu 

KSU has created lots of initiatives around student success, but the university has not asked students how they define their own success. Our team of researchers at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning aim to add student voices to this community conversation, centered around two main questions: 1) how do students define student success? 2) What are some simple things their professors can do to support them toward their definition of success?

We will then incorporate our findings into future initiatives for student success at the university.

Our research team subscribes to the principle of students-as-partners. Our research will directly benefit students, so they should not merely be passive research subjects. Instead, through participation in this project, you will participate in all aspects of the research project, choosing to dive deeper in areas that interest you. Possible skills to develop include the following:

• formulating and refining research questions
• conducting an annotated literature review
• creating interview protocols
• conduct semi-structured interviews from scripted prompts and follow ups
• creating an online survey in Qualtrics
• basic data manipulation in excel
• editing the research write-up to create papers and reports
• interactive presentation skills 

Students will participate in several activities, depending on the phase of the project. In the beginning they will:

• attend meetings with the team to brainstorm aspects of this project
• read on the topic of student success and contribute to a literature review
• take the IRB training

During the active research phase, students will:

• assist in running user-testing focus groups
• help in recruiting participants
• assist in creating the survey
• assist in editing the protocols
• conduct basic analyses of the data
• assist in running follow-up focus group

In the write-up and  dissemination phase, students will:

• review and edit the resulting papers
• give presentations on the research
• assist with creating conference posters  

Dr. Michele Di Pietro, mdipietr@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Tanja Link, tlink1@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Vanessa Slinger-Friedman, vslinger@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Meghan Bankhead, mbankhe1@kennesaw.edu 

Dr. Sheena Brown, sbrow566@kennesaw.edu