Lakehead University Knowledge Commons

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Children and family’s experiences while living with congenital heart disease in Northwestern Ontario
(2026) Dampier, Alexandra; Møller, Helle; Wiersma, Elaine; Martin, Lynn; Mushquash, Aislin
Background: Within Canada, heart defects are the most serious congenital condition and a leading cause of infant mortality. This research highlights what is often overlooked: the day-to-day realities of children and families living with congenital heart disease (CHD) in Northern contexts. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experiences and day-to-day realities of children diagnosed with CHD and their families living in rural, remote, and northern areas of Northwestern Ontario. Methods: This research was underpinned by Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory and van Manen's hermeneutic-phenomenological approach. A total of 14 families participated, comprising 27 individuals, including 13 mothers, 4 fathers, and 10 children diagnosed with CHD. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with children and their parents, alongside the use of field notes. Children underwent a two-phase consent process; first, parental consent was obtained, followed by the child’s assent. Analysis: Child and parent interview data were analyzed using van Manen's hermeneuticphenomenological approach. Findings: Parental findings centred around the core theme of liminality with four additional themes: 1) Torn from the Ordinary: Living Apart for Care, 2) Care in Pieces Across the Northern Landscape, 3) Fragile Bodies: Lasting Imprints of Ruptures in Time, 4) Embodied Hypervigilance: Protective Parenting. Four core themes emerged from the child findings, including 1) Children living in normalcy, 2) Feeling different in physical activities, but not defined by it, 3) Emerging health agency: From passive to active agents in care, and 4) Remembering with others: Development gaps and relational memory Conclusions: Clear differences emerged in how CHD is lived within families. Considering the coexistence of both liminality and normalcy within the same family unit highlights the complexity of lived experiences, particularly living with CHD in a northern context where geography and access have significant influence over health care trajectories. The findings suggest that the experiences of families in the north caring for children with CHD are shaped by much more than the illness and must be understood within the broader interconnected systems in which they live. There is a critical need for further qualitative research, in particular with children living with CHD in northern contexts and their families.
Beyond the heart shaped box: a study in teacher creativity
(2026) Orasi, Tashya; Sameshima, Pauline; Kaefer, Tanya; Smith, Clayton; Lovell-Johnston, Meridith; Pratt, Yvonne Poitras
Creativity is widely recognized as an essential competency for navigating the complexity of contemporary society. Despite its prominence in educational policy and across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries as a key curriculum deliverable, research suggests that structural demands for standardization, accountability, and measurement continue to constrain creativity in teaching and learning. As an arts-integrated study using Parallaxic praxis methodology (Sameshima et al., 2019) within a mixed methods and multi-stage design, data analysis culminated in a research-creation process to integratively explore teacher creativity. Theories derived from education, leadership, organizational behaviour, positive psychology, and human resources management also assisted in examining Canadian teacher perceptions of creativity and moderators of creativity in practice with its intersections with growth need strength and happiness. Specifically, this study asked: How do teachers understand creativity and creative ability? What is the relationship between intrinsic creativity and extrinsic support for teacher creativity? Is there a relationship between high growth need strength and creativity? And finally, how is intrinsic creativity related to engagement and happiness in the teaching profession? Across teachable subjects, teachers viewed creativity as an innate, yet developable, capacity central to higher-order thinking, effective teaching, professional and personal identity, and a significant source of meaning-making. Participants reported high levels of intrinsic creativity, generally supportive teaching environments, and strong Growth Need Strength (GNS). Consistent with literature in other professions, moderate positive relationships were observed among these. While the relationship between creativity and happiness was less clear, the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, burnout, and the unpaid labour associated with creative work from study data suggests there are also important connections with creativity to wellbeing, care and the quality of teacher-student relationships. Further explored through the research-creation artefact Lii vway dedaan li gran bois, the findings highlight creativity’s relationship to paradox, relationality, technology, and educational change, positioning creativity as a critical dimension of teaching effectiveness, supporting a renewed investment in arts education for the development of creativity, as well as, post-pandemic healing, and decolonial methodological innovation in educational research. Given the specific responsibility teachers have for facilitating creative competencies in students, results present an opportunity for educational leadership to more authentically engage with teachers, improve the quality of professional practice and teacher engagement, and ultimately affect Canada’s ability to cultivate creative capacity in its citizens. As a transformative educational leadership undertaking, understanding creativity both in education and decolonial research practice is a larger issue with implications in education and for meaning-making in the broader trajectory of knowledge production. Specifically, this study introduces the Lii Flashée Framework, a distinctions-focussed Métis methodology to bridge culturally specific ways of knowing with traditional Western research practice.
The effect of trait victimhood on perceptions of, and responses to, interpersonal stress and trauma: a daily diary and cross-sectional evaluation
(2026) MacIsaac, Angela; Mushquash, Aislin; Visser, Beth; Kim, James; Scott, Katreena
The tendency for interpersonal victimhood (TIV) denotes a disposition to see oneself as a victim across interpersonal relationships. Individuals who score highly on this construct tend to ruminate on perceived offenses and be generally distrusting. There is a dearth of research, however, on the relationship between TIV and the real-word experience and perception of interpersonal events. This includes both large, impactful life events like trauma, and more minor everyday interpersonal stress. To fill this gap, in one study (Trauma Study), 400 participants recruited from Prolific completed measures of TIV, childhood maltreatment and lifetime trauma, posttraumatic cognitions, and an evaluation of trauma concept breadth. In a second study (Daily Stress Study), 447 undergraduate students completed a two-week daily diary study measuring the occurrence of interpersonal stressors, rumination, and perceived stress, as well as participants’ predictions and recollections regarding stressors. Across both studies, retrospective report of childhood maltreatment positively predicted TIV, but paradoxically, minimization of this maltreatment was also a significant, positive predictor. Lifetime trauma showed no such association. TIV was also related to psychological distress and ethnicity, as well as sex but to a less consistent degree. In the Trauma Study, TIV predicted negative posttraumatic cognitions about others even when controlling for the experience of trauma and PTSD; however, contrary to hypotheses, it was unrelated to self-blame or self-worth. TIV was also associated with holding a wider concept of trauma (that is, rating a greater number of possible events as being “trauma”), although there was no such effect when people rated an event from their own lives. With respect to the Daily Stress Study, TIV had a negligible relationship with interpersonal stress; specifically, it had a weak correlation with the occurrence of daily interpersonal stress and no relationship to whether one’s worst event of the day was interpersonal in nature. It was, however, positively associated with participants’ predictions and recall of the amount of interpersonal stressors they would/did experience. It was also related to rumination following interpersonal stressors, which was subsequently related to the level of victimhood-relevant details included in a written reflection about an interpersonal stressor at follow-up. Overall, findings were somewhat mixed with respect to hypotheses. TIV does not appear redundant with the experience of victimization itself (historical and/or at the level of more minor daily hassles). Rather, to some extent, it may relate to these experiences by influencing how one anticipates, reflects on, and forms beliefs about them.
Faculty perspectives of undergraduate student academic writing underpreparedness
(2026) Toman, Rebecca; Lovell-Johnston, Meridith; Kaefer, Tanya; Clausen, Jessica; Bradford, Brent
Underpreparedness among first-year university students, particularly in academic writing and academic engagement, creates challenges for students and instructors and raises questions about how students are supported when underprepared for university. This qualitative research examined first-year English instructors’ perspectives to answer two questions: How first-year post-secondary students meet or do not meet the academic writing and adult learning expectations of first-year English instructors; and what do educators expect from university academic supports intended to address student underpreparedness in English university classes? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 instructors from one Ontario university English department and data was analyzed using a combined theoretical model of Lea and Street’s Academic Literacies Model and Knowles’ Adult Learner Theory. The findings identified that the participants found argumentation quality, critical thinking and analysis presence, and clear and organized writing with evidence integration as key factors of exceptional academic writing, with student engagement and motivation as important characteristics of preparedness. However, instructors described gaps between these expectations and the abilities demonstrated by many first-year students, requiring support that is often misaligned, under-supported, and in need of better institutional communication. Concluding suggestions include institutional improvements and the potential of bridging Ontario grade 12 education with introductory university instruction. This would be a coordinated program encouraging student engagement, addressing topics including university expectations, high school to university transition, academic writing, and academic integrity.
Preparation, radiolabeling, and conjugation of an Aurora Kinase B Inhibitor to 198Au-activated nanoparticles for cancer imaging and therapy
(2026) Lorentson, Jessica; Campbell, Michael; Hou, Jinqiang; Gottardo, Christine
When targeting cancer, it is often necessary to attack the disease on multiple fronts. This work proposes the development of multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs) to deliver both a therapeutic radiation dose and a cancer-targeting (Aurora Kinase Inhibitor) chemotherapeutic directly to the tumour. Additionally, the incorporation of a diagnostic agent to the NP allows for a theranostic approach. The progression of the therapeutic agent can be subsequently monitored via the NPs as delivery vehicles, with the diagnostic agent allowing assessment of tumour dosage. The presence of leaky vasculature in many tumours facilitates the infiltration and accumulation of NPs in these tissues. The preparation of polyethylene-glycol (PEG)-stabilized gold NPs (AuNPs) has been achieved and enables the targeted delivery of both therapeutic and diagnostic agents directly to the tumour. In a CCK-8 cytotoxicity assay, the AuNPs were found to have an IC50 of 0.06  0.04 (n=10) mg/mL on the SiHa cell line, 0.08  0.07 (n=4) mg/mL on the CaSki cell line, and 0.041  0.002 (n=2) mg/mL on the C33A cell line. The subsequent use of cyclotron-based neutron activation to convert the AuNP into gold-198 NP (198AuNP) can be used to provide a therapeutic radiation dose. This conversion of gold into 198Au has been demonstrated and can facilitate the delivery of beta radiation directly to the tumour. The IC₅₀ of the ¹⁹⁸AuNPs decreased with increasing radioactivity, indicating an increase in cytotoxicity. At lower activity levels (111 and 278 Bq/mL), only a minor increase in toxicity was observed; however, further increases in activity (1,145 and 2,290 Bq/mL) resulted in a continued decrease in IC50, indicating enhanced cytotoxicity. The AuNP has been labelled with an aurora kinase inhibitor (AKI) as a chemotherapeutic and a cancer-targeting moiety. The Aurora Kinase B inhibitor of interest was found to have an IC50 of (1.0  1.2) x 10-3 (n=3) mg/mL on the SiHa cell line, (6.3  1.8) x 10-5 (n=3) mg/mL on the CaSki cell line, and (3.5  2.4) x 10-3 (n=3) mg/mL on the C33A cell line. Conjugating this inhibitor enhances both specific cancer cell targeting in addition to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect that allows for the AuNPs to enter the tumour tissue, and the killing capacity of the 198AuNP. The PEG chain used for the peptide linkage that connects the inhibitor to the AuNP has been synthesized, as well as the AuNP-AKI conjugate. The IC50 for the AuNP-AKI conjugate was determined to be 0.0298  0.0008 (n=2) mg/mL with a 30:1 ratio of PEG:PEG-AKI on SiHa. This work uniquely employs the use of a medical cyclotron for the simultaneous preparation of [18F]-fluoride for PET labelling and the neutron activation of the prepared AuNPs via the 197Au(n,γ)198Au reaction. A model system for the PET-radiolabelling of the AuNPs has been investigated and a method has been proposed to achieve 18F-labelling.