HARVEST
University of Saskatchewan's Repository for Research, Scholarship, and Artistic Work
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Recent Submissions
Reading Between the Lines: Exploring Indigenous Anti-Racism through Vocabulary Choices in the Education Policies of Three Canadian Provinces from 2014- 2023
(2024-07-12) Facci, Manuela; Lemisko, Lynn; McIntyre, Laureen; Balzer, Geraldine; Gillies, Carmen; Clausen, Kurt; Tupper, Jennifer
Disparities in academic achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students have existed for decades in Canada. This critical discourse analysis was conducted to determine the role of anti-racism in education policy in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario and its impact on Indigenous learners. A review of the literature revealed the necessity of using an anti-racist education approach to guide the research. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) was conducted using a framework on discourse analysis along with guiding questions to direct the examination of the policy documents.
The findings of the critical discourse analysis revealed that the provinces are in different places when embracing anti-racism in their educational policies. Secondary documents were analyzed for each province in addition to the sector plan policy documents which at times revealed a lack of alignment. The findings revealed commonalities between the provinces in a variety of areas: personal pronouns, shifts in vocabulary, Othering, collaborative partnerships, curriculum renewal, equity, diversity, inclusion, racism, and reconciliation. The examination of the themes revealed that the province of British Columbia is implementing various strategies to change the educational reality for all its students, with the focus being on equity and addressing issues of inequity. Saskatchewan and Ontario both have secondary documents that advocated for adopting an anti-racist lens, but their annual sector plan documents did not always mirror the same commitment to change. Recommendations include: exploring word choice, a focus on authentic collaboration, curriculum renewal and equity, and a responsibility for reconciliation. Educational transformation requires the adoption of an anti-racist lens, a duty to engage in reconciliation, valuing Indigenous voices, and a re-visioning of the educational systems that exist today. We need to make the commitment to engage in authentic relationships with Indigenous Peoples to create a better future for all our students.
Adult basic education student persistence: A case study approach in a Saskatchewan context
(2024-07-12) Olson, Reagan; Squires, Vicki; Cottrell, Michael; Morrison, Dirk; Koole, Marguerite; Ragoonaden, Karen
Understanding student persistence in Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs have been insufficiently researched. There has been quite a bit of research on challenges with which many ABE students struggle (i.e., financial, transportation, child-care, etc.), but there are minimal studies completed looking into ABE student persistence whether worldwide, nationally, or provincially. Bowe and Auchinachie’s (2022) study used an assets approach to describe ABE students in Victoria, British Columbia. Prechotko and Kirby (2023) examined northern Saskatchewan ABE student persistence, finding five themes: positive, supportive, personal touch; situational hardships; friendships and community-campus indigeneity; and program resources. Barker et al.’s (2023) study included ABE student persisters from southwestern Saskatchewan and found three themes: external factors, educational experiences, and personal experiences. Holland (2003) determined that prior school experiences, achievement tests, career goals, and external support systems impact ABE student persistence at a southern Saskatchewan ABE provider. None of these studies focused solely on the positive factors of ABE student persistence from the students’ point of view. Because of the lack of research on ABE persistence, I wanted to identify to what successful Adult 12 graduates attributed their persistence. This study focused on understanding the ABE students’ perspective at a particular educational institution in Saskatchewan.
In this case study, ABE students’ perspectives on persistence were examined via individual interviews and two interpretation panels. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants who had successfully graduated from Adult 12. Afterwards, the researcher followed up with two interpretation panels.
From the findings, neither Tinto’s model of student persistence nor Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model for wellbeing fully aligned with participants’ experiences. Pieces of each model aligned, such as motivation, self-efficacy, and positive relationships. The sense of connection and community with others was the dominant theme from this case study. From there, participants were able to grow and learn to overcome adversity and unlock new possibilities.
Implications of this investigation for policy and practice include designing, implementing, and evaluating ABE programs. Relationships matter: ABE programs can provide students with support services and opportunities to connect with others. Trauma-informed practices can help to minimize re-traumatization and triggers that can create obstacles to learning. Adult-centered learning environments can provide options for flexibility, support, and connection to others. In terms of implications for further exploration of ABE student persistence, longitudinal quantitative studies could be completed to look at patterns over time or narrative inquiry approaches could be investigated to provide more nuance for the ABE student experience. This research study proposed a model of understanding ABE student persistence showing the interconnectedness between motivation, positive relationships, personal growth, and new possibilities.
Mapping Synthetic Lethal Interactions Amongst DNA Damage Repair Genes
(2024-07-12) Kyrylenko, Liliia; Vizeacoumar, Franco; Freywald, Andrew; DeCoteau, John; Chelico, Linda; Wu, Yuliang; Collins, Michelle M.
The abstract of this item is unavailable due to an embargo.
A DIGITAL DISCRIMINATOR FOR A NORTHERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
(1971-03) McCuskee, L. B.; Krause, A. E.
The problem of communication with northern Canada by means of high frequency radio is briefly examined, and previous workers and their contributions are mentioned. Specifically, this project was to add modulation and demodulating capability to a previously designed and constructed system. The existing system utilized a low power (i.e. less than 100 watts) transmitter, a propagation method of forward E scatter, and a receiver coupled to a frequency compression demodulator, FCD.
The solution chosen uses standard teletype machines with ASCII binary codes modulated onto the transmitted signal in the form of frequency shift keying along with a digital method of demodulation. A method of augmenting the received signal to noise ratio when information is being sent while retaining the advantages of low power transmitting equipment is achieved by increasing the
transmitter power for a time period which allows reception of four cycles of the transmitted signal.
The digital discriminator includes a form of error correction and noise recognition circuitry. Various methods of testing the resultant system indicate that normal operational parameters of the FCD will result in a threshold of approximately 4db for seventy per cent correctness of the received signal.
The Raven King
(2024-07-12) Lekach, Ashley; Lynes, Jeanette; Snell, Heather; Sharren, Kandice; Martin, Ann
The Raven King is the first novel in a planned series of animal tale stories that explore disability through the lens of animal characters. My thesis is the first two parts of a three-part novel. My target audience is the 8-14 age range, as most animal tales for younger readers are categorized within that age range. Grief, disability, social alienation, and otherness are the central themes of the narrative. The avian protagonists allow for an exploration of non-conventional trauma responses; they lash out, distance themselves from their family, and/or disassociate, which are unhealthy coping methods to deal with trauma. Within avian society, the main protagonist is othered due to her broken wing. As the story develops, she discovers a community of othered birds and learns to accept herself and her current state of being. Despite the setting of the novel being fantastical, there is a realistic lens with regards to the hardships of disabilities. The novel is not meant to discourage disabled readers, but rather validate any frustrations they may feel. Through the validations and acceptance of their states of self, the avian protagonists can emotionally develop and begin the process of healing. I believe this story matters as an exploration of overcoming one’s personal grievances of their newfound disabled, or traumatized, states. I hope individuals can empathize with the characters of The Raven King, and that those who have experiences of hardship or trauma can feel solace through the characters.
A NUMERICAL METHOD FOR OBTAINING TRANSFER FUNCTIONS OF LARGE SYSTEMS
(1970-05) Mathur, J. C.; Bollinger, K. E.
This thesis presents a numerical method to derive transfer functions relating any two variables, or sets of variables, of large control systems. The technique described herein yields the required transfer functions directly from the state space representation of the systems. The poles and zeros of the transfer function associated with an nth order system are determined by calculating the eigenvalues of two nth order matrices. The transfer function gain is obtained directly from the state space equations.
The numerical method developed in this thesis is then applied to determine the appropriate transfer functions of a power system
generator, or sets of generators, which will allow the analyst to synthesize the controllers to enhance the damping at a generating
station: Using the numerical method which is discussed in this thesis, a detailed study into the effects of the system dynamics of one type of auxiliary controller is considered. In the example, the system that is external to the controller is first reduced to a single transfer function and then the complex transfer function is further simplified to a considerable lower order by retaining only the dominant roots. Root locus techniques are then applied to the simple model and an appropriate controller is designed.
DESIGN OF AN INTERFACE BETWEEN A VISION SYSTEM AND A ROBOT CONTROLLER
(1988-07) Majumdar, Suparna; Wood, Hugh C.; Wacker, A. G.; Takaya, K.; Bolton, R. J.; Billington, R.; Ford, R. J.
The aim of this project has been to convert an ordinary pick-and-place robot into a sensing robot. By integrating a robot system with a vision system, the robot has been given the capability to "see" its environment and collect moving objects. Pictures of a moving object were taken with a video camera. The analog output from the camera was digitised using a Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter (TARGA) board, installed in a microcomputer. An algorithm was developed to process these images and to find the centre of the object at various positions. The processed data were combined with appropriate commands and were sent to an SRS-M1 robot system using an Advanced Communication Interface (ACI) protocol. With this system the robot was able to locate an object moving in the field of view of the camera, and move the arm into position to collect it.
APPLICATION OF DIGITAL KALMAN FILTERS IN POWER SYSTEM PROTECTION
(1987-12) MacCormack, John Robert; Sachdev, M. S.
In recent years, substantial interest has been shown in the application of digital relays to the area of power system protection. A major area of research has been the design of suitable digital filters to estimate the magnitude and phase relationship of currents and voltages in an electrical power system. A variety of approaches have been proposed. The complexity the algorithms which can be implemented has been largely determined by the capabilities of available microprocessors. The continual increase in the capabilities of microprocessors has prompted the consideration of more complex algorithms. Recently research has been done with regard to the application of digital Kalman filters to power system protective relaying.
This thesis investigates the use of Kalman filters to estimate voltage and current phasors from sampled data. A proposed solution has been given to the practical problem of the detection of the inception of a fault by the Kalman filter. The response of the Kalman filter is highly dependant on the use of an accurate apriori statistical description of the signal being sampled. To improve the response of the filter in the absence of an accurate statistical description, a Kalman filter which is adaptive to the statistical parameters of the sampled signal has been proposed. The performance of the proposed filter designs are evaluated using fault data acquired from Saskatchewan Power Corporation.
LINT MODULATOR
(2002) Ma, Zhen; Klymyshyn, David M.
As the radio spectrum in the lower microwave frequency bands is becoming more crowded, it is almost impossible to support new broadband systems, which use larger portions of the radio spectrum. Thus, new and emerging wireless systems available for broadband services turn towards the high microwave and millimeter-wave spectrum range. Linear modulation schemes like Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) are preferred in broadband wireless communication systems due to their high spectrum efficiency, which makes them utilize the limited channel bandwidth more efficiently. The problem is that the non-constant envelope of linear modulation schemes requires linear amplification. Linear amplification can be obtained with a Class A amplifier solution, which suffers from very low power efficiency. Poor power efficiency is not suitable for highly integrated or portable equipment, because large batteries are needed to supply extra power, and large transistors and heat sinks are required to dissipate this power. Therefore, a linear modulator architecture that can achieve high power efficiency and implementation at upper microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies is very attractive.
The novel LInear modulation with Nonlinear Translation (LINT) modulator architecture proposed in this thesis is based on the direct modulation method and the LInear amplification with Nonlinear Components (LINC) technique. It involves decomposing
arbitrary baseband signals into two constant envelope signals. Then each constant envelope signal is modulated at a subharmonic carrier using vector modulation followed by xN frequency multiplication to achieve frequency translation to the desired output frequency. Highly efficient power amplifiers can be employed to prepare the signal for transmission at a required power level. Finally, two amplified signals are passively combined to produce a high frequency and amplified replica of the input signal. Although frequency multiplication and power amplification are nonlinear processes, the overall input to output transfer function of the LINT modulator is linear. As opposed to the more convensional method of modulation at an IF and upconversion to the desired transmit frequency, the direct modulation method removes the requirement for IF, upconversion, and filtering circuitry,
resulting in cost and complexity reduction of the hardware implementation.
The main part of the modulator is a x12 two-stage microwave frequency/phase multiplier chain. The multiplier chain consists of x3 and x4 multipliers connected in cascade, and translates a modulated subharmonic carrier at 2.33 GHz to 28 GHz. The circuitry is simulated assuming soft substrate implementation, which simplifies the fabrication process. The multiplier chain itself shows good performance, and can be used to generate stable source signals at high microwave frequencies. Performance of the LINT modulator is investigated using realistic multiplier chains. The effect of amplitude imbalance and phase noise on the 16-QAM modulated signal is simulated.
The result of this research presents a generic modulator architecture that is very attractive for broadband wireless applications at upper microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies.
THE SUITABILITY OF VARIOUS LINE CODING TECHNIQUES FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSION OF DATA WITH VOICE OVER COPPER TELEPHONE LINES
(1997-12) Lynch, Denard James; Dodds, David
This thesis evaluates the suitability of various baseband line coding techniques for data transmission in a simultaneous voice and data environment. A method of using the existing telephone wires to provide Internet access as well as regular voice communication is being developed at Telecommunications Research Laboratories in Saskatoon. This method currently utilizes Apple Computer's LocalTalkTM transmission protocol at 230.4 kb/s. An alternative coding method is desired that will increase the data transmission rate while retaining the desirable transmission characteristics of the LocalTalkscheme.
The data signal bandwidth is limited by high frequency attenuation of the telephone line and by low frequency filters used to separate the data and voice signals. Through computer simulation, a number of potential line coding methods were characterized by their power spectral density and eye diagram performance. These characterizations were used to evaluate data transmission capacity, error performance and potential interference with voice communication.
Alternative coding methods were compared to the biphase method used for LocalTalkTM transmission. Bipolar-return to zero (BP-RZ) and bipolar-non return to zero (BP-NRZ) ternary coding provide the greatest potential improvement in data transmission rate
while sacrificing the least in transmission performance. Other ternary codes are poor alternatives, due mainly to their dependence on low frequency transmission. Quaternary and pentary methods are also poor, due mainly to decreased separation between possible signal levels and resulting errors due to intersymbol interference. Integrated circuits are widely available for handling 2B1Q quaternary coding, and some related codes, such as balanced 3B2Q or 5B4Q, may be practical if intersymbol interference can be reduced through wave shaping or improved equalization techniques. Further, a new technique for spectral shaping of data sequences through insertion of extra symbols has been identified as a topic for further study.