Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'McGill University'

The loudspeaker system and the room interface are the two main components in any listening environment. Research will be conducted focusing on the room component using Control Room 'A' of the McGill University Recording Studio in an attempt to optimize the monitoring situation. The sound field of the room will be broken down and analyzed in both time and frequency domains. The problem areas of the room will be identified and the surfaces altered by means of absorption, reflection and diffusion.

Examples of racial discrimination are plentiful within Canadian history, as well as within institutions of higher learning. Virtual experiences of racial discrimination, similar to their physical world counterparts, are better understood within the social and political context in which the encounters take place. The purpose of this study is to: 1) examine the prevalence of general cyberbullying; 2) examine the prevalence and nature of racial cyberbullying; 3) determine the relationship between racial cyberbullying and gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. Thirty-eight undergraduate students from McGill University participated in the study. The results from the analysis suggest that general and racial cyberbullying are prevalent within this sample of McGill students. The most frequently reported perceived motivators for racial cyberbullying are bullying because of one's God(s) (15.8%), name (10.5%), and language spoken (10.5%). A series of Fisher's Exact Tests were conducted to examine the relationship between individual characteristics and racial cyberbullying. Results from the analyses suggest a statistically significant relationship between gender and reporting victimization of racial cyberbullying. The results from this study, although exploratory, have implication for the recommendations put forth by the McGill University Principal's Task Force on Diversity, Excellence and Community Engagement. Specifically, the results can help guide the development and implementation of support programs for staff and students at McGill. Limitations of the study are also discussed.
Il existe une panoplie d'exemples de discrimination raciale dans l'histoire du Canada et au sein des institutions universitaires. La discrimination raciale sur Internet, semblable à celle vécue dans la vraie vie, est mieux comprise dans les contextes sociaux et politiques dans lesquels ces expériences ont lieu. Les objectifs de ce projets sont les suivants : 1) examiner la présence de la cyberintimidation en général; 2) analyser la prévalence et la nature de la cyberintimidation raciale; 3) déterminer le lien entre la cyberintimidation raciale et le rôle des sexes, le statut socioéconomique, et l'ethnicité. Trente-huit étudiants de l'Université McGill ont participé à cette étude. Les résultats de l'analyse suggèrent que les étudiants interrogés ont montré dessignes importants de cyberintimidation générale et raciale. Les principales raisons de perpétuation d'acte de cyberintimidation étaient en raison d'une croyance à un ou à des dieu(x) (15,8 %), d'un nom (10,5 %), et de la langue parlée (10,5 %). Plusieurs tests de Fisher ont été effectués pour examiner la relation entre les caractéristiques individuelles et la cyberintimidation raciale. Les analyses montrent une relation statistiquement importante entre le rôle des sexes et la dénonciation de la victimisation de la cyberintimidation raciale. Même s'ils sont préliminaires, les résultats de cette étude ont des répercussions sur les recommandations avancées par le Groupe d'étude de la principale sur la diversité, l'excellence et l'engagement communautaire. Autrement dit, les résultats peuvent servir de guides pour l'élaboration et l'établissement de programmes de soutien pour les étudiants et les employés de McGill. Les limitations de cette étude sont également présentées.

This study investigated the academic adaptation of five Mainland Chinese doctoral students in the Faculty of Education at McGill University, Quebec, Canada. Using individual interviewing as the primary research method, the study revealed 12 major challenge areas, i.e., English as a second language, financial difficulties, outsider feelings, worries about career paths, course work, research network, TA/RA experiences, differences between doctoral and master's studies, isolation, pace of the PhD, motherhood and doctoral study, and adjusting research directions. Through comparing the findings with the literature and the data from secondary sources, this study concluded that the academic adaptation of Mainland Chinese doctoral students in Canada is a process in which cross-cultural adaptation intertwines with disciplinary socialization. The study contributes to literature by (1) documenting an under-researched group---PhD students in education from Mainland China in Canada; and (2) looking at academic adaptation through two lenses: cross-cultural adaptation and disciplinary socialization.

The case study examines the process of change undergone by the McGill Institute for Learning in Retirement (McGill ILR), a volunteered organization. ILRs have emerged across North America in the past 15 years and their success is attributed to the congenial participatory learning environment and the fact that members volunteer to administer the program activities in collaboration with a host university.
Four years after it was founded, leaders sensed the need to evaluate McGill ILR's strengths and weaknesses. Under the aegis of McGill Centre for Continuing Education, a Planning Committee designed and implemented an organizational self-assessment to provide recommendations for change and ensure sustainability.
The study revealed: (a) that this community of older adults taught themselves how to respond to change effectively and (b) that the overarching characteristics of an ILR, together with a spirit of dialogue, provided an organizational structure which helped volunteers absorb change.

Dental education is a stressful experience for some students. Dental students have been found to report stress levels higher than in the general population, with 36% of students reporting significant psychological distress. Canadian dental students have reported an increase in anxiety, depression and hostility. No research was found to have investigated dental education stress using a qualitative analytical approach. Objectives: This study aimed to better understand the experience of stress among dentistry students using qualitative methodology. Methods: 12 recent graduates from the McGill University Faculty of Dentistry were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Themes from the interviews were identified and coded by reading and rereading the texts until information-saturation occurred. Results: Firstly, four sources of stress were identified: workload pressure, fear of failure, faculty relations, and transition stress. Secondly, three effective coping mechanisms were highlighted by the students: seeking support, focusing on things that they can control, and participating in extra-curricular activities. Finally, three types of students with respect to their experience of stress were found: the highly stressed student, the moderately stressed student, and the relaxed student. This typology of dental student is new information that has not been studied before. Conclusion: Faculties need to identify and aid highly stressed students.

Twenty first-year management students were observed as they undertook an Effective Written Communication course (EWC) in a microcomputer lab at McGill University. The study focused on the students' adaptation to the computer during a one-semester course and for a two-year period following the course. Results suggest that although students master the basics of word processors with relative ease, they bring entrenched paper and pen habits to the computer lab; habits that are not easily changed. This study further suggests that because student writers in a first-year composition class are often inexperienced writers and computer users, inferences based upon this group may not apply to other populations.

This study examines the participation of clerical staff in training and development. It also considers the potential benefits of participation and the influence of forces in the work environment on participation. A survey of the population of 937 clerical staff at McGill University yielded a response of 460. Three-quarters of staff indicated awareness of training and development opportunities, with approximately half of these having participated in 1993/1994. Staff consider performance enhancement as by far the most likely benefit of participation. They are also inclined to agree that their supervisors are supportive of training and development, while they tend to be unsure whether they have their co-workers' support. Further, staff tend to be unsure or to disagree that situational constraints influence participation. Significant interactions between several of the variables were found. This study discusses the implications of these findings for McGill and makes recommendations for further research.

Academic and medical institutions are responding to rising critiques of mainstream, scientific medicine (biomedicine). One response is the establishment of centers and programs devoted to whole person care. I assess the response of the McGill Programs in Whole Person Care (WPC) to these critiques, particularly its incorporation of spirituality into medicine. Through textual hermeneutics, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with faculty members, I argue that WPC is constructing its own worldview and normative framework. It does this by selectively drawing from the religious traditions of ancient Greece, Buddhism, and Christianity, interpreting these selections in terms of Jungian psychology, and sometimes secularizing them. My aim is to better understand the theory and praxis of whole person care in McGill University's Faculty of Medicine as a case study but also the ethical issues it raises. I conclude by providing points of reflection for institutions wishing to incorporate these health ideas and practices into conventional medicine.

This thesis presents the results of a descriptive and exploratory study conducted with eight student-teachers preparing to teach English as a second language at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes, experience and beliefs of the student-teachers towards diversity (sexual, ethnic, linguistic, economic, religious, etc.). The notion of intercultural education as promoted by the Quebec Ministry of Education and elaborated by Fernand Ouellet (2002) was used as a theoretical framework.
Analysis of the qualitative data shows a misunderstanding of the term intercultural education by the student-teachers, but a positive attitude towards diversity. However, the participants of this study, when presented with situations dealing with discrimination, do not know how to solve the problems. They do not always fight homophobic discrimination, fearing complaints from parents or the school principal, although they act to counter racist or sexist forms of discrimination. Student-teachers tend to believe that a school teacher should not express opinions in the classroom or participate in debates. Finally, student-teachers expressed a number of criticisms towards the teaching program at MGill University.

The topic of this Master's thesis is "Intercultural 'Landeskunde' in the field of German as a foreign language at Canadian unversities: a documentation of a case study in the Department of German Studies at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada". In the introduction "Landeskunde" itself will be defined as well as its role in the teaching of a language. The three main approaches to "Landeskunde" will be studied, by which more emphasis will be laid on the intercultural approach, which will then be elucidated through a practical example. In chapters two, three and four the background information leading up to the development and implementation of the new "Landeskunde" course will be explained. In the main chapter of the thesis, chapter five, the structure of the course will be presented and analysed in detail. This chapter will be completed by a documentation of the course materials used, quotes from the students' logbooks as well as a summary of the main ideas and suggestions for improvement. The sixth chapter is a general assessment of the course, demonstrating how it could be used as a model for intercultural learning in Canadian universities and as such offer suggestions for alternative methods in the teaching of German as a foreign language.

The library of Raymond Klibansky (1905-2005), historian of philosophy, was acquired by McGill University's Rare Books and Special Collections in 2005. This first study of the Raymond Klibansky Collection (RKC) provides an introduction to the approximately 7000-title collection in its main characteristics and research strengths; offers an aid to further research on the collection; and builds on what is known about Klibansky and his life with books. The approach to the study was developed from a review of methods proposed in current discussion of book and library history research, and from structures and themes observed in practice in related studies. It has also been influenced by the availability of item-specific cataloguing in McGill Library's online public access catalogue (OPAC). The study builds, therefore, on the work of librarians, to produce a profile of the collection. Analysis has been guided by quantitative assessments of catalogue data, Klibansky's autobiographical and scholarly publications, selective book examination, and secondary publications. It is organized around a core set of themes: collection contents; provenance; and book organization. The book-life of Klibansky is a theme that permeates the whole. Results show a close link between Klibansky's collection and his research themes, underline his engagement with social and political issues of the mid-twentieth century and point to enduring personal interests. The collection supports his self-stated approach to learning, offering a rich laboratory for humanities studies, while the context of his intellectual biography brings coherence to a vast and varied group of texts. Provenance evidence provides a special view of his professional and personal networks beginning in his youth, adding to what can be gleaned from autobiographical publications, and constitutes a source for the broader task of mapping out twentieth-century intellectual networks. An instance of unusually heavy annotation offers new information about unpublished work. The RKC promises to support further research in several areas, and this first assessment aims to be a basis for, as well as stimulation to, continued exploration. The study also contributes to the discussion of the value of physical books in research collections and contributes an example, through its methodology, of how library-generated data in OPACs can increasingly be mined for research on collections.
En 2005, la bibliothèque des livres rares et collections spécialisées de l'Université McGill a acquis la bibliothèque de Raymond Klibansky (1905-2005), historien de la philosophie. Cette première étude de la Raymond Klibansky Collection (RKC) offre une introduction aux quelques 7 000 ouvrages de la collection, illustrant ses principales caractéristiques et son intérêt pour la recherche. L'étude sert également de point de départ pour d'autres études sur la collection en se fondant sur ce qui est connu de Klibansky et de sa vie avec les livres.L'approche de l'étude se fonde sur une revue des méthodes proposées dans la recherche actuelle sur le livre et l'histoire des bibliothèques et a été élaborée à partir de structures et de thèmes observés dans la pratique, dans des études similaires. La disponibilité de données de catalogage des ouvrages dans le catalogue interrogeable en ligne (OPAC) de l'Université McGill a également influencé l'approche. Ce profil de la collection se base ainsi sur la description des livres par les bibliothécaires. L'analyse a été guidée par une évaluation quantitative des données de catalogage, l'autobiographie et les publications savantes de Klibansky, ainsi qu'un examen de livres particuliers et de publications secondaires. Elle s'organise autours de thèmes centraux : le contenu de la collection, la provenance et l'organisation des livres. La vie « livresque » de Klibansky est un thème récurrent dans l'ensemble.Les résultats démontrent qu'il existe un lien étroit entre la collection de Klibansky et les thèmes de recherches qu'il affectionnait, soulignent son engagement pour les enjeux sociaux et politiques du milieu du XXe siècle et laissent présager des intérêts personnels persistants. La collection appuie l'approche à l'apprentissage qu'il a lui-même énoncée, offrant un riche laboratoire pour les études en arts et sciences humaines. Par ailleurs, le contexte de sa biographie intellectuelle rend cohérent un vaste et varié ensemble de textes. Les traces de provenance offrent un aperçu spécial de ses réseaux professionnels et personnels qui remontent jusqu'à sa jeunesse, s'ajoutant aux informations de ses publications autobiographiques, et constituant une source pour la tâche plus grande de cartographier les réseaux intellectuels du XXe siècle. Un cas d'annotations plutôt volumineux donne de l'information nouvelle sur des œuvres non-publiées.La RKC offre des avenues intéressantes pour d'autres études à partir de la collection et ce, dans divers domaines. Cette première évaluation tente également de servir de base aux autres études et d'en stimuler l'exploration continue. L'étude contribue à la discussion sur la valeur des livres physiques dans les collections de recherche et offre un exemple, de par sa méthodologie, sur la manière d'utiliser les données générées en bibliothèque sous forme d'OPAC afin d'enrichir la recherche sur les collections.

This study is a historical survey of the Rosalynde Osborne Stearn Collection housed at McGill University's Rare Books and Special Collections Division. The collection is the result of the efforts of Rosalynde Osborne Stearn, (1888-1990), who actively collected puppet figures, posters, texts, theatres and various other puppet paraphernalia. The thesis' emphasis is on Osborne Stearn's biography and varying roles of her creative career, those of an artist, a performer and a collector. The thesis seeks to insert Osborne Stearn as a vibrant character in Canadian Art History, active in an art practice that has ventured near oblivion in Canada, as well as increase interest in this fascinating collection.