Department of Allied Health and Human Performance

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14078/26

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The signal lost in the noise
(2023) Corlett, John
Purpose The case studies were examined in the context of a lack of confidence in what constitutes truth and knowledge. Design/methodology/approach A case study design taken examining specific instances where the emergence of populist political tactics in an unfettered media world has undermined public belief in what counts as knowledge and to cast doubt on the validity of the idea of truth. Findings From the examples used, it was seen that not just scholarship, but scholars themselves, found themselves under attack when presenting views that, however rigorously reasoned and supported by research fact, were deemed unacceptable by the extreme political right. Practical implications The knowledge creation purpose of universities is under threat and “business as usual” as a response will not address that threat. Originality/value This calls into question the future of universities and their professoriates in a post-truth world and asks what the academy can do to adapt to continue serve the common good when knowledge gives way to the powerful influence of the evidence-free rhetorical sound bite in the formulation of public policy and public opinion.
Research recast(ed): S1E1 - A conversation with Dr. Cynthia Puddu and Cheyenne Greyeyes
(2021-09) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; Puddu, Cynthia; Greyeyes, Cheyenne
Today we discuss decolonizing transitions out of care, community-engaged scholarship, and we try to break down some complex concepts like settler colonialism and neoliberalism with Dr. Cynthia Puddu, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health and Community Studies at MacEwan University. She is joined by Cheyenne Greyeyes, a student and research assistant at MacEwan, who is working alongside Cynthia on a research project, in partnership with Niginan Housing Ventures, documenting the urban Indigenous housing initiative and its approach to preventing houselessness in urban Indigenous youth. The Decolonizing Transitions from Care project is funded by the Government of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence program. The opinions and interpretations in this podcast are those of the researcher and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.
Third-year nursing student’s physiological knowledge retention
(2023) Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Foster-Boucher, Caroline; Neumeier, Melanie; Chahal, Paul
Anatomy and physiology are considered foundational courses in medical, nursing and allied-health care programs. However, there is a growing concern that students struggle to retain this essential knowledge over time. Numerous studies have demonstrated the difficulty of medical, nursing and allied healthcare students to retain and apply anatomical knowledge as they progress through their programs of study (Doomernik et al., 2017). However, physiological knowledge retention has not been studied as extensively as anatomical knowledge retention in health care disciplines, with very few studies focusing on nursing students (Aari et al., 2004). Of those studies, most are conducted after graduation (Aari et al., 2004) or are focused on a single or a limited number of organ systems (Pourshanazari et al., 2013). The present study aims to determine the level of physiological knowledge retained by nursing students in the third year between completing their physiology course in first-year nursing and third-year Nursing Care of Families with Young Children course. To answer this question, nursing students were quizzed on ten organ systems using the online quizzing system Kahoot. Each Kahoot quiz included nine to eleven knowledge and comprehension-level multiple-choice questions. These scores were compared to first-year quiz scores on the same content to determine overall knowledge retention over two years. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS II, and means were compared using 2-sample t-tests. The scores are described for each organ system by reporting the mean and standard deviation (±SD). Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05 for all tests. The mean score of questions from all organ systems in year one was 62.89 ± 10.49 (±SD). Comparing that score to matched test items evaluated in the Nursing Care of Families with Young Children course, there is a decrease in the overall mean score from 62.89 ± 10.49 (±SD) to 50.95 ± 13.02 (±SD). This equates to an 88.06% retention rate, or 11.94% knowledge loss within two years. Organ-specific knowledge retention was highest for inflammation (100%), respiratory physiology (99.10%), and vascular physiology (95.01%), followed by blood (89.16%), digestive physiology (86.28%), endocrinology (83.76%), defences (82.50%) and renal physiology (82.19%). Retention was comparatively lower for fluid and electrolyte balance (79.36%) and reproductive physiology (77.54%). These results demonstrate a high level of knowledge retention overall, with variations in retention being system specific. The level of knowledge retention in this study was significantly higher than previous rates reported in medical and allied-health students (Pourshanazari et al., 2013) and higher than anatomical knowledge retention levels in the same population (Narnaware and Neumeier, 2021). However, knowledge retention in the third year is not significantly different from the second year (Narnaware et al., 2021).
Physiological knowledge retention in second-year bachelor of science and psychiatric nursing students
(2023) Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Pawliuk, Brandi; Neumeier, Melanie; Cuschieri, Sarah; Chahal, Paul
Numerous studies have demonstrated the difficulty of retaining and applying anatomical and physiological knowledge experienced by students in medical and allied health disciplines, although few studies focus on nursing students (Narnaware and Neumeier, 2020, 2021a). MacEwan University students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) and the Bachelor in Psychiatric Nursing (BPN) programs take the same first-year physiology course. With the understanding that discipline choice potentially impacts knowledge retention, this study aimed to determine the overall difference in physiological knowledge retention between second-year BScN and BPN students and if there is a difference based on the organ system.
Content retention of cell and membrane transport for physical education students
(2023) Martin, Noah; Chahal, Paul; Narnaware, Yuwaraj
Human physiology is considered a foundational course in the Physical Education program. The objective of the present study was to evaluate content retention of cell and plasma membrane transport for first-year Physical Education University Transfer physiology students over eight weeks. Results show that the knowledge retention was observed to be week-specific, highest in weeks one and three and lower for other weeks. Therefore, content reinforcement can be used as an interventional strategy to improve long-term knowledge retention in Physical Education University Transfer students.
Content reinforcement of cell and membrane transport between kinesiology and arts & science students
(2023) Ma, Robin; Chahal, Paul; Narnaware, Yuwaraj
The present study evaluates content reinforcement of cell membrane transport over eight weeks for Physical Education and Arts and Science physiology students. The highest retention for physical education students was in weeks 1 and 3, whereas for the Arts and Science students, it was the highest in weeks 2 and 3. Knowledge was comparatively higher for Physical Education students than for the Arts and Science students. Therefore, relatively more robust interventional strategies need to be implemented for Arts and Science students to improve knowledge retention.
Functional vagal input to chemically identified neurons in pancreatic ganglia as revealed by Fos expression
(1999) Wang, Jiulin; Zheng, Huiyuan; Berthoud, Hans-Rudolf
The importance of neural elements in the control of both endocrine and exocrine pancreatic secretory functions and their coordination with gastrointestinal, hepatic, and general homeostatic functions is increasingly recognized. To better characterize the vagal efferent input to the pancreas, the capacity of electrical vagal stimulation to induce expression of c-Fos in neurochemically identified neurons of intrapancreatic ganglia was investigated. At optimal stimulation parameters, unilateral stimulation of either the left or right cervical vagus induced Fos expression in ∼30% of neurons in the head and 10–20% of neurons in the body and tail of the pancreas. There was no Fos expression if no stimulation or stimulation with a distally cut vagus was applied. Large proportions of neurons contained nitric oxide synthase as assessed with NADPH diaphorase histochemistry (88%) and choline acetyltransferase. The proportion of nitrergic and nonnitrergic neurons receiving vagal input was not different. It is concluded that a significant proportion of pancreatic neurons receives excitatory synaptic input from vagal preganglionic axons and that many of these vagal postganglionic neurons can produce nitric oxide and acetylcholine.
Effect of needle puncture and electro-acupuncture on mucociliary clearance in anesthetized quails
(2006) Wang, Jiulin; Tai, Shusheng; Sun, Feng; Xutian, Stevenson; Wang, Tianshan; King, Malcolm
Background: Acupuncture therapy for obstructive respiratory diseases has been effectively used in clinical practice and the acupuncture points or acupoints of Zhongfu and Tiantu are commonly used acupoints to treat patients with the diseases. Since the impaired mucociliary clearance is among the most important features of airway inflammation in most obstructive respiratory diseases, the effect of needle puncture and electro-acupuncture at the specific acupoints on tracheal mucociliary clearance was investigated in anesthetized quails. Methods: Mucociliary transport velocity on tracheal mucosa was measured through observing the optimal pathway, and fucose and protein contents in tracheal lavages were determined with biochemical methods. In the therapeutic group, needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to the acupoints was applied without or with constant current output in 2 mA and at frequency of 100 Hz for 60 minutes. In the sham group, electro-acupuncture stimulation to Liangmen was applied. Results: Our present experiments demonstrated that the electro-acupuncture stimulation to Zhongfu and Tiantu significantly increased tracheal mucociliary transport velocity and decreased the content of protein in the tracheal lavage, compared with the control group. Moreover, either needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to Zhongfu and Tiantu significantly reverted the human neutrophil elastase-induced decrease in tracheal mucociliary transport velocity and human neutrophil elastase -induced increase in the contents of fucose and protein in the tracheal lavage, compared with the control group. Conclusion: These results suggest that either needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to the effective acupoints significantly improves both airway mucociliary clearance and the airway surface liquid and that the improvements maybe ascribed to both the special function of the points and the substantial stimulation of electricity.
Virtual health assessment laboratory course delivery and nursing student clinical judgment: a mixed-methods exploratory study
(2022) Vihos, Jill; Chute, Andrea; Carlson, Susan; Buro, Karen; Velupillai, Nirudika; Currie, Tami
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the virtual delivery of a health assessment laboratory course and nursing students' clinical judgment.
Physical and health education curriculum and pedagogy
(2021) Corlett, John; Linaker, L.; Mandigo, James
Physical and Health Education nurtures in young people an integrated sense of motivation, confidence, and understanding of how to navigate the world healthfully through experiential learning. To do that, we teach in modern ways for modern children in modern schools with modern expectations for modern educational outcomes. Early humans living considerably more hostile and unpredictable hunter-gatherer existences had at least as compelling a need for their children to learn the values and skills required for them to survive and to thrive. The hunter-gatherer approach to fostering the knowledge required for their children to master a complex physical and social environment holds possible reminders about pedagogical and curricular strategies relevant to modern PHE. In this paper, we explore a back-to-the-future approach to creating experiential learning environments in PHE based on the wisdom of hunter-gatherer cultures and their approach to fostering learning about healthy lives among their young people.
The state and Canadian cultural nationalism: protecting Canadian football
(2021) Valentine, John
In 1974, Canada’s Liberal minority government introduced a bill designed to protect the Canadian Football League (CFL) from competition. It threatened jail for anyone who operated a football team in Canada having any connection with an American team or league. A particular conjuncture of factors prompted the government to act according to the rationale that protecting the CFL was critical to the national interest. Canadian football had become an identity marker that nationalists used to define the country and differentiate it from other nations. In the 1960s, post-war Canadian nationalism heightened concerns about Americanization as well as Quebec separatism. It also brought increasing state intervention, including cultural policies that grew in scope as they became more populist, from a government in a minority position facing a national unity crisis. In this research, the government’s unprecedented intervention is explained, by contextualizing it historically within the cultural, economic, and political conditions of the time. When the Canadian Football League, a national sporting league that represented the nation, began to struggle, the stage was set for the most significant government intervention in the area of Canadian professional sport to date.
The Rocket, the riot, and the revolution: hockey in French Canada
(2021) Valentine, John; Toal, Brandon
Hockey has historically occupied an important place in the lives of many Canadians, and this interest is particularly strong in French Canada. The Montreal Canadiens team aligned itself closely with the francophone community by utilizing primarily French-Canadian players and featuring a team name that reflected French-Canadian culture. The team, and the sport, were used to challenge the history of humiliation French Canadians had experienced at the hands of the English. During the Second World War, the team signed a new French-Canadian star. In his first full season, Maurice Richard led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup championship. In his next season, he broke the goalscoring record. Richard quickly became an icon and political symbol representing French-Canadian nationalism. League commissioner Clarence Campbell, an Oxford-educated, English Canadian, often disciplined the fiery Quebecer. To many French Quebecers, these interactions with Campbell represented another example of English Canada’s dominance over French Canada. Despite their majority status, francophones in Quebec had higher levels of poverty and unemployment, and fewer management positions. In 1955, after an altercation with a referee, Richard was suspended by Commissioner Campbell. Riots erupted in the streets of Montreal, and Quebec society was changed forever. The focus of this research is on hockey in Quebec from its earliest days until the 1960s when Rocket Richard had retired and the number of Quebec-born players on the Montreal Canadiens started to decline (Whitehouse 2010). The importance of hockey in Quebec will be viewed through the lens of English colonization, but we will also focus on Quebec in the 1960s and the societal shifts that resulted in the Quiet Revolution and the separatist movement. While the relationship Quebec had with both hockey and the Montreal Canadiens changed after the 1960s, the passion Quebecers display for the game continued. However, hockey was no longer necessary to provide empowerment to a disempowered people.
Running-up the score: the athletes’ experience
(2022) Valentine, John
Problem Statement: When sporting participants enter the playing field, all are expected to play fairly and to the utmost of their ability, skills, and talent. However, an interesting situation arises when one team is far superior to the opponent. In that case, should athletes still be encouraged to play their best, even when this might result in a one-sided outcome? Running up the score occurs when a team or athlete continues to extend a lead when the outcome of the game is already certain. Attempting to avoid running up the score, might mean that participants are not giving their best effort; or are not trying to score. The majority of researchers have been generally opposed to running up the score. However, while philosophical explorations of running up the score have shed light on the practice, they have over-looked the experiences of the participants. Approach and methods: This research explores i) the effect consistently experiencing one-sided losses has on players dropping-out of sport, ii) feelings of humiliation when opposing teams run-up the score, and iii) the experience of the parents of the players in overmatched contests. Data was collected from players, coaches, and parents of ringette players using informal interviews and an online survey. Ringette is an ice hockey-like game played by girls. This research includes a review of the literature examining running up the score, an exploration of when it might be permissible, an examination of the Blues’ season including a survey of the athletes’ attitudes and experiences during the season, and finally solutions to help avoid running up the score. Results: Results of the study suggest that experiencing one-sided losses does not dramatically affect the players. Players did not drop-out of the sport, they rarely felt humiliated, and they did not seem to be as affected by the losses as much as their parents did. Discussion: Superior teams should utilize nonpatronizing methods to handicap the team and employ them in a way that does not humiliate the opponent. These teams could use strategic easing by playing less competent players, playing players in different positions, playing to an opponent’s strengths, trying to end the game sooner by running out the clock, or by practicing new strategies and tactics
Encouraging global citizenship amongst kinesiology students in higher education: a Canadian perspective
(2021) Mandigo, James; Corlett, John; Sheppard, Joanna
While 83% of Canadian universities identify global citizenship education as a top five priority and 97% provide opportunities for their students to participate in study abroad, only 3% of students take advantage in any given year. Faculty-led study abroad courses that are for-credit, short in duration, focused in a student’s disciplinary area of study, peer based, well supervised, and based on pre-established partnerships and relationships with local stakeholders can be effective in providing global citizenship education. This paper explores the facilitation of faculty-led international study abroad for those studying in kinesiology and related fields. We make eight recommendations based on having led hundreds of students in for-credit kinesiology courses in international settings over the past 20 years. These recommendations are: 1) engaging students in faculty research; 2) group dynamics; 3) preparation; 4) local partnerships; 5) decision-making and communication; 6) teachable moments; 7) preparing to return home; and 8) assessment as learning. These recommendations, while not exhaustive, are meant to provide colleagues with “insider information” based upon our collective experience.
Football and "tolerance": black football players in 20th century Canada
(2012) Valentine, John; Darnell, S.
This chapter draws on the history of Black football players in 20th-century Canada in order to explore and challenge the notion of Canadian racial tolerance in relation to Blackness.
New racism and old stereotypes in the National Hockey League: the stacking of aboriginal players into the role of enforcer
(2012) Valentine, John
Tracing the roles played by Aboriginal hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL) from the mid-1970s to 2010, this chapter takes an historical, longitudinal view to explain the abundance of Aboriginals, that is, Indians, Inuit, and Métis men, in the role of enforcer, a one-dimensional player who does little more than fight. "Stacking" is a term that draws attention to certain social factors that account for the position — or, for the purposes of this chapter, the role — a player is assigned or expected to fulfill as a member of a team. To situate the phenomenon of stacking Aboriginal hockey players as enforcers, the place of Aboriginal peoples within Canada is examined, particularly an historically informed analysis of the concept of Othering within democratic racism. To build the case of the stacking of Aboriginal hockey players, quantitative data is analyzed, with penalty minutes, major penalties, and fights examined for each National Hockey League season in which Aboriginal representation made up at least 1 percent of the league's players. The results indicate that Aboriginal NHL players have disproportionately fulfilled the role of enforcer; these results are considered in relation to the history of the culture of racism in Canada.
A review of common shoulder injuries: clavicular fractures and anterior dislocations
(2020) Rathje, Ben; Begg, Caelen; Helland, Liv; Kyars, Pari
The shoulder complex is an intricate combination of bones, muscles, and ligaments that function synergistically to move the arm. While the shoulder is a very mobile joint, allowing for movement in all planes, it is not an apparatus known for stability. The injuries that can be sustained by the shoulder are often extensive and could give rise to further injuries in other aspects of the body, including the arm, back, and sternum. Two of the most common injuries that can be sustained by the shoulder include clavicular fractures and anterior shoulder dislocations. Clavicular fractures are most commonly sustained by direct compressive force directed towards the sternum and applied to the ipsilateral shoulder, while anterior dislocations commonly occur as a result of direct force projected anteriorly while the arm is externally rotated and abducted. The mechanism of injury for both clavicular fractures and anterior dislocations dictates the injuries' severity which subsequently determines the extent of treatment and rehabilitation that is needed. Both conservative and surgical methods are effective in treating shoulder injuries depending upon an individual's activity level and the extent of the injury. Following treatment, proper rehabilitation of the injury is crucial to regain the shoulder's active pain-free range of motion, strength of surrounding muscles, and neuromuscular control, while ensuring a timely return to daily activities.
Cultural nationalism, anti-Americanism, and the federal defense of the Canadian Football League
(2019) Valentine, John
During the 1960s nationalism flourished in Canada as did American influence, both cultural and economically, as well as separatist sentiment in Quebec. The Canadian federal government became more interventionist to combat threats to Canadian sovereignty: internal threats from Quebec and external threats from the United States. The federal government used sport as a nation-building tool and eventually acted to protect the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a display of resistance to Americanization and in an attempt to unite French and English. Canadian football had become a symbol of the nation and therefore could be used by the government in a symbolic way to resist cultural imperialism and promote national unity. On two occasions the federal government acted to ensure the CFL preserved its Canadian identity; first, to prevent Canadian-based football teams from joining an American professional football league, and second, to prevent American-based teams from joining the CFL. John Munro was the key Canadian politician who formulated policy to protect Canadian football.
Impact of lack of in-class and online activities due to COVID-19 on anatomy & physiology class average in nursing students
(2021) Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Chahal, Paul
Both human anatomy and physiology serve as prerequisite courses for admission to the Bachelor of Nursing (BScN) and Bachelor of Psychiatric Nursing (BPN) programs at MacEwan University. The teaching and learning of these subjects are influenced by several factors, including the COVID 19 pandemic (Narnaware and Neumeier, 2020; Syed et al., 2021). In early March of 2020, this pandemic caused the emergency pedagogical transformation of nursing curricula, forcing many educational institutions worldwide to switch from face to face classroom teaching to an online, virtual platform. As a result, many active learning modalities such as the use of technology, labs, cadaver and prosection dissections, in class exams, and in person contacts with students were moved to an online, virtual learning (Syed et al., 2021). This has forced students to adopt self directed learning approaches. The impact of the shift from active learning strategies to self directed learning strategies on academic performance in nursing students taking anatomy and physiology during post COVID 19 period has not yet been investigated. In this study, we seek to determine the impact of the lack of various in class activities on class average & grade point average (GPA) in anatomy & physiology courses for nursing students.
Physiological knowledge retention in second-year nursing students
(2021) Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Neumeier, Melanie; Chahal, Paul
Despite anatomy and physiology being foundational courses in medical, allied health and nursing programs, there is growing concern that students are not retaining the essential bioscience knowledge in these courses over time (McVicar et al., 2015). Numerous studies have demonstrated the difficulty of medical, nursing, and allied health care students to retain and apply anatomical knowledge as they progress through their programs of study (Narnaware & Neumeier, 2020b). However, physiological knowledge retention has not been studied as extensively as anatomical knowledge retention in health care disciplines, with very few studies focusing on nursing students ( Aari et al., 2004). Of those studies, most are carried out after graduation ( Aari et al., 2004) or are focused on a single or limited number of organ systems ( Pourshanazari et al., 2013). The present study aims to determine the level of physiological knowledge retained by nursing students in the second year between completing their physiology course in first year nursing and enrollment in the second year pathophysiology course.

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