Program

From tweets to interactive dashboard: Conducting community-based research at an undergraduate university – Dr. Indratmo, Department of Computer Science, MacEwan University

Managing research and engaging students at undergraduate institutions require a different approach than supervising students at graduate schools. Undergraduate research is typically short-term, small in scope, and applied. Faculty members need to integrate research activity into teaching to deal with resource limitations. I will share my experience conducting community-based research with undergraduate students through capstone and course projects. I will present examples of collaborative projects with the City of Edmonton relating to traffic safety, smart cities, and social media analysis. I will highlight lessons learned from working with a community partner and discuss potential ideas for providing students with authentic research and learning experience.

About the speaker

Dr. Indratmo is an associate professor of computer science at MacEwan University. He chose a career in teaching because he wants to inspire his students. Education is not just about transferring knowledge to students. To teach is to set an example and instill a love of learning in students. His research interests cover multidisciplinary areas of information visualization, human-computer interaction, and social computing. He has collaborated with students and colleagues to work on joint research projects with the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Toward a more just evaluation of post-secondary faculty teaching: An investigation of the literature – Jane Duffy, MacEwan University

Having been an academic science librarian for over twenty years, I have sat on a number of University promotion and tenure committees where the subject of student evaluations of teaching (SETs) arose as a point of energetic discussion. The question continuously arose: “How fair and representative are the SETs’ results of this faculty member’s teaching?” On the national stage, SETs had also come under fire in recent years as their value relative to their deficiencies became the topic of arbitration between Ryerson University and the Ryerson Faculty Association in 2016. So interesting became the discourse swirling about SETs that I chose this topic for my Master’s in Communication and Technology capstone project at the University of Alberta in 2021. Through this process, my research question became: Should the design and process of students’ evaluation be reformed in order to yield more reliable – and just – feedback of their faculty? My presentation will showcase the highlights of my capstone project.

About the speaker

Jane C. Duffy, B.A., M.A., M.L.S., M.A.C.T. has been an academic librarian for over twenty-five years and during that time, she has sat on faculty promotion and tenure committees at 4 different universities. For the past 10 years, Jane has worked at the John L. Haar Library at MacEwan University in downtown Edmonton, Alberta. Jane’s professional areas include mathematics and engineering librarianship, and her research interests are in digital literacy, new media communications, student evaluations of teaching (SETs) and Library services for new Canadians. In 2021, Jane completed her Master of Arts in Communication and Technology (MACT) program at the University of Alberta.

Research data management planning in Canada: An overview of Portage/Alliance RDM DMP Expert Group activities & the DMP Assistant platform – James Doiron, University of Alberta

Presentation slides

The Canadian research data management landscape is rapidly evolving, with Librarians playing a pivotal role in helping to lead the way. In March 2021 Canada’s three federal funding agencies (CIHR, SSHRC, & NSERC), collectively known as the Tri-Agency, released a Research Data Management (RDM) Policy with the objective to support Canadian research excellence by promoting sound RDM and data stewardship practices, including those relating to data management planning. Alliance RDM (formerly Portage Network) - is a pan-Canadian network dedicated to building capacity around the shared stewardship of research data in Canada. The Data Management Planning Expert Group (DMPEG) develops data management plan (DMP) related resources and provides guidance related to the development of a national DMP platform, DMP Assistant. Hosted by the University of Alberta Library, DMP Assistant is a freely available web-based bilingual tool that is endorsed by the Tri-Agency, and that walks researchers step-by-step through key questions in helping them to develop their DMPs. This presentation will first provide an overview of recent DMPEG activities, including the development of training resources such as a DMP development guide, exemplar DMPs, tutorial videos, and an in-depth DMP Assistant Administrator Guide.

About the speaker

James Doiron is the Research Data Management Strategies Director, University of Alberta Library, and the Academic Director of the UofA Research Data Centre. With an educational background in the Social Sciences, he has extensive applied research and data management experience across a wide range of disciplines, areas of focus and data types. James is Chair of the UofA’s Institutional RDM Strategy Working Group and is co-Chair of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada’s Data Management Planning (DMP) Expert Group.

Break

Stories from the field: Communication and cognition in small mammals – Dr. Shannon M. Digweed, Departments of Psychology and Biological Sciences, MacEwan University

Many species engage in the production of acoustic signals in order to warn others or defend territory. Birds for example, produce loud calls in order to potentially signal to others that there is a potential predator in the area as well as recruit others in to mob the threat. However, not only birds produce loud mobbing and warning vocals, many mammalian species also produce loud calls from within their territories as they are relatively low cost signals that can travel long distances and thus reach many perceivers, which could include related conspecifics or the predators themselves. In my lab I have integrated communication and behaviour into a better understanding of North American red squirrel life as well as a key climate change indicator the American pika. In addition my work with the Eurasian reds squirrel in Scotland will provide a clearer understanding of the vocal system in this species, which will help provide some insight into how squirrels themselves perceive their world and thus how they interact with it. In turn this understanding may aid when promoting the conservation and habitat protection of this species.

About the speaker

Dr. Shannon Digweed has been a faculty member at MacEwan University for the past 13 years. As an Associate Professor in the departments of Psychology and Biological Sciences, she has engaged in teaching related to both introductory Psychology, more advanced animal related Psychology (Comparative Cognition, Animal Communication) and Biology (Animal Behaviour). Along with teaching, in the area of animal behaviour and cognition, she has a strong research program that directly involves students in the honours program and independent study courses. Her research program, communication and cognition in small mammals, explores behavioural questions related to an animals’ ability to communicate and engage with others cognitively. Her work predominantly focuses on four main species; North American red squirrels, Douglas squirrels, Eurasian red squirrels, and American pika.

Monitoring biodiversity with citizen science – Dr. Jessica Haines, Department of Biological Sciences, MacEwan University

Across the planet, biodiversity is in decline and yet many species are poorly monitored. One way to address this issue is to encourage citizen scientists to participate in biodiversity monitoring. Citizen science data is collected by anyone - from professional scientists to amateur naturalists to hikers spending time outside. In this talk, I will discuss the contributions of citizen science to conservation and to our understanding of the natural world. I will also talk about my research goal: to test how data collected by citizen scientists and professionals can complement each other to improve biodiversity monitoring and help conserve threatened species.

About the speaker

Dr. Haines is an assistant professor at MacEwan University. She is a wildlife biologist whose passion is engaging others in the natural world through education and research. She enjoys teaching classes on conservation biology and ecology, and her research primarily focuses on using citizen science to monitor biodiversity. She is also interested in understanding ecology and evolution by studying life history and behaviour in red squirrels. When she isn't teaching or doing research, you will almost always find her somewhere outside - typically bird hunting or competing in dog sports with her Labrador retrievers.