MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Using LEGO® Mindstorms and MATLAB in curriculum design of active learning activities for a first-year engineering computing course
No full textThe goal of this research project was to investigate the feasibility of implementing a programmable robot (LEGO Mindstorm) combined with a computer program (MATLAB) into MacEwan\u27s Engineering Computer Programming (ENCP 100) curriculum as a hands-on active learning tool.
With a more hands-on/practical approach to the course, students may find themselves immersed in the material and motivated to understand and apply the abstract concepts learned in class to real-world applications. Previous studies found in the conducted literature review showed that LEGO® Mindstorms can be used to enhance active learning for students, particularly when used to demonstrate computer programming concepts.
The LEGO Mindstorms kits come with several programmable motors and sensors suitable to the first-year curriculum (including touch, colour, rotation, and a text display). Not only is it a tool applicable to ENCP, but it can be used to bring multiple concepts from various engineering courses together. Students can look at displacements, velocities, accelerations, work, energy, equilibrium, and more. The capabilities of the sensors were found to be more than adequate to cover the first-year computing curriculum.
Through the assessment of the various sensors, learning activities were designed to develop both fundamental programming skills and hands on problem-solving skills.
Results of this research have shown that LEGO ® Mindstorms is a viable teaching tool for a first-year engineering computing course to develop fundamental programming skills and hands-on problem-solving skills.
Faculty Mentor: Shelley Lorimer
Department: Biomedical Mechanical Engineerin
Time, Terror, and the Classical Republican Tradition in Eighteenth-Century France: A Study in Intellectual History
No full textThe tradition of classical republican thought has been connected with the Terror largely because its leading exponent—namely, Maximilien Robespierre—appears to use the language of classical republicanism to justify the Terror. But his use of this discourse is perplexing because, traditionally, classical republican thought operated on the plane of particularity and not universality. It held that all events in time, especially political events, were forever entangled in the ephemerality of the concrete. From this, it followed that abstract and universalist modes of thinking were wholly unsuited for the task of understanding human life and events as they actually occurred—that is, in the flux of time. What this means is that, for classical republicanism, no revolution could ever be universal or final. All revolutions must of necessity be particular and transitory because they take place in time and the essence of time is concrete-ness and mortality. In light of this glaring incongruity, the relationship between classical republicanism and the Terror requires clarification. Ultimately, the relationship between classical republicanism and the Terror is highly tenuous. Robespierre certainly spoke of two elements of classical republicanism—virtue and crisis—in a way that is reminiscent of the tradition, but two other indispensable elements are conspicuously absent from his utterances: time and particularity. Instead, Robespierre spoke of virtue and crisis within a discourse of Enlightenment that conceptualized the world in terms of nature’s universal goodness and history in terms of humanity’s progress. The result was not a republic of justice but the bloodbath known as the Terror.
Faculty Mentor: Kelly Summers
Department: Histor
Reducing Attitude Polarization Through Common Group Identity
No full textAccording to social identity theory, individuals derive a sense of belonging and fulfillment from the social groups they belong to. As a result, an individual has an inherent need to protect said group identity, which can lead to an overall negative perception of outsiders. In politics, this can be problematic because it can motivate people to display such ingroup biases towards their political groups. However, group identity is somewhat fluid, and people can change their priorities and behaviors based on the identity salient at any one time. Based on this reasoning, we primed a shared group identity in political opponents, and simultaneously made them aware the overall dangers of political polarization. Canadian participants read a fictional news article depicting both Conservatives and Liberals as becoming increasingly extreme, and how this extremity is harming Canada as a whole, or a fictional news article depicting their political party as becoming more extreme. We had two main hypotheses: first, individuals would have more favorable evaluations of the other side when a Canadian identity was primed. Second, participants would become more moderate when they learned of the effects of polarization. We found that while there was little improvement in perceptions of other-side, individuals did rate other-side as significantly less biased. Second, in a post-hoc analysis, we found that participants did indeed moderate their own extremity in the Canadian identity condition, but only on economic issues. Priming group identity between political opponents decreased animosity and moderated extremity, but the effects were small and inconsistent.
Faculty Mentor: Craig Blatz
Department: Psychology (Honours)
 
Left cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation facilitates the onset of inhibition of return
No full textOver the past 20 years our knowledge of the functional role of the cerebellum has evolved from that of a structure strictly involved in coordinating motor outputs, to one that is also heavily engaged in cognitive functions, including attention. Specifically, patient work indicates that cerebellar damage slows rapid shifts of reflexive covert attention, as well as the onset of inhibition of return (IOR). In addition, fMRI studies suggest that the left lateral cerebellum may play an important role in covert attention. In the current study we further examined the role of cerebellum in covert attention using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) where a weak electrical current is applied to electrodes on the scalp to induce changes in baseline neural activity in the underlying cortex. Participants (n=23) completed a reflexive covert attention task using stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 50, 100, 300, and 600ms before, during, and after either anodal (+), cathodal (-), or sham tDCS applied to the left cerebellum (2mA for 20min). Results indicated that active tDCS stimulation facilitated the onset of IOR at the longest SOA compared to sham. Our results provide further evidence that the left lateral cerebellum plays an important role in reflexive covert visual attention.
Faculty Mentor: Christopher Striemer
Department: Psycholog
Societal Reaction to the Release of Sex Offenders
No full textThis qualitative study explored public views on the release of convicted sex offenders. A content analysis was conducted on the comments section of four newspaper articles about releases. One hundred and fifty-six comments were examined, and six prominent themes emerged including: Critiques of the criminal justice system, execution, life imprisonment, tattooing, race and physical disfigurement. Most comments were negative and voiced a desire for harsher punishment. Public perception of sex offenders largely reflected stereotyped media portrayals.
Faculty Mentor: Diane Symbaluk
Department: Sociolog
Investigating If... Then... Personality Signatures Among Narcissists
No full textTraditionally, personality research has separated a person’s disposition from the situation they are in. However, complex schemas, such as if… then… personality signatures, conceptualize people and their situation as interactive and mutually dependent (e.g. if situation A, then the person does X, but if situation B, then the person does Y). The present research seeks to investigate if… then… personality signatures among narcissists (those who are egotistical, self-focused, and vain). After reading about a narcissistic and a non-narcissistic target, participants will rate how warm and dominant they perceive each target will behave across a series of scenarios (e.g., in competitive settings, with friends, as a leader). We found that perceivers rated the narcissistic target as less warm and more dominant, on average, than the non-narcissistic target. There was also a significant amount of variability in participants’ ratings of target’s warmth and dominance across contexts, suggesting that people use if… then… personality signatures. Notably, these signatures differed across target type: narcissistic targets were perceived as more variable than non-narcissistic targets. In summary, people perceive narcissists as using if… then… personality signatures. That is, perceivers think of narcissists as displaying significant variability in their behaviour across contexts.
Faculty Mentor: Miranda Giacomin
Department: Psycholog
How abuse affects behaviour in domestic horses
No full textSeveral domestic species have been shown discriminatory abilities when judging the level of affect in human faces. In other words they can distinguish between positive (happy) and negative (angry) human facial expressions. What has yet to be explored is whether former neglect or abuse results in changes in response to human facial expressions. These type of recognition abilities may aid species in interactions with human handlers and thus provide a functional benefit. In addition, by exploring cognitive abilities, like recognition, in domestic species we can further understand the implications for the varying levels of human interaction with species, including neglect or abuse.
Faculty Mentor: Shannon Digweed
Department: Psychology (Honours
The influence of interpersonal synchrony on helping behavior, social bonding, and empathy in children
No full textIt has been shown that prosocial behaviors – such as helping and cooperation – can be increased through interpersonal synchrony. This effect can be seen in both large- and small- scale movements, with children experiencing greater preferences for those who synchronize with them. In the current study the influence of interpersonal synchrony on children’s empathy and helping behavior will be explored in typically developing children ages 3-12 years. In a replication of a spontaneous helping task developed by Kirschner & Tomasello (2010) fish food is spilt on the way to a fish tank, creating an opportunity for helping behaviour to occur at the cost of immediate gratification for the other child. Cognitive and affective empathy will be measured in an emotion assessment task using a 7-point Likert scale. We will also examine how the age of peer playmates affect these outcomes. Synchronous movement will be varied by children clapping to metronome sounds that are either in- or out- of synchrony. It is expected that helping behavior and empathy will be increased in the synchronous condition but remain unchanged in the non-synchronous condition. The synchronous condition is also expected to increase social bonding behaviors as indicated by greater eye-contact and increased shared and mutual smiles. Furthermore, we expect children will display greater empathy and helping towards same age peers than towards older age peers. The findings of this study may have implications for children with autism spectrum disorders, as training methods that improve inter-personal synchrony may enhance their social connections and prosocial abilities.
Faculty Mentor: Tara Vongpaisal
Department: Psycholog
Microplastic Contamination of Baffin Bay Sediments
No full textRecent research has indicated microplastic contamination is ubiquitous throughout the globe. Ongoing research now aims to identify sources and sinks of microplastics to begin mitigation and reclamation of this biologically deleterious pollution. This research project allows insight into microplastic contaminant concentrations within highly secluded sediments of Baffin Bay, Canada. With collaborated efforts this data may help us understand migration patterns of microplastics within the Canadian Archipelago, Davis Strait and Northwest Passage regions.
Faculty Mentor: Matthew Ross
Department: Chemistry and Earth and Planetary Scienc
Detecting Mood Variability at Zero-Acquaintance
No full textPeople make surprisingly accurate judgments about others based on minimal information. At zero-acquaintance, people are able to detect perceptually ambiguous information about others including their personality traits, general affect, and even the presence of a mental disorder (Daros, Ruocco, & Rule, 2016). This study examines whether people are able to detect how much someone’s mood varies from facial appearance. High-affect variability is associated with poorer psychological health along with poorer physical health (Jenkins, Hunter, Richardson, Conner, & Ressman, 2019; Hardy & Segerstrom, 2017). Given that high variability is associated with negative interpersonal consequences, it may be important to detect these qualities at first glance
In Study 1, target participants (N = 200) will have their photograph taken, answer questions about their typical mood, and complete 5 daily diary surveys capturing how much their mood varies across time. In Study 2, perceiver participants (N = 80) will view targets’ facial photographs and indicate the extent to which they think targets’ mood fluctuates. It is predicted that perceivers will be able to accurately detect mood variability at zero-acquaintance. Future research can investigate the cues people use when making such judgments, and how this might influence future social decisions about who to befriend, date, or hire.
Faculty Mentor: Miranda Giacomin
Department: Psychology (Honours)