Royal Roads Research Articles

Friend Not Foe: The Role of Curriculum Committee in Supporting the Development of Curriculum at Royal Roads University

Curriculum Committee at Royal Roads University (RRU) is mandated with ensuring that program and course curricula are of sufficient high academic integrity, consistent with other academic institutions, delivered in a manner consistent with program outcomes, and align with the recently adopted Learning and Teaching Model. Yet, the apparent simplicity of the committee's role is overshadowed by much confusion about what the committee does, how and why it does what it is intended to do and whether it is effective in fulfilling its mandate. This paper explores the role of Curriculum Committee at RRU regarding the tensions that the committee encounters fulfilling its role. It begins with an historical review of Curriculum Committee, which is followed by a look at some of the factors that influence decision-making during committee meetings. Next, it examines the tensions posed by trying to strike a balance between form, function and the context of curriculum proposals. The paper concludes with an observation that Curriculum Committee continues to evolve as it incorporates the lessons learned from ongoing self-reflection and feedback from faculty members and the broader university.

A Last Memory of a Friend—Notes from, to, and on John Stape

A Last Memory of a Friend—Notes from, to, and on John Stape G. W. Stephen Brodsky (bio) In August 2014, a note from John Stape to the present writer shared the profoundly personal and tragic news of his terminal illness. A few of the words in my response told him, "Your note [. . .] is one of simple acceptance and great courage. [. . .] I simply want you to know how much I have admired your life's work. I have come to know [. . .] your passionate dedication to our craft." John replied the following day, "I really am happy at this moment. I know I have more to give, but my time has run now, and I am glad to have managed what I could in the years I have had. We've both had a life passion and what an enriching thing it has been. John." With publication of The New Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad in 2015, and his final crowning achievement, the publication of the Cambridge edition of Victory with his co-editor Alexandre Fachard the following year, John had worked to the last, his time run, as he had written with such brave grace. While I had not thought of it at the time, I believe my note's closing words express the sentiments of all of us who knew John and know his legacy: "Your writings have left, and will continue to leave, a profound impact on me and others—our present friends and colleagues, and those yet to come." [End Page vii] G. W. Stephen Brodsky G.W. STEPHEN BRODSKY, Special Lecturer, Royal Roads Military College (retired), specializes in elements of szlachta tradition encoded in the Conrad oeuvre. He is author of Joseph Conrad's Polish Soul (2016); and his articles and reviews on Conrad have appeared in Conradiana, The Conradian, Conrad: Eastern and Western Perspectives, Zwischen Ost und West: Joseph Conrad im europäischen Gespräch, the Jagiellonian University Conrad Year Book, and Modern Fiction Studies. A historian of military literary culture, he is author of Gentlemen of the Blade: A Social and Literary History of the British Army Since 1660 (1989), and co-author and editor of military memoirs. He has also published minor criticism in Renaissance drama. Copyright © 2015 Texas Tech University Press

Pathways toward whole community transformation: a case study on the role of school engagement and environmental education

The City of Colwood in British Columbia, Canada, has engaged in a wide-ranging project aiming to encourage whole community transformation, through the use of environmental education, incentives and the adoption of energy efficiency behavior and technologies. Researchers and students from Royal Roads University partnered with a Middle School to deliver an action research driven educational program to 120 Grade 7 (age 12/13) students that reflected goals of the City program: water conservation, solar hot water and the energy efficiency of homes. Students engaged in classroom activities and field trips to homes with energy upgrades installed. The students’ subject matter engagement was captured through systematic observation, field notes and photographs, and the development of knowledge was assessed through curriculum exercises and a quantitative survey. Both students and their parents were surveyed to see whether the interaction with the students had implications for intergenerational learning and the possibility of increasing wider community engagement in the program. It was found that while the students engaged in the classroom session did increase their awareness and understanding of energy efficiency, curriculum design needed to include more opportunities to discuss the issues at home to maximize the opportunities for intergenerational learning and an increase in awareness more generally.

Nature Kindergarten in Sooke: A Unique Collaboration

This article focuses on a nature kindergarten pilot project in Sooke, BC, about an hour outside of Victoria on Vancouver Island. Toni Hoyland and Enid Elliot highlight the partnership between the kindergarten teacher, Lisa Lockerbie, and the early childhood educator, Erin Van Stone, as they work together to weave emergent play-based approaches with academic literacy and numeracy opportunities. The program takes place in the forest of Royal Roads University adjacent to Sangster Elementary School.

State Capacity and Economic Development: A Network Approach

We study the direct and spillover effects of local state capacity using the network of Colombian municipalities. We model the determination of local and national state capacity as a network game in which each municipality, anticipating the choices and spillovers created by other municipalities and the decisions of the national government, invests in local state capacity and the national government chooses the presence of the national state across municipalities to maximize its own payoff. We then estimate the parameters of this model using reduced-form instrumental variables techniques and structurally (using GMM, simulated GMM or maximum likelihood). To do so we exploit both the structure of the network of municipalities, which determines which municipalities create spillovers on others, and the historical roots of local state capacity as the source of exogenous variation. These historical instruments are related to the presence of colonial royal roads and local presence of the colonial state in the 18th century, factors which we argue are unrelated to current provision of public goods and prosperity except through their impact on their own and neighbors’ local state capacity. Our estimates of the effects of state presence on prosperity are large and also indicate that state capacity decisions are strategic complements across municipalities. As a result, we find that bringing all municipalities below median state capacity to the median, without taking into account equilibrium responses of other municipalities, would increase the median fraction of the population above poverty from 57% to 60%. Approximately 57% of this is due to direct effects and 43% to spillovers. However, if we take the equilibrium response of other municipalities into account, the median would instead increase to 68%, a sizable change driven by equilibrium network effects.

State Capacity and Economic Development: A Network Approach

We study the direct and spillover effects of local state capacity in Colombia. We model the determination of state capacity as a network game between municipalities and the national government. We estimate this model exploiting the municipality network and the roots of local state capacity related to the presence of the colonial state and royal roads. Our estimates indicate that local state capacity decisions are strategic complements. Spillover effects are sizable, accounting for about 50 percent of the quantitative impact of an expansion in local state capacity, but network effects driven by equilibrium responses of other municipalities are much larger. (JEL D85, H41, H77, O17, O18)

The Paradox of Transformative Learning Among Mid-Career Professionals

Royal Roads University (RRU) is a special purpose university in British Columbia, Canada. Since 1995, this university has focused primarily on multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary graduate education for working professionals. Most programs are offered in a blended online and face-to-face format, which enables adult learners to continue in their professions while they pursue their studies. While one might not expect a primarily distance education degree to be transformative, feedback from learners consistently points to the experience of transformative learning. This article explores the Master's of Arts in Leadership Studies (MA-L) program. It is proposed that there are at least three elements of the design of this program that contribute to experiences of transformation. First, the RRU Learning and Teaching Model creates a framework that can allow many learners to learn how to learn in a new way. Second, the MA-L program itself has its own competency framework that begins by priming learners to look inward before they seek to lead others. Third and finally, the first year two-week residency, completed after one month of online preparation, provides an embodied experience in what, for many, is a new way of being. This embodied experience creates an awareness of what is possible for human relationship and communication, not only in the context of their particular graduate learning cohort, but also with colleagues, family members, and friends. Taken together, these create an often unexpectedly, and somewhat paradoxically, transformative experience for mid-career professionals.

English

Senior cohousing creates socially, financially, and environmentally sustainable communities for the second half of life. Common facilities include housing for a caregiver whom residents hire as needed. Members provide mutual assistance for each other (co-caring) that encourages wellbeing and aging in place. Like multi-generational cohousing these are intentionally cooperative neighbourhoods where each household owns its small but complete home and spacious common facilities are shared. Well-established in Europe, senior cohousing is new to North America and the UK. This paper focuses on Harbourside Cohousing under development in Sooke, BC, and on the innovative Royal Roads University course that attracts new members to the cohousing and raises awareness of aging options in the larger community. Harbourside will be the second senior cohousing in Canada, the first with a care-giver suite, and the first to require a short course on Aging Well in Community as a prerequisite for membership. Experiential learning in the course helps people to get out of denial about growing older. They explore how cocaring can ensure social connection with their community and help them stay in cohousing and out of institutional care as they age. They become a force for change in the larger society redefining aging and elder housing. Co-caring is a grassroots model of neighbourly mutual support that can help reduce social isolation and promote positive, active aging. It encourages independence through awareness that we are all interdependent. In a senior cohousing community, giving and receiving cocare is entirely voluntary. Members may choose to support each other through such activities as doing errands, driving, cooking, or going for a walk with a neighbour. Being good neighbours helps people age well in community and have fun doing it! The course on aging well in community and the participatory development process at Harbourside are creating community two years before move-in. The paper concludes with lessons learned from this prototype and suggests how to begin scaling up senior cohousing as� a� radical� social� innovation� to� respond� to� the� ‘silver� tsunami’� of� aging� baby� boomers.

The Trudaine Atlas: Government Road Mapping in Eighteenth-Century France

ABSTRACT During the eighteenth century, the French government embarked on a major programme of upgrading the old royal highways and other major roads and opening new ones. The manuscript maps and plans created in connection with this ambitious policy, assembled in the 65 bound volumes now known as the Trudaine Atlas (L'atlas de Trudaine), have been widely admired both for their aesthetic quality and as repositories of information on French landscape history. Less attention, however, has been paid to their administrative role in the management and maintenance of the French road network, and their power as tools of state, a situation this article seeks to remedy.

Discovery Layers and the Distance Student: Online Search Habits of Students

Has your institution purchased discovery layer tools? Are you wondering how students are using them and how much return your institution is getting on that investment? Not only are there more resources available to students online than ever before, but there are also more avenues for students to discover those resources. The Royal Roads University Library puts links to Google Scholar, Summon, LibGuides, Captivate tutorials, and more onto its Web pages. This paper is an investigation of how students are using those resources and what they think of them. It presents student feedback on these discovery layers combined with empirical evidence from usage statistics. The paper explains how the library will use this evidence to inform both the electronic paths designed to lead students to its resources and the outcomes of its information literacy instructional sessions.

Web-Scale Search and Virtual Reference Service: How Summon Is Impacting Reference Question Complexity and Reference Service Delivery

Web-scale discovery tools like Summon are becoming the norm at academic libraries across North America. How much do these tools simplify discovery? What changes do they bring to the provision of reference service? At Royal Roads University, where most students complete graduate degrees through distance study, I applied the READ scale to reference questions received by email in the year before and the two years after we adopted Summon. Comparing the questions over time, and analyzing reference statistics, I reflect on changes brought on by discovery layers and what they mean for the future.

Potential of Fault-Detection Coverage by means of On-Chip Redundancy - IEC61508: Are There Royal Roads to SIL 4?

Potential of Fault-Detection Coverage by means of On-Chip Redundancy - IEC61508: Are There Royal Roads to SIL 4?

Emotion and the brain: multiple roads are better than one

We have recently provided a critical evaluation of the idea that a subcortical pathway through the superior colliculus and pulvinar to the amygdala has a prominent and privileged role in processing affective visual stimuli (Emotion processing and the amygdala: from a ‘low road’ to ‘many roads’ of evaluating biological significance. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 11, 773–783 (2010)). In so doing, one of our goals was to encourage a careful re-evaluation of the purported subcortical pathway. We therefore welcome the correspondence by de Gelder and colleagues (Emotion and the brain: of low roads, high roads, and of royal roads less traveled. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 15 June 2011 (doi:10.1038/nrn2920-c1), in which they argue for the importance of this subcortical pathway. As we have already addressed at length the points that they raise in our original paper, we will focus on three overarching issues.

New population models help explain declines in the globally rare boreal felt lichen Erioderma pedicellatum in Newfoundland

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 13:181-189 (2011) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00326 New population models help explain declines in the globally rare boreal felt lichen Erioderma pedicellatum in Newfoundland R. Ian Goudie1,*, Christoph Scheidegger2, Claudia Hanel3, Anne Munier4, Eugene Conway5 1LGL Limited Environmental Research Associates, 388 Kenmount Road, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador A1B 4A5, Canada 2Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland 3Department of Environment and Conservation, Endangered Species Branch, 117 Riverside Drive, PO Box 2007, Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador A2H 7S1, Canada 4Centre for Non Timber Resources, Royal Roads University, 2005 Sooke Rd, Victoria, British Columbia V9B5Y2, Canada 5Newfoundland Lichen Education and Research Group, Box 16, Conception Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador A0A1Z0, Canada *Email: igoudie@lgl.com ABSTRACT: A preliminary population model was developed for the boreal felt lichen Erioderma pedicellatum (Hue) P. M. Jørg. in Newfoundland using life stage data collected in eastern and south-central Newfoundland, Canada. This Critically Endangered epiphytic lichen displayed a life history strategy with high adult survival and low recruitment. Deterministic models in 6 mo to 1 yr intervals were generated, yielding similar results to the overall mean values for the 4 yr of study in eastern Newfoundland. The populations of E. pedicellatum in Newfoundland are predicted by our models to be unsustainable because of adult mortality, and we attribute this problem to a decline in the forests of balsam fir Abies balsamea (Mill) that predominantly support this lichen. In eastern Newfoundland, thalli are located almost entirely on mature to over-mature balsam fir, and there is little regeneration because of heavy browsing by the introduced moose Alces alces population. The current and projected predictors indicate that habitat effects may be important in predicting future population size. An assessment of the stable stage distribution indicated that the current population has more juveniles and fewer apothecia-bearing thalli than projected, meaning the current population likely generated from a different set of survival and recruitment rates. The projected annual population growth rates calculated for 4 yr indicated that populations are declining (λ < 1.0, mean decline ± SD = –0.175 ± 0.079). The elasticity values support the fact that the population growth rates are most sensitive to changes in the survival of necrotic (apothecia-bearing) cohorts. We suggest that conservation is best focused on the inventory and protection of old-growth forests important to this species, the reduction of the introduced moose population and the use of herbivore exclosures in specific core population areas. KEY WORDS: Demography · Population model · Boreal felt lichen · Stable stage distribution · Elasticity analysis · Old-growth forests · Dispersal · Forest landscapes Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Goudie RI, Scheidegger C, Hanel C, Munier A, Conway E (2011) New population models help explain declines in the globally rare boreal felt lichen Erioderma pedicellatum in Newfoundland. Endang Species Res 13:181-189. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00326 Export citation Mail this link - Contents Mailing Lists - RSS Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 13, No. 3. Online publication date: March 09, 2011 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2011 Inter-Research.

E-Books Revisited: Surveying Student E-Book Usage in a Distributed Learning Academic Library 6 Years Later

ABSTRACT This article is the result of a 2009 survey of student usage of e-books at Royal Roads University (RRU) Library. The authors found that the proportion of students using RRU Library e-books has gone up since a similar 2003 survey, although only just above half of students are using RRU Library e-books. An almost identical number of student respondents (approximately 54%) said “no” to preferring a print version of the book over the e-book version of the book in both the 2003 and 2009 surveys. The majority of students rated the ability to download an e-book to a hand-held device as not important. There has been a notable increase in the use of e-books for course readings from 2003 to 2009. A lack of awareness of RRU Library e-books remains the top reason cited by students for not using them.

ANCIENT ROADS BETWEEN NEW AND OLD CITY

At the height of the Angkor Dynasty, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Jayavarman VII constructed an extensive network of “Royal Roads” through his vast territory centered on today's Cambodia. Of the number of roads stretching outward in a radial pattern, it was commonly believed that the royal road running in the southeast direction extended as far as, or ran through, Isanapura, or the Sambor Prei Kuk Monuments. However, based on aerial photographs and onsite explorations between these two ancient cities, we confirmed the existence of the royal road constructed by Jayavarman VII and another ancient road that is believed to have been constructed during the pre-Angkor period. The former connects Angkor Thom and Prasat Andet. The latter connects the royal city of Isanapura and a spot to the south of the Roluos Monuments or a spot to the south of the West Baray, although the ancient causeway turns into a water channel west of the Roluos Monuments. The existence of the sole arterial road, which is estimated as being constructed during the same period as the capital city of Isanapura, and the fact that it leads to the Angkor region, supports the assumption that the Angkor region around the West Baray had already been a major regional base and even perhaps a sub-capital to Isanapura, during the pre-Angkor period.

E-mail Reference in a Distributed Learning Environment

Royal Roads University (RRU) Library uses e-mail reference as its primary point of contact for reference services. Learners working off-site are encouraged to request reference help at a central e-mail address which routes questions to librarians. Questions are monitored cooperatively and answered via an informal protocol. RRU prides itself on excellent client service and the librarians endeavor to be responsive and helpful. Recent staff turnover and a need to orient new librarians led to the development of a set of best practices for e-mail reference. This paper examines the role of e-mail reference in the continuum of digital reference services and discusses best practices together with staff training and development issues that are particular to the conduct of e-mail reference in a distributed learning environment. To measure the success of this model, learners were surveyed for their satisfaction with responses to questions and for their preferred mode of contact.

Designing Library Services for the PDA

Handheld electronic devices are becoming popular and are playing an increasingly important role in the distributed learning environment. Enabling library users to maximize their access to library resources through these devices involves challenges that include determining the level of interest among users, identifying relevant resources, and establishing technical and compatibility standards. Affordability of devices for consumers, and availability of resources and support for handheld computing initiatives within libraries must also be considered. This study examines issues and challenges surrounding the design and delivery of library services and resources for personal digital assistants (PDAs) at Royal Roads University Library, finding that there are beneficial research applications for handheld devices that can be implemented even while related technologies continue to evolve.

Royal Roads University to open environmental education centre

Royal Roads University to open environmental education centre

MODELING AS A TOOL FOR INVESTIGATING IFAS PROCESSES

Utilization of biomass carriers for upgrading existing plants has been receiving increased attention in recent years and has resulted in a growing body of literature. In this study, data sets generated from operational integrated fixed film/activated sludge (IFAS) and fluidized fixed film systems (FFFR) systems reported in the literature were used to assess a model's representation of fundamental outcomes. Three plants were employed for the study: the Waterdown STP (IFAS), the Moorhead WWTF (FFFR) and Royal Roads University Pilot Plant (FFFR). The impact of process variables on performance was evaluated by modifying operational and influent parameters in the model such as SRT, temperature, dissolved oxygen, BOD and TKN (using default model parameters) and comparing the results to reported findings. Similarly, the effect of calibration parameters was evaluated by modifying each parameter considered and recording output nitrification rates. The model accurately predicted the average improvement in nitrification efficiency observed following an upgrade to IFAS in the Waterdown STP at default model parameters. Model predictions of effluent ammonia in a separate stage nitrification FFFR were also within two standard deviations of reported average summer and winter monthly conditions. Trends such as increases in nitrification rate with D.O. and decreases in nitrification rate with reduced temperature and elevated organic loading rate were established by the model. The three calibration parameters tested: Lmax; reduction in diffusion in the biofilm; and liquid film thickness; all had significant consequences for nitrification rates. Influent characterization was found to have the potential to significantly affect nitrification rates in FFFR’s. The predicted results (employing default parameters) corresponded well to available published results, considering the variability in the operational parameters. The model predicted nitrification rates to within 2-9% of the observed means. The model tended to predict lower than observed impacts of D.O. and organic surface loading rate on nitrification rates. Model results for Lmax less than the default value of 0.50 mm tended to further reduce the dependence of nitrification rates on the above noted variables and underestimate nitrification rates. Further research to refine default calibration parameters that can both simulate a reasonable biomass in the system and match observations would therefore prove useful.