The fourth annual Three Minute Thesis competition was held earlier this semester at the Normal Theater in uptown Normal. Ten graduate students squared off against one another by presenting their research in a brief three minutes or less. Nearly 200 people were in attendance for the event.
Department of Psychology student Jennifer Woodrum received a $500 prize for placing second in the competition. Woodrum presented her research on how perfectionists deal with failure.
Woodrum’s Thesis Committee Chair, Dr. Jeffrey Kahn of the Department of Psychology, was very impressed with her work.
Jennifer Woodrum received a $500 prize for placing second in the competition.
“Jen’s thesis is among the most ambitious master’s theses I have supervised,” Kahn said. “She tested a novel question about the role of perfectionism on emotion regulation that integrated correlational and experimental methods, she used sophisticated data analyses to test her theory-driven hypotheses, and she presented her findings in a way that clearly translated complex ideas. Jen’s presentation style is engaging and was highly deserving of her success at the 3MT competition.”
Woodrum recently defended her master’s thesis and was invited to present her research at the Midwest Psychological Association (MPA) Annual Meeting. After graduating, she plans to become a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and work with a mental health agency.
The Graduate School organizes the Three Minute Thesis competition to showcase the wide range of research happening at Illinois State. The concept was developed by The University of Queensland in Australia and has been adopted by institutions of higher education in more than 85 countries.
