<![CDATA[At the critical stage of completing the final project, academic and social pressures on students become an important context that influences the dynamics of symbolic interaction and students’ self-expression. Therefore, this study aims to understand whether symbolic interaction in interpersonal communication affects students’ self-expression during the completion of the final project. This study uses an associative quantitative approach with a survey method. Data collection was conducted through the distribution of questionnaires to 64 respondents from a total population of 179, selected based on Slovin's formula from the predetermined population. The research results show that symbolic interaction and self-expression of the 2021 class students at IAI AL-AZIS during the final project completion process occur through the use of communication symbols, both verbal and nonverbal. There is a positive and significant influence, meaning that the higher the quality of symbolic interaction, the higher the self-expression displayed by the students. This is demonstrated by the results of a simple linear regression analysis which produced a correlation coefficient (Multiple R) value of 0.8661, indicating a very strong relationship between symbolic interaction and student self-expression. The determination coefficient (R Square) value of 0.7502 indicates that the symbolic interaction variable has a 75.02% influence on student self-expression. The Adjusted R Square value of 0.7463 reinforces that this regression model is quite good and consistent. Therefore, it can be concluded that symbolic interaction has a significant and strong influence on the self-expression values of the 2021 class students at IAI AL-AZIS in completing their final project.]]>
