Inder Singh might be majoring in molecular biology, but through his work as a research assistant with the Office of Research Services last summer, he’s had the opportunity to gain knowledge in some unexpected subject areas.

“It’s a university-wide position, so you can be paired with a faculty member from any discipline to help them with whatever research tasks they require,” he says. “It's a great opportunity to learn about anything and everything. I got to work on research projects in law, business, psychology, ecology, nursing and early childhood development.”

One of those projects was analyzing survey data for an online course about sexual violence, consent and building healthy relationships. It Takes All of Us is a free, self-paced, online offering from the Office of Sexual Violence Prevention, Education and Response that is available to all students at MacEwan – and compulsory for volunteers in some extracurricular programs, as well as all Griffins athletes.

“Participants were asked a set of questions before taking the course, and then again after taking it. This was a way to determine if one's view on topics like sexual violence changed,” Singh explains of the research process. “We found that for most of the students who completed the course, their views did change. That showed me that it's always important to be talking about these things.”

In order to better understand the context of what he was working with, Singh decided to take the course for himself – and had some big takeaways. “There was a lot of information that I wouldn't have known otherwise, including stats on sexual violence against gender minorities,” he says. “The course deepened my perspective on what sexual violence looks like, especially in a university.”

Though his term with the Office of Research Services has ended, Singh is still benefiting from the experience.

“I've learned that there's all sorts of ways you can kind of scrutinize data and approach experiment design,” he says. “My own research focuses on biology, but now I feel like I can approach it from new angles.”