Design Anthropology Community Engaged Research – Pedagogy Intern
In January 2024, students from MacEwan’s 4 year applied anthropology class will embark on the final stage of community engaged research with our community partner, the John L. Haar Library. Amber Shergill is a fourth-year student with expertise in ethnographic research methods, community engaged research, and field studies.
The evolution of undergraduate economics education and the use of flipped classroom pedagogy.
The project is about the evolution of undergraduate economics teaching and the use of flipped classroom pedagogy. As the title states, the project has two parts. One is the study of the evolution of undergraduate economics, from the origin of the discipline of economics to the modern content and pedagogy. This needs an extensive study of the review of literature from the inception of the discipline of economics to modern-day economics. The other is to evaluate the flipped classroom technique on its successes, failures, and adaptations. We also plan to figure out how modern artificial intelligence (Chat GPT, Viso Suite Platform, Jupyter Notebooks, Google Cloud AI Platform, Azure Machine Learning Studio, Infosys Nia, Salesforce Einstein, etc.) and pedagogical software (blackboard, moodle, etc.) can affect the flipped classroom pedagogy. Our particular interests are twofold: from students' perspectives and from learning effectiveness.
LevelUP - Literature Review, Phase 2
To complete the literature review for an ongoing research project. This project uses mixed methods approach to explore systemic barriers faced by precariously employed racialized groups in Edmonton. Our interdisciplinary research team collaborates with the Community Social Workers at the City of Edmonton.
Spatial Documentation of Fraser Lake Fur Trade Post
The main goal of this project is to spatially document information on changes in the position and lay-out of the fur trade post called Fraser Lake Post, British Columbia (AKA Fort Fraser). As is typical of fur trade posts, Fraser Lake Post underwent cycles in its operation, periodically closing and reopening in a different location, as well as being frequently remodeled and repaired. The faculty researcher has various nineteenth and early twentieth century maps, photographs and written descriptions of the layout of the fort, as well as historical and modern aerial images of the vicinity of its locations. The student research assistant will georeference images of the fort and help the researcher to relate the images to descriptions of changes in the fort’s location.
Archaeological modeling of Forestry Management Unit 20, Swan Hills, Alberta
Creation of a model that will identify areas of high potential for early archaeological sites in the Swan Hills of Alberta.
Analyzing the spatial distribution of trace elements in bone
The Canadian Light Source, a synchrotron facility in Saskatoon, SK, has a multi resolution X-ray Fluorescence Imaging beamline that is used for health-related studies of metals in living systems. This 80-hour project will involve working remotely to learn and use the software for analysis on data that will be collected during an eight-hour test scan of a bone thin section to identify the spatial distribution of trace elements such as strontium and zinc.
Populist Attitudes Literature Review Project
The students will conduct a literature review on one of two topics. Each student will be focused on a separate topic. Freedom Convey Female populist supporters
Students' Perspective of Success Strategy – a quantitative and qualitative evaluation
The Success Strategy is a game plan to accomplish the goal of individual students in a course. It is an individual’s unique strategic plan based on aspirations and available resources. Although each student is expected to have a distinctive blueprint for what to do for a course during the entire semester, everyone has a target to reach or a goal to achieve. Simplistically defined, that can be a grade. The purpose of this assignment is to help students on several fronts. i. Each student identifies a personalized goal to achieve in the course, works toward the goal, and evaluates it at the end. ii. The student is to take ownership of her/his actions – to identify objectives, allocate resources, seek help from the instructor, and the like. iii. This strategy is expected to help students to become punctual and reduce procrastination by being reminded to be on track. iv. This task allows students to think of the course content as a holistic package rather than an approach, which would enable students to comprehend the ideas fully. So, the ultimate objective is to enhance learning that stays – an opportunity to contribute to life-long learning. As part of this assignment, students are to prepare two short reports – one at the beginning and one at the end of the semester. The first report is the student’s plan on how to achieve the goal in the course. The second is reflecting and evaluating that plan and finding out what worked and what did not. Again, each plan and evaluation are unique and specific to students. No two plans or assessments are expected to be identical. Students are to submit both reports to receive credits. These reports are brief and do not require much time. 3. Description of the tasks the students will be completing for you The Riipen student will compile the gathered data from pre- and post-reports of individual students, enter it on a spreadsheet, and examine it for potential quantitative and qualitative statistical analysis. 4.
Agricultural Productivity and Nutritional Security in Bangladesh Phase #2
Bangladesh is a highly densely populated country with an average population density of over 1200 people per square kilometer. Agriculture remains the primary source of nutrition to the country’s population of 166 million, although the economic contribution of agriculture in terms of its share of GDP continues to decline. The agriculture sector has progressed over the past half a century since its independence in 1971, especially in increasing productivity in nearly all subsectors – crops, livestock, poultry, fish, and others. However, the increasingly shrinking availability of productive land, fragmented landholding, and the lack of ample capital assets pose serious challenges to coping with the expanded population and offering sufficient nutrition. In this paper, we would like to examine the trajectory of Bangladesh's agricultural and food production system over the past couple of decades and what role it has been playing in offering nutritional security to the people of Bangladesh. We will also explore the contribution international trade plays in providing nutritional security for the people. The specific objectives are: 1. Identify per capita production of different food crops and examine the trend. 2. Identify the variability among different food products and their trend 3. The per capita availability of major nutrition: protein, carbohydrate, fat, etc. 4. Trends of other health and nutrition variables [i.e., infant mortality, life expectancy, live birth weight, women anemic, etc.,] 5. Relate agricultural productivity with nutritional security. 6. Recommend policy options The raw secondary data for this project has already been downloaded from different sites, especially FAOSTAT, the World Bank Databank, and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Some literature searches and downloading literature have also been done. This was the first phase of the project.
Linguistic Landscape and Indigenous Naming Project
This project involves documentation and analysis of Indigenous language use on public signage in Edmonton and investigates processes of place naming in the city from an anthropological point of view
Agricultural Productivity and Nutritional Security in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a highly densely populated country with an average population density of over 1200 people per square kilometer. Agriculture remains the primary source of nutrition to the country’s population of 166 million, although the economic contribution of agriculture in terms of its share of GDP continues to decline. The agriculture sector has progressed over the past half a century since its independence in 1971, especially in increasing productivity in nearly all subsectors – crops, livestock, poultry, fish, and others. However, the increasingly shrinking availability of productive land, fragmented landholding, and the lack of ample capital assets pose serious challenges to coping with the expanded population and offering sufficient nutrition. In this paper, we would like to examine the trajectory of Bangladesh's agricultural and food production system over the past couple of decades and what role it has been playing in offering nutritional security to the people of Bangladesh. We will also explore the contribution international trade plays in providing nutritional security for the people. The specific objectives are: 1. Identify per capita production of different food crops and examine the trend. 2. Identify the variability among different food products and their trend 3. The per capita availability of major nutrition: protein, carbohydrate, fat, etc. 4. Trends of other health and nutrition variables [i.e., infant mortality, life expectancy, live birth weight, women anemic, etc.,] 5. Relate agricultural productivity with nutritional security. 6. Recommend policy options The raw secondary data for this project has already been downloaded from different sites, especially FAOSTAT, the World Bank Databank, and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Some literature searches and downloading literature have also been done. This was the first phase of the project.
LevelUP - Study the Makerspace Community
The Makerspace will hire two students who are a part of the Library's Makerspace community to explore the following research questions: What attracts users to the Makerspace? What are some characteristics of the Makespace community demographic? How does the community function? How can we encourage and grow the community while increasing the feelings of connection and belonging? How can we make the space more welcoming to those traditionally excluded in academic contexts? Specifically, how can we welcome and encourage members of the disabled, neurodiverse and LGBTQIA2+ communities to feel safe and a sense of belonging within the maker community. Additionally, if there are ways to make the Makerspace more welcoming to people who may feel nervous about their abilities with technology.
LevelUP - Research Assistant - Linguistic Landscape Project
The research assistants will support the research initiatives under the guidance of research faculty. Research assistants will contribute to a linguistic anthropology research project that is now moving into its second stage. They will assess the presence of Indigenous languages within the linguistic landscape of Edmonton. There are a variety of tasks available, that can involve conducting an analysis of previous data gathered from earlier project stages; helping with Research Ethics Board applications; developing a survey; conducting interviews; transcription (of interviews and public talks and other fora); and background research.
LevelUP - Phase III - Design Team for 'Playbook' (community-based research)
This is Phase III of an Edmonton based research project. Goal: The goal of this phase is to find design students who will help draft a printable template for a playbook as the 'final step' of a community based research project. Background: During the Fall 2021 term, students from MacEwan's ethnographic methods class conducted and analyzed interviews with a key stakeholder working at the City of Edmonton. Our goal is to craft a template of the playbook that could be published - as part of the knowledge translation activities of this research project. Please note: You must be a Canadian citizen. Please use your MacEwan email to register
Agricultural productivity and nutritional security in Bangladesh - Phase 1
Collect published literature and data, process and analyze data and write a report.
Level Up: Documenting the Location of Fraser Lake Trading Post
Positions Available: 1 The main goal of this project is to gather and assess information on the historical location of the fur trade post called Fort Fraser, British Columbia (AKA Fraser Lake Post). As is typical of fur trade posts, Fort Fraser underwent cycles in its operation and was periodically closed, and subsequently reopened in a different location. None of the locations is precisely known. The student research assistant will gather primary documentation available online from public archives related to the location of Fort Fraser, engage in a close reading and summary of published secondary sources referring to the post, download publicly available aerial images of the known general area of the post, and help the research faculty to assess the evidence for potential areas.
Level Up: The Identification of Burned Bone Specimens from Archaeological Sites
The main goal of the project is to determine the variability between a number of archaeological sites in British Columbia in the degree to which animal bone was burned. The student research assistant will produce a data base documenting the condition of animal bone specimens based upon their first-hand observations and help the research faculty to search for patterns amongst the data. Positions available: 1
Marketing and Communication Plan for Green & Gold Community Garden
To craft a marketing plan and communication outreach program for the Green and Gold ( G&G) Community Garden (www.greengoldgarden.com), located on the University of Alberta south campus in Edmonton, AB. The G&G garden represents a wonderful example of a sustainable urban food system that is run by over 100 diverse and elderly volunteers. Established over a decade ago, the G&G garden has been growing and selling a variety of fruits, berries, vegetables and flowers to the general public. All of the funds generated by these sales are then sent to Tubahumurize (www.rwandawomencan.org), an NGO in Rwanda that supports women and families recovering from violence. In the last few years, however, our customer base has grown stagnant. Students will be asked to do an analysis of our customer base and create a market plan to help us grow our customer numbers and continue to maintain and support our partnership with Tubahumurize.
LevelUP - Phase II: Crafting a 'playbook' for community-based research project
This is Phase II of this research project. Past interns can reapply to continue their work on the original phase of the project (see below). To craft the draft template for a playbook as the 'final step' of a community based research project. During the Fall 2021 term, students from MacEwan's ethnographic methods class conducted and analyzed interviews with a key stakeholder working at the City of Edmonton. Our goal is to craft a template of the playbook that could be published - as part of the knowledge translation activities of this research project. Please note: You must be a Canadian citizen. Please use your MacEwan email to register
Marketing and Communication Plan for Green & Gold Community Garden
To craft a marketing plan and communication outreach program for the Green and Gold ( G&G) Community Garden (www.greengoldgarden.com), located on the University of Alberta south campus in Edmonton, AB. The G&G garden represents a wonderful example of a sustainable urban food system that is run by over 100 diverse and elderly volunteers. Established over a decade ago, the G&G garden has been growing and selling a variety of fruits, berries, vegetables and flowers to the general public. All of the funds generated by these sales are then sent to Tubahumurize (www.rwandawomencan.org), an NGO in Rwanda that supports women and families recovering from violence. In the last few years, however, our customer base has grown stagnant. Students will be asked to do an analysis of our customer base and create a market plan to help us grow our customer numbers and continue to maintain and support our partnership with Tubahumurize.
LevelUP - Exploring the Purpose of City Hall Spaces across Canada
Our Community Partner will hire local ethnographers to explore the following research questions: How can we increase feelings of connection, safety, and wellbeing for people at City Hall? What is the purpose/intentionality of City Hall? In addition to the work of these ethnographers, Dr. Long's Ethnographic Methods course in Fall 2022 will conduct a pilot study completing: (1) observational mapping and (2) interviews with key interlocuters. As a first step however, we need to first conduct some preliminary research to explore the following: How do other municipalities envision the purpose of their City Hall space? Who can use it? Why? How? When? Who enforces the rules? etc.
LevelUP - Research Assistant - Linguistic Landscape Project
The research assistants will support the research initiatives under the guidance of research faculty. Research assistants will contribute to a linguistic anthropology research project that will assess the presence of Indigenous languages within the linguistic landscape of Edmonton, primarily in central areas of the city, and also will involve literature review on related topics.
LevelUP - Crafting a 'playbook' for community-based research project
To craft the draft template for a playbook as the 'final step' of a community based research project. During the Fall 2021 term, students from MacEwan's ethnographic methods class conducted and analyzed interviews with a key stakeholder working at the City of Edmonton. Our goal is to craft a template of the playbook that could be published - as part of the knowledge translation activities of this research project. If you intend on applying and do not yet have a Riipen account, please use the following access code when prompted: F5E88AC72126. Please note: You must be a Canadian citizen. Please use your MacEwan email to register
LevelUP - Online Survey Phase 1
To complete data collection of an ongoing research project. This project uses mixed methods approach to explore systemic barriers faced by precariously employed racialized groups in Edmonton. Our interdisciplinary research team collaborates with the Community Social Workers at the City of Edmonton.
Economic Impact of Muslim Communities in Alberta: Northern Alberta
Scope of the Study: Northern Alberta The primary objective of this study is to explore the Economic and non-Economic contribution of the Muslim community in Northern Alberta. The Muslim community has been around for a long time and has been growing in all aspects – not only in numbers but also in all facets – business, profession, income contribution, social and political processes, etc. It is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the community in the greater society of Alberta. This project is expected to do that. The outcome of the study is to create a comprehensive report – perhaps in two parts – a technical part with details [much more hard facts and figures for academic, official, and professional use] and a promotional part [for the general audience]. This subproject will aid in the main project through the collection of data. A semi-structured or combined structure and non-structure questionnaire will be used for this part. Structured data will provide quantitative figures to develop charts, graphs, and other visual means. It will also provide an opportunity for statistical analysis and numerical comparisons. The non-structured component will allow supporting the quantitative information through further in-depth information. Qualification of the students : Must be familiar with Muslim culture and community as well as the contemporary society of Alberta. High peoples and communication skills are essential. Experience in conducting surveys would be an asset. Location : Northern Alberta, North of Red Deer [Edmonton, Lac La Biche, Fort McMurray, Grand Prairie, etc.].
Level UP: Contributions of Muslims to local and provincial economy
Positions available: 3 students Muslim population in Canada is growing at an increasing rate, and Pew Research Center forecasts Canada’s Muslim population to exceed over 2.5 million by 2030. Alberta is getting relatively higher proportion of such population because of its expanding economy. Many Muslims work high-skill and high-education professions, i.e., medicine, dentistry, engineering, etc. It is important to understand the nature of jobs Muslims do and the economic contributions they make for appropriate policy formulations. Through this project, we plan to document the contribution of Muslim population of Edmonton and Alberta to society, economy, science, technology, and others. We expect the project will have impact in many areas. On the business side, this will be of use to businesses, especially for businesses catering to Muslims, i.e., halal restaurants, groceries, butcher-shops, slaughterhouse, and farms; banks, credit unions, mortgage-brokers for lending money to Muslims; tourism industry, private parks and recreation facilities, etc. It will also be useful to governments of all three levels – municipal, provincial, and federal for appropriate regulatory measures and policy formulations. Methods: This project extensively involves collecting data – primary and secondary data, and relevant literature. A set of questions will be developed for primary data and an inventory will be created for gathering secondary data. This will require simultaneous and continuous involvement. Three students will be working independently or in sequence. Primary data gathering – 60 hours Primary data tabulating and recording – 20 Secondary data gathering – 40 hours Secondary data tabulating, manipulating & descriptive analysis – 40 hours Searching literature and preparing bibliography – 35 Preparing a short review – 45 hours Qualifications of Student Research Assistants – preferably an advanced senior student in Economics or Statistics with sufficient understanding of (1) primary data collection, (2) data downloading from internet sites, (3) data conversion, manipulation, and processing in Excel, (4) proficient in library search and development of a review paper. Good interpersonal and writing skills are essential.
Level Up: Production, consumption, export, and policy of Canadian natural gas
Positions Available: 3 students The purpose of this study is to examine the potential for Canadian natural gas production, consumption, and export. Canada has the lowest natural gas price in the world. Whereas, so far, it is exporting natural gas only to the US through pipelines. Although an LNG plant is now under construction, there is no certainty on how much natural gas Canada will be able to produce and export. The specific question to be asked are: The objectives of this project are to: (1) identify the reasons for Canada's inability to enter the world natural gas market, (2) discover competitive advantage for Canadian natural gas export to different parts of the world, (3) examine the potential for Canadian natural gas export under different scenarios, and (4) recommend policy frameworks for maximum return from Canadian natural gas sector. Methods: This project is to be executed using the secondary data. At the first stage, this project will collect secondary data and relevant literature. The source of secondary data are the websites of Natural Resource Canada, Statistics Canada, British Petroleum, International Energy Association, International Gas Union, International Energy Agency, Energy Information Agency (USA). Data reported in these sources are not in the same form or format, neither all are in spreadsheets. This requires substantial effort to convert to a common spreadsheet software [we plan to compile all in MS-Excel]. In addition, they are not in the same units nor are in the same variables nor have the same characteristics. These data will need to be transformed, corroborated, and synthesized to create a set of consistent workable data for analytical purposes. The other major component is to review literature, prepare a bibliography, write a review on methods, procedures, and results. We expect three students to work individually or in sequence. Data gathering – 40 hours Data manipulation [synchronizing] – 40 hours Literature search – 30 hours Preparing an annotated bibliography – 50 hours Computing simple statistics and graphs – 20 hours Writing review – 60 hours Qualifications of Student Research Assistant – preferably an advanced senior student in Economics or Statistics with sufficient understanding of (1) data downloading from internet sites, (2) data conversion, manipulation, and processing in Excel, (3) collection of relevant literature, development of annotated bibliography, and (4) writing review of methods, procedures, and results.
Level Up: Dynamics of Agricultural Productivity
Positions available: One Student Dynamics of Agricultural Productivity, Economic Growth and Nutrition Security in Bangladesh The purpose of this study is to examine the growth of agricultural productivity, economy, and nutrition situation in Bangladesh with the existing policy and political situations. Then, with the disintegration of the agricultural sector into crops, livestock, fisheries, and then further disintegration of the crop sector into different crops for nutrition purposes, this stud is expected to related food production with economy and nutrition. The specific questions to be asked are: · How the agricultural productivity, in general, and specific sectors and crops performed in the last half a century? · Does agricultural production relate to economic growth? · Do acreage, production and yield of different crops grow in the same rate? · Have the existing policies been biased toward certain crops or certain agricultural sector? · What are the relationships between the growth of agricultural production and nutrition security in Bangladesh? · What role international trade payed in improving food security in Bangladesh? · Are there any room for further improvement food security through policy prescription and implementation? · What policies need to be improved, modified, and incorporated in improving food and nutrition security in Bangladesh? Methods: This project is to be executed using the secondary data. At the first stage, this project will collect secondary data and relevant literature. The source of secondary data are the websites of the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Population, the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), the Open Street Map (OSM), the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET), and the Sustainable World. Time-series data on agriculture, economy, food, and nutrition are to be downloaded from these sites. Data from different will have different formats, frequencies, depths, and units. These data will need to be transformed into one easily manipulatable format [preferably Excel] so that the data can be used in analysis. While preparing data, we also need to prepare a bibliography of related literature, which will allow to understand an overall idea on what has been done in examining the food and nutrition and security of Bangladesh in relation to agricultural and food production. This will also allow us to examine literature on policy formulation, implementation, and evaluations. The student will download data from different websites, prepare then for analysis and conduct simple statistical analyses. Possible time commitment from the student are (hours): Data gathering – 15 hours Data manipulation [synchronizing] – 15 Literature search – 10 Preparing an annotated bibliography – 20 Computing simple statistics and graphs – 20 Qualifications of Student Research Assistant – preferably an advanced senior student in Economics or Statistics with sufficient understanding of (1) data downloading from internet sites, (2) data conversion, manipulation, and processing in Excel, (3) development of graphs, tables and other visual tools for incorporating into scientific reports, and (4) simple statistical analysis.