Nov 22
Apr 09, 2020
Lake Superior State University student, Kyle Silvas was awarded the Kapp Award from the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters (MASAL). Silvas, who is a Psychology student with a minor in Counseling at LSSU was awarded the Kapp Award that recognizes outstanding undergraduate research through his research on Exploring the Impact of Diet on Depression and Anxiety.
Through a LSSU education, Silvas indicated that he has been prepared for his future career especially through aspects on conducting research. “There are so many variables to take into account for any research and it’s so easy to miss the finer points, but here I was able to develop my critical thinking skills and problem solving abilities to be able to see all perspectives of the research and how it may apply to variables I wasn’t even initially focused on,” indicated Silvas.
For students considering a Psychology major, Silvas was asked what advice he would give to future students. Silvas’s advice is to “make SPSS your best friend. This software, though intimidating at first, makes your life so much easier when you are gathering all of your statistics and once you learn how to operate it, it is relatively easy to navigate. Also if you have the opportunity use an online survey platform like survey monkey to have people take your surveys, do it! It saves you a ton of time by putting the numerical data into a ready to go excel format that would have normally taken you hours to catalogue and does individual breakdowns of each stat automatically for you. Doing the online survey also will garner more people to take the survey as it’s more convenient and accessible rather than being locked to a certain room and time.”
Speaking with Kyle Silvas after he was notified of receiving the award, he was asked what the award meant to him. Silvas indicated that “this award to me means a lot to me in terms of being recognized for my research, especially since this is the first in depth research I’ve done. It will also look amazing for grad school and makes me feel even more confident in my abilities to conduct thorough research in the future.”
Lake Superior State University is one of Michigan’s most affordable public universities with One-Rate at Lake State tuition for all. Surrounded by three Great Lakes, LSSU is an unsurpassed location for research, focusing on real-world experiences. Well known for programs such as fisheries and wildlife management, engineering, nursing, criminal justice, and fire science; Lake State is also leading the way with innovative new programs, including cannabis chemistry, cannabis business and robotics engineering. For more information, visit LSSU.edu.
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