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Newsletter October 2011 - Bow Valley College

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Capacity Development through Internal Grants<br />

Much of Applied Research’s focus on capacity development is through the allocation of internal grants. All of the <strong>College</strong>’s faculty and staff are<br />

offered the opportunity to apply for grants up to $3,000. The examples below show the range, scope and diversity of topics, as well as the range<br />

of departments that have participated.<br />

Kakoli Mitra (Human Resources)<br />

Trends in Employment of Highly Educated<br />

Immigrant Women in Alberta: Calgary and<br />

Edmonton—A Literature Review 2000-2008<br />

Trevor McIvor and Aggie Legaspi<br />

(Business and Industry and Learning<br />

Resource Services) Valuing Contrary<br />

Opinions in the Classroom<br />

Hana Taleb Imai and Diane Hardy (ESL)<br />

Language for Work<br />

LEad RESEaRchER<br />

Dr. Aggie Legaspi<br />

alegaspi@bowvalleycollege.ca<br />

403-410-1553<br />

aPPLIEd RESEaRch OffIcER<br />

Scottie Ray<br />

sray@bowvalleycollge.ca<br />

403-410-1481<br />

RESEaRch EThIcS BOaRd<br />

Liz O’Shea, Chair<br />

loshea@bowvalleycollege.ca<br />

403-410-1692<br />

Rob Black Hana Taleb Imai<br />

Din Ladak Mauri Loyer<br />

Margaret Toye Melissa Wheeler<br />

Colleen Kawalilak<br />

(advisor to the committee)<br />

INTERNaL GRaNT<br />

REVIEw cOmmITTEE<br />

Dr. Aggie Legaspi, Chair Brett Bergie<br />

Linda O’Donoghue Karen Fiege<br />

Brent Novodvorski Val Millar<br />

Trevor McIvor<br />

TELL US YOUR STORY<br />

As research is expanding across departments<br />

at <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong>, the Office of Applied<br />

Research and Innovation would like to<br />

request that they be informed of research<br />

activities occurring within the college. This<br />

way, research project information can be<br />

entered into the research database, and give<br />

the researchers well-deserved recognition at<br />

upcoming research events and showcases.<br />

For more information, contact Scottie Ray,<br />

Applied Research Officer, at<br />

sray@bowvalleycollege.ca<br />

Brent Novodvorski (Academic<br />

Foundations) Social and Academic Sign<br />

Language: Bridging Classroom Experience<br />

into Communities<br />

Pam Lammiman (Health and<br />

Community Care) Medication<br />

Administration Project for Practical<br />

Nursing Students<br />

Brett Bergie (The President’s Office)<br />

Reaching Out: Access to Adult Education and<br />

Training in the Calgary Regional Communities<br />

Au revoir but not goodbye to Dean Of Applied Research<br />

<strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong> bids farewell to the Dean<br />

of Applied Research, Dr. Rena Shimoni, who is<br />

retiring to pursue extensive travel and other<br />

endeavours. Rena’s passion for research, her<br />

energy, and her commitment have been<br />

instrumental in the growth and development<br />

of Applied Research at <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong>.<br />

Previously Rena served as the Dean of Health<br />

and Community Care, developing new<br />

programs and creating the platform for a<br />

range of certificate and diploma programs in<br />

Health and Human Services.<br />

In her role as Dean of Applied Research, she<br />

developed institutional capacity by preparing<br />

the <strong>College</strong> for eligibility for NSERC, SSHRC, and<br />

CIHR funding, by obtaining large grants for<br />

Liz O’Shea and Ruth Ayer (Learner<br />

Success Services) Using a Reflective Rating<br />

Scale to Asses Peer Training in the Psycho-<br />

Educational Assessment of Deaf Adults<br />

Alisa Foreman (TOWES)<br />

YWCA and TOWES<br />

Research Ethics Board<br />

welcomes Din Ladak<br />

Din Ladak has joined the Research Ethics<br />

Board (REB) as an external consultant. Din has<br />

been the Chief Executive Officer at Immigrant<br />

Services Calgary since May 2008. He has over<br />

30 years of experience in the social services<br />

sector, a B.Sc. in Psychology, a Bachelor of<br />

Social Work, and a Masters in Social Work with<br />

specialization in Ethnicity and Family Therapy.<br />

Noel Price and Lynne Thorimbert<br />

(Learning Resource Services) Building<br />

Social Capital: Community Arts Projects<br />

He has taught at the University of Calgary<br />

as well as at Mount Royal <strong>College</strong> (now<br />

Mount Royal University) and has been a<br />

recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award<br />

at the University of Calgary. BVC would like<br />

to extend a big welcome to Din. The REB is<br />

looking forward to drawing on his extensive<br />

experience and knowledge. <br />

research in health and teaching and learning,<br />

by developing a number of partnerships for<br />

research, and by mentoring both experienced<br />

and novice researchers.<br />

Personally and on behalf of her many<br />

colleagues, I would like to thank Rena for<br />

her many significant contributions and her<br />

unwavering energy and commitment to the<br />

evolution of a culture of research at <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong><br />

<strong>College</strong>. While we will miss her leadership<br />

in her current capacity, Rena will be staying<br />

with the <strong>College</strong> as a research associate, and<br />

is pleased to provide continued support to<br />

applied research.<br />

Anna Kae Todd<br />

Vice-President, Learning<br />

Produced in-house by BVC Marketing & Communications | September <strong>2011</strong> | 300<br />

EVENTS<br />

EVENTS<br />

Applied Research<br />

NEWSLETTER<br />

<strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong> contributes to health workforce planning through applied research<br />

<strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong> is implementing a major<br />

study related to effective utilization of the<br />

health workforce. Funded by Alberta Health<br />

and Wellness, in partnership with the <strong>College</strong><br />

of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta,<br />

the study will provide objective, researchbased<br />

evidence which focuses on LPNs in<br />

live settings, and evaluates their impact on<br />

quality patient care.<br />

The Principal Investigators in the study are<br />

Dr. Rena Shimoni, Dean of Applied Research,<br />

and Dr. Gail Barrington of Barrington Research<br />

Group. The research team includes Sarah<br />

VanDusen, Researcher, Nikki Gorembalem,<br />

student, and Project Manager Vi Smith.<br />

The research will entail six case studies that<br />

examine in depth the roles of Licensed<br />

Practical Nurses, and their impact on the<br />

quality of patient care. A multi-method<br />

approach to data collection will be used,<br />

including surveys, interviews with LPNs<br />

and managers, and focus groups with<br />

multidisciplinary teams. The findings of the<br />

study will be able to inform decision makers<br />

in health, managers and educators and will<br />

ultimately impact the quality of patient care<br />

within the Alberta Health System. <br />

This research project will begin to address a serious gap in the evidence related to staffing models in health care.<br />

The CLPNA is grateful to BVC for its commitment to quality patient care in the province of Alberta and for the<br />

research expertise BVC brings to this important project. – Linda Stanger, Executive Director, CLPNA<br />

The fruits of three years of research to be unveiled<br />

Distributed and online learners face many<br />

challenges not experienced by on-campus<br />

students. Believing that all students should<br />

have equitable service benefits, Dr. Rena<br />

Shimoni, Russ Wilde, and their research<br />

team are intent on changing this.<br />

At an upcoming meeting of the Vice-<br />

Presidents and SSAOs of the Alberta<br />

Association of <strong>College</strong>s and Technical<br />

Institutes, <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong> will have the<br />

opportunity to launch an electronic toolkit and<br />

a policy manual for e-learning, a product of<br />

two research studies led by Dr. Rena Shimoni,<br />

Dean of Applied Research and Innovation, Russ<br />

Wilde, Director, Learning Resource Services at<br />

<strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong>, and Dr. Gail Barrington of<br />

Barrington Research Group.<br />

Research Showcase Event Oct. 6, <strong>2011</strong><br />

Call for Proposals for Internal Grants March 2012<br />

How to Write a Proposal Workshop April 2012<br />

Funded by eCampusAlberta and Advanced<br />

Education and Technology, these studies<br />

provided an in-depth understanding of both<br />

the needs of diverse learners with respect to<br />

distributed learning, as well as the practices of<br />

the post-secondary institutions in supporting<br />

these learners. Seven post-secondary<br />

institutions partnered with BVC in these<br />

EVENTS Watch for the following events hosted by Applied Research<br />

studies: Olds <strong>College</strong>, NAIT, NorQuest <strong>College</strong>,<br />

Northern Lakes <strong>College</strong>, Red Deer <strong>College</strong>,<br />

Lethbridge <strong>College</strong>, and Portage <strong>College</strong>.<br />

A key deliverable of the research project<br />

was the development of an electronic<br />

toolkit (or e-toolkit) that can be used by<br />

post-secondary institutions across Alberta to<br />

enhance the service they provide to learners.<br />

The e-toolkit can be viewed at http://<br />

etoolkit.ecampusalberta.ca/ A related policy<br />

study identified gaps and recommended<br />

changes in policies to ensure equitable<br />

support for online learners. Policies were<br />

either revised or new policies created. The<br />

policy development from this study will be<br />

incorporated into the e-toolkit. This phase of<br />

the study was led by Dr. Dean Wood. <br />

Research Ethics Workshop June 2012<br />

Qualitative Software Training Workshop TBA<br />

Quantitative Software Training Workshop TBA<br />

EVENTS Taking the temperature of nursing care in Alberta


A Profile of Dr. Aggie Legaspi<br />

Evaluation Facilitator becomes<br />

<strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s Research Lead<br />

Known to most of us as the fellow<br />

heading the team responsible for program<br />

evaluations and the learner experience<br />

feedback, Dr. Aggie Legaspi oversees<br />

program and course evaluations. He also<br />

provides support for program accreditation<br />

and projects upon request. Utilizing<br />

Aggie's rich background in research will<br />

bring BVC to the next level in its applied<br />

research capacity development.<br />

Aggie has a B.Sc. in Psych, a MA in Social<br />

Psych (University of the Philippines) and a<br />

PhD in Ecological-Community Psychology<br />

(Michigan State University). He is no stranger<br />

to research. Before he came to BVC he<br />

was involved in a wide range of research<br />

related to self-help, health service provision,<br />

community health, and church communities.<br />

All of these projects involved different<br />

populations and settings including both<br />

urban and rural settings in the Philippines,<br />

Michigan, Alaska, and Calgary.<br />

Aggie has taught both graduate and<br />

undergraduate students, and conducted<br />

research at the University of the Philippines<br />

and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.<br />

Required courses on research methods,<br />

statistics, and measurement during his<br />

undergrad studies ended up piquing Aggie’s<br />

interest in the field of research. Fascinated with<br />

knowing how we know, and how we make<br />

sense of our world, Aggie found research a<br />

natural niche.<br />

“As much as I gravitate towards research, I<br />

strongly appreciate other ways of revealing<br />

our nature–especially the visual and<br />

performance arts, spirituality and religion,<br />

design, traditions, and legends/folklore,”<br />

Aggie says.<br />

Here at BVC, Aggie has been instrumental<br />

in the development of the Research Ethics<br />

Board and his participation in capacity<br />

development activities has been paramount<br />

to their success. His wide range of research,<br />

evaluation, and teaching at the <strong>College</strong><br />

and university levels, and his work with the<br />

not-for-profit sector, made him the ideal<br />

candidate to be BVC’s new lead researcher.<br />

Aggie sees his new role as increasing the<br />

capacity of BVC employees to conduct<br />

research at different levels.<br />

“It is that curiosity on which research grows<br />

and with which applied research wants to<br />

work with you,” he says. “Let us work together<br />

on satisfying and building on that curiosity.”<br />

The evolution of a model for<br />

applied research at <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

The recognition that colleges have a vital<br />

role to play in applied research has been<br />

received with enthusiasm by <strong>College</strong><br />

executives and faculty. The adoption and<br />

integration of applied research throughout<br />

the colleges has been an interesting and<br />

by no means uniform process. Unlike<br />

universities that are founded upon<br />

research, colleges had to “home grow”<br />

their own visions for how research would<br />

fit their institutions.<br />

At <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong> we started by recognizing<br />

that a good deal of research had been<br />

occurring for years before it was part of the<br />

official mandate. For example, TOWES has a<br />

decade-long record of applied research and<br />

the successful development of an assessment<br />

tool known nationally and internationally.<br />

The goals of the Office of Applied Research<br />

and Innovation (initiated three years ago<br />

by the Vice-President, Learning, and led<br />

by the Dean of Applied Research) were<br />

to: enhance <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s applied<br />

research capacity amongst learners, faculty,<br />

staff and communities; expand strategic<br />

partnerships; benefit industry, government,<br />

and community; and enhance the reputation<br />

of <strong>Bow</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> <strong>College</strong> as a leader in applied<br />

research and innovation.<br />

Work towards meeting these goals<br />

involved: leading applied research that is<br />

relevant to BVC’s mission and mandate;<br />

grant development; capacity development<br />

activities; and the development of policies<br />

and procedures such as the amendment of<br />

policies in compliance with the revised Tri<br />

Council Policy, and as required for NSERC,<br />

CIHR and SSHRC eligibility.<br />

Capacity development activities included<br />

workshops on a variety of topics such<br />

as: writing a research proposal, an ethics<br />

application, and a literature review; how to<br />

get an article published; interviewing for<br />

qualitative research; survey development; and<br />

participating in classroom-based research.<br />

Drop-in activities were also available, where<br />

the lead researcher held regular office hours<br />

for drop-in support to BVC staff who were at<br />

various stages of engagement in research. <br />

The Evolution of Applied Research<br />

Anna Kae Todd Rena Shimoni<br />

Vice-President, Learning Dean, Applied Research and Innovation<br />

One of the key challenges facing BVC is<br />

balancing our strong desire to promote and<br />

engage in research, with our concern that our<br />

core business remain focused on teaching<br />

students. Further, most of our faculty lack<br />

the experience required to be independent<br />

researchers, yet they are in the best position<br />

to provide insight into where the gaps are in<br />

practice knowledge.<br />

One of the strategies that has proven<br />

successful in achieving this balance is to<br />

have the research questions generated by<br />

the frontline people, and then hire research<br />

experts to design and either implement,<br />

or guide the implementation of the study.<br />

By using a collaborative model of research<br />

between external researchers and our own<br />

staff, we can be competitive in accessing<br />

major research grants, develop our internal<br />

research capacity, and still maintain our<br />

commitment to learners.<br />

The best way to describe the existing<br />

model of applied research is at BVC<br />

“centralized-decentralized.” We wanted to<br />

make certain that engagement in applied<br />

research remained the responsibility of each<br />

department in the <strong>College</strong>.<br />

Where a department had a desire for research<br />

but not the capacity, the Dean of Applied<br />

Research would work with the department to<br />

develop and conduct the research, involving<br />

the department according to its ability.<br />

Where the department had the capacity, the<br />

Office of Applied Research and Innovation<br />

would provide support, but the bulk of the<br />

work would be internal to the department.<br />

The role of the Office of Applied Research<br />

and Innovation became, in this case, more of<br />

a support service and ensured that policies<br />

related to research were being adhered to.<br />

After three years of working in this model<br />

we have seen an enhanced commitment to<br />

research amongst the <strong>College</strong> leadership.<br />

Today, each department either has<br />

developed a research agenda, or is in the<br />

process of doing so. Therefore, the Office<br />

of Applied Research will continue to exist<br />

as a support and information service for<br />

<strong>College</strong> researchers, while the responsibility<br />

for conducting research will be within the<br />

various <strong>College</strong> departments. The capacity<br />

has been developed sufficiently for this<br />

autonomy to be successful.

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