Students shine, win at annual Ontario Japanese Speech Contest

Microphone on stand

Four undergraduate students from York University earned top prizes for their language skills at the 42nd annual Ontario Japanese Speech Contest (OJSC 2024) held at the University of Toronto on March 2.

Eight students from the Japanese Studies Program in York’s Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics (DLLL) competed in four different categories – Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced and Open – in front of a large crowd that included contestants from post-secondary institutions across the province, sponsors, government officials, Japanese language education administrators and interested members of the public.

York University’s eight Ontario Japanese Speech Contest contestants, three student helpers and five faculty members.
First row, left to right: Giovanni Di Mauro, Hei Tung Chloe Shek, Keying Ren, Alexa Adams, Wonkyung Lee, Kumiko Inutsuka, Akiko Mitsui and Noriko Yabuki-Soh. Second row, left to right: Eri Takahashi, Secret Shields, Ariel Upiter, Binying Wang, Javier van der Westhuizen, Norio Ota, Risa Hatake and Arianna Carerra.

Of York’s eight student contestants, the four who earned awards for their speeches were:

  • Hei Tung Chloe Shek, who was awarded the grand prize (placing first in the Advanced category) for her speech titled “Views and allies of ‘young carers’”;
  • Secret Shields, who was awarded second place in the Beginners category for a speech titled “My name is Secret”;
  • Binying Wang, who was awarded third place in the Intermediate category for a speech titled “About MBTI”; and
  • Wonkyung Lee, who was awarded first place in the Open category for a speech titled “Liquor or Coffee.”

Shek, who received a return ticket to Japan as the competition’s grand prize, delivered a speech on her personal experience as a young caregiver to her disabled father, detailing how the rest of her family united and handled the situation, and how positive thinking helped her accomplish many things she did not expect.

As a result of their first-place finishes in their respective categories, Shek and Lee will go on to participate in the Canadian National Japanese Speech Contest at the Embassy of Japan in Ottawa on March 24.

Noriko Yabuki-Soh
Noriko Yabuki-Soh

To help prepare the York students for the contest, DLLL associate professors Noriko Yabuki-Soh and Norio Ota, and faculty members Kumiko Inutsuka, Akiko Mitsui and Eri Takahash coached them leading up to the big day. Yabuki-Soh, Inutsuka and Takahashi also served on OJSC’s Organizing Committee.

“It was delightful to see how those eight students, at different levels of proficiency in Japanese, worked as a team,” said Yabuki-Soh, who believes all of the eight York competitors performed at their best.

“They put so much time and effort into this when they practised their speeches in front of their peers,” she said. “Their hard work has paid off. We are so proud of them.”

Passings: Masaaki Naosaki

A field of flowers at sunset

A 2010 York University Sport Hall of Fame inductee, Masaaki Naosaki was a longtime gymnastics coach who led the York men’s team to unprecedented success. He passed away on March 8.

Naosaki only ever intended to stay at York for two years.

When head gymnastics coach Tom Zivic, a fellow York Hall of Famer, offered him a position as an assistant coach with the Yeomen gymnastics team in the early 1970s, he accepted, but planned on leaving Canada after his tenure.

Masaaki Naosaki
Masaaki Naosaki

Instead, two years became two decades.  
 
From 1972 to 1993, Naosaki – along with Zivic – guided the University’s men’s gymnastics program to 21 Ontario Universities Athletic Association (now Ontario University Athletics) gold medals and 18 Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (now U SPORTS) gold medals. His accomplishments earned him three U Sports coach of the year awards (1981,1982, 1986), as well as an induction in 2010 into the York University Sport Hall of Fame.

It wasn’t just York that benefited from his expertise and technical knowledge. He was called to represent Canada as the head coach of the men’s gymnastics team at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, as well the Commonwealth Games in 1981, the World University Games in 1985 and 1987, and the Pan American Games in 1979 and 1999.

These collective efforts led him to become the first gymnastics coach to receive the Coaching Association of Canada Excellence Award in 1988.

Throughout Naosaki’s coaching career, it wasn’t just athletic success that mattered to him. “Coaches are not just teaching sport skills, they are also teaching life skills. I like to see people succeed in any area, not just sport, and I continued [for all these years] because of the ability to influence people for a better life,” he once told York University Athletics.
 
As for his own life, he looked back with gratitude at the decision to stay in Canada

“It was a great opportunity for me,” he said. “I realized this was my place to enhance what I wanted to do and I stayed because I enjoyed it so much.”

Those who wish to leave a message for the family may do so on his memorial web page.

Community Safety Week to focus on learning, transparency and collaboration

studenst talking and sitting BANNER

From March 18 to 21, York University’s Community Safety Department will be hosting its annual Community Safety Week. Members of the community are invited to participate through a variety of learning opportunities and virtual events.

The four-day long event features an extended safety video developed in partnership with the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD), a new safety learning hub to support greater access to information, and two virtual events to hear from safety leadership, community partners and experts.

The community safety team at York takes a holistic and intersectional approach to safety that reflects the diverse experiences of the University community and highlights the joint responsibility required to ensure safety across York’s multi-campus network.

The week provides an opportunity to share information about the department’s mission, safety services and offerings while meaningfully engaging with the community.

“Through the Security Services Review, we heard that the community is looking for greater transparency and collaboration, so that’s what we’re aiming for with this year’s activities,” said Orville Wallace, executive director of community safety. “There are opportunities for self-paced learning, an exciting video collaboration with AMPD, a virtual Q-and-A session with the community safety team and community partners, and a panel discussion with dynamic leaders and experts. I’m optimistic that we are well positioned to effect significant change and make a meaningful impact on community safety in the months and years ahead.”

Learn more about Community Safety Week’s featured activities below:

New digital resources

The community safety team has worked with internal and external partners to compile a safety learning hub for year-round learning. The new hub features resources from Toronto Community Crisis, Student Counselling, Health Services, Education and Promotions, and more. The hub will continue to be updated regularly as new information becomes available. Visit the learning hub and start learning today.

In addition to the new collection of resources, the department also has a variety of existing resources that support learning and awareness, including reports and statistics on safety incidents, safety tips and information about the York U Safety App.

Extended video with AMPD students

Last year, the department worked with students from AMPD to create a video as part of its commitment to community safety. The video featured information on the “run, hide, defend” method and was intended to build awareness of emergency response procedures. This year, the video has been extended to include guidance on the “shelter in place” protocol, offering additional information to educate the community about what actions they can take to keep themselves and the community safe in the event of an emergency. Watch the extended video in English or in French.

Q-and-A with department leadership and community partners

For an opportunity to engage directly with safety leaders and partners, the department is hosting a virtual Q-and-A session on March 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Wallace will be joined by leaders from the department as well as partners from the community to answer safety- and security-related questions live.

Add the event to your calendar and join.

Panel discussion with community leaders and experts

To foster greater learning and collaboration, the department is bringing together community leaders and experts for a thoughtful discussion about how to adopt and advance a community-centric approach to safety at a post-secondary institution.  

The panel discussion, titled Building Bridges: Advancing a community-centric approach to safety, will take place on Thursday, March 21 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Register to attend.

Grant funds York-led household energy insecurity study

Bogota, Colombia historic centre

Godfred Boateng, an assistant professor in York University’s School of Global Health and Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Humanitarianism, has been awarded a grant by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for a two-year project on household energy insecurity in Colombia.

Godfred Boateng
Godfred Boateng

Valued at $136,899, the grant will support the implementation of Boateng’s Household Energy Insecurity, Health and Sustainable Livelihoods in Colombia (HEINS) project – co-led by Diego Iván Lucumí Cuesta from the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia – between March 2024 and February 2026.

The HEINS study is a continuation of Boateng’s leading work in comprehensively measuring and understanding resource insecurity across the Global South, undertaken at the Global & Environmental Health Lab at York’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research as part of his mandate as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair.

In deciding to study this topic, the York professor observed that measurement of energy insecurity has historically been limited to the macro level – representing a country or region – and has not been widely extended to the household level, particularly outside the Global North. He also noticed there has been little assessment of the relationship between household energy insecurity and health outcomes among women and children in the Global South. As a result, it is difficult to determine how inadequate access to clean and safe energy sources impacts women and children differently in the household. It also becomes difficult to propose strategies to ensure clean energy transitions that effectively target the needs of that demographic.  

Boateng’s HEINS project, which will be conducted in three municipalities in the Choco province of Colombia, will address these issues. It will use a mixed-methods approach to find out whether or not household energy insecurity uniquely impacts disease, socioeconomic and psychosocial outcomes. The project will also produce and validate a scale – one of the first of its kind in Latin America – that can be used to comprehensively assess the impact of household energy insecurity on women, infants and children.

“With this grant, my team and I will advance current scholarship on the adverse effects of household energy insecurity in Latin America,” said Boateng. “It will produce a novel instrument for identifying energy insecurity hotspots, which will serve as recruiting points for a longitudinal study that examines the effect of energy insecurity and indoor air pollution from conception through the first two years of life.”

Ultimately, the goal of the project is to generate scientific evidence to develop sound, scalable technologies and strategies to ensure equitable clean energy transitions across the Global South. Through this study, Boateng and the Global & Environmental Health Lab, in partnership with Lucumí Cuesta, will advance research that promotes equitable access, good health, human development and environmental sustainability.  

Ronda Bessner

Ronda Bessner

Ronda Bessner, an instructor in Osgoode’s Professional LLM in Administrative Law program, shares three decades of public inquiry expertise in the second edition of her book Public Inquiries in Canada: Law and Practice

York U in the news: SpaceX launch, total solar eclipse and more

SpaceX’s successful Starship launch ‘great news for space travel,’ expert says
York University professor Paul Delaney was quoted in CTV News March 14.

These Ontario schools have cancelled classes for the total solar eclipse
York University Professor Elaina Hyde was quoted in the Toronto Star March 14.

Douglas Todd: Canadian leaders more wary about asylum seekers
Glendon College Professor Michael Barutciski was quoted in the Vancouver Sun March 14.

See more ways York University is making headlines at News @ York.

Student learning, experience and success top priorities in the Faculty of Science

Header banner for INNOVATUS

Welcome to the March 2024 edition of Innovatus, a special issue of YFile devoted to teaching and learning at York University. This month we showcase the Faculty of Science and the innovative projects it is pursuing to support students.

Innovatus is produced by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning in partnership with the Communications & Public Affairs Division.

In this issue, the Faculty of Science invites York community members to read stories about improving students’ learning experiences within the classroom and across continents.

Rui Wang
Rui Wang

In the Faculty of Science, we are driven to provide students with a high-quality education and the knowledge, skills, competence, and credentials they need and desire to successfully transition into rewarding and impactful careers. We are delighted to share some of the ways in which we are prioritizing excellence in teaching and learning in this issue of Innovatus

Our Faculty has been working hard to create new, hands-on programs and micro-credentials that train students for in-demand careers in industries like biotechnology and vaccine development. For instance, this fall at the new Markham Campus, we are launching graduate-level programming in biotechnology management that features industry-informed curriculum, practical learning and experiences, business training and more.  

Our instructors and staff are leading projects that aim to enhance student learning and experience in some of our existing programs, including projects focused on creating fully accessible labs for our students and using new technology to transform conventional learning in chemistry courses. Our teams are also piloting a popular, online problem-solving tool for our mathematics students. 

As well, we are strengthening our global connections and partnerships with institutions and students across the world. For example, we are creating collaborative virtual exchange opportunities that allow science students to engage in cross-cultural learning with peers from other countries and cultures. 

The Faculty of Science is a place where curious minds come to learn, to discover, and to develop skills to become future global leaders and innovators. Our instructors and staff take this responsibility seriously, and as dean, I couldn’t be prouder of them. I also couldn’t be more optimistic for the future success of our students. 

Thank you, 

Rui Wang, 
Dean, Faculty of Science 

Faculty, course directors and staff are invited to share their experiences in teaching, learning, internationalization and the student experience through the Innovatus story form.


In this issue:

Faculty of Science responds to industry needs in the chemical and bioeconomy sectors
To meet the needs of the booming biotechnology industry, the Faculty is offering several new educational opportunities for York students to succeed in the sector.

Faculty of Science innovates with assist from AIF
Thanks to support from Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) grants, two initiatives are helping create more interactive and accessible science lab spaces.

Mathematicians pilot open-access homework platform for students
A new, online open educational resource provided to students for free is looking to make math homework a little bit easier.

Inaugural GNL project brings students together
A globally networked learning (GNL) initiative that began during the COVID-19 pandemic is still going strong, connecting science students from York University and China.

Faculty of Science responds to industry needs in the chemical and bioeconomy sectors

Science student in a lab

By Elaine Smith

To meet the changing needs of the chemical and bioeconomy sectors, the Faculty of Science is offering several new educational opportunities to ensure people working in science-related positions have the best possible education to meet evolving industry demands.

The Faculty has recently introduced two new biotechnology programs at the Markham Campus – the Master’s in Biotechnology Management and the Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology – as well as a new micro-credential in Vaccine Production and Quality Control that is aligned with these programs. 

The Faculty also introduced its first micro-credential, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) Spectroscopy for Industry at the Keele Campus. NMR spectroscopy is an advanced characterization technique used to determine the molecular structure of a sample at the atomic level. 

“We want to offer our students programs and courses that lead to career success,” said Hovig Kouyoumdjian, associate dean of curriculum and pedagogy for the Faculty.  

Luz Adriana Puentes Jácome
Luz Adriana Puentes Jácome

Slated to launch in Fall 2024, the Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology and the Master’s in Biotechnology Management are the culmination of research and planning done over the past few years. Professor Mark Bayfield and associate deans Kouyoumdjian and Michael Scheid led the program design and development. Now, Jade Atallah and Luz Adriana Puentes Jácome, assistant professors of biology, teaching stream, have taken the reins and will oversee the two programs. 

“Both programs are rooted in industry needs,” Atallah said. “Our colleagues did extensive research to ensure industry alignment; an evidence-based approach is driving them.”  

The Toronto Business Development Centre, for example, notes that “Canada has experienced a 77.2 per cent growth in biotech companies in the past two decades, with hundreds of small startups working to bring scientific discoveries to market.” 

The two programs will share biotechnology courses for the first year, but the master’s students will also take management courses through the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies that will allow them to graduate with the degree and diploma in under two years. The integrative program also includes a capstone course and a paid internship component with industry. The diploma program requires only two semesters of coursework.  

“They are both full-time programs but are designed to accommodate mature, working students in terms of scheduling,” said Atallah.  

The master’s program aims to meld scientific knowledge with business skills. 

“The interdisciplinary approach better reflects the workplace reality and maximizes understanding of the overall product lifecycle from conception to commercialization,” said Atallah. “It’s a marriage of two Faculties and will provide well-rounded knowledge and skills in both areas. It will increase the students’ competitiveness while benefiting the biotech economy.” 

Puentes Jácome agreed, noting, “We want these students to be very versatile. They need the professional biotechnology knowledge, but the business background will be very useful in the startup economy, while in established companies, it will give them the skills to move around.” 

The two programs have a joint lab component, and students in both programs will benefit from industry guest speakers and networking opportunities. 

“We want our students to have hands-on insights and experiential opportunities,” Atallah said. 

The lab component of the course will give students a condensed experience in biotechnology laboratory techniques.  

“It is not a cookbook lab,” said Atallah, referring to the usual step-by-step instructions students receive for lab experiments. “Students will be able to make decisions on the best protocol to use, and there’s room for mistakes, so they can troubleshoot and adjust. It will mimic a real-life scenario.” 

The master’s degree internships, arranged in collaboration with the experiential education office at the Markham Campus, will last between eight and 12 months. Students will have the opportunity to put their theory to the test. The capstone course, which is project-based, will also provide a real-world opportunity. 

Alongside these programs, the Faculty of Science at Markham Campus will also introduce a micro-credential on Vaccine Production and Quality Control. This specialized course aims to provide participants with the essential skills required to use biotechnological tools for the development of vaccines. 

The introduction of the micro-credential in NMR is spurred by the government of Ontario’s push for and support of post-secondary education rapid training programs designed to help people retrain or upgrade their skills to meet the needs of employers.   

Now, the Faculty of Science is dipping its toes in those waters, inaugurating the NMR Spectroscopy for Industry micro-credential during the Winter 2024 term and developing the micro-credential addressing Vaccine Production and Quality Control. 

“We’re very excited about this,” said Kouyoumdjian. “We looked at the demands of the job market, as well as the gaps in training, and gauged the need for these skills.” 

The NMR micro-credential course is taught by York University instructor Howard Hunter. Students will learn the basic theory behind NMR spectroscopy, as well as its practical applications. They will learn to successfully process and analyze raw NMR data to understand a sample’s composition or chemical structure, a skill applicable to employees in both chemical and biotechnological fields.   

The course is held in the evening, so people employed in related fields can fit it into their schedules. The hybrid course is pass/fail, with a lab component included.  

“For us, as scientists, the hands-on aspect is important,” Kouyoumdjian said. “It’s the nature of our field. We design our micro-credentials to contain in-person experiential components and avoid the fully asynchronous online model as much as possible.” 

Those who pass will receive both a certificate of completion and an electronic credential badge to affix to a resume or a LinkedIn profile. Kouyoumdjian will approve the badges based on course results; they are authenticated and traceable. 

Much like the students are learning new skills, Kouyoumdjian and his team did, too. Throughout the process, they had to learn how to create a micro-credential offering, from proposal to approval to creating contracts, hiring an instructor and promoting the program online. This accumulated knowledge will be used for introducing the aforementioned Vaccine Production and Quality Control micro-credential course. 

“As biotechnology continues reshaping how health care works, professionals with such expertise play an important role in progressing this field, especially with the urgent global need for effective disease prevention.” Kouyoumdjian said. “We are looking forward to offering the new micro-credentials, as well as the two new graduate programs.” 

Kouyoumdjian applauds the Faculty for making these new offerings possible. 

“Like any new initiative, it takes a team to bring these programs to fruition,” he said. “We are looking forward to expanding the knowledge of many students and observing their subsequent career accomplishments.” 

Faculty of Science innovates with assist from AIF

Concept of idea and innovation with paper ball

By Elaine Smith

Making chemistry courses and labs more engaging and accessing science lab spaces – regardless of physical ability – are becoming easier to accomplish, thanks to Faculty of Science initiatives sponsored by Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) grants.

In the Department of Chemistry, Tihana Mirkovic, an assistant professor, and Hovig Kouyoumdjian, an associate professor who is also the associate dean of curriculum and pedagogy, are developing modules using e-learning tool Adobe Captivate to improve students’ learning experiences. Meanwhile, biology professors Tamara Kelly and Paula Wilson and their colleagues – project manager Jessi Nelson, accessibility expert Ainsley Latour and educational development specialist Ashley Nahornick – are identifying and supporting improvements that make labs more accessible.

Kouyoumdjian first identified the potential of Adobe Captivate as a tool for the generation of an interactive learning environment in chemistry classes. Together with Mirkovic, the pair recognized that the laboratory experience through pre-laboratory activities in undergraduate classes could be substantially improved by leveraging the multimedia learning process that could be incorporated into modules generated in Adobe Captivate.

“Our goal is to allow students to integrate their conceptual and procedural understanding of their labs through active learning opportunities. We hope that the newly developed modules, featuring slides, videos, hotspots, 360-degree navigation, software simulations and knowledge check assessments, will provide a learning environment that motivates our students and maximizes their learning potential,” Mirkovic said.

“We aim for students to stay engaged, even when the material is presented virtually,” said Kouyoumdjian. “Now, we possess an e-learning tool with an interactive component that complements the static elements of the course. It is applicable for both blended and online courses.”

The pair also collaborated with an instructional designer to craft customizable templates to help with the process of repurposing and reusing the modules across various courses.”

Tihana Mirkovic
Tihana Mirkovic

The professors have has initiated a pilot in the courses CHEM 2020 (Introductory Organic Chemistry I) and CHEM 3001 (Experimental Chemistry II) this term. “We hope to gather valuable information from the initial student experience and feedback collected from Adobe Captivate activities and linked self-reflection surveys,” Mirkovic said. During the summer, they will reflect on the pilot’s successes and explore the reusability of the created templates.

They are optimistic that the new software will contribute to student engagement, leading to increased student motivation and greater retention.

Meanwhile, the accessibility team is moving forward with its own initiative to improve – in a different way – the accessibility of biology, chemistry and physics labs for students in the Faculty.

Paula Wilson
Paula Wilson

“Paula and I have directed labs, and something we come up against regularly is accommodation,” said Kelly, the project lead and the Pedagogical Innovation Chair, Science Education. “Student Accessibility Services typically addresses lectures, but has limited expertise to support providing clear accommodations for labs.”

Added Wilson: “Students with accessibility issues have the burden of negotiating with their professors for every lab, and it’s exhausting. Also, even if professors are eager to assist, they aren’t experts in accommodation.

“In addition, by the time faculty members get a letter about accommodating a student, it may be the second or third week of the term, which leaves no time for finding and arranging creative solutions.”

Ainsley Latour
Ainsley Latour

The group plans to survey Faculty of Science students and faculty to learn more about needs and accommodations that work. Latour and Nelson developed a checklist of barriers to accessibility in labs and then, with Nahornick, toured first-year science laboratories with the technicians who run the labs. They looked for barriers and what was missing to make accommodation easier.

“There were a lot of things that were quick fixes, so Ashley emailed the lab managers to suggest changes to make before the start of the term,” said Kelly. “These included the readability of signage, repairs to broken automatic doors, among other things.”

Ashley Nahornick
Ashley Nahornick

The team also brought in Pamela Millett, an audiologist from the Faculty of Education, to determine what the sound issues might be for those with hearing concerns.

“There is a lot of ambient sound in labs, from fans and other equipment, that make it hard for students to hear instructions,” said Nahornick. “Repairing or using their microphones is an easy fix.”

The next step will be to create professional development support for instructors, technicians and teaching assistants, so they understand how to best support accessibility in labs.

Wilson said they would also like to prepare a series of recommendations for the Faculty. “Some issues may require infrastructure changes that will require additional funding. We want to take away the pressure on instructors to handle this on their own by making changes where we can and sharing best practices,” she explained. “Our aim is to make it easier for all students to have valuable lab experiences that meet course outcomes.”

Kelly added, “If we have a clear understanding in advance about what is needed, that’s a big step. Some things must be personalized, but there are some general things we can implement for our students. Students with disabilities are often driven away from science in high school because of barriers, and we don’t want to be part of that cycle. We want to enable people.

“For a lot of students, their first experience in a lab turns them onto science. We’ll lose talent if they don’t feel as if they can function in this setting.”

Eseimuede James Ehiagwina

Eseimuede James Ehiagwinae

Second-year nursing student Eseimuede James Ehiagwina was among 20 students across Canada awarded the 2024 RBC Future Launch Scholarship for Black Youth