scholarly journals Research is a Journey of Self-Discovery

Eureka ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Madan
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Career ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Innovative Research ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
The University

In this issue of Eureka, I am proud to share with you the exciting and innovative research projects that are being lead by undergraduate students at the University of Alberta. While I will let their work speak for themselves, I also would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the beginnings of my research career and the broad reaching effects I have found research to have.

Industry-Academia Computer Aided Engineering Undergraduate Research Projects

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Schonning ◽  
Daniel Cox
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
National Science Foundation ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Computer Aided Engineering ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Resource Center ◽  
Manufacturing Innovation ◽  
Computer Aided ◽  
National Science ◽  
The University

Florida’s First Coast Manufacturing Innovation Partnership (MIP), sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), promotes collaboration between academia and local industry members by providing a shared resource center. The local industry provides the university with research opportunities for its undergraduate students in areas of mechanical engineering design, manufacturing, and analysis and the university provides the local industry with technical resources. This paper outlines how this collaborative effort is structured, what types of projects are undertaken, and what the benefits are to academia, industry, and society in general. In particular, the paper describes three computer aided engineering (CAE) projects, addresses how these industry-academia projects help achieve the goals of the MIP program, and how these projects help improve the CAE skills of the future workforce.

scholarly journals The Wolf’s Boy by S. Williams Beckhorn

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Reading Skills ◽  
Public Library ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
Advanced Readers ◽  
Children’S Work ◽  
The University ◽  
The Village

Williams Beckhorn, Susan. The Wolf’s Boy. Disney-Hyperion, 2016.Shortly after he is born, Kai’s parents discover his clubfoot and decide to abandon him to a pack of nearby wolves. Rather than become a meal for the wolves, they care for him until his mother comes to reclaim him to a human upbringing. Yet still, Kai’s childhood in the human village is not exactly easy for someone whose foot is considered to have made him tabat (cursed). He is dogged by taunts from his peers, who call him “Wolfboy”, and reproaches from his father, who is quietly ashamed of his son’s perceived limitations. Banned from taking part in hunting, Kai toils doing children’s work and harbours a secret artistic streak. His loneliness is eventually placated when he adopts a local wolf club (Uff) but, eventually, their existence in the village becomes untenable and Kai sets out with Uff on a dangerous adventure of self-discovery. Along the way, they learn to hunt, meet a giant Ice Man and develop a friendship that is believed to be impossible between humans and wolves.The Wolf’s Boy is Beckhorn’s second foray into prehistoric children’s fiction, following her 2006 novel Wind Rider. Here, she fashions a fairly complex story for young readers, with liberal usage of the villagers’ fictitious language that is seemingly unsupported with definitions (until the reader stumbles across the book’s glossary of term definitions). These challenges, however, will reward advanced readers looking to hone their reading skills on more advanced prose. Beckhorn quickly departs from The Wolf Boy’s familiar Jungle Book beginnings to establish the novel as a memorable work in its own right, and she uses beautiful, descriptive language to tackle bullying, promote body diversity and even explore the ancient beginnings of humans’ fears of “otherness”.Given Beckhorn’s success at using a prehistoric setting to illustrate the depth and genesis of human relationships with animals, it’s almost surprising that authors have not mined this territory consistently before. With certain appeal for children interested in prehistory, dogs and survival stories, The Wolf’s Boy will reward strong readers.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kyle MarshallReviewer biography: Kyle Marshall is the Planning, Assessment & Research Analyst for Edmonton Public Library. He graduated with his MLIS from the University of Alberta in June 2015, and is passionate about diversity in children's and youth literature.

scholarly journals The Song Within My Heart by D. Bouchard

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trudy Cardinal ◽  
Sulya Fenichel
Keyword(s):  
Children And Families ◽  
Indigenous Youth ◽  
Oral Storytelling ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Indigenous Children ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
Equal Space ◽  
The University ◽  
Learning To Listen

Bouchard, David. The Song Within My Heart. Markham: Red Deer Press, 2015. Print.Similar to Nokum is My Teacher, David Bouchard and Allen Sapp team up to tell the story of a young boy and his Nokum, his grandmother.  Drawing upon his memories, illustrator Allen Sapp paints rich, expressive images of his own Nokum while Bouchard, in the form of a poem, tells the story of a young boy’s first experience of a Pow-wow. Bouchard and Sapp warmly guide the reader to more deeply understand the sacredness of story and song.  They highlight the importance of learning to listen with one’s whole being and not just with one’s ears; to crave more than a direct understanding of the words of a story or a song, but to feel its broader presence as a teaching, as a living part of the teller, and as part of an ongoing journey of learning and self-discovery. Through the wisdom of his Nokum both the narrator and we, as readers, come to know that “[a] story is a sacred thing,” and that stories – especially those we carry in our hearts and “call our own” – are more valuable than “toys or clothes,” than “jewels or cars.”  Given the sacredness of stories, we are cautioned to “never use another’s tale, [u]nless he knows and he approves.” The book, along with the drum beats and voices present on the accompanying CD, invites us to think differently about what it means to learn and what it means to respect our own voices and internal knowing. As if to remind us that gentleness is always required in processes of learning, the book ends with a reminder not to worry if we cannot yet understand its message and encourages its readers to continue to listen in these more complex ways, to keep listening for a story they might come to hear, that no one else hears - a story of their very own. The book is written for elementary children and yet appeals to all ages.  For those wanting to create spaces for the stories of Indigenous children and families, books such as The Song Within My Heart are essential. Not only does it give equal space upon the page for both English and Cree text but with the CD, also inclusive of both English and Cree Language versions and the music of Northern Cree, it also honours oral storytelling traditions.Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewers:  Trudy Cardinal & Sulya FenichelDr. Trudy Cardinal is a Cree/Métis scholar from the University of Alberta whose research interests center on the experiences of Indigenous children and families on and off school landscapes. Her passion for stories and storytelling includes a love of children’s literature especially literature written by and portraying the multiplicities in the lives of Indigenous youth and families.Sulya Fenichel is a doctoral student at the University of Alberta. Mindful of important, and increasing, mandates to include Indigenous approaches to living and learning into contemporary curricula she is fascinated by the ‘how’ of interconnection and communication between people(s) and disciplines.  In her research, she hopes to explore the ways in which key, and sometimes ideologically entrenched, ‘stakeholder’ groups might improve communication and collaboration in processes of education and sees storytelling, in all its forms, as central to this process.

Clinical Research in the ICU

ICU Director ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-43
Author(s):  
Elizabeth E. Turner ◽  
Mark A. Rosen ◽  
Melika Hosseini
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Research ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Research Career ◽  
Creative Solutions ◽  
Student Researchers ◽  
The University ◽  
Future Physician ◽  
Physician Scientists ◽  
Physician Attrition

In times of shrinking departmental budgets, physician attrition, restricted house staff work hours, and reductions in grant funding, there has been a trend towards migration of physicians away from academic medicine. Creative solutions to maintain clinical research programs are frequently necessary. At the University of California Irvine Medical Center, a clinical research program has been created that has allowed research to both survive and thrive in challenging times. The MICU Research Associates Program (MICU-RAP) provides a longitudinal experience for select undergraduate students to facilitate research as part of the MICU team while receiving academic credit and valuable experience. The MICU-RAP student coordinator and faculty advisor work together to recruit research associates, organize weekly meetings, create and implement research protocols, and mentor students and future physician-scientists. Student research associates are trained to develop and maintain a secure database, assist in the authorship of IRB protocols, aid in statistical analyses, and co-author abstracts, posters, and papers. In addition to the research, the MICU-RAP students are exposed to experiences meant to educate and prepare them for a career in health care. A coordinated group of student researchers can provide a significant piece of the infrastructure that physicians wishing to build or sustain a research career need to carry out clinical research when resources are scarce.

The research career of Richard B. Stein (1940–)

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 531-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
D G Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology ◽  
Research Career ◽  
Faculty Position ◽  
Postdoctoral Training ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
University Of Oxford ◽  
Research Collaborations ◽  
Active Researcher ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
The University

This report reviews the research and mentoring career of Richard B. Stein (1940–). In 1962, he completed a B.S. degree in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and thereafter an M.A. (1964), Ph.D. (1966), and postdoctoral training (1966–68) at the University of Oxford, UK. He subsequently assumed a faculty position at the University of Alberta (Canada), where he is currently an active researcher and mentor. To this point in 2004, Stein has trained and collaborated closely with over 160 scientists, largely neuroscientists and biomedical engineers, from 27 countries. He and his former trainees and collaborators have made important contributions on topics that span the cellular-to-behavioral spectrum of movement and rehabilitation–prosthetics neuroscience. His mentors, trainees, and collaborators include scientists whose countries of origin are: Australia, 2; Austria, 1; Belgium, 1; Bulgaria, 1; Canada, 64; China, 6; Denmark, 1; Germany, 1; Great Britain, 16; Hong Kong, 4; India, 5; Iraq, 2; Italy, 2; Japan, 10; Kenya, 1; New Zealand, 4; Pakistan, 1; Palestine, 1; Poland, 1; Romania, 1; South Africa, 1; Sri Lanka, 1; The Netherlands, 1; Turkey, 1; Uruguay, 1; USA, 21; and Yugoslavia, 6. In all instances, Stein's research collaborations and mentoring have advanced the careers of his trainees and junior collaborators, a well-deserved and important compliment to a stellar movement neuroscientist.Key words: movement neuroscience, rehabilitation neuroscience, prosthetics.

scholarly journals Western Faculty Profile: Dr. Dan Lizotte

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emerald Liang
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Assistant Professor ◽  
Statistical Techniques ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Master Of Science ◽  
Computing Science ◽  
Learning Machine ◽  
The University

Dr. Dan Lizotte is an assistant professor cross-appointed in the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at The University of Western Ontario. His current research focuses on transforming knowledge gleaned from reinforcement learning, machine learning, and statistical techniques into actionable information to be used in the healthcare world. After obtaining his Bachelor of Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick, Dr. Lizotte went to the University of Alberta to complete his Master of Science and Ph.D. in Computing Science. WURJHNS managing editor, Emerald Liang, had the pleasure of interviewing him to learn more about his research, its impact on medicine and advice for Western undergraduate students.

Assessing Efficacy of a New Research-Oriented Peer Mentoring Program: YOU’RE@CU

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Y. Tsai ◽  
Daria Kotys-Schwartz ◽  
Virginia Ferguson ◽  
Beverly Louie
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
New Research ◽  
The University

At the University of Colorado, Boulder, a new program designed to link graduate students with 1st and 2nd year undergraduate students through engineering research projects and mentoring relationships was initiated in Spring 2011. Your Own Undergraduate Research Experience at the University of Colorado (YOU’RE@CU) has three main goals: (1) increase retention of undergraduate students in engineering, particularly women and underrepresented minorities (URMs); (2) excite undergraduate student interest in research projects and future careers in academia or industry; (3) provide graduate students with training and hands-on mentoring experience with the expectation that this will positively influence graduate student choices to seek a career in academia. This paper illustrates the details of the YOU’RE@CU program during its pilot implementation in Spring 2011. The assessment strategy and methods are also explained, with presentation of qualitative data and discussion of the overall data analysis process.

An Interdisciplinary Approach for Involving Undergraduates in the Materials Science and Engineering Program

2000 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Bruch ◽  
Natalia Afanasyeva ◽  
Leslie Welser ◽  
Satya Gummuluri ◽  
Stan Showers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Engineering Program ◽  
History Of ◽  
Materials Science And Engineering ◽  
Physics Department ◽  
The University

ABSTRACTThe University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) Physics Department has a successful history of involving undergraduate students in interdisciplinary research, including the fields of materials science and engineering. The group directed by Prof. Reinhard Bruch has given a number of undergraduates the opportunity to work on professional-level research projects early in their career development. In our Physics Department at UNR, it is common to have a high percentage of undergraduates involved in research projects. Therefore, we suggest that the Materials Science and Engineering Program could explore the potential opportunity for spawning inter-disciplinary research programs involving undergraduates.

The Last Song by E. Wiseman

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorden Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Young Woman ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Time Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
The University

Wiseman, Eva. The Last Song. Toronto, ON: Tundra Books, 2012. Print. Set in Inquisition-era Spain, Wiseman tells us the story of Isabel, a young woman about to be married to a villainous young man from a wealthy and well-established Catholic family. Isabel has lived a life of privilege in the historically tolerant Spain until, in the late 15th Century, the monarchy embraces Catholicism and seeks to eradicate all other religions by any means necessary. As the Inquisition, led by the truly evil Torquemada, storms into Toledo, Isabel thinks she is impervious to the violence she passively witnesses on the streets, believing her family to be devoutly Catholic. In an unsurprising twist, we discover that Isabel’s family has converted to Catholicism from Judaism, yet surreptitiously practices their faith. Isabel does not have the crisis of conscience that one might expect, and begins to adopt Judaism immediately. Disguised as a boy, she sneaks into to the Juderia to attend Torah classes and learn about the religion she previously scorned. Although the theme of self-discovery would generally welcome such dedication, it is not written in such a way that it is compelling or believable. As her malicious fiancée, Luis seeks to destroy her family and family friends begin to abandon them, Isabel and her parents search for a means of survival in a town torn apart by hate, greed, and ignorance. The characters, even the protagonist, are static with minimal development. The majority of the Catholics are depicted as cold and heartless, while the Jews are kind and generous. Although one might assume that people in Spain were, at the time, terrified of being falsely accused of punishable crimes and therefore were predominately on the offensive, this was not explained in the book and someone unfamiliar with the time period may not arrive at those conclusions. Isabel has the potential to be a truly great protagonist, yet she falls flat. I appreciate Wiseman’s ability to build tension, however a series of contrived coincidences underpins the plot. The story tackles a brutal historical period, but does so only superficially. It gently introduces the reader to the Inquisition and to dealing with blind hate, but does not delve into the depths of the animosity that tore apart 800 years of peace. The root of the issue is barely addressed, and not in any meaningful way. An opportunity to raise awareness about this incredibly significant and tragic time was lost. After reading Wiseman’s previous novel, Puppet, I expected more from this book. It held so much promise, but failed to deliver. I would recommend this novel for early teens interested as a safe introduction into the Inquisition and the history of Judaism in Europe. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer: Jorden SmithJorden Smith joins the team as a book reviewer. Jorden is a Public Services Librarian in Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library at the University of Alberta.  She is an avid fiction reader and subscribes to Hemingway’s belief that “there is no friend as loyal as a book.”

scholarly journals Personal Librarian for Aboriginal Students: A Programmatic Assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Melançon ◽  
Nancy Goebel
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
First Year ◽  
Programmatic Assessment ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Registration Process ◽  
The University ◽  
Academic Year

The Personal Librarian for Aboriginal Students (PLAS) program at the University of Alberta (UofA) is a creative outgrowth of the growing Personal Librarian programs in academic libraries, in which a student is partnered with an individual librarian for the academic year. In the case of the UofA’s PLAS program, first-year undergraduate students who self-identified as Aboriginal during the registration process were selected as participants. The first year of the program saw many successes. This paper provides background on the initiative and the associated action research indicating a creative approach to engaging Aboriginal students.

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