MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
Not a member yet
2252 research outputs found
Sort by
Witch Mother Remedy Kit
No full textEveryone Knows Your Mother is A Witch is about a witchcraft trial with 71-year-old Katharina Kepler. This story is told through a modern point of view about one\u27s identity being questioned. Katarina is a widow known for being in other\u27s business, the success of her children, her herbal remedies, and for being questioned about witchcraft. The product is Witch Mother, a remedy kit representing Katharina helping those in need. Witch Mother is induced with natural ingredients. A story is told about an animal band in danger. These animals are represented by organic oils, named according to the particular struggle. These oils are used as a remedy and add a unique taste to the tea.
In this product design, each color and design have meaning. The tea kit is the color tan to represent periods of growth. Tan is a color representing neutrality, support and stability, which is the support of one\u27s health. Turkish blue serves as a calming and nourishing feeling; red-orange is a vibrant color supporting the energy of the oil; and purple is an expression of evolution, the daily support it can bring to one’s body. Belda is a typeface that uses elegant strokes. The use of thick and thin stroke marks shows a hormonal contrast. The typeface A Day Without Sun is modern-time vintage hand-lettering, adding personality to the homemade remedies. Lastly, the octagon pattern throughout honors a journey; there are multiple sides and experiences. "That is what life is, a bunch of thorns and a berry."
Faculty Mentor: Constanza Pacher 
Designing for the Future: A Window into Augmented Reality
No full textThis project was completed for DESN444: Interaction Design II at MacEwan University in the Fall 2022 term. Our team was tasked to research and design a solution for well-being that leveraged the emerging field of augmented reality technology. Our project investigated how we might incorporate augmented reality into a window to improve the cognitive well-being of someone experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder. Research topics included the psychology of Seasonal Affective Disorder, the effect of the environment on cognitive well-being, and the technological advancements that allow for augmented reality to be perceived from a static device. Our solution leverages the findings from this research to create a digital prototype of the augmented reality window and its features.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Isabelle Sperano 
Digital Interaction in a Shared Public Setting: An Exploration of West Edmonton Mall Map User Experience
No full textThis project is about exploring the West Edmonton Mall Map Kiosk wayfinding system. We designed the shared map interface through a human-centered design thinking approach. We examined how users interact with their surroundings and the currently available tools and identified pain points and needs. We used multiple research methods, such as user testing and heuristic evaluations and observed the shoppers to understand their needs and frustrations. Based on our observations and interviews, shoppers stated that they would like a memorable experience while allowing them to reach their destination effortlessly. This project will provide insight into the design process of the kiosk to help navigate the shared physical space beyond screen-focused experiences.
Faculty Mentor: Alexander Stewart 
Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Imagination’s Role in Climate Justice via a Deweyan Analysis
No full textThis research essay offers suggestions for climate action via a Deweyan characterization of imagination and interest—relating these to the resiliency concept of radical imagination. The goal of this analysis is to show how Dewey’s works can be used as a contemporary guide towards social amelioration and climate resilience.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alain Beauclair 
Utilitarianism in Sparta
No full textA general analysis of Sparta and some of the elements of their society typically viewed as exceptional and how these elements are rooted heavily in utilitarianism.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jessica Romney 
Measuring the Effect of COVID on Alberta Oil Prices
No full textThe Oil industry in Alberta has become one of the largest contributors to Canadian oil and equivalent production for decades. Oil sands extraction and refineries alone produced a vast amount of employment opportunities which contributed to Alberta’s economic growth. Therefore, studying one of the economic powerhouses of Alberta will examine its role in Alberta’s future prosperity. This time series analysis will seek to understand the underlying causes of trends or systemic patterns in Alberta’s oil over time and find out the best possible model that can be used to forecast the price fluctuations. Intervention analyses are also done to estimate the effects of Covid-19 in 2020 and the increase in supply of alternatives for Alberta oil in 2014.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cristina Anton 
Diagonalization of continuous families of matrices over an interval
No full textWe start by reviewing the general case of diagonalizing a single matrix. A necessary and sufficient condition is that the algebraic multiplicity coincides with the geometric multiplicity for each eignenvalue. We then consider the case where the case were we have a continuous family of matrices over an interval. In this presentation, we will study when such a family can be diagonalized. The primary reference of this topic is a result from Grove and Pedersen.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cristian Ivanescu 
Can Geothermal Heat Projects and Systems help stimulate economic development in rural and small-town Alberta?
No full textSmall towns and rural communities in Alberta are being “hollowed out” due to the decades-long trend of farm consolidation and decreasing oil and gas demand. This paper examines whether geothermal heat projects and systems can help small towns and rural communities of less than 10,000 people stimulate economic development. Eleven industry advocates, geothermal and geo-exchange service providers, academics, and policy and regulatory experts were interviewed in the fall of 2022 to help understand what opportunities and benefits exist and what obstacles are faced by those who want to capitalize on those opportunities and benefits. The study indicates several opportunities to develop and leverage geothermal heat projects across rural and small-town Alberta. Smaller geo-exchange energy systems have a limited impact on the local economy but can be developed and installed in communities across the province. Although more limited by location, larger geothermal district energy projects have the opportunity to provide a litany of ancillary benefits that can have long-lasting economic impacts on local communities. To leverage these ancillary benefits, communities must shift their mindset from exporting resources to attracting people to live in and visit the community. The findings also suggest that although governments have done some work, more can and should be done to support the industry through policy and financing mechanisms, which are its two most significant obstacles. The research suggests that although Alberta is on the right path to using geothermal heat systems and projects as a tool to help stimulate rural economic development, there is much work to be done by the industry and governments.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Evandro Bocatto 
A Brief View of Mine Tailings Leaching and Geological Hydrogen Storage: A Chemistry Internship with CanmetENERGY
No full textUnsustainable fuel resources and their use has led to problems in energy sources and environmental health. As an attempt to remediate these issues, hydrogen energy and leaching effects are researched. For the Chemistry Internship Practicum (CHEM 497), I interned at CanmetENERGY, a part of National Resources Canada. Our research group under Dr. Nicholas Utting has been conducting research on both the geological storage of hydrogen and the leaching effect of mine tailings. Both projects aim to solve the aforementioned issues caused by modern energy use.
I will present on our past research on geological hydrogen storage, and our work preparing and running tests on water samples to determine the elemental compositions dissolved in them. Substances such as sulfate, nitrate, nitrite, calcium, sodium, carbon, and others will be highlighted. I will also discuss the technical skills gained from this internship, such as consistency when preparing samples and standards, caution when working with dangerous substances, and competent operation of equipment. The most valuable professional skills I have learned from this experience, such as communication and record keeping, will be mentioned as well.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Samuel Mugo 
From Hurting to Helping?: Psychopathic Traits, Primes, and Costly Helping
No full textPsychopathy is characterized by traits such as callousness, egoism, and a lack of empathy. Research suggests that those high in psychopathic traits are incapable of altruism, yet recent studies have demonstrated that psychopaths may engage in heroic helping and that some helping can be mediated by prosocial priming. The present study sought to investigate how psychopathic traits influence costly helping (i.e., helping another at a cost to oneself) as a function of a helping prime (no prime, prosocial, asocial, antisocial) and charity locality (on-campus, local, national, international). Participants (N = 290) completed measures of psychopathic traits and empathy, followed by random assignment into one of the helping prime conditions. Participants then played a standardized game measuring costly helping (i.e., the Altruism/Antisocial Game; AlAn’s Game; Sakai et al., 2012). Throughout the game, participants distributed $20 between themselves and the charity. After the game, participants were asked to make a real-time choice regarding how they wanted their participation funds distributed (i.e., do you want to donate all or some of the money to the charity or keep it for yourself?). Overall, participants demonstrated self-oriented decision making, with no effect of charity locality or priming on donation decisions. Those high in psychopathic traits allotted twice as much money to themselves than to charity in real-life contexts versus in-game contexts. This research suggests that psychopaths may appear to be helpful on the surface, but their everyday giving when it counts relates to their own instrumental gain.
Keywords: psychopathic traits, priming, costly helping, empathy
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kristine Peace