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Rooted in place: The intersection of healing and learning within Indigenous mental health
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education, University of Regina. xvi, 469 p.This dissertation offers a comparative exploration of the role of place in influencing healing and learning within Indigenous contexts, contributing to the expanding literature on place as a determinant of health. Through an in-depth examination of three distinct sites — Prairie Sky School, the nato' we ho win program, and Queen City Wellness Pharmacy — this research provides a unique lens through which to view the process of decolonization and highlights place as an active determinant of well-being. Viewed through the Decolonized Theory of Place, this research unveils the intricate interplay between place and well-being and provides a holistic framework for understanding the complex dynamics at play. The objectives of this study sought to uncover the multifaceted elements of "what heals you here," exploring how place contributes to healing, learning, and overall well-being. Additionally, the dissertation proposes a Caring for the Researcher model, acknowledging the reciprocity and mutual well-being necessary for authentic engagement with Indigenous communities. While this study acknowledges limitations stemming from geographic focus and its qualitative nature, its implications and recommendations offer valuable insights for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers committed to advancing Indigenous mental health practices. This research contributes to the broader discourse on Indigenous well-being and underscores the pivotal role of place in fostering healing, learning, and collective growth.
Keywords: Indigenous health, healing, learning, place, Decolonized Theory of Place, determinants of health, decolonization.Studentye
Walking trajectory by gender and reference frame is all-right
No full textA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. vii, 29 p.Each hemisphere of the brain has specialized functions. The right hemisphere is dominant for spatial processing in most people, and also processes the left field of vision. It is believed that these lateralized functions underlie the left visual field bias frequently observed on visuospatial tasks, wherein individuals appear to overattend the left side of space and slightly neglect the right. These lateralized functions are also thought to underlie the rightward collision bias frequently reported on laboratory navigation tasks, which would also necessarily entail a rightward walking trajectory. The present study used a naturalistic observational design to determine if walking behaviours in the real world demonstrate a rightward bias. Further, because differences in hemispheric function are more pronounced in men than women, perceived gender was also examined. Observations were made for both absolute walking side within a hall (allocentric reference frame) and passing side relative to another person (egocentric reference frame). Strict rightward biases were found independent of condition and perceived gender. These natural walking pattern findings are consistent with the rightward bias frequently reported on laboratory collision tasks, but are not consistent with findings on other laterality tasks in which women demonstrate smaller biases than men. This study is part of a larger international collaboration exploring the role that a country’s driving side may have in impacting natural walking biases and biases observed in laboratory collision and other visuospatial tasks
The sustainability of Saskatchewan municipalities
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy, University of Regina. xiv, 201 p.Although the municipal government is considered closest to the people, municipalities are not referenced in the Canadian constitution. Recognizing this gap, soon after joining the Confederation of Canada in 1905, Saskatchewan enacted a municipal act to regulate its rural and urban sectors. The province sought to ensure that citizens in urban municipalities were provided with municipal services such as water and sewage treatment, medical services, and recreation and that rural municipalities served agricultural land with roads, bridges, and other necessary infrastructure. The critical difference between urban and rural municipalities lies in population density, governance structure, and the types of services and infrastructure provided. Urban municipalities serve more densely populated areas with a range of services, while rural municipalities serve less populated, often agricultural regions focusing on maintaining roads and supporting agriculture. That said, in their role in supporting agriculture and industry, urban municipalities became regional economic hubs. With technological advancements in the agriculture industry and urbanization rates, the average farm size went from 160 acres under the 1872 Dominion Lands Claim Act to approximately 1,700 acres by 2021. The result has left many communities with shrinking populations. Roughly 166 of the existing 775 communities in Saskatchewan have more than 1,000 people, while 130 have less than 100 people.
How sustainable are communities with such small populations? Given that the municipal legislative framework belongs to the provincial government, the research questions in this project seek to investigate why the provincial government refused to consolidate municipal governments despite data-supported arguments, including the recent Taskforce on Legislative Renewal led by Dr. Joe Garcea in 2000. This research aims to understand why the provincial
government has forced the amalgamation of the school board system but has yet to restructure municipal governments despite previous attempts.
This study develops a single case study using qualitative methods to analyze municipal governments in Saskatchewan. I collected and analyzed interviews with current and past municipal leaders, examining the data against the veto players' power theory developed by Dr. George Tsebelis, which employs historical institutionalism for its explanatory power to illustrate the resistance to change. The interview data are analyzed using the NVivo analytical platform, which allowed me to produce trend lines based on assigned attributes and codes.
A total of 40 interviews were conducted and analyzed. During the data analysis phase of this project, several trends emerged. Veto players, such as the government of Saskatchewan and municipal leaders, have generally been far apart in their respective public policy positions regarding amalgamations. Municipal government leaders have historically demonstrated a strong status quo bias, resisted change, and, over time, produced path-dependent institutional processes. Municipal leaders have recognized that, eventually, there will be a need for amalgamations, but a bottom-up approach must drive this process.
Three significant themes surfaced during the analysis of the data collected. First, the influence of historical institutional patterns leads decision-making processes down a path-dependent trajectory. A second theme based upon historical institutional introduced institutional change inertia by introducing status quo biases. Third, because municipal government leaders have varying opinions about amalgamation, MLAs are concerned about disturbing their voting base by forcing any modernization of the municipal sector. As the constitutional veto player governing the municipal sector, the provincial government will only foster sector modernization by incentivizing incremental change.Studentye
Dielectric characterization of materials and lossy filter design using reflected group delay
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Electronic Systems Engineering, University of Regina. xxii, 225 p.Filters play a significant role in different types of communication systems such as radars, cellular mobile and satellite communication. They are helpful in improving the performance of a communication system by restricting the transmission to the intended frequency band and rejecting the interfering signals from outside. Filters are expected to provide distortion free transmission to the signals in the passband and thus require flat in-band response and an adequate amount of out-of-band rejection. Filter technologies employing coaxial, waveguide and dielectric resonators can meet these requirements but at the cost of large size. Low loss in these filter technologies can be identified by their high quality factor (Q-factor).
Higher insertion loss (lower Q-factor) in the filter response is acceptable based on the communication system using that filter and its position in that system. Filter design must deal with the electrical and physical specifications based on the required filter response. The concept of lossy filter is based on the fact that loss in a filter is distributed among the various resonators in a way that helps to achieve flat in-band response. This is achieved at the cost of degraded insertion loss. In this way, lossy filters provide an effective solution to the applications that can afford low Q-factor and higher insertion loss.
Resonator is a building block in a filter network and a good understanding of resonators is quite useful in developing an insight of a filter network. Resonators also have a good deal of applications in methods used to perform dielectric characterization of materials. Keeping this connection of resonators and filter in view, the initial research presented in this thesis is focused on lossy resonators. This was helpful in developing some methods for dielectric characterization of materials. In addition to that, the research carried out using lossy resonators has also been helpful in understanding the behavior of resonators in a filter network with the change in amount of loss.
The thesis provides a detailed discussion on methods developed to determine the dielectric properties of materials using the reflected group delay of lossy resonators. Methods of dielectric characterization proposed in the thesis can be categorized as methods using an overcoupled coaxial resonator for testing the materials filled inside it and methods using a capacitively coupled microstrip circuit for testing the microstrip substrates.
Mathematical models for these methods are based on the reflected group delay of an overcoupled lossy resonator and can be applied in a procedural manner to extract the dielectric constant and loss tangent of the material under test. The errors in extracting dielectric constant and loss tangent are 2%-5% and 30%-100% respectively and depend on the resonator type, material under test, and test setup parameters. The methods are validated through the characterization of various materials using both the coaxial and microstrip resonators.
A method of lossy filter design using reflected group delay is also proposed in this thesis. The research presented in this part of thesis describes the effect of decrease in Q-factor on the in-band response in terms of insertion loss and return loss. It also explains the effect of loss on the group delay of a filter network and introduces the use of negative group delay in lossy filter design. The proposed method tends to recover the loss of in-band flatness due to decrease in Q-factor through resistive cross coupling. A circuit model for microstrip coupled line bandpass filter with different specifications are derived using the proposed method to study the improvement in the in-band flatness. The method of group delay is then integrated with Implicit Space Mapping (ISM) technique to derive EM models for the corresponding circuit models. The quantitative analysis of the simulated scenarios using the proposed method shows a significant improvement of 0.5-2.0 dB in the in-band flatness of the filter response. Finally, a microstrip filter is fabricated and tested to validate the method proposed for lossy filter design.Studentye
The thief and the beauty queen
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Creative Writing and English, University of Regina. v, 119 p.The Thief and the Beauty Queen is a middle-grade novel told from the perspectives of
two eleven-year-olds, Landon and Cora—one known for theft and the other for social media
fame—who must collaborate to mend their tarnished reputations. Aimed at readers aged 8-12,
the story reflects the modern pressures young people face in balancing their online personas with
their real-life identities. Drawing from my nineteen years of teaching experience, I sought to
create a narrative that emphasizes authenticity and accountability, illustrating that we are not
defined by others' perceptions. The novel appeals to readers by incorporating two alternating
narrative voices. The plot tackles timeless and contemporary issues, such as child crime, social
media challenges, and working-class economic hardship.
As a New Realism novel that tackles controversial topics, my story distinguishes itself
from what critics of children's literature have called "problem novels" by presenting complex
themes without oversimplification. This thesis is an excerpt from my larger novel, The Thief and
the Beauty Queen. These 99 pages establish Landon's desire to leave his stealing past behind and
Cora's frustration with her mother, who is obsessed with helping Cora achieve viral fame.
Metafiction is woven into the text by having both narrators directly address young
readers with the pronoun “you,” compelling readers to navigate the conflicting points of view
presented. The reader becomes Landon’s and Cora’s confidant, as each narrator shares their fears
and dreams. Ultimately, The Thief and the Beauty Queen addresses the contemporary issues that
resonate with today's youth.Studentye
La sociolinguistique pour le changement en immersion française : un examen transdisciplinaire d’idéologies linguistiques dans les prairies canadiennes
No full textCet article examine les discours d’enseignants1 et d’élèves en immersion française sur les
idéologies linguistiques qui les empêchent d’être inclus dans les communautés francophones.
Nous débutons par une recension des écrits sur certaines idéologies pour mieux connaître le
travail qui se fait déjà dans le domaine. À partir de la sociolinguistique pour le changement
qui prend une approche critique et réflexive sur notre rôle en tant que chercheurs ainsi que
sur l’examen des relations de pouvoir chez les parlants de français langue seconde, nous
examinons des extraits de nos recherches qui traitent des discours sur les idéologies
présentes. Notre équipe transdisciplinaire examine donc les variétés linguistiques ; la sécurité
linguistique des élèves ; la pertinence de l’immersion pour les élèves plurilingues et les rôles
des répertoires linguistiques des élèves dans l’apprentissage du français en immersion. Nous
constatons que les discours continuent à exclure les apprenants de français, mais que ces
discours commencent à changer, surtout chez les apprenants plurilingues. Si on s’éloigne un
peu de l’idée que la francophonie doit être d’une certaine façon, on conclut que des
changements sont possibles
L'insécurité linguistique chez les élèves d'immersion française en Saskatchewan
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in French and Francophone Intercultural Studies, University of Regina. xiv, 295 p.Although French immersion program has been quite successful over the last few years in Saskatchewan due to the number of students enrolled in the program, many students in the program demonstrate a lack of confidence in expressing themselves in French. This PhD thesis attempts to provide a better understanding of linguistic insecurity among French immersion students in Saskatchewan while drawing on the perspectives of students and teachers; perspectives such as these are not clearly reflected in most studies on linguistic insecurity among French immersion students in Canada. The qualitative and quantitative data collected from students and teachers lead to the conclusion that, generally, most French immersion students in Saskatchewan have a positive attitude toward French language, and they consider their experience in the program a positive one. However, despite their enviable level of proficiency in French, some of them are not always confident to express themselves in French in certain circumstances, especially outside of a well-structured French class. This lack of confidence does not necessarily stem from a low level of proficiency in French but rather from the lack of opportunities to interact in the language. This is exacerbated by native-speaker ideologies as well as other factors such as the preconceived notion that French is only useful at school, the negative judgment others have of their language skills. As a result, students do not appreciate their enviable level of proficiency in French, make less effort to speak it and display less confidence in identifying as bilingual and as part of the French-speaking world. This situation negatively impacts the achievement of the objectives and the maintenance of the principles of the French immersion program, thus affecting the development and promotion of French in Saskatchewan. According to this study, to alleviate linguistic insecurity among students, it is imperative to focus, among other things, on creating several opportunities for students to interact in French and on explicitly teaching French grammar and vocabulary through an enjoyable approach.
Key Words: Sociolinguistics, French immersion, linguistic insecurity, language norms, linguistic variation, sociolinguistics for change, French as a second langue, second language acquisition, French immersion ideologiesStudentye
The hidden triad of cannabis influence
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy, University of Regina. xi, 145 p.Description of the Problem
In October 2018, the Government of Canada became the second country in the world to legalize non-medical cannabis, with the goal to promote better health and well-being amongst Canadians. To date, the ways in which young adults in Canada perceive and experience cannabis in this new legal context have been minimally explored and are not well understood. This research contributes important insights into how young adults in Saskatchewan perceive and understand their own health and well-being in relation to cannabis in a context of legal non-medical use.
These findings are relevant for future policy and program developments in this area.
Methods
The objective of this study was to answer the primary research question “How do young adults perceive and experience cannabis use, in particular from a health perspective, in the context of Canada’s current policy frameworks?” This study applies constructivist grounded theory data collection and analysis techniques, guided by the work of Kathy Charmaz (2014). Data was collected through 10 in-depth interviews with young adults in Saskatchewan. The information was transcribed and thoroughly analyzed to transition from analytical findings to theoretical understanding. Secondary research questions addressed the relationship between cannabis related perceptions and experiences, influences shaping those perceptions and experiences, and the policy implications.
Findings
The main outcome from this study is entitled “The Hidden Triad of Cannabis Influence”, a grounded theory that explains how young adults perceive and experience cannabis within a legal non-medical and medical cannabis policy framework and an illicit market. Although the young adults who participated in this research tended not to outwardly identify policy and market factors as influencing their health and well-being, this theory substantiates the presence of these influences. The four main policy considerations emerging from this study include:
• evaluate the short-term outcomes of non-medical cannabis legalization, including but not limited to input from young adults and qualitative research findings
• develop a robust health literacy approach to promote public health objectives related to non- medical and medical cannabis use by young adults
• improve supports in the health care system for medical use and misuse of cannabis to promote harm reduction
• take additional measures to mitigate the illicit market for cannabis
The results of this study offer preliminary evidence about how young adults perceive and experience their own health and well-being within a context of legal non-medical cannabis.
Keywords
Cannabis; marijuana; legalization; young adults; grounded theory; health policy; perceptionsStudentye
Beyond Net-Zero Carbon Emissions in Industrial Process through Catalyst-Aided Amine Solvents for the Indirect Co-Combustion of Natural Gas and Biomass
No full textThis poster demonstrate research efforts undertaken to explore innovative approaches to achieving net-zero carbon emissions in industrial processes by integrating catalyst-enhanced amine solvents for the indirect co-combustion of natural gas and biomass. The research focuses on the development and optimization of heterogeneous solid-base catalysts to enhance CO₂ absorption rates, improve solvent loading, and increase overall process efficiency. Various catalysts, including PEI-modified catalysts, K/MgO, K/MgO-CaO, and activated carbon blends, were synthesized and evaluated. Results indicated significant improvements in CO₂ capture rates, with the K/MgO-CaO catalyst demonstrating notable chemical, thermal, and mechanical stability. Furthermore, a life cycle assessment (LCA) based on the ReCiPe methodology highlighted the environmental benefits of this novel catalyst-solvent system compared to conventional MEA-based carbon capture and the novel solvent AMP:PRLD. This work presents a promising pathway for power and energy sectors to enhance sustainability, reduce emissions, and move beyond net-zero targets
