AUTUMN RITTER
Minnesota State University - Mankato, Class of 2022

During the spring semester of 2019, I took Honors Psychology 101 with Dr. Karla Lassonde. The objective of this class was to teach the foundation of psychological concepts; we learned about the science of the brain, the psychology behind mental illnesses, and other neural processes. One major focus of this course was the specific psychology behind learning and what that looks like within the brain. The culmination of our knowledge in this course was displayed through a research project, where each student examined a psychological tactic to improve studying habits. This study was then presented to a group of psychology students, both in our class as well as other psych courses taught by Dr. Lassonde.

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I completed my research study on the use of academic resources and time management as studying tools. Although these seem like very surface level tactics, I was able to use information from various psychological studies to better communicate to students how these skills have a proven positive impact. Obviously, I used many of the resources provided in class for this project, but I had to use my information literacy skills to discern between information that would be beneficial to be included in the study. This psychological knowledge was then incorporated into my study in synthesis with various information about resources on campus, the barriers to effective time management, and how to overcome those obstacles.

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The overall product of my research efforts was a result that I believe is extremely well-rounded. I was able to not only use the information I was given in regard to learning, but also an incorporation of my own experiences as a college student with studying and procrastination. I not only understood my audience and was able to relate to them, but I was also able to organize my research in a way that fulfilled my goals of accuracy, effectiveness, and relatability. Although my research topic was not anything that hasn't been done before, this project provided a strong foundation for my research skills. With this, I now have a basic (but necessary) set of skills to be utilized and built upon within any future research endeavor, big or small.

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