Month: October 2018

Niko Brown
LBST 200
October 19, 2018

Module III Assignment

 

My interview topic was on how the campus students felt about the amount of degrees offered at Capilano University. Our group came up with five open ended questions that would reveal how many students on campus felt about the amounts of degrees offered at Capilano University. I felt the topic we chose had much importance and would be an interesting topic to investigate for the interviewer and the interviewee.

After finding someone on campus that did not look busy, was open for a conversation, and most importantly was in a Bachelor of Arts program; I showed her my consent form that clearly explained my intentions and her rights and then asked for verbal permission if it was alright if interviewed her for about 15 minutes asking five questions about the amount of degrees offered at Capilano University. I urged her to answer the questions in any way she wanted and take them in any direction she wanted as that is the point of open ended questions. I felt I was clear with her about the point of the interview and that she was comfortable.

The first question I asked her was “How would you think earning a Bachelor of Arts from Capilano University will differ from other local universities such as UBC or SFU?” She answered that it depends on if you are going to go for your masters and the field of study you are in. Cap is a lot smaller and younger than UBC and SFU but it has a much closer community than other larger schools. Judging by the answer the interviewee focused the social duration of getting a Bachelor of Arts at Capilano University. The second question I asked her was “Why did you choose Capilano University to earn your Bachelor of Arts degree? She replied saying the location of Cap was convenient for her, she already knew lots of people here, and she liked the size of the population. She also said that she wanted to go to a smaller school but wanted to earn a degree not a diploma. I asked her “why not a diploma?” and she replied that she needed one for her program, and thought these days many careers require you to have at least one Bachelor of Arts degree.

The third question I asked her was, “What arts degrees would you like to have offered here?” She replied that she was not sure exactly what all the degrees are that are offered at cap but knew there are less than the much larger universities. She added maybe there should be either an online ballot or on campus vote from the student council regarding what degrees students would be interested to take at cap and whether they should be offered. Something like that would make it clear about the demand for the degrees that should be offered at cap. The fourth question I asked was “Why do you think Capilano University offered the arts degrees it has today?” She responded by saying that they were probably the most versatile and popular degrees that fit the market for the university. She also said many students transfer from cap so it does not matter as much if they are just racking up credits and course interests.

Next I asked her “With the number of students Capilano University has, how would it benefit the university to have more degrees?” She replied saying she was not sure exactly how the cost works but drew back from her previous answer on how much of cap’s population transfers to other post-secondary institutions so that would hinder the benefit of offering more degrees and is probably much of the reason why they have the ones they have in the first place. I then asked her “do you think it is worth offering more arts degrees for the population that does not transfer?” She replied saying that it might be of some benefit since it brings more choice but still concluded that it does not matter if many transfer and also that cap is still a young university and has grown much within the last ten years of it becoming a university back in 2008.

In closing, I thanked her for her participation. Overall my strengths as an interviewer where that I prioritized that the direction of the interview was open ended and maintained it be interesting and enjoyable. My weakness was that I probably should have elaborated a bit more on her answers and had more diverse questions.

Niko Brown
101004867
Liberal Studies 200
September 16th, 2018

Framing Reflection #1

The paradigm I am most strongly affiliated with is the critical paradigm. Historical realism fits my ontological perspective. I constitute reality as something that is shaped by values. As an emerging researcher, I prefer to be free from any existing regimes and beliefs. The critical paradigm attacks and questions assumptions of reality that we think we already know. I strongly relate to this as I question even popular theories that mostly believed to be true. I think it is important to understand where assumptions come from and why they are so popular believed. The critical paradigm can also relate to a lot of sociology assignments I have worked on as questioning stereotypes and other social theories is a part of sociology. Interrogating values and injustice exposes hegemony and injustice since that seems like the right thing to do. What I like about the critical paradigm is it just looks for the honest truth and I consider honesty to be underrated in most social worlds today. The idea of pulling back the curtain and revealing the true reality is very appealing and refreshing to me as it removes all the lies and simplifies how things are.

Niko Brown
101004867
Liberal Studies 200
October 4th, 2018

Observation Assignment

Capilano University’s campus layout is classified through eating, studying, parking, and hanging out. The grass field in front of the library is convenient for student to hang out and hosting large campus wide events. It is also convenient because it is in the center of campus and therefore near the bus stops and on the way to most buildings that students need to get to for class. The library being in the center makes a lot of sense since for every class, the library is useful and many students at least one point during term will have to visit. The library being in the center makes it the most accessible building on campus. The major cafeteria in the Birch building is near a large parking lot which is convenient for students who want to grab a bite before class starts. There are some buildings located near the edge of campus like the Facilities building which are mainly for campus staff and faculty. Locating building mainly for staff makes sense along the lines that they are not in the way of student’s convenience and are near parking lots. Campus has many stairs that take up the most convenient ways to certain areas such as parking lots and floor levels. This makes it difficult for the physically disabled that need ramps to get around campus. There are not many ramps and walking another way such as down the road on the edge of campus is not fair or convenient. Most of the ‘open’ areas are located within the center of campus and are enclosed by all the surrounding building that host students classes. This is great for students who like to gather in open areas to hangout and not be surrounded by noise and the busy campus life. Parking surrounds the campus and the two largest lots are on either side of the campus making them easily accessible. The child care day care is not accessible by students and is on the edge campus. The aboriginal center is located in the library which is great for aboriginal students who need to use their facilities. Overall Capilano University’s campus is efficiently structured to fit both student and staff needs.