Undergraduate Student Works

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    19XX
    (2010) Kirk, Keenan; Neiman, Kathy
    Text and illustration by Keenan Kirk. Assuming the roles of author, curator and designer, Grant MacEwan University students were asked to write a short historical narrative, then to create and assemble an accompanying collection of historical artifacts and illustrations. https://www.keenankirk.com/
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    496 Capstone: AR.t
    (2020) Driedger, Andre; Ansorger, Anneliese; Galay, Chance; Lafitte, Chanelle; Cobzas, Dana
    Original artwork is often very expensive; being able to see how a painting will look on a wall before you buy is advantageous. As a collaborative project between the MacEwan Computer Science and Design departments, we set out to do develop an AR app that can be used by by consumers to shop for art on the walls of their homes and offices. Existing mobile AR applications cannot identify vertical surfaces, such as walls. Our solution is to implement a target image that can be posted onto vertical surfaces to be detected by our app. We developed an OpenCV prototype to test this method of using object-detection to set a starting point for subsequent tracking. The prototype was successful in rendering 3d objects, true to scale, onto walls. Next, we developed an Android version utilizing Google's ARCore toolkit. This also delivered good results. Ultimately, we were successful in showcasing art on walls using smartphones in real-time.
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    50 shades of risk? Psychopathic traits, gender, and risky behaviour
    (2019) Krentz, Courtney
    The purpose of this study was to determine what effect psychopathic traits and gender have upon risk-taking behaviours across multiple domains. Although psychopathy is associated with risk for violent/criminal behaviours, few studies have addressed psychopathic traits in relation to other types of risk, including whether different risk patterns are manifested across genders. Participants (N = 540) were assessed for psychopathic traits and then were asked to complete measures evaluating risk-related attitudes/behaviours (i.e., domain-specific, sexual behaviours, drug use). Results indicated that males generally reported higher levels of risk taking, although scored similarly to females on social risk and below females on sexual risk. Those high in psychopathic traits engaged in more risk across the board, which was primarily related to traits of fearlessness, rebellious nonconformity, and egocentricity. Risk consequence information impacted reported behaviours in the negative condition, possibly due to several reporting biases. Implications concerning methods of assessing risk and factors predictive of risk are discussed.
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    9-(2-Phosphonyl-methoxyethyl)-adenine promotes erythrocytic differentiation and disrupts cell replication in chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells
    (2021) Wiseman, Brittany; Harcombe, Kimberley; Bernstein, Nina
    Disruption during cellular differentiation can cause hematopoietic stem cells to proliferate uncontrollably, resulting in the development of cancer. Differentiation therapies are being investigated as a type of cancer treatment which involve inducing agents that promote the differentiation of cancer cells into those with similar properties to normal blood cells. These cells can then undergo apoptosis at an accelerated and controlled rate compared to cancer cells, making this a potential therapeutic technique. In this study, the ability of human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells to undergo cellular differentiation in response to the inducing agent 9-(2-Phosphonyl-methoxy ethyl)-adenine (PMEA) is investigated. PMEA has previously been shown to disrupt cell replication, and promote erythrocytic differentiation in K562 cells. In order to further test the effectiveness of this inducer, cell proliferation was measured with a cell growth curve, hemoglobin presence was measured with benzidine staining, and gamma-globin expression (a protein subunit of fetal hemoglobin) was measured in both induced and uninduced K562 cell cultures via RT-qPCR and western blotting. The results indicate that PMEA slows cell replication, and promotes hemoglobin (and subsequently gamma-globin) expression in treated cells. In summary, the findings support the conclusion that PMEA is able to promote erythrocytic differentiation in K562 cells, and provides information that supports differentiation therapies as a method for cancer treatment.
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    9-(2-Phosphonyl-methoxyethyl)-adenine promotes erythrocytic differentiation and disrupts cell replication in chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells
    (2021) Wiseman, Brittany
    Disruption during cellular differentiation can cause hematopoietic stem cells to proliferate uncontrollably, resulting in the development of cancer. Differentiation therapies are being investigated as a type of cancer treatment which involve inducing agents that promote the differentiation of cancer cells into those with similar properties to normal blood cells. These cells can then undergo apoptosis at an accelerated and controlled rate compared to cancer cells, making this a potential therapeutic technique. In this study, the ability of human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells to undergo cellular differentiation in response to the inducing agent 9-(2-Phosphonyl-methoxy ethyl)-adenine (PMEA) is investigated. PMEA has previously been shown to disrupt cell replication, and promote erythrocytic differentiation in K562 cells. In order to further test the effectiveness of this inducer, cell proliferation was measured with a cell growth curve, hemoglobin presence was measured with benzidine staining, and gamma-globin expression (a protein subunit of fetal hemoglobin) was measured in both induced and uninduced K562 cell cultures via RT-qPCR and western blotting. The results indicate that PMEA slows cell replication, and promotes hemoglobin (and subsequently gamma-globin) expression in treated cells. In summary, the findings support the conclusion that PMEA is able to promote erythrocytic differentiation in K562 cells, and provides information that supports differentiation therapies as a method for cancer treatment.
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    A comparison between real and DLA simulated liver lobules using a population density analysis
    (2014) Wisk, Sara; Rezania, Vahid
    A liver lobule is comprised of networks of sinusoids and hepatocytes. Here, a liver lobule was computationally constructed by using diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) method. A population density analysis of the sinusoids and hepatocytes was performed and then compared with a real lobule image. The resulting images were compared using a histogram to interpret the ratio of hepatocytes to sinusoids.
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    A comparison of student achievement across pedagogical modalities
    (2023) Bown, Erica; Moscicki, Michele
    Recent research provides evidence that students’ active participation in course activities creates stronger connections and enables deeper levels of information processing and learning compared to passive teaching and learning methods (Nurbavliyev et al., 2022). The present study investigated the relationship between active and passive learning across different pedagogical modalities and its effect on academic performance. We hypothesized that students in the active learning group would perform better academically than students in the passive learning group. Participants were students enrolled in hybrid or in-person PSYC 105 courses at MacEwan University. Our sample size for our analyses related to academic performance included 24 participants, 14 from the active group and 10 from the passive group. Our sample size for our correlational analyses included 97 participants. Throughout the semester, participants in the active condition completed activities and participants in the passive condition heard a lecture. Academic performance was measured based on participants’ performance on eight standardized multiple-choice questions embedded into each class's midterm and final exams, and overall midterm and final exam grades. We also investigated if certain student characteristics moderate the effect of activities on retention. Participants filled out questionnaire items assessing personality, self-regulation, procrastination, and test anxiety. Our results showed that students in the active learning condition performed better than those in the passive learning condition. We also found a moderately positive relationship between procrastination and test anxiety, and neuroticism and test anxiety. These results illustrate the potential benefits of universities offering more opportunities for active learning on students’ academic performance.
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    A crime of fashion: social mobility and the second hand clothing trade in early modern England
    (2019) Riehl, Abby; Falconer, Robert
    Through exploring the ideologies behind the sumptuary laws, the development of the second-hand economy, and the method through which goods came into it, this essay will consider the idea of social mobility as attained through the buying and selling of luxury clothing. Looking primarily at the working poor, though also drawing from the expanding middling class, this essay will consider the realities of the opportunities offered by the existence of the second-hand economy, and whether or not any tangible form of social mobility was indeed attainable through them.
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    A cross comparison of temporary work release programs as an alternative to incarceration within Canada and Ukraine
    (2022) Shaw, Lauren
    The goal of punishment through incarceration is to enforce ideals of criminal deterrence, provide retribution for victims of criminal activity, and to aid in the protection of society from offenders and criminal activity (Ward & Salmon, 2009). Methods of punishment by means of incarceration rely on the denial of access to opportunities and resources that are offered to members of society who are not criminals. By focusing on factors entailed in the idea of enforcing punishment via incarceration, the carceral system is not promoting offender reintegration into society, which increases likelihood of reoffending and thus perpetuates broken justice systems. There is an innumerable amount of evidence suggesting that punishment is not an effective method for the reduction of criminal activity. Therefore, due to a rise in prison populations, criminal activity and high recidivism rates, there is a need to review and modify the methods of the carceral system and offer reintegration programs for offenders (Cheliotis, 2008). This paper compares and contrasts the use of temporary work release programs within Canada and Ukraine and provides insight with regards to how the usage rates of temporary work release programs have changed over time since their implementation in legislation within Canada and Ukraine.
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    A day in the park
    (2013) Koufogiannakis, Kaelin
    A one-legged boy takes a dog to the park (location: McKernan School). Created using iMovie. Written and animated by Kaelin Koufogiannakis with Frank Haddock, executive producer. Student work for Continuing Education 3D Animation course.
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    A further account of species being
    (2009) Mcquade, Andrea
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    A future without spectacle: a refuge from cultural hegemony in contemporary art and neo-humanism
    (2015) MacDonald, Emily Lynne
    This paper explores possibilities for the future of popular culture. Central to the arguments in this paper, is the search for a remedy to a visual culture that has been left deconstructed and fragmented by a Western obsession with postmodernism. This paper begins with a discussion of Boris Groy’s “society of spectacle without spectators” (2012) and the ramifications of such an observation as homological to the state of contemporary art and the human subject. A discussion of the works of modern and contemporary artists is used to illustrate contemporary art’s metonymic relationship to the future of popular culture. Specific examples are explored such as German photographer and film maker Thomas Demand’s works that create a “critical fiction” Liljegren (2013) to highly engage the spectator and are juxtaposed with postmodern speculations such as Baudrillard’s simulacra.
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    A great change will come
    (2014) Dyck, Jonathan; Pacher, Constanza; Dupuis, Jess
    Winner of the Creative Category in the MacEwan Book of the Year Student Contest. Under the premise that the visual form is dictated by the content, students were encouraged to analyze plot, characters, point of view, imagery, tone, themes and symbolism to extract keywords, sentences and passages as the basis for their designs. Students were asked to challenge literal interpretations by exploring the use of expressive typography and text and image relationships.
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    A long, cold walk: The mean streets of Edmonton are especially frigid for the transgendered community
    (2014) Lamoureux, Mack
    An examination of transgendered youth in Edmonton.
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    A mad tea-party: mockup
    (2021) Favre, Chelsea; Pacher, Constanza
    In “A Mad Tea-Party from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’’ by Lewis Carroll, Alice has just met the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and the Dormouse at their tea-party, where she engages in a nonsensical conversation regarding hair cutting, riddles, buttered clocks and time. The Hatter chimes in periodically with off-topic chatter that derails the conversation at hand, much to the annoyance of Alice. Her consternation grows more apparent as the conversation continues, and it ends with a nonsensical parody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. A whimsical approach was taken in the way the text is laid out on the page, aiming to lead the reader’s eye down a winding, amusing path from one section to the next. The Hatter’s nonsensical interruptions break the text using a larger coloured and eccentric typeface to accentuate how disruptive his interruptions are. Despite the interjection of the larger text into the normal paragraphs, they are presented in a way that leads to the next part of the story with ease. Alice’s irritation is expressed in red with certain words emphasized in larger, bolder text to force that annoyance on the reader, growing in size to match her growing irritation as the story progresses. The illustrations used to decorate this piece add to the whimsical, fantastical nature of the story. The little Mad Hatter hat that sits upon the first letter of the story draws attention to the beginning, while the teapot pouring tea down the text into a much larger teacup below not only helps the reader navigate the text but also brings attention to the setting of the story. The image serves to illustrate how bizarre the world is that Alice finds herself in. Lastly, the image of a sleepy Dormouse brings attention to the ending of the tale, providing a delightful, visual element to the conclusion. Course: DESN 231 Typography II.
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    A mad tea-party: spread
    (2021) Favre, Chelsea; Pacher, Constanza
    In “A Mad Tea-Party from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’’ by Lewis Carroll, Alice has just met the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and the Dormouse at their tea-party, where she engages in a nonsensical conversation regarding hair cutting, riddles, buttered clocks and time. The Hatter chimes in periodically with off-topic chatter that derails the conversation at hand, much to the annoyance of Alice. Her consternation grows more apparent as the conversation continues, and it ends with a nonsensical parody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. A whimsical approach was taken in the way the text is laid out on the page, aiming to lead the reader’s eye down a winding, amusing path from one section to the next. The Hatter’s nonsensical interruptions break the text using a larger coloured and eccentric typeface to accentuate how disruptive his interruptions are. Despite the interjection of the larger text into the normal paragraphs, they are presented in a way that leads to the next part of the story with ease. Alice’s irritation is expressed in red with certain words emphasized in larger, bolder text to force that annoyance on the reader, growing in size to match her growing irritation as the story progresses. The illustrations used to decorate this piece add to the whimsical, fantastical nature of the story. The little Mad Hatter hat that sits upon the first letter of the story draws attention to the beginning, while the teapot pouring tea down the text into a much larger teacup below not only helps the reader navigate the text but also brings attention to the setting of the story. The image serves to illustrate how bizarre the world is that Alice finds herself in. Lastly, the image of a sleepy Dormouse brings attention to the ending of the tale, providing a delightful, visual element to the conclusion. Course: DESN 231 Typography II.
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    ‘A peculiar gift of providence': the power-imbalance caused by gift-giving in Millenium Hall
    (2015) Snyder, Elisia
    Sarah Scott's eighteenth-century novel Millenium Hall canvasses the role of gift-giving in the dynamics heteronormative-domestic, economic, and spiritual relationships. The pharmakon of the gift plays a central role in Scott's understanding of philanthropy, and the construction of her female-inhabited, female-run utopia. This article's principle occupation is to show that all instances of gift-giving in Millenium Hall create power-imbalances between the superior giver and the inferior receiver; however, Sarah Scott's female utopia constructs the most preferable type of subservience.
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    A polemic against those who assert world-bound individuals in Leibniz’s philosophy
    (2016) Smith, Joshua Henry
    The German philosopher, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, wrote his first philosophical work at the tender age of seventeen and died at the age of seventy. Leibniz was able to write much in terms of both quantity and quality. His ideas were on significant and difficult subjects, ranging from philosophy, to mathematics, to physics, and engineering. Because he wrote so much and over such a very long period of time, there is much to be reconciled and understood in Leibniz’s philosophy. A sort of rectification should take place, a cohesion of thought between his seemingly disparate ideas. I will present one such tension in Leibniz’s philosophical writings that requires said careful attention. The tension comes via Leibniz’s thoughts on the individual and freedom.