EDPR Student Wins Top Award at National APA Conference
August 20, 2024 - Educational Psychology and Research (EDPR) doctoral student Elisha Lawrence is still in a state of surprise after walking away with the top prize in his category at the American Psychological Association’s (APA) annual conference in Seattle earlier this month, his first time attending.
“I was very excited,” Lawrence said. “It was validating to see that the research was interesting to others. It makes me excited to keep working on research so that I can provide meaningful insight into my field.”
His presentation, titled, “Identification with School and COVID-Related Stress,” focused on K-12 students and their sense of belonging in a school environment following the COVID-19 pandemic. EDPR Program Coordinator Dr. Chris Mueller shared the nature of this project to Lawrence early on. They along with Dr. Lilya Jiang, a former faculty in the University of Memphis School of Psychology and now at Temple University, worked on the project together.
“I was excited to take part,” Lawrence said. “(Dr. Mueller’s) motivation in research was a factor in me choosing the University of Memphis. We were curious about whether students feeling connected to their school and valuing of the institution positively impacted their academic persistence and life satisfaction in the wake of stressors from COVID. Encouragingly, that was the case with this group of students.”
The presentation was slotted into Division 53 of the APA, which is the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCCAP). At the conference, Lawrence was one of only two winners out of more than 70 presenters in Division 53. Afterward, he credited Dr. Mueller for the win.
“Without his help, there is no way I could have done this,” Lawrence said. “The (EDPR) faculty hold us to a high standard, and getting to be a part of the research process with faculty who have years of wisdom and experience is such a blessing.”
“We’re so proud of Elisha,” said Mueller. “This is such a wonderful accomplishment for one of our EDPR doctoral students.”
Lawrence, who was born in Memphis and grew up in Jonesboro, AR, aspires to be a faculty member teaching and doing research in social emotional learning and character education. He has a year and a half left in the EDPR program and said he’ll definitely be putting his APA award on his resume.
EDPR is a degree program within the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology & Research (CEPR) in the University of Memphis College of Education.