Posters

The Poster Session will take place on Friday, June 19th from 5:00 - 7:00 pm in the Ball Room of the Student Union Building. If you have any questions please contact us!

P.01 Instructing with Personal Response Systems
Diane Buhay, University of New Brunswick (Saint John)
Lisa Best, University of New Brunswick (Saint John)                    
At UNB, library instruction is available and includes classroom and individual sessions, workshops, and web-based research guides. Library instruction remains at the discretion of individual instructors and varies from course to course. Research suggests that in-class instruction is effective and increases knowledge about the research process (Petersohn, 2008). Furthermore, there is a growing body of research suggesting that integrating technology into the classroom is effective and can lead to higher exam scores (Morling, et al, 2008). We were interested in determining if library instruction would be more effective if personal response systems (clickers) were used. We conducted three sessions: Session 1 - half of the students had a clicker (although some students did not have clickers they were presented with all of the questions and responses); Session 2 - students had individual clickers; and Session 3 - clickers were not used.  All students (N=200) completed a pretest and posttest and difference scores were calculated such that positive numbers indicated higher scores. Analyses indicated that scores were higher for students who had access to clickers (Meanclicker=1.17; Mnon-clicker=.83). Results indicated that the benefits of clickers are not limited to individual access and support previous research suggesting a slight benefit of clicker use. 

P.02 Service Learning: A Pedagogic Technique and Preparation for the “Real World”
Angie Thompson, St. Francis Xavier University
To enhance classroom learning and to provide real-life experiences, participation in service learning is an option provided to students in a variety of disciplines including Human Kinetics. This poster presents results from a descriptive study of the short and long(er)-term influences of students’ experiences with service learning relating to children and their physical growth and development and/or to children and their health education.  Students’ perception of the short term influence was obtained at the end of term using self-report closed and open-ended questions.  With four years of data, 308 students provided short term feedback.  Satisfaction with their service learning experience was high with more than 94% indicating positive responses. Further, more than 90% noted improved communication and leadership skills as a result.  Students’ (n = 376) perceptions of the longer term influence were obtained from a primarily open-ended questionnaire distributed through regular mail. A response rate of 17.0% was realized. Responses were positive with themes of “real world experience”, “skill development”, “confidence building”, “career confirmation”, and “community involvement” found.  Thus, service learning should be emphasized as not only a valid pedagogic tool, but also for the practical experiences which enhance future education and career opportunities. 

P.03 Managing the Language Dilemma
Janet von Randow, University of Auckland
Jeremy Dumble, University of Auckland                   
English-medium universities face ongoing challenges meeting the academic language needs of students for whom English is an additional language (EAL). At our large multi-cultural university in New Zealand we have successfully implemented the Diagnostic English Language Needs Assessment (DELNA), an efficient, cost-effective, post-entry procedure  which identifies students’ strengths and weaknesses in academic English in order to guide them, where necessary, to appropriate language enrichment programmes taken concurrently with their studies. It has now become embedded in all first-year programmes and grown to meet the needs of both teaching staff and students. This poster displays the process from students’ offer of a place at the University through to advice about language enrichment. The raison d’être of DELNA is to identify students who need language enrichment as they begin their studies so that their chances of academic success are enhanced. Although some students are reluctant to admit their language needs and therefore slow to take up extra support, DELNA has been successful in raising the awareness of both students and staff about language issues and continues to be the impetus for the development of more language support programmes within faculties.

P.04 Mask-Making in Medical School: the Importance of Participatory Learning and Reflection
Jane Gair, University of Victoria
In the medical program at UBC, students listen to lectures on the topic of violence for 1 month, for a total of 4 lectures, in the “Doctor, Patient and Society” course.  Violence, and the role of the physician, is something that many of these students have never thought about before, and they find it difficult to come to terms with.  Within the medical school curriculum, there are lectures followed by discussion groups to deal with this topic.  At the Island Medical Program (IMP) at UVic,  a distributed site of the UBC medical program, we wanted to enhance the student experience with some participatory activities, that were outside of the regular curriculum.  We decided that an art project – specifically mask-making – would allow the students to find another route through which to reflect, learn and discuss these complex issues and feelings.  After a faculty development session for the tutors to learn how to make the masks, we had the students make, decorate, discuss and display their masks.  We discovered that this allowed the students the opportunity to talk about this topic with more depth, and that they really valued the experience, as evidenced by the comments that they made in a focus group with a member of the assessment and evaluation team.

P.05 Educating for Understanding: The Role of Imagination
Michael K.  Potter, University of Windsor
Nearly all instructors, when asked what they want from their students, say that they want them to understand.  Indeed, “understand” is the first word one is likely to encounter in learning outcomes developed by novices, and it appears in the educational literature from modern educational psychology and philosophy back through Kant, all the way back to the philosophers of Athens.  But understanding, though a universally desired goal, is notoriously difficult to create.  Since it is slippery, difficult to define, we are often unsure whether understanding has been achieved in even our best students.  The concept of imagination provides a useful way of interpreting what it means to understand – the lens of imagination, that is, illuminates a variety of potential fruitful pedagogical approaches for the development of understanding in our students.

This poster filters philosophical research through an amusement park metaphor to stimulate discussion regarding the following questions: What’s the role of imagination in understanding?  How could we educate for understanding?

P.06 Efficiency and Individuality in Feedback: A Template-Assisted Markup System
Richard Spacek, University of New Brunswick
Feedback for students in outcomes-based learning programs is typically highly detailed; creating and maintaining records of such feedback involves increasingly scarce human resources. We have developed an application that creates a mark-up assistant to help.

  • annotate student work,
  • process comments to determine whether the criteria for related outcomes have been met, and
  • export feedback summaries to local or online storage.

The assistant itself is simply a macro-enabled Microsoft Word template. Such templates are quite powerful in Word 2007, and provide complete control over the user interface. The application creates customized menus containing buttons that insert hidden flags for linking specific passages to outcomes and provide pre-determined feedback; personalized comments can also be attached. A processing utility scans the document, creates and appends a summary of the comments, saves the feedback to the local machine, and exports the information in a database-compatible form. Some simple ranking and calculating routines are also included.

P.07 Taking a Bite out of the Lab Manual: Stereoscopic Laboratory Model in Student’s Hands
Robin Hopkins, The University of Western Ontario
Tim Wilson, The University of Western Ontario                  
Decreasing time for anatomical teaching, coupled with a new generation of techno-savvy students, has encouraged educators to explore new pedagogical approaches and instructional tools. An evolving tool is a stereoscopic 3D anatomical computer model of the head and neck. The objective of this study was to explore its effectiveness as an instructional and laboratory aid. Third year student volunteers (N=74) were randomly assigned to one of three lab groups. All groups studied the muscles of mastication and completed identical learning objectives during a 45-minute lab. Each group utilized a different laboratory model: Group I-gross prosections; Group II-3D stereoscopic computer model; and Group III-a hybrid model utilizing both resources. Model efficacy was measured with a pre-post multiple-choice quiz. We hypothesized that students using the 3D stereoscopic model or gross prosections would yield similar change scores (post-test minus pre-test), while students experiencing the hybrid model would have higher change scores.  One week following the initial lab session, participants completed a second post-test and a qualitative questionnaire to gain insights of knowledge retention and participant preferences respectively.  Information gathered may help form new curricula direction.

P.08 Psychology Students’ Syndrome: Imparting More Than Just Knowledge to Abnormal Psychology Students
Michael  Deo, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Jocelyn Lymburner, Kwantlen Polytechnic University                                 
Should abnormal psychology professors begin their course with a disclaimer advising students about the risks of self diagnosis?  Medical students’ syndrome has been found to occur when medical students believe they are suffering from the diseases they are studying.  The current study examined whether a similar affliction might occur in psychology students.  “Psychology students’ syndrome” can be used to describe health anxiety caused by increased exposure to information about psychological disorders through coursework.  Vulnerability to health anxiety can also be due to personality traits such as neuroticism.  The current research explored whether the number of psychopathology courses taken and personality traits from the Five Factor Model correlate with levels of concern about psychological health.  200 psychology students, representing three levels of expertise in psychopathology (i.e., no coursework in psychopathology, one psychopathology course, or two or more psychopathology courses) were asked to rate their level of concern about past or present symptoms of psychological disorder for themselves and for their family members.  Results are discussed in terms of the possible occurrence of psychology students’ syndrome among undergraduate students.  This study adds to the existing literature in the area and additionally examines whether personality moderates the relationship between exposure and health anxiety. 

P.09 Contrasting Immediate and Delayed Feedback about a Graduate Course on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Andrew B.  Leger, Queen’s University
Sue Fostaty Young, Queen’s University
Formalized courses on teaching and learning are increasingly being made available to graduate students. As teachers of one such course, we wonder what, if anything, our students were taking away from our courses and whether their learning is having any longer-term influence on their professional careers. While three years' worth of end-of-course evaluations have indicated a strong degree of student satisfaction, we had no indicators on longer-term or ongoing professional effects that students attribute to their participation in the course on teaching and learning in higher education. In order to gain greater insight into the long-term efficacy of the course and to better understand students' experiences, we conducted a short e-mail survey soliciting anonymous feedback from former students who had completed the course one, two and three years previously. This posterreports the contrasts between immediate and delayed responses to questions about perceived impact of the course and identifies critical course components from students’ perspectives.

P.10 Fighting against the tide: Using analogies to improve understanding of first year chemistry concepts
Nancy Pitts, Nova Scotia Agricultural College
Many students already dislike and have decided they can’t understand the disciplinary concepts presented in first year science and math courses before they even start the course. This is a tidal wave against which many of us instruct. Examples of analogies developed for, and used in, my first year classroom will be presented as ways to overcome, if not turn, the tide. Analogies for energy of activation, collisional reaction theory, Hess’s Law, and dative bonds are just some of the examples that will be presented in this poster. Of course, this solution to the dilemma of conceptual understanding has unintended impact on the learning of some students; my classroom experience of both the beneficial and potentially counterproductive use of various analogies will be presented.

P.11 Investigating the Doctoral Experience through the Use of Grounded Theory
Natasha Bozek, University of New Brunswick (Fredericton)
As doctoral students ride the high and low tides of the dissertation sea they are continually met with dilemmas which must be overcome so that they may reach their destinations. The University of New Brunswick’s 2008-2009 first year Faculty of Education doctoral student cohort would like to present a collaborative poster session that illustrates the early stages of each student’s proposed research. This poster will highlight my proposed research interest exploring the doctoral student experience through the use of grounded theory. Across Canada doctoral student attrition rates range from 40 to 60%; this is cause for concern. As well, little research has been conducted that focuses on the educational experience of the doctoral student. Using grounded theory, this research effort will investigate the problems that arise throughout the process of completing a doctoral program of study. This poster will showcase a 'research map' constructed at low tide outlining the proposed research, to facilitate opportunities to discourse with others in order to work through the dilemma of what comes next.

P.12 The Evolution of A Transdisciplinary Research Training Program / Integrated Mentor Program in Addictions Research Training
M. Elizabeth Snow, University of British Columbia
Amy Salmon, University of British Columbia
Richard Young, University of British Columbia
Lorraine Greaves, University of British Columbia
There is increasing recognition that complex health issues require collaboration across disciplines and, in response, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funded a Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research (STIHR) to develop training programs that would equip students to develop both specific content knowledge and transferrable skills in working across disciplines to define, analyze and develop new approaches to solving complex health problems. 

The Integrated Mentor Program in Addictions Research Training (IMPART), which was funded through the STIHR program, is an innovative, interdisciplinary research training program designed to train students from across a wide variety of disciplines to conduct cross-disciplinary research in the area of gender and addictions.  Throughout the six years of its existence, in response to trainee feedback and a broadening geographic membership, the program has evolved from a primarily face-to-face, lecture-based format to a multi-faceted program incorporating trainee-led, videoconferenced seminars; online modules; an annual Research Day; and authentic collaborative research and knowledge translation projects.  This poster will illustrate the evolution of this innovative transdisciplinary research training program, with a focus on lessons learned as the program adapted to meet the needs of a diverse – and geographically dispersed - set of trainees.

P.13 Technology for Teaching and Learning: The Virtual Environment as a Tool for Participation and Performance
Shaunda Wood, St. Thomas University
This study examines the virtual environment as a technological tool to further enhance participation and performance in addition to the regularly used ‘semiotic tools’ and social-dialogical activities found in a teacher education program. Similarly, discourse and narrative are described as a mode of thinking, as a structure for organizing our knowledge, and as a vehicle in the process of higher education. How can a program of learning be assisted with structuring the delivery and organization of knowledge? The following research questions guided this study:

1. To what extent are teacher education students Web 2.0 learners?

2. How do they use technology; are they users or adapters?

3. What is the attitude toward technology as a learning tool?

4. How effective is Moodle as way to structure a course?

Educational Psychology classes currently emphasize and model constructivist teaching practices in addition to integrating the notion of connectivity and Web 2.0 into educational theory. How these technologies are compatible with learning styles in higher education will be discussed.

P.14 Exploring Wikipedia’s Issues as a Learning Opportunity on Historical Sources
Fred Mason, University of New Brunswick
This poster describes how a dialogue is opened with sports history students on the potential pitfalls of using Wikipedia as a source of historical information.  Many professors deride Wikipedia or simply ban its use, while their students likely use Wikipedia anyway without referencing it. A tactic developed through hard experience is instead to discuss the issues with Wikipedia, taking it as a learning opportunity on the critical use of sources in the writing of history. Some issues discussed include:

- questions of information quality – is Wikipedia history by group consensus rather than by weighing evidence; how Wikipedians are attempting to improve accuracy and transparency.

- Wikipedia’s susceptibility to vandalism and the “know-it all effect”; how this can be quickly reverted by Wikipedia users, but there are no guarantees over any page at the exact time one is looking at it.

- how Wikipedia, like most encyclopedias, is much better at breath rather than depth, and could have a place at the beginning stages of research, which you must then actually do.

Students generally appreciate the discussion of this popular resource rather than the usual “thou must not”, and it helps them learn about critically using various secondary sources.

P.15 How Do Service Learning Experiences Impact Students?  A Within Course Comparison of Students who Participate in Service Learning and those Who Do Not
Gina Sampson, St Francis Xavier University
Service learning is a form of experiential education where students work with community members on local issues and where academically rigorous assignments are designed to link those experiences to specific learning outcomes.  Critics of service learning ask for evidence that it impacts students in ways that traditional assignments do not.   At St. Francis Xavier University, much of the evidence supporting service learning has been either reported anecdotally or through questionnaires completed only by the faculty members, students and community partners who participate in service learning.   The question which persists, however, is how the outcomes for students who have participated in service learning compare with the outcomes of peers who have not.

A survey tool was designed to compare outcomes for students who participated in optional service learning assignments with those in the same classes who did not. In total, 255 students completed the survey, 99 (39%) of whom participated in optional service learning assignments and 156 (61%) of whom completed traditional written assignments.   Service learning students showed more advances in community commitment and career skills, spent more time on course assignments, and rated the course higher. These data are important for faculty and administrators considering the value of service learning.

P.16 Transitioning into an Online Human Physiology Course in the Medical Radiation Sciences Program
Nohjin Kee, University of Toronto
Cathryne Palmer, University of Toronto
Chris Perumalla, University of Toronto
Stephen Matthews, University of Toronto
With the explosion of user-friendly computer technology and availability of digital media, which are widely available the world over, the time is right for the development and delivery of online courses.  The Medical Radiation Sciences Program, a joint program between the University of Toronto and the Michener Institute, educates students in three disciplines; Radiological Technology, Radiation Therapy and Nuclear Medicine. Historically, the students in the MRS program (totaling about 140) have had physiology taught by faculty in the traditional lecture format. Our new online Basic Human Physiology course was created to give students more flexibility in terms of time and location, to allow self-directed learning within a semi-structured framework, and to give opportunity to these students to complete the course. The support for the online course consists of a faculty monitored discussion board, direct email access to the lecturers, virtual Teaching Assistant (TA) hours and opportunity to post and answer questions on the course discussion board 24/7.

Through student evaluations, online surveys and analysis of web activity, we found that simple strategies like incorporating frequent online quizzes (something that is difficult to do in in-class lectures) proved effective in enhancing the learning experience.  We also found that taking full advantage of the frequent but voluntary discussion board and virtual TA session participation was crucial to the students’ success. Overall, we found that the online human physiology course fostered the students’ ability for critical thinking and promoted problem solving skills. Results from student surveys, course evaluations in the online course will be discussed and compared with traditional in class data.

P.17 Reconstruction of subjective didactic approaches of teachers in higher education
Benjamin Klages, University of Potsdam / Germany
The ‘homo academicus’ is inherently founded “between the tides”. Despite the historical formulated unity of research and teaching, there are different and partly divergent requirement specifications as typical practices in fulfilling these academic functions that cause high tensions. Likewise, the process of professionalization to become researcher is highly formalized whereas besides the process of becoming academic-teacher has to be defined as distinctly informal. Hence, this study examines how academics learn to teach in their daily work-life, in front of their specific academic background, and disclosures their resultant epistemological understanding of an effective teaching and learning setting, stated subjective-didactical-approach?

By means of videotaping academic lessons and conducting narrative-interviews, this empirical study elucidate the meaning of the learning process within the teacher itself as being idiosyncratic situated through a constantly process of negotiation between interpersonal structures and institutional structures around. The disclosure of multilayered tensions that constitute the homo academicus, particularly with regard to be an academic-teacher, are suppose to be resolved by means of a synthesis, described as research-based-teaching, founded in a constantly and reflexive learning process: as being researcher seeking for new knowledge and equally as being teacher to pass the academic knowledge, means to learn how to let learn.

P.18 The Virtual World of Aviation Physiology Education:  Effective, Low Cost Solutions
Cass Howell, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL
One of the age-old dilemmas of aviation is how to properly educate students about the effects of flight on the human body, given that there are many instructional objectives that cannot be effectively (or safely) accomplished in the classroom or in an aircraft.  For example, spatial disorientation, a common and dangerous flight experience, can be discussed in the classroom, but this will only result in abstract knowledge—the student will never be able to fully understand and appreciate how overwhelming this experience can be.  The proposed poster session will present relatively low-cost solutions to this dilemma, in the form of training devices now in operation at our campus.  The display will describe and picture three simple but effective devices:  (1) Dreamflyer Motion Simulator;  the General Aviation Trainer for Spatial Disorientation; and (3) the Normobaric Hypoxia demonstrator.  The author will be prepared to discuss and explain each in terms of the advantages accruing to students.  These are innovative devices, only made possible recently by advancements in digital technology.  Regardless of whether or not a university has a flight education program, the session readily demonstrates the value of experiential learning, variations of which can be applied to any discipline.

Note: The author has no economic relationship to any producers of this equipment, and has no sales or promotion materials.  Embry-Riddle University is an end-user only.

P.19 Peer Reviewed Writing in Large Classes: Innovations in Teaching and Learning
Kenneth Cramer, University of Windsor
Craig Ross, University of Windsor
This poster outlines an innovative solution to the issue of grading student papers in the context of large classes. Software developed at the University of Windsor (through MySQL, and Microsoft Office) has students marking student papers in a 3-phase process. In Phase-1, students are given an article to summarize and offer a 4-8 paragraph commentary, done so through a simple data-collection webpage developed with MySQL. Those data are transferred to MS-Excel where an algorithm ensures that students will not mark their own papers. Coupled with both MS-Word and MS-Outlook, personalized emails are then generated for each student. In Phase-2, students receive an email containing a summary of the instructions, a marking rubric, and six randomly assigned student assignments (summaries and commentaries). They are given one week to complete their marking and critical comments, submitted to a new data-collection website. In Phase-3, they receive another email with the grades and comments from their six student markers. Of their six marks in total, the highest and lowest marks are dropped (to eliminate outliers), and the average of the remaining 4 marks constitutes their grade for the assignment.

P.20 Researching Learning & Teaching Spaces
Andriati Restiani, Ryerson University
Judy Britnell, Ryerson University                  
When asked, “What would you like to have in a classroom?” one student said, “A seat, able to see and hear the professor.”  Is that all a student needs in order to learn? In this poster presentation, the outcomes of research on learning and teaching spaces will be shared.  The research focuses on whether and how a well-designed learning and teaching space influences the teaching and learning practices and preferences of students and faculty.   Did their practices and preferences change?  And can it be attributed to the design of the learning space? Data was collected from students and faculty currently using a recently re-designed classroom.  Surveys were distributed at the first day of class, before they used the classroom (pre-survey), and at the last day of class, after they used the classroom for the term (post-survey).   Reporting of the research findings will be presented.

P.21 Designing and Building a Virtual Knowledge Community
Ted Robak, University of New Brunswick (Fredericton)
Lisa Charlong, University of New Brunswick (Fredericton)
In traditional and physical textbooks and classes, knowledge moves through a continuum from author (creator), to reviewer, to student (user), where content and dissemination processes are linear and hierarchical.  Collaborative authoring tools and Web 2.0 technologies support non-linear and interactive processes that engage all participants in distributed knowledge creation and sharing. 

This poster session describes the use of the Drupal Content Management system and complementary tools to support an initiative involving over thirty international academics in the area of forest operations. The goal of the project is the formation and evolution of a learning community (of students, teachers, authors, practitioners) where knowledge in a niche area of specialization is iteratively created and shared in an interactive and configurable learning environment.

P.22 Visual Learning: Electronic Thesis and Dissertations Word Template Instruction                     
Lyle Smith, University of New Brunswick
Sherry Rose, University of New Brunswick
We recently developed an ETD Video Training Centre for students who are unable to attend in-class training sessions, are unable to attend one-on-one support, or for any students who prefer this learning style. The goal of the Centre is to help students use the Electronic Theses & Dissertation development process remotely through a user-friendly, intuitive website.

The Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETD) process offers students who are completing their thesis or dissertations a number of tools that assist them in their work, ensuring that the guidelines of the School of Graduate Studies are followed. With the ETD process, students focus on intellectual content rather than formatting.

All important topics of the ETD process are covered in the Video Training Centre using straight-forward videos with voice-over instructions. Students can play, stop, rewind, and replay the visual instruction, in any order they choose so they can learn at their own pace.  They can also access only the specific topics that they want learn with an easy-to-use, web-based Table of Contents.  All videos are written and recorded by instructors who helped develop the ETD program.

This visual learning instruction serves the learning needs of students in the preparation and submission of their research.  

P.23 Using An Outcome Based Approach in an Undergraduate Occupational Physiology Course
Usha Kuruganti, University of New Brunswick
While there has been a move towards the use of outcome-based learning in various disciplines, there has been limited use of this approach in the Kinesiology Faculty at UNB. The process for changing from a traditional course format to an outcome based undergraduate physiology course will be presented. Outcomes were defined and students were assessed against explicit criteria for each outcome. Students were provided the criteria at the beginning of the course with clear assessment criteria.  The outcomes defined for this course were to analyze a workplace and recommend changes, critically analyze scientific work surrounding occupational physiology and to analyze workplace stressors. Feedback from students suggested that they preferred the clearly defined outcomes and the explicit criteria provided in this course to traditional teaching methods. In addition, the outcomes selected for this course reflected the more general curriculum outcomes of the program, thereby providing students with a context for learning. Initially, the process of transitioning the course from a traditional format to the outcome based was daunting however the explicitly stated learning outcomes allowed for easier student assessment and resulted in better classroom participation and interaction. 

P.24 Using Tablet PC Technology in University Lectures
Vicky Chester, University of New Brunswick
Many lecture-based university courses involve the electronic projection of information from PC software (e.g. PowerPoint).  Such methods have several advantages including, the ability to create high quality class material, relatively easy distribution and reuse of information, and the ability to integrate video, audio, and animations into lecture material.  However, disadvantages include loss of interactivity and spontaneity, and difficulty controlling the flow and pace of the lecture.  The Tablet PC provides all of the advantages of electronic lectures while addressing these limitations.  Tablet PCs use digital ink that enables on-screen writing, annotations and drawings.  Digital ink can be used to edit or modify lecture slides or it can be used to create notes in advance or in real-time using custom Tablet software.  The input pen or stylus is a very useful tool, especially for courses that involve the extensive use of equations or mathematical solutions.  Awareness of the availability of additional software programs can enhance the efficacy and enjoyment of Tablet PCs for both the instructor and the students.

P.25 Second Life as a Virtual Meeting Space for Educational Developers
Alice Macpherson, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Trevor Holmes, University of Waterloo
Cynthia Korpan, University of Victoria
In 2008, funded by STLHE through its EDC Grants program, eight educational developers experimented collaboratively in the virtual world Second Life (SL). This poster shares results and poses further questions. Although a growing number of educators have worked in – and evaluated - SL for teaching and for action research, we wanted to test the platform for our own professional development and peer mentoring, exploring the differences this immersive environment might make to our practice as teaching developers. While the interactions and reflections were of great value, we found ourselves questioning whether to recommend that SL be adopted specifically for our organization, which we see as a community of practice. Visitors to the poster will see a brief overview of the project, examples of what we did and where in SL, and our conclusions.

P.26 Giving Time Back to Educators
Tim Vanderkop, University of New South Wales
Mobile technologies and networked applications are continually expanding the scope and increasing the interactivity of the learning process for students. However the burden placed on the educators at higher education institutions continues to increase as they are called upon to provide content, structure, and management  for these new technological innovations – in addition to their traditional teaching, administrative, marketing, and reporting tasks.

Information technology service providers have tended to provide solutions to the individual functional areas of the higher education institution – separate financial, human resources, student administration, library, and e-learning systems. It is the educators who have the most varied responsibilities, and therefore the highest overhead from the multiplicity of systems in use. That is, they have had to spend more time learning, using, and conforming to these systems, at the expense of their “real” job – teaching.

The challenge is to get the information technology providers to understand the problem from the point of view of the educators, and to design and build integrated and intelligent systems that give precious time back to the educators.

P.27 From L1 to L2: Literacy Development and Intervention Strategies in a Delayed Entry Program
Renée Bourgoin, University of New Brunswick
As doctoral students ride the high and low tides of the dissertation sea they are continually met with dilemmas which must be overcome so that they may reach their destinations. The University of New Brunswick's 2008-2009 first year Faculty of Education doctoral student cohort would like to present a collaborative poster session that illustrates the early stages of each student's proposed research.  In particular, my poster entitled ‘From L1 to L2: Literacy Development and Intervention Strategies in a Delayed Entry Immersion Program’ will highlight my research interest: to explore the extent to which first language literacy development can facilitate students’ transition into a delayed grade 3 French immersion entry-point.  It will also focus on exemplary teaching strategies for at-risk students entering French immersion, and explore how effective intervention strategies, both in L1 and L2, impact the learning of all students.  Theoretical frameworks, methodology and possible methods of data collection will also be outlined.  This poster will showcase a 'research map' constructed at low tide to facilitate opportunities to discourse with others in order to work through the dilemma of what comes next.

P.28 The Efficacy of School Improvement Planning on Student Achievement: A Case Study
Daryl Morrison, University of New Brunswick
As doctoral students ride the high and low tides of the dissertation sea they are continually met with dilemmas which must be overcome so that they may reach their destinations. The University of New Brunswick's 2008-2009 first year Faculty of Education doctoral student cohort would like to present a collaborative poster session that illustrates the early stages of each student's proposed research. This poster will highlight my proposed research interest exploring the efficacy of school improvement planning on student achievement. Particular emphasis will examine various data collected from an elementary school using reduced class size as an improvement strategy and the impacts observed about the teaching and learning process. 

This poster will showcase a 'research map' constructed at low tide to facilitate opportunities to discourse with others in order to work through the dilemma of what comes next.

P.29 Identifying and Nurturing Administrators in PEI Schools: Why Are They Reluctant to Lead?
Dale McIsaac, University of New Brunswick (Fredericton)
Research suggests that there is an emerging crisis in recruiting and retaining school administrators. It has also been well documented that the school administration has a significant impact on student achievement. With these ideas in mind this research project will investigate the situation in Prince Edward Island’s two English language school boards. These boards are responsible for the education of more than 90% of the province’s children in grades 1 -12. This project will investigate the impending school administrator needs in the province, the quality, quantity and interest of candidates available and the factors that may be causing their reluctance to apply for administrative positions. Through a mixed methods approach data will be collected during the 2009-10 school year to answer three key questions:  1) What are the impending administrator needs of the two English school boards in PEI? 2) Are there enough qualified, capable and interested teacher leaders to meet these needs, and 3) What factors may be causing their reluctance to apply for these positions?  To determine the leadership needs of the boards, semi-structured interviews will be held with members of each board’s leadership team.  To determine the quantity, quality and interest of potential administrative candidates an online survey will be used to collect feedback from a purposeful sample of teacher leaders identified and cross-referenced by school principals, board leadership teams and university professors who deliver the one required course for administrative qualifications in the province.  From the respondents to the survey a purposeful sample of teachers will be selected to participate in semi-structured interviews to discuss further any factors that may be causing them to pass on opportunities to apply for administrative positions.

P.30 Evaluation of Clinical Learning of Undergraduate Students in Nursing
Nancy Logue, University of New Brunswick
As doctoral students ride the high and low tides of the dissertation sea they are continually met with dilemmas which must be overcome so that they may reach their destinations. The University of New Brunswick’s 2008-2009 first year Faculty of Education doctoral student cohort would like to present a collaborative poster session that illustrates the early stages of each student’s proposed research. This poster will highlight my proposed research interest to explore the processes used in the evaluation of clinical learning of undergraduate nursing students. Competence is critical in nursing. Clinical learning experiences are major components of nursing education programs in which students develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that contribute to professional competence. How competence is determined is a growing concern as clinical environments continue to change, and apprehension about patient safety increases.  Clinical teaching and evaluation rests upon historical practices rather than a substantive knowledge base. In order to better understand how nursing education programs can facilitate the development of competence, knowledge is needed about how clinical learning is assessed.  An exploration of current practices will provide a foundation to support new methods that will improve clinical education.  This poster will showcase a ‘research map’ constructed at low tide in the  early stage of doctoral study to facilitate discourse with others in order to work through dilemmas related to what comes next in the research design.

P.31 Ethnomathematics: A Pedagogy for enhancing students’ achievement in Ghana
Samuel Aboagye, University of New Brunswick (Fredericton)
A growing body of literature on Ethnomathematics has stimulated concerns for equity, equality, and excellence in a context of diversity (Orey & Rosa, 2007). Twenty years ago, many educators and researchers agreed that teaching mathematics to students must be related to the cultural and geographical context of the students (Jama, 2005).This research follows the early research practices in Brazil and Mozambique where different cultures were studied to find the mathematical ideas that relate to school mathematics curriculum. The rise in Ethnomathematics and an increasing need for the growth of mathematics education must be considered as good response to solving the problems regarding mathematics education in third world countries in general and Ghana in particular.

The purpose of this research is to develop the mathematical ideas embedded in the Ghanaian cultures with particular reference to “Kente” weaving in the Ashanti and Volta regions. This study uncovers unrecognised mathematics that can be found in the Ghanaian cultures and how this mathematics can be integrated into the mathematics curriculum to enhance students' confidence, cultural competence, and achievement. A diverse sample of 20 artisans (Adult vs. Youth, literate vs. Illiterate, and urban vs. Rural, village vs. Village) will be selected from the two regions. The various stages and weaving patterns will be examined to determine the mathematical choices and reasoning they convey. This research begins with a historical study of Kente weaving in the Ashanti and Volta regions and its significance to the people in those areas. It will be followed by semi-structured interviews of the artisans involved in the Kente weaving industry.

As a contemporary global pedagogical trend in mathematics education, this Ethnomathematical study will add to the need for many multicultural efforts to reform the mathematics curriculum (Greene, 2000; Ravitch, 2005). It has the potential to reshape the cultural identity of Ghana in a positive way by the inclusion of true mathematics and problems of the students' own community (D'Ambrosio), 2006). This research seeks to answer the question: What mathematical ideas do the various patterns convey and how can these ideas be integrated into the mathematics curriculum?

P.32 The Legacy of Colonialism in Education: The Impact on First Nation Youth
Andrea Schneider, University of New Brunswick (Fredericton)
As doctoral students ride the high and low tides of the dissertation sea we are continually met with dilemmas which must be overcome so that we may reach our destinations. The University of New Brunswick’s 2008-2009 first year Faculty of Education doctoral student cohort would like to present a collaborative poster session that illustrates the early stages of each student’s proposed research.

This poster will highlight my proposed research interest exploring the colonial history of education in Canada, including the use of schools as tools for oppression and assimilation against Canadian Aboriginal peoples.  In addition, I will showcase my plans to examine how the legacy of colonialism continues today and the impact of this on the educational experience for First Nation youth in New Brunswick. The opportunity to present my ‘research map’ constructed throughout low tide will allow me to discourse with others in order to work through the dilemma of what comes next.

P.33 Graduate Students Perceptions on Graduate Supervision
Rylan Egan, Simon Fraser University
Denise Stockley, Queen’s University
Increased graduate student enrolment and retention of these students is both an institutional and governmental mandate. However, with current graduate student attrition rates in the United States lingering around 50% (Hoskins & Goldberg, 2005), and Canadian graduate enrolment/completion not faring much better (Statistics Canada, http://www.statcan.ca), graduate supervision is an important issue for today’s universities. Based on data from a graduate exit survey, we will highlight our results and contextualize them in relation to the role of graduate supervision in regards to enrolment and retention. We provide an overview of responses from 1335 graduate students responding to questions about the source of conference funding, choice of University, theoretical possibility of reenrollment (both within the program and the University), theoretical information desired prior to enrolment, and general departmental recommendations all elicited responses pertaining to graduate supervision.

It is our goal that participants attending this session will have a greater awareness of the concerns of graduate students based on the survey data and conversations with others in the session.

P.34 From Here to Eternity
Nancy MacIntosh, University of Prince Edward Island
The hidden curriculum deals with the tacit ways in which knowledge and behaviour get constructed, outside the usual course materials and formally scheduled lessons. It is part of the bureaucratic and managerial "press" of the school -- the combined forces by which students are induced to comply with the dominant idealogies and social practices related to authority, behaviour and morality" McLaren (1989)