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Photo-Voice as a Reflexive Method
No full textPhoto-voice is rapidly becoming a popular and accepted research method in the social sciences (Holm, 2008). Developed by Wang and Burris (1994), Photo-voice is a participatory method through which research participants identify and represent their lived experiences and contexts through the use of photo imagery. Reavey and Johnson (2013) claim that visual methods “hand over agency to the participants (p. 302). Participants are provided cameras or electronic devices to document images that resonate for them (consciously or unconsciously). Participants then share verbal associations about the photos in order to communicate feelings, ideas, and information about personal and community relationships, issues and events (Vaughan, Forbes, & Howell, 2008). Vaughan at al. state, Using photos in this manner can provide a vehicle for the presentation of participants’ lived experiences as defined by themselves…Such an approach allows for participants’ voices to truly be heard and for a deeper understanding of how people make meaning in their lives rather than imposing a research objective upon a community often with predetermined assumptions and outcomes. (para. 1) Photo-voice draws from work in critical consciousness, feminism, and documentary photography (Wang & Burris, 1994). The process of Photo-voice allows participants to frame and define important issues and strengths through the use of imagery and personal reflection. Miller (2010) states, Photo-voice, as a participatory method, is able to evoke context-rich data which may allow us to see cultural norms and issues that may otherwise be missed through use of a survey. The TPC workshop will illustrate how Photo-voice can be used as a reflexive method for data gathering and promoting dialogue and knowledge about important issues through the discussion generated by the participants’ photos. Photo-voice is particularly effective for reflexive practice in the helping professions, as such as nursing, education, social work, and Human Services
Mindfulness in the Classroom
No full textA few minutes of mindful breathing before the class takes place can change the energy in the room and allow all of the participants (instructor and students) improve their concentration and even their mood. This is a statement based on my teaching experience with this simple method; I have done this in all of my classes for the last two semesters and I can say that a positive effect has taken place. In this speed session we will engage in a few minutes of mindful breathing and discuss if participants think this may be an effective method to allow for everyone to settle down and get their minds and bodies fully present for class
Humble Beginnings: Developing A Supportive Program for Students to Mentor Faculty in Equitable and Inclusive Teaching Practices
No full textIn the context of increasing diversity, heightened social polarization, and complex classroom power dynamics, educators have increasingly turned their attention to developing equitable and inclusive teaching practices. Many educators are actively looking to adopt reflexive, responsive, and decolonizing pedagogical frameworks. At the same time, the neoliberalisation of education has placed increasing demands on both teachers and students. This leaves many educators tackling highly complex and challenging issues relating to equitable and inclusive teaching ‘off the side of their desks’ even as expectations regarding credentialization, publication, academic service and so on are on the rise. At TRU, the Intercultural Learning team is developing a supportive program that pairs students from diverse backgrounds with faculty to provide feedback and suggestions with regard to issues of equity and inclusion in their classrooms. This relationship-focused model provides faculty with one-on-one, contextualized feedback on their teaching practices from students’ whose perspectives and experiences have tended to be marginalized or ignored in conventional educational settings. The program will be integrated with the Intercultural Ambassadors peer mentorship program run through the Faculty of Student Development. With a particular focus on issues of relationship building, safety, and power dynamics, this session will provide an interactive exploration of the program. Building on work that has been done at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges, this engagement initiative is a potentially valuable mechanism for tapping into students’ situated knowledges in ways that promote equitable and inclusive teaching practices
Lack of Preshaping Differentiates Catching from Grasping and Stopping: Support for the Dual Visuomotor Channel Theory of Prehension
No full textReaching with a single hand to grasp an object requires the coordination of visual information related to the object, the environment, and the hand, with tactile and proprioceptive feedback from the body, in order to produce a fluid motor action. The Dual Visuomotor Channel theory proposes that the central nervous system accomplishes this by coordinating two distinct but temporally integrated movements that are mediated by different visuomotor pathways that project from visual to motor cortex via the parietal lobe. A reach movement transports the hand in relation to the object’s position and orientation, whereas the grasp preshapes the fingers in relation to the object’s size and shape. The purpose of this study is to extend the analysis of the relationship between the reach and the grasp to other moving object tasks by examining how the two movements vary when participants catch a thrown object. Participants will be presented with four different sized balls, in three different tasks: reaching-to-grasp a static object, reaching-to-stop a rolling ball, and reaching-to-catch a tossed ball. Ball Size (XS, S, M, L) and Task (grasp, stop, catch) will serve as within-subject factors for each dependent variable (reach velocity, reach trajectory, maximum pregrasp aperture, and terminal grasp aperture), which will be analyzed in separate RM-ANOVA. Preliminary results reveal that the hand does not preshape to target size as it intercepts the target during catching, but does so during grasping and stopping. The results of this project are discussed in relation to the Dual Visuomotor Channel theory
Decolonizing Young Minds? Or Recolonizing them through ‘Big Ideas’ Presented in new Packaging: An Interrogation of Settler Colonialism Operating through BC’s New Curriculum
No full textIn 2016, in response to the “Calls to Action” put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the government of British Columbia proposed efforts to increase Indigenous Studies content in the public school curriculum. The re-vamped curriculum does incorporate a greater amount of content pertaining to Indigenous languages, cultures, and histories; however, an overarching theme of ‘othering’ still exists. The curriculum is broken into categories, where western ideas of knowledge are presented as ‘Big Ideas’, and Indigenous content is still being presented as subsequent activities if time permits. This presentation will interrogate the reality of settler colonialism operating in the education system by exploring the ways in which BC’s new curriculum is still being used as a dominant discursive tool to subordinate Indigenous cultures
Opening Remarks
No full textGrab a coffee and muffin in the International Building foyer, and then join us for Opening Remarks from faculty and conference committee member Ginny Ratsoy before our morning lecture sessions
Illuminating Chicken Reproduction
Get PDFThis creative non-fiction essay explores the science of chicken reproduction on a family farm in the Fraser Valley. Science and story are entwined as the author relates her personal experience helping her dad manipulate the light conditions necessary for the flock to reproduce. The events described reveal the complexity of farming and the meticulous practices necessary to rear chickens successfully—birds native to the tropics—in coastal British Columbia. Complete with humour and vivid imagery, this narrative aims to build a better understanding of the process of light stimulation in the biology of chickens and the daily operations of a farm. This essay takes a remarkable journey into a broiler-breeder chicken barn, illuminating a little-known component of the poultry industry
Examination and Comparison of the Colouration of Mountain Blue Bird Feathers
No full textThe Mountain Blue Bird (Sialia currucoides) is a medium sized bird that is found in western North America, including the British Columbia Central interior and therefore Kamloops. The breeding range of the Mountain Blue Bird extends up through northern Canada and Alaska while its wintering range reaches southern Mexico. Male Mountain Blue Birds are sky blue, with darker wing and tail regions above and lighter blue below. Females are mostly grey-brown with slight pale blue in the wings and tail. They have black beaks and occasionally show a suffusion of orange brown on their chest. This study will be conducted on the TRU campus and will involve the analysis of the colour of previously collected Mountain Blue Bird feathers using reflectance spectrometry in lab. The computer software Environment R and PAVO program within will then be used to quantify the colour of the Mountain Blue Birds and then answer various questions about the birds.
Research Objectives: Use reflectance spectrometry to examine variation in colouration of mountain bluebird feathers. Use the R program PAVO to examine tetrahedral colourspace models and other models for quantifying avian colour. Compare those models to traditional metrics of hue, chroma, and brightness. Using the metrics developed by PAVO, determine whether those metrics better explain differences among age classes, sexes, and other important characteristics of mountain bluebirds