Browsing by Author "Bazzul, Jesse"

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Open Access
Becomings-Unsettled? (Un) Braiding Settler-Treaty Life Writing
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-03) Aamodt, Audrey Jennifer; Bazzul, Jesse; Montgomery, Kenneth; Cappello, Michael; King, Anna-Leah; Eaton, Emily; Kerr, Jeannie
Rather than viewing this abstract as a simple outline of the main ideas, the nuts and bolts, the meat and potatoes, the name of the game, and the bottom line, I consider it a story. It is another moment for practicing life writing as research. On an early December morning, a large group of Canada geese gather on Pasqua Lake in the Qu’appelle Valley, near a brief narrowing of the lake in the southwest. The lake ice is thick except for a peculiar patch of open water, an oddity for the season. Here the geese float and flap mostly at the edges together, preparing for the day ahead. Nearby some ice fishing huts perch atop the frozen surface, fires lit, rods hovering over drilled holes, awaiting a catch. We have gathered too, for a scholarly writing retreat. This abstract is one of my writing tasks. While it’s positioned first, I have left it for last, wrestling with its objectives and function. What is the story of this thesis? This thesis is an altercation with academic writing, linearity, form and format, educational research, data, multiplicities of mistakes, goodness, and settler-colonial normative narratives. It stories theory by braiding, unbraiding, folding, and unfolding problematic normative narratives in turns and tangles, in the middles of mistakes. As a collection of textural braidways, it illustrates White settler-Canadian treaty responsibilities to land, water, air, and treaty partners—both human and more-than-human kin. These responsibilities include disrupting White, settler-colonial systems of supremacy and individual settler-Canadian good intentions. Such life writing plays with how becomings- (tearful, humble, ethical, unsettled) work while risking Indigenization of education and settler-treaty life writing as research. The offered self-stories are prayerful openings for living treaties with truthfulness, reciprocity, and humility. In the afternoon, the geese take flight overhead as I walk along the shore, slipping and falling, in awe of the ice lifting at the edges while meeting the sand and rocks, green algae suspended in frozen formations. With each season, the water melts and flows and freezes again and again. Like algae, the self is suspended, both fixed and fluid, in life writing stories. Like geese, the self sometimes floats and flaps at the edges, part of a pack, and moves in lines of flight. Like fish, hunted, the self gets caught, hooked and tied to normative narratives, pulling taut-taught on the line. And the fish resist. The geese honk. The algae blooms. The self slips and falls.
Open Access
Beyond the Numbers: Gaining Perspective on the Mathematics Problem Towards The Successful Transition of Students into University Mathematics
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2018-07) Braun, Vanessa Karina; Russell, Gale; Armstrong, Alayne; Bazzul, Jesse; Doolittle, Edward
The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how the Mathematics Problem- the issue that students entering precalculus (and other bridging-style) mathematics in university are performing at an extremely poor level- is experienced and perceived by mathematicians. Additionally, this study looks at what effect these perceptions have on precalculus/bridging courses and how this information can be used to influence programming for incoming students in Western Canadian universities. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, this study found that participants view mathematics with a dual lens, which creates unique problems in mathematics lecture halls. Moreover, participants perceive that the dual nature of mathematics in combination with a lack of communication between high school teachers and university professors and lecturers has only contributed to the Mathematics Problem, resulting in a need to bridge the gap between mathematicians and high school mathematics educators. Finally, it is theorized that an asset-based approach to future precalculus/bridging strategies, as opposed to a deficit model, could create the opportunity for influential programming at Western Canadian universities, remedying the Mathematics Problem.
Open Access
Celebration Of Authorship Program 2022-2023
(University of Regina Library, 2023) Abrams, Kelly J.; Afolabi, Taiwo; Ashton, Emily; Battis, Jes; Bazzul, Jesse; Buchko, Denée M.; Coupal, Chelsea; Crivea, Jocelyn; Dupeyron, Bruno; Eaton, Emily; Fay, Holly; Farney, Jim; Farrell, Issac; French, Lindsey; Fuchs, Jesse; Garneau, David; Gerbeza, Tea; Germani, Ian; Gibb, Ryland; Grimard, Céleste; Harnish, Garett; Hoang Trung, Kien; Horowitz, Risa; Hurlbert, Margot; Jeffery, Bonnie; King, Anna-Leah; Knight, Lindsay; Knuttila, Murray; Kyabaggu, Ramona; Lavallie, Carrie; Lloyd, Kiegan; Lonie, Kelsey; Lundahl, Bev; Lylyk, Stephen; Marsh, Charity; McNeil, Barbara; Moat, Olivia; Moasun, Festus Yaw; Nestor, Jack J.; Novik, Nuelle; Owusu, Raymond Karikari; Panchuk, Kristie; Petry, Roger; Petry, Yvonne; Phipps, Heather; Ratt, Solomon; Ricketts, Kathryn; Riegel, Christian; Robinson, Katherine M.; Rocke, Cathy; Rollo, Mike; Safinuk, Corey; Saul, Gerald; Schroeter, Sara; Schultz, Christie; Wanda, Seidlikoski Yurach; Sirke, Kara; Sterzuk, Andrea; Stewart, Michelle; Szabados, Béla; Tremblay, Arjun; Whippler, Ryan; White, Judy; Wihak, Mark; Zimmer, Jonathon
Archer Library is proud to unveil the 2022-23 University of Regina Celebration of Authorship Program booklet. This downloadable publication highlights University of Regina authors/creators of books, edited proceedings, sound recordings, musical scores and film or video recordings published over the last year in any format (print or electronic). We encourage you to take a moment to view the program booklet and extend your congratulations to all of the University of Regina students, faculty, staff, and alumni who are being celebrated this year.
Open Access
Energy literacy in the Canadian elementary classroom
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2025-02) Mosscrop, Larkin Elizabeth; Hurlbert, Margot; Coates, Ken; Longo, Justin; Bazzul, Jesse; Novog, Dave
This dissertation presents a body of research that addresses the policy issue of the effectiveness and role of curriculum in building energy literacy. Energy literacy, which encompasses broad content knowledge as well as affective and behavioural characteristics, will empower students to make responsible and appropriate energy-related choices, and embrace changes in the way they use and produce energy. Students who are energy literate will be more capable of engaging in thoughtful energy-related decisions as they become adults, informing policies and energy projects moving forward. A framework to assess if the elementary science curricula across Canada would meet the required elements to establish energy literacy in elementary school students was developed. This framework suggests that many of the curricula do not support energy literacy but rather focus on content knowledge. The science curriculum assessment identified all aspects of energy expected to be understood by the end of grade 8. This assessment was used to formulate the student survey, and the in-class focus group. Students showed general energy literacy during the focus group discussions in addition to significant learning and interest in energy after the discussion. Grade 6 students showed surprisingly high degrees of understanding and application when compared to the middle-school students. Teachers were interviewed to evaluate their use of curriculum in the classroom, teaching practices, and understanding of science literacy. Teaching science was raised as a way to increase engagement and accessibility for those who struggle in other areas in school. Science through self-directed project-based learning does not require the same level of literacy or numeracy for engagement. However, this focus on inquiry-based learning was bound by the teacher having enough engagement to answer questions and involve students emphasizing the need for professional development for new or complex topics. The ever-increasing demands on teachers to integrate social issues (e.g., environmental and climate justice) to science education is particularly relevant when considering that energy literacy has three core pillars including affect or the values and beliefs one has. This is particularly important with an increasingly polarized world, where students are bombarded with polarized media and face teachers who have their own implicit and explicit biases. Education must focus on facts while still providing a strong foundation of scientific skills that enable students to develop their own beliefs about science. The curriculum is not structured in such a way as it too has many implicit biases, such as defining energy as either renewable or nonrenewable. These findings support the complex relationship between knowledge, affect, and behaviour, underscoring the importance of using educational strategies that focus not only on cognitive development but engage the whole student in the learning process while still maintaining balance and focus on scientific outcomes. The results also provide evidence for using educational pedagogies that incorporate projects and inquiry-based models to connect the content to student lives outside of school. The results of this study do provide some insight as to the utility of curriculum as a policy tool, that is that curriculum is only one part of a complex system and curriculum reform alone is unlikely to equate to changes in the classroom. Overall, the results of this study support the need for wider implementation of science professional development, including project-based energy education and the creation of resources that can be easily and freely accessed by teachers. Key words: education, energy literacy, science literacy, pedagogy
Open Access
Student-Teacher Collaboration and Exploring Student Voice to Improve Classroom Instruction and Action Planning in Grade Nine Health Education
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2017-12) Beliveau, Kendra Janelle; Salm, Twyla; Lewis, Patrick; Bazzul, Jesse; Martin, Ronald
The purpose of this action research study was to understand my role as a health educator by encouraging student voice in my grade nine health classrooms. My intent was to collaborate and facilitate student-centered learning with grade nine students to produce meaningful action/advocacy plans in health education. The intent was for students to experience a safe discursive space, and a supportive learning environment to self-express and engage in a wider understanding of complex social and health issues. My aim of this research project is to empower students to have a voice and enable all participants to engage in change through social action. I collected data using student exit slips, student artifacts, crucial conversations, and a reflective journal. As I progressed through the phases of action research, my investigation into how I perceived student voices and student-centered learning in my grade 9 health education classrooms highlighted four emerging themes. The first theme highlighted three types of student voice (authoritative, critical and therapeutic) that emerged from the data. I was challenged with truly listening to student voice and the impact their words had on my role as a health educator. The second theme challenges power and privilege that exist within the classroom and school environment. I also discuss the connection between student voice and engagement, while discussing the power of silence in the classroom. The third theme documents my personal struggles shifting from teacher-centered to student-centered learning in health education. Finally, the fourth theme discusses the role of student voice in assessment practices.
Open Access
Summer Science Camp Instructor Reflections on Personal and Professional Development
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2018-06) Freitag, Benjamin Lewis; Wessel, Warren; Forsberg, Nicholas J.; Bazzul, Jesse; deMontigny, David; Molnar, Timothy
The purpose of this research was to ascertain how the summer job experiences at the EYES (Educating Youth in Engineering and Science) program impacted former instructors’ personal and professional development. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational research in a camp environment is mostly focused on student learning and achievement; my research instead focused on the impact on and outcomes for the program instructors, who develop and deliver the educational material for children. The EYES program is a not-for-profit organization based at the University of Regina. It has a mission of sparking curiosity and developing a lasting interest in science, engineering and technology for young people in southern Saskatchewan. The program is staffed by one year-round coordinator, a part time assistant coordinator and numerous summer students who are hired as instructors. My thesis describes the structure of the EYES program, my involvement as coordinator, a literature review of consulted sources, the methodology used, an overview of results of both the survey and interviews conducted and conclusions based on this work. The findings show that for many instructors this experience was a powerful, formative and meaningful. Many gained a better understanding of how to work with youth, teaching strategies, and the nature of science, while at the same time developing meaningful friendships with staff and engaging in staff mentorship. Finally, EYES also changed many instructors’ perceptions and understandings about poverty and sexism in Saskatchewan, after their experiences in EYES outreach programs with underrepresented groups.