At MacEwan University, learning might start in the classroom or with a textbook, but it often extends beyond that.
Across the university, students can be found rolling up their sleeves and doing hands-on work in research labs and studios, on field sites and with real clients from organizations across Edmonton.
These experiential learning opportunities aren’t limited to students who are enrolled in honours programs or who have prior experience or the connections to score an amazing internship. People from across the university – including faculty and the teams from the Office of Research Services, Careers and Experience and other student service areas work hard to bring real-world learning opportunities to all students.
Here are just a few of the MacEwan students taking their education beyond the classroom.
Career app collaboration
Last year, computer science students Sana Imtiaz, Kelly Ng and Sharon Lee shared the difficult feelings they were experiencing about starting their career journeys after university. The discussion led to a plan for their capstone project: JUXTA, a web application that helps users make better decisions about their future careers through the use of side-by-side job detail comparisons, comprehensive data visualizations and a career suggestion feature.
Studying brain recovery
When he was younger, Bachelor of Science student Ryan Verbitsky suffered three concussions while playing sports, one of which required vision therapy to address issues he experienced with concentration. In a course on human neuropsychology, Verbitsky engaged in research about spatial neglect – a disorder in which a stroke on one side of the brain causes a patient to be unable to attend to things on the opposite side.
Podcast production
During his five years at MacEwan University, Bachelor of Music student Dylan Cave has learned a lot, but his latest gig producing and co-hosting the Research Recast(ed) podcast has given him a whole new outlook on research and much more. In its 16 episodes so far, the podcast explores the research, scholarly and creative activities happening at MacEwan and how faculty members influence and incorporate students, teaching and the larger community into their works.
Solving cyber security challenges
Thanks to a national competition, Bachelor of Science student Meaghan Neill discovered a passion for cyber security. Participation in the National Cyber League (NCL) competition was part of CMPT 480: Computer Network Security. The NCL competition challenges students in a safe environment to practice their skills in solving cyber security problems.
Examining ancient pollen
Paige Goshko spent a good chunk of last summer cozied up to a microscope analyzing plant macrofossils – preserved plant remains used to identify plants that have grown in the Canadian Rockies during the last 12,000 years. The Bachelor of Science student was building on a work-integrated learning project she completed in her EASC 324: Quaternary Environments course with Diana Tirlea, assistant curator of Quaternary Environments at the Royal Alberta Museum.
Studying loneliness in long-term care
Beverly Michel Baluyot, a Bachelor of Social Work student, says that while she always thought she would use her social work education to support youth, that changed during the pandemic when she had the chance to volunteer in positions that had her interacting with older adults. So when faculty members Dr. Anna Azulai, Dr. Hongmei Tong and Alison Pitcher were seeking research assistants to help with their research study to look at social care strategies for older adults living in residential care facilities during COVID-19, Baluyot jumped at the chance.
Getting the gig
Gwyneth Bignell took an old-school approach to covering the arts and entertainment beat during her summer internship with Gig City. Pen and notebook in hand, the third-year Bachelor of Communications Studies student set out to review everything from music festivals and theatre performances to comedy and burlesque shows.