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Between pages, between spaces: queer(ing) community in online book clubs
Full text linkWhen exploring online learning or online communities, literature describing the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, expansive) individuals are often different than cis-heterosexual individuals and that the differential could be based on the heteronormative environments in which online learning tends to occur. Phase 1 of this study focused on the needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ learners in online spaces, questionnaires were used to provide insight into digital experiences, making use of the Global Readiness Explorer. There were 29 responses for a 2SLGBTQIA+ Online Experiences survey, 2 responses for the Digital Competencies Profiler, and 5 responses for the Fully Online Learning Community Survey. Insights gathered from these surveys demonstrated that participants had experiences of homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination in online spaces. Participants also displayed social competencies and digital readiness when using digital tools or online spaces. Phase 2 of this study used Kincheloe’s bricolage, employing online ethnography to look at learning spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ adults in Canada and the United States. One book club with 7 participants read Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, and the other with 6 participants read On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Both book clubs were co-created in an online space and met bi-weekly for six sessions. Members were invited to participate in optional interviews; 5 individuals participated. Book club sessions and interviews were recorded and analyzed using eclectic and pattern coding. Field notes and reflections were analyzed using the same method. Findings indicated that 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals had safety concerns within online spaces, which could act as a barrier. Participants desired online and offline communities with individuals who could be trusted and were accepting. These communities should not be isolated to queer individuals, but need to hold values of acceptance. The co-creation approach of the online book club provided opportunities for elements of critical consciousness to influence community development and provided space for queer joy. Future areas of research include further insight into using co-creation to foster queer joy and the liminal nature of online queer spaces. This study calls for a reimagining of online spaces that expand community
Development of a multi-physics tire model for wear and thermal estimation in the finite element environment
No full textWith today’s abundant computational resources, an essential tool for improving the understanding of vehicle dynamics, tire wear and tire modeling is finite element techniques. For accurate static, steady-state, and dynamic tire mechanics in simulation, a highly accurate tire model needs to be modeled and validated in multiple domains. This research focuses on the modeling and investigation of a slick race tire that is accurately validated against experimental results, can predict tire wear mass in dynamic operations, and is able to predict thermal buildup.
The tire used in this research is the Hoosier 18×6.0-10 R25B racing slick. The tire is a custom built, fully solid finite element model using constitutive modeling. The tire model incorporates hyperelastic material modeling and viscoelastic material modeling following the ASTM D412 standard. The materials are mostly composed using the Ogden material definition for the tire components: tread rubber, sidewall, and ply layers.
To validate the finite element tire model, varying tests were performed to ensure the simulation model’s behavior is mechanically agreeable to experimental results. A plethora of tests including: contact patch tests at different camber angles, vertical stiffness at different loads, drum cleat test, and rolling resistance test were all performed and compared to experimental datasets.
In this research, a dynamic evaluation of tire wear is investigated. A controlled acceleration-deceleration cycle experiment is performed at the Automotive Center of Excellence on a Mustang Dynamometer. The experiment is then replicated in the finite element environment using the validated R25B tire model for wear simulation development. The simulation uses a novel methodology based on Archard’s wear theory that incorporates, temperature, velocity, and hardness tire characteristics. The wear mass of the simulated finite element model is then compared against the experimental tire wear test.
In addition, a thermal model is developed for the R25B tire and is validated against the experimental data from the wear test. A thermal model is further extended from the previous work onto a well-defined truck tire model that is validated against experimental data provided by Volvo Group Trucks Technology, in Hällered, Sweden. Finally, a similar wear strategy is discussed for the truck tire
Maintaining Momentum: Summary of Activities for the 2024-25 Peer Wellness Education Program at Ontario Tech University
Full text linkThe Peer Wellness Education Program provides opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience in the field of health promotion, improve their skills, meet other students, and learn health tips that can be used in their own lives.
A team of 23 students (13 students in the Fall semester and 12 students in the Winter semester) worked together to implement various social marketing campaigns and distribute health promotion resources during the 2024-25 academic year. Throughout the year, team members contributed over 750 hours to implement various display booths, health promotion events, and workshops organised by the Peer Wellness Education Program and Ontario Tech Health Promotion. The Peer Wellness Education team volunteered at over 70 health promoting events, interacted with over 2,000 students, and disseminated over 4,400 health promotion resources. The team also created social media posts on Instagram to promote the program, created blog posts for Ridgeback Student Voices, and developed three new display boards during this time. About one-quarter of students (29%) could directly name the Peer Wellness Education team or Ontario Tech Health Promotion as a program or service on campus without prompting during intercept interviews, and the majority of surveyed students had seen or heard about a health promotion activity. After volunteering with the Peer Wellness Education team, team members reported increases in knowledge of health promotion concepts, and development of skills related to engaging students in conversations about their health and creating informative, appealing health education resources.
The Peer Wellness Education Program has been a success and will use the momentum achieved over the past year to continue promoting health on campus in the 2025-26 academic year. Over the next year, the team will continue to host weekly events, increase the number of student interactions and resources disseminated, and pilot test workshops that could be used as part of a Wellness Certificate for students.The Peer Wellness Education Program receives funding from the Faculty of Health Sciences (2023-26)
Online peer-assessment in higher education: an implementation blueprint
Full text linkWhile research supports the benefits of online peer-assessment in higher education, there is no guide for effective implementation. This compilation dissertation aimed to develop, implement, and evaluate an online peer-assessment blueprint at a Canadian university using a mixed-methods approach. Paper 1 reviewed 84 resources providing historical context on higher education, assessment, peer-based, and authentic learning. Paper 2 systematically reviewed 66 empirical articles, focusing on the context of online peer-assessment, which informed papers 3 and 4. Thematic findings from the context section outlined instructional design and demographic insight. The benefits and challenge themes included perceptions of learning, motivation, academic achievement, quality, identification, and time.
Paper 3 was a case study to test 50 students' perceptions of their experience using online peer-assessment based on constructs identified in paper 2. Finally, paper 4 used the results from papers 1 through 3 to create the online peer-assessment blueprint and the development of an online peer-assessment evaluation scale (OPAES). The blueprint guided online peer-assessment in four undergraduate courses over three terms, while the OPAES documented the student experience.
Paper 4's study of 137 undergraduate social science students revealed largely positive results for an online peer-assessment blueprint, with 85% finding the process beneficial. The OPAES showed strong overall reliability (α = 0.93), with good internal reliability for four of six constructs. Students benefited from instructional design experience, developed transferable skills, and appreciated anonymity. While students found peer feedback valuable, it presented a central paradox as the primary challenge, with concerns about competence and emotions in giving and receiving feedback.
This dissertation accomplished the development and initial evaluation of an empirically grounded online peer-assessment blueprint for higher education. The research addressed a lack of practical, evidence-based guidance for educators by creating a systematic framework that students perceived positively. However, the limited context of Canadian undergraduate social science programs and a reliance on self-reported data do not support generalizability. Therefore, future research should test the blueprint's effectiveness across more diverse populations and institutional settings and consider longitudinal studies to track its long-term impact on student learning and skills
Physics-informed gated recurrent unit neural networks model for surface temperature estimation of Lithium-ion batteries
Full text linkThermal management is vital for optimizing Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB) performance. Accurately measuring individual cell temperatures using physical sensors poses significant cost and complexity challenges particularly in packs containing hundreds or thousands of cells. State-of-the-art estimation techniques struggle with nonlinear LIB characteristics under varying operating conditions. This thesis introduces a novel surface temperature estimation method that integrates a gated recurrent unit (GRU) network with physics-informed neural networks (PINNs). The GRU processes sequential data voltage, current, and ambient temperature capturing dynamic battery behavior, while the physics-informed layers embed critical physical parameters, including electrical, thermal, and heat generation models, during training. Validated experimentally on a 14-series connected cell module under varying C-rates and ambient temperatures. The model achieves mean absolute errors of 1.32°C, 1.33°C, and 1.91°C for 1C, 1.5C, and 2C rates at 0°C, 10°C, and 25°C. Results demonstrate superior robustness and adaptability compared to traditional machine learning models like LSTM and FNN
Gaze-enabled implicit interaction for scatterplots
Full text linkHow we view the world can tell much about our focus and interests. Yet, this information is not used when displaying information visualizations. This research investigates novel display and interaction designs for creating gaze-responsive visualizations optimized to support the analysis of the items of interest. Specifically, we investigate four opportunities for implicit gaze-driven interaction for subtle visualization optimizations using eye-tracking to improve standard scatterplot tasks: rendering order changes, hover speed modifications, local reference axes, and click accuracy improvements. A user study compared and evaluated the effectiveness of these techniques. Preliminary results show that the technique “hover speed”, which consists of changing speed to show a tooltip based on the gaze-driven area of interest, was the favourite among the participants. Opinions on the “reference axis” technique were divided. Overall, the interest model improved their performance in both types of tasks, indicating that gaze-driven techniques can support data analytics tasks positively
Examining cognitive and affective empathy in substance use disorder and psychopathy using self-report and neuroimaging
Full text linkSubstance Use Disorders (SUDs) and psychopathy are highly comorbid and prevalent among individuals involved in the criminal justice system, yet their distinct and overlapping contributions to empathy deficits remain poorly understood. The present studies examined the shared and unique effects of substance use severity (SUS) and psychopathic traits on cognitive and affective empathy-related impairments in a forensic population. Study 1 used self-report measures in a sample of 142 community-based offenders to assess empathy. SUS was initially associated with cognitive empathy, but this effect did not remain after accounting for psychopathy; no effects emerged for affective empathy. Study 2 employed fMRI with a subset of participants (n = 48) to assess neural responses during a Theory of Mind empathy task. Higher SUS was linked to reduced activation in regions supporting both cognitive and affective empathy, while psychopathy showed no deficits but rather heightened empathic abilities. Empathy deficits were more consistently associated with SUD, particularly through substance-related neurocognitive impairments
Analysis of pitching and active joint range of motion in baseball pitchers with markerless motion capture software
Full text linkBaseball pitching is a highly scrutinized and studied movement, with pitch velocity being an important contributor to future success of an athlete. Pitching biomechanics can reveal important insights about a pitcher’s performance, with markerless, camera-based systems providing new-found opportunities to study pitch mechanics. A potential variable that has not received much attention, but can be a potential predictor of future success, is joint range of motion. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate correlations between off-the-mound active joint ROM, pitching ROM and pitch velocity, when kinematic ROM data were obtained from a novel ProPlay AI markerless system. The AI markerless software had difficulty tracking many of the ranges of motion. However, active (i.e. off-the-mound) thoracic spine rotation and lumbar spine lateral flexion were correlated with pitch velocity (p < 0.05). When combined with demographic and anthropometric variables, strong predictive models for fastball velocity were obtained. There may be potential to include range of motion as a future predictor of velocity, but further work is needed to train and validate computer vision models to assess full ranges of motion for all major joint movements
Bi objective multi depot location routing problem with time window for EVs
Full text linkThis thesis addresses a multi-depot, bi-objective Location Routing Problem for electric vehicles (EVs), modeled as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. The mathematical model integrates cost minimization with workload fairness under time windows. A custom metaheuristic algorithm, combining a hybrid Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), was developed to optimize depot locations and EV routes, minimizing operational costs and balancing driver workloads. The approach accounts for depot and vehicle capacities, vehicle mileage limits, and EV charging constraints. Computational experiments reveal that the model’s efficiency outperforms traditional solvers for large-scale problems, maintaining solution quality within a 5% gap. A Pareto analysis provides insight into cost vs. distance trade-offs, and sensitivity analysis examines the impacts of vehicle capacity and route distance constraints. This work contributes to sustainable logistics by offering a practical, scalable solution for EV routing, enhancing real-world deployment feasibility in urban settings
“Not In my backyard”: examining the influence of offender program participation, release plan, and personal proximity on mock parole decisions and comfort levels
Full text linkAlmost three-quarters of incarcerated individuals in Canada will eventually return to the community. Upon release, many face significant reintegration challenges, with public stigmatization being among the most notable. The current study examined the influence of offender program participation, release plan, and personal proximity on participants’ ratings of likelihood to grant parole and level of comfort with that offender being granted parole. Successful completion of a correctional program and having a release plan in place for work and housing resulted in increased likelihood to grant parole and level of comfort with parole release, Participants were also more comfortable with the offender being granted parole when they were not going to live next-door, which indicates the presence of the Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) effect. Addressing barriers such as the NIMBY effect and identifying factors that promote community acceptance are crucial for fostering compassionate, evidence-informed attitudes and stronger support for reintegration efforts