Brock University Digital Repository

Brock University's Digital Repository is an online archive showcasing and preserving the Brock community's scholarly output as well as items from the Library's Archives & Special Collections. Researchers can disseminate their work by depositing it in this Open Access repository, which provides free, immediate access to users while also allowing Brock scholars to track downloads and views of their scholarship. The Digital Repository is also the home of the Brock University E-Thesis Portal.

For more information, see the repository's policies and procedures.

Communities in Brock University Digital Repository

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 9

Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
Le Milieu: The Invisible Architecture Reorienting Consumerism in K–12 ESE
(2026-04-16) Sturgeon, Madelyn
Consumerism is a significant driver of socio-ecological harm, yet in K–12 environmental and sustainability education (ESE), it is commonly taught through two dominant conceptual entry points: pre- and post-consumption. These entry points organize learning around lessons in moral responsibility, decision-making, behaviour, and action, prior to consumption and following use. While practical and institutionally feasible, these framings offer a limited conceptualization of consumerism, often underemphasizing the social, cultural, economic, political, and psychological forces that sustain, structure and condition engagement with and responses to consumer-related harm. This Major Research Paper (MRP) analyzes ESE literature and K–12 Ontario policy documents using cross-textual conceptual analysis to map how consumerism is addressed and enacted. In response, this study develops a Framework of Consumerism, which introduces le milieu as its central contribution. The aim of this framework is to interrupt the reduction of consumerism to pre- and post-moments by (1) extending how consumption is conceptually framed, (2) prioritizing interpretive understanding over immediate response, and (3) attending to the mediating conditions that shape how students make sense of consumerism.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Press, Volume 44, Issue 10, October 15, 2008
(2008-10-15) MacDonald, Marc (Editor); Price, Phil (Managing Editor); Potstra, Alison (Internal News Editor); Ciolfe, Terra (External News Editor); Roth, Amanda (Assistant News Editor); Blain, Geoffrey (Business News Editor); Gottli, Katherine (Features Editor); MacDonald, Corey (Marginalia Editor); Hadley, Matthew (Arts and Entertainment Editor); Kent, Austin (Sports Editor); Boudreau, Rob (Sports Assistant); Claessens, Caitlin (Layout Editor); Ayala, Dario (Chief Photographer); Block, Darryl (Assistant Photographer); Ouellette, Marc (Production Designer); Janzen, Gaylynn (Business Manager); Ouellette, Marc (Acting Advertising Manager)
The Press, Volume 44, Issue 10 includes: 102 graduate students at Brock receive a combined total of $2,131,900 in national and provincial awards; Lama Lhanang Pinpoche introduces Brock students to Buddhism; The Downtown Association is willing to reinstate the Brock Booze Bus despite the raucous behaviour that got it cancelled, but Thorold will have no part in it.
Access status: Open Access ,
Technology and student engagement in a post-pandemic world: So much has changed but so much has stayed the same
(2026-04-15) Sharma, Sunaina
This presentation at the Oxford International Roundtable Symposium shares the results of an ethnographic study conducted post-pandemic, coupled with the researcher’s experiences implementing the findings in a classroom setting. The study examines the role of digital technology in secondary student engagement, highlighting both its benefits—such as increased collaboration, participation, and critical thinking—and its challenges, including cognitive overload and distraction. By engaging students as co-researchers, the presentation emphasizes the need to co-create decisions on technology use, showing that while it can foster inquiry and connection, it must be carefully managed to prevent disengagement.
Access status: Open Access ,
Between Trust and Oversight: Teacher Candidates’ Experiences of Shifting Practicum Evaluation Models
(2026-04-16) Sunaina Sharma; Margo Horne; Shannon Welbourn
This presentation examines how teacher candidates experience a shift from traditional observation-based practicum evaluation to a portfolio-based model emphasizing ongoing dialogue, reflection, and artefact documentation. Drawing on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with Year 2 teacher candidates across divisions, the study explores how these models shape learning, professional identity, and perceptions of support and trust. Findings reveal a central tension: while reduced observation is often interpreted as increased trust and professional recognition, it can simultaneously be experienced as a loss of structured support. Candidates’ interpretations of this shift are shaped by prior experiences with practicum advisors, highlighting the relational nature of trust. The study argues that practicum design must move beyond binary framings of autonomy versus oversight, instead fostering scaffolded autonomy through intentional, relational support systems that sustain meaningful professional learning.
Access status: Open Access ,
Evaluating practicum assessment models: Teacher candidates’ experiences with observation-based and portfolio based evaluation
(2026-03-12) Sunaina Sharma; Margo Horne; Shannon Welbourn
The teaching practicum is a central component of teacher education, shaping both instructional practice and professional identity. Traditionally grounded in observation-based assessment, practicum assessment has relied on observation-based models, often centered on single lesson evaluations conducted by practicum advisors. This study examines teacher candidates’ experiences during a shift to a portfolio-based assessment model at Brock University. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Year 2 teacher candidates, the research explores how candidates perceive and navigate both models. Findings indicate that observation-based approaches are associated with performance anxiety, while portfolio-based evaluation supports ongoing reflection, consistent feedback, and a stronger sense of preparedness. At the same time, candidates describe tensions related to evolving expectations and accountability. By foregrounding candidate voice, this study highlights how assessment practices function as mediational tools that shape both learning and identity development within the practicum context.