MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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The Sharing Economy: Do e-scooters make the cut?
No full textSharing is as old as civilization itself. Corporations now are taking an old idea and creating a strategic model with the help of technology. This modern sharing economy, while having roots in sustainable practices, can often be mistaken as an inherently sustainable business model. We present the outcomes of a project on e-scooters as an example to emphasize the potential impacts and characteristics of a business operating within the sharing economy. To understand and gain public opinion, a survey was conducted gathering 222 responses regarding e-scooter usage in Edmonton, Alberta. Another source of information was the interview with a top executive of Lime Scooters, an e-scooter company operating in Edmonton. We found that while online platforms make resource sharing between peers easier to access, they are not always economically sustainable. Literature review on life-cycle analysis of e-scooters revealed that environmental sustainability is also not ingrained in practice, and careful consideration of business operations is needed to mitigate potentially negative impacts. In addition, thoughtful policies need to be considered and put into place in-order to encourage public and private trust. Overall, the sharing economy can be quite effective in creating a sense of community and social sustainability, but it should not be graded as a wholly sustainable practice without evidence
Who Are You, YouTube? : The Invisible Corporate Individuals of YouTube and its Extremely Visible Creators
No full textThis paper seeks to understand the invisibility of the corporate individuals working for YouTube and how the extremely visible creator community responds to them as a singular corporate person. The paper proposes that to achieve greater visibility and thereby accountability, YouTube should create an organizational chart for its stakeholders, rely less on algorithms, and establish stable individual identities and a consistent professed corporate persona
How do Strengths-Based Schooling and Caregiver Stress Impact Student Engagement?
No full textThe term twice-exceptional (2E) refers to individuals who are both gifted and face some type of learning challenge. 2E students often face unique social-emotional challenges that may result in lower levels of school engagement. Previous literature suggests a high level of engagement prevents dropping-out, leads to better grades, is related to lower rates of depression, and can be a protective factor against suicidal behaviors. Research suggests that a collaborative, strengths-based school approach is most effective for improving outcomes of 2E students. In this approach school material is presented in a way that aligns with students’ talents and interests, and decisions about the students’ education involve the student, their family, and any relevant professionals. Strong parent-school relationships may mediate levels of parental stress, which has been shown to impact student engagement. Because of the benefits associated with higher school engagement, we will explore whether this approach is also beneficial for typically-developing students. With this study, we aim to determine the relationship(s) between student engagement, task-strength alignment, and caregiver stress by recruiting 2E students, typical students, and their caregivers. Students’ strengths will be assessed and compared to tasks planned by their teachers. We will then observe their level of engagement during these tasks. Survey data on caregiver stress will be collected at various points in the study. We hypothesize that across both groups, student engagement will be higher when task-strength alignment is higher. We also predict there will be an inverse relationship between student engagement and caregiver stress in both groups.
Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled)
Faculty Mentor: Michele Moscicki
Department: Psychology 
Stalking Behaviours and Intimate Partner Violence Risk
No full textCurrent risk assessment tools have been shown to accurately predict reoffending behaviours. However, these risk tools rarely include stalking as a risk factor. For example, the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) has been found to be both reliable and valid but does not include stalking as one of its 13 items. Research has shown that 30-40% of stalking cases involve violence, and that victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) are at an elevated risk of being stalked by their intimate partners. Additionally, it is proposed that IPV victims are more likely to experience more violence from their stalkers in comparison to non-victims. This study aims to examine two things. The first is to study the relationship between stalking behaviours among IPV perpetrators with and without offending histories in stalking. It is predicted that individuals who stalk are more likely to reoffend both generally and in terms of stalking related crime. Moreover, it is predicted that those who stalk will breach their conditions and engage in more severe and frequent recidivism. This study will also examine whether the addition of stalking as an item to the validated ODARA will further improve prediction of recidivism. Research in this area is key to better understanding the role of stalking in cases of IPV. If stalking is a relevant risk factor, then police may be able to more accurately assess the risk of IPV perpetrators, and this can lead to improved allocation of resources to higher risk offenders, in order to prevent recidivism.
Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled)
Faculty Mentor: Sandy Jung
Department: Psychology
NOTE: This work is available to MacEwan users only at https://roam.macewan.ca/islandora/object/gm:206
Can Singing Help Me Relax? : The Effect of Music Preference on Perceived Stress Levels
No full textPrevious research has suggested that listening to music can be a helpful strategy in promoting feelings of relaxation, especially when participants can select their own music. However, the role of singing in relaxation is less clear. Some studies have examined the effects of group singing on levels of stress hormones, or have used singing as a way to induce stress, but none have examined whether or not singing alone in the absence of social stressors can decrease stress. The purpose of the current research study is to examine the role of music preferences in singing vs. listening for stress relief. Participants will complete various questionnaires in relation to their demographics, personality, and music experience. A mathematical stress-provoking task will follow, where they will rate their levels of perceived stress. Next, they will be randomly assigned to a listening or singing condition, with a song selection that they either enjoy or dislike. We hypothesize that individuals who sing preferred songs under low social stress should have a higher overall decrease in stress than those who were assigned songs they disliked. This research is not only beneficial to the student population with managing stress, but it could also have many implications in real-world settings. Future research should continue to examine other ways that singing in the absence of social pressure can aid in various therapeutic techniques.
Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled)
Faculty Mentor: Kathleen Corrigall
Department: Psychology
NOTE: This work is available to MacEwan users only at https://roam.macewan.ca/islandora/object/gm:208
Exploring Mental Health Disorders and Creativity
No full textThe cognitive issues that occur in most individuals who have mental health illnesses are well recognized. However, it is increasingly recognized that in a few individuals the presence of a mental health illness is closely connected with significant artistic originality and success. This has been seen in painting, music, and other arts, and it appears increasingly likely that the mental health illness is a pre-requisite to these individuals, such as Van Gogh, reaching such extraordinary artistic heights.
Are we too clean? A History and Analysis of the Hygiene Hypothesis
No full textSince the second half of the 20th century, the incidence of atopic disease has been on the rise. Allergies and rhinitis have become so common that some have called it an epidemic (Strachan, 1989). Initial research into the reasons for the rapid increase was done by David P Strachan, and he proposed the “hygiene hypothesis,” a theory claiming that early childhood infections can protect us against atopic diseases later in life (Strachan, 1989). Subsequent research found an interaction between T-helper 1 and T-helper 2 cells that, for many years, was considered to be the mechanism by which the hygiene hypothesis functioned (Romagnani, 1992). Eventually, it was discovered that this interaction did not work exactly as previously thought, and Graham A. Rook introduced a new theory to match the more recent research. Rook proposed the “old friends” hypothesis, which suggested that certain microbes, which evolved alongside humans, were responsible for protecting us against atopic disease (Rook et al., 2004). According to Rook, modern lifestyles have eliminated many of those microbes from our normal flora, and that explains the recent rise in atopic disease (Rook et al., 2004). The “old friends” hypothesis is now the prevalent atopic disease theory in epidemiology, and has helped improve both public and scientific understanding of the relationship between infection, hygiene, and atopy (Stiesma, et al., 2015)
Exploring Non-Traditional Typography and Visual Narrative Through Ray Bradbury\u27s "Cistern"
No full textThe imagery in this story informed the treatment of the type. “The Cistern” by Ray Bradbury is about a pair of sisters discussing the idea of a macabre couple living in a city that exists in a cistern. The bleeding ink on the spread gives the illusion that the pages were submerged in the same way the woman in the cistern is described. It emphasizes important parts of the spread and attracts the readers eye to these parts of the page. The title, thebeginning, and the reveal that the fictional man and woman are dead, in particular.
The arrangement of individual repeated words gives these themes emphasis. The physical representation of rain through its arrangement underlines the motif of water in the story. The word love is used twice in the second column: once by Anna with relish and then by Juliet with an unimpressed tone. The italicization and tracking of the word emphasizes both tones and helps to give each character a voice in the reader’s head. Similarly affecting the syntax of the narration, the bold treatment and the lowering of the baseline of dead helps to emphasize the word in the reader’s head and calls attention to the repetitive use of the word by Bradbury.
The placement of the paragraphs in the first two columns clearly is formatted to highlight the conversation between the sisters. It also subtly creates a flow as the eye of the reader travels between paragraphs, reminiscent of the “ripply” quality of water that Anna later imitates with her hand in the air. The last column of text becomes more dense as the paragraphs all span further. This coincides with Anna’s dialogue becoming more dense as she becomes more enthusiastic in her story-telling. The last paragraph washes away off the page just like the litter in the rain water Anna is describing.
Faculty Menor: Constanza Pacher
Department: Design Studie
Clustering of Time Series Cytotoxicity Data
No full textTo study the effect of various toxicants on cells’ growth, the Alberta Centre for Toxicology did several in-vitro experiments, and concentration response curves (TCRCs) were generated. Each TCRC represents a time series that gives the temporal evolution of the number of cells, after exposure to a chemical with a certain concentration. Here we use the wavelet transform to extract important features from the original TCRC data, and we apply self organizing maps to classify the toxicants according to their adverse biological response.
Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at Student Research Day held at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled.) Also presented on June 19-22, 2019 at the Classification Society meeting held at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.
Faculty Mentor: Cristina Anton
Department: Statistic
Revolution Unfinished: Comparing Collective Memory in the Kyiv Post and RT
No full textFrom November 2013 – February 2014, Ukraine’s Independence Square (or Maidan) became the site of revolution. The Maidan Revolution culminated in the deaths of over 100 protesters and law enforcement, and the removal of former President Viktor Yanukovych. Subsequently, several studies have observed how Maidan is being remembered (see Kozachenko, 2020; Nuzov, 2016; Shevel, 2016). I rely on the perspectives of Maurice Halbwachs (2011/1925) on collective memory, Robin Wagner-Pacifici (1996; 2010; 2017) on events, and various perspectives on media framing in journalism. This paper builds upon existing literature by exploring the formation of collective memory in 52 newspaper articles from the Kyiv Post and RT. From my findings I argue both news outlets accept Maidan as part of their taken for granted memory. Both outlets primarily frame Maidan using national memory narratives. Like Kozachenko (2020), I observed the presence of Ukrainophile and Sovietophile historical frames. Though both news outlets frame Maidan as a failed revolution, I argue Maidan is characterized differently by the Kyiv Post and RT. Whereas, the Kyiv Post frames Maidan as a tragic unfinished revolution, RT constructs a framing of Maidan as a coup which allows them to compare it to current events.
Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled)
Faculty Mentor: Jeff Stepnisky
Department: Sociology