UVicSpace | Institutional Repository
UVicSpace is the University of Victoria’s open access scholarship and learning repository. It preserves and provides access to the digital scholarly works of UVic faculty, students, staff, and partners. Items in UVicSpace are organized into collections, each belonging to a community.
For more information about depositing items, see the Submission Guidelines.
Recent Submissions
Attraction and retention of ambulance paramedics in British Columbia
(2026) Matick, Stephen; Cunningham, J. Barton
Acting as the primary responders within provincial ambulance services, adequate staffing of Paramedics is key to the overall functioning of most Canadian emergency medical systems. However, most of the workforce-related research on this important occupational group is based on ambulance services outside of Canada. Studies which focus on the workplace factors affecting the attraction and retention of ambulance personnel within the Canadian context are limited. This is problematic, as there is a wide variance in the structures of emergency medical response frameworks across different jurisdictions; even across Canadian provinces. Additional information on the context-specific factors which influence the attraction and retention of Canadian paramedics would likely prove useful to policy makers and health authorities in B.C. Other Canadian jurisdictions may also benefit from additional validated research constructs to inform cross-provincial comparisons of ambulance structures.
To this end, this exploratory study utilized a semi-structured, one-on-one interview format to acquire qualitative data on the subjective workplace experiences of working ambulance paramedics in B.C. In addition to providing practical data on the workplace dynamics of Paramedics in B.C., the study attempted to illustrate a set of theoretical concepts potentially useful for future studies involving ambulance paramedics in the provincial context. A conceptual framework drawn from previous literature was used to inform the interview questions. A convenience sample of 12 Paramedics were asked to discuss the factors which most influenced their decision to enter the profession, as well as the workplace factors they felt most influenced retention. Respondents were also asked if they had recommendations towards improving their working experiences.
Interview data was organized into themes. ‘Attractant’ themes were grouped by question intent while retention and improvement-related themes were organized into groups aligning with the concept-categories outlined within the conceptual framework. 3-5 themes arose within each attractant group and conceptual framework. These themes were then analyzed and discussed within the wider academic and environmental context. Respondent recommendations for improvement were also discussed in the course of this wider analysis.
The analysis conducted under this study outlined 10 potential areas of future research within the field of Paramedic attraction and retention. 12 recommendations potentially of use for improving the retention of ambulance personnel in B.C. were synthesized from both the explicit recommendations of respondents, as well as the content of the emergent themes. While the conceptual framework utilized within the study requires further validation, the results of this study may nonetheless be useful for both policy makers looking to improve the stability of the provincial ambulance workforce and researchers looking to add to the literature on Canadian Paramedics.
The Effectiveness of computer-assisted learning: a case study of the learning equation
(2000) Tan, Ivy Kim-Geok; Francis-Pelton, Leslee
This study examined the effectiveness of “The Learning Equation" (TLE) software for grade nine Mathematics. The data were collected through interviews with seven students in a public school, their teacher, two teachers from a distance education agency, a student from the distance learning agency, a parent and two teachers who successfully implemented TLE in their classrooms. The study examined the factors involved in the successful implementation of this CAI software, examined how the software matches current design recommendations, and relates that to different cognitive styles and learner abilities. Students were given an opportunity to voice their opinion of TLE and compare it to the usual classroom lessons. The effects of TLE on morale and attitude towards Mathematics for the students in this case study were also investigated.
The study revealed that success with TLE depends on its proper implementation. The teachers interviewed who successfully implemented the program insisted that it was a worthwhile effort. Although interviewed students enjoyed learning using TLE, they still reported a preference for being taught by a teacher. The high rate of transfer from TLE programs to regular classrooms appears to support this claim. Final grades, as reported by students and teachers, did not improve while using TLE. Although TLE appears to technically match recommended design principles, it appears best suited for self-motivated, self-selected students who are average or above average sequential learners.
Rapid attribution of extreme events in Canada
(Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC), 2026) Gillett, Nathan
In recent years, Canada has experienced a number of impactful extreme events, such as the 2021 BC heatwave, which was the deadliest natural disaster on record in Canada, and the 2021 BC floods, which were the costliest natural disaster on record in BC. Quantification of the influence of human-induced climate change on the probability of such extreme events can help inform climate change adaptation and public understanding of the effects of climate change, and such information is much more impactful if available shortly after an event. This has prompted Environment and Climate Change Canada to develop a rapid event attribution system for extreme events in Canada. The system runs automatically on a daily basis and provides information on the human influence on hot extremes, cold extremes and precipitation extremes for extreme events across Canada shortly after they are observed. This talk will describe the current event attribution system, based on existing CMIP6 coupled climate model simulations, and describe its extension to higher resolution atmosphere model simulations using Canadian climate and weather predictions models, which will allow the better representation of impactful phenomena such as atmospheric rivers and post-tropical cyclones. Examples of results for recent extreme events in BC will also be presented.
Breaking the culture barrier (shaping the future of diagnostics with direct-from-specimen omics)
(2026) Nartey, Linda K.; Goodlett, David R.; Chen, Michael X.
Microbial analysis directly from specimen offers a powerful alternative to traditional culture-based diagnostics by enabling microbial detection and characterization in their native host environment. In the context of urinary tract infections (UTIs), reliance on urine culture remains a major limitation: culture is slow (24-48 hrs), often discordant with urinalysis (urine dipstick) results, and can obscure clinically relevant microbial features through ex vivo growth. This dissertation breaks the culture barrier by developing and applying direct from urine omics approaches that improve diagnostic speed while preserving biologically meaningful pathogen signatures.
A central focus of this work is the development of a lipidomics-based Fast Lipid Analysis Technique (FLAT) for culture-free detection of uropathogens using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). In a clinical cohort of 402 outpatient urine samples, FLAT correctly identified common uropathogens and showed 99% agreement with urine culture for negative samples, substantially outperforming urinalysis, which demonstrated only 37% agreement with culture. Using this approach, negative UTIs were rapidly ruled out in 77% of cases, reducing the need for culture and accelerating clinical decision making.
While early implementations of FLAT showed strong performance for Gram-negative bacteria, detection of Gram-positive uropathogens was limited by inefficient cardiolipin release. To address this, a lysozyme pretreatment step was introduced to disrupt the Gram-positive peptidoglycan layer prior to lipid extraction. Optimization using contrived urine samples resulted in a 100-fold improvement in the limit of detection. Validation in a clinical cohort of 76 culture-confirmed Gram-positive urine samples yielded a 95% detection rate, while Gram-negative detection remained uncompromised, enabling reliable identification of both organism classes within a single workflow.
Beyond diagnostics, this dissertation demonstrates the biological value of direct from specimen analysis for therapeutic target discovery. Proteomic profiling of Escherichia coli obtained directly from urine of UTI-positive patients was compared to the same isolates after a single laboratory passage. This analysis revealed substantial host-specific adaptation, with 37 proteins consistently present in patient-derived samples but absent after culture. These included outer membrane transporters, virulence-associated proteins, stress-response enzymes, and essential metabolic factors, many of which represent potential diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets that are missed by culture-based approaches.
Together, these findings establish direct from specimen lipidomics and proteomics as practical and informative alternatives to traditional culture. By combining rapid diagnosis with biologically relevant pathogen profiling, this work demonstrates how breaking the culture barrier can improve infectious disease diagnostics and expand our understanding of microbial behavior in the host environment.
Classroom assessment and curriculum redesign: Teacher experiences in British Columbia
(2026) Koning, Abby; Harvey, Lyndze
British Columbia has undergone a significant curriculum reform that centred a competency-driven approach to education. This reform also highlighted a focus on proficiency in classroom assessment while maintaining a letter grade and percentage requirement in reporting for Grades 10-12 students. This study focuses on Grades 10-12 teacher experiences with classroom assessment and reporting under this new curriculum through qualitative, constructivist, and evaluative research approaches. Through interviews with eight teachers, this case study explores how teachers are being influenced by curriculum change and what challenges this curriculum change brings to their assessment practices. This study finds that teachers’ assessment practices are unequally influenced by curriculum and that this particular curriculum redesign has ushered in uncertainty and confusion for some teachers. However, this study also identifies that despite this, teachers’ assessment practices and values regarding assessment may still align with high-level goals of the curriculum. Finally, this study identifies that challenges such as time burdens and uncertainty regarding the curriculum can influence how teachers approach, implement, and conceptualize aligned classroom assessment.