Media releases

• Brock Business professor named 3M National Teaching Fellow

  Monday, May 01, 2023 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: May 1 2023 – R0035

  Brock University Marketing Professor Kai-Yu Wang has been awarded a 2023 3M National Teaching Fellowship. With only 10 given out nation-wide each year, the award is considered one of Canada’s most prestigious post-secondary teaching excellence awards.

  Wang, who is also Chair of the Marketing, International Business and Strategy Department in the Goodman School of Business, says it feels unreal to receive recognition for the extremely competitive award.

  “I feel incredibly honoured to be selected as a National Teaching Fellow,” Wang says. “This award means a lot to me personally and I hope it can encourage my colleagues in business in their own teaching.”

  The fellowship is sponsored by both 3M Canada and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and honours exceptional contributions to teaching, learning and leadership at the post-secondary level.

  The national recognition, of which Wang is the 13th Brock recipient, speaks to the high calibre of teaching excellence taking place at the University, says President and Vice-Chancellor Lesley Rigg.

  “Brock’s passionate and innovative educators are among the best in the country, and their commitment to student success is second to none,” she says. “The University’s focus on providing a transformational and accessible academic experience for all learners is made possible by outstanding academics, such as Dr. Wang, who make a difference in and beyond the classroom every day.”

  Wang’s efforts in the classroom and contributions to his field have seen him recognized with several honours in recent years: the 2020 Brock University Award for Distinguished Teaching, the 2021 Goodman Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2022 Society for Marketing Advances Distinguished Teaching Award. He was also named Goodman’s Distinguished Researcher for 2022.

  Goodman Dean Barry Wright says it’s this combined excellence in both teaching and research that provides added value for Wang’s students.

  “Dr. Wang’s commitment to being a leading researcher in a rapidly evolving field like digital marketing helps him stay innovative in designing courses and activities for his students,” he says. “Collectively, everyone in Goodman is immensely proud of him for this well-deserved recognition. He is the first from our business school to receive this award.”

  Wang says he wants students to leave his classroom with skills they are going to need in their profession. He’s been recognized for being a leader in experiential education, bringing in community partner organizations to work directly with his students to develop and execute digital marketing campaigns.

  “Dr. Wang is a true champion of experiential education,” says Rajiv Jhangiani, Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning. “In addition to connecting classroom learning with real-world practice, he is dedicated to designing inclusive and supportive learning environments, working to continually evolve his own teaching practices while inspiring others to do the same.”

  The award’s evaluation committee also noted Wang’s educational leadership in using his experiential learning activities to develop a modern digital marking professional development course that addresses the needs of today’s businesses. The eight-week online Digital Marketing Micro-credential program he designed and teaches begins its first offering May 4 and includes live virtual learning using simulated environments for immediate feedback on assignments based on real-life situations.

  “I hope the impact of the experiential learning activities in digital marketing can be extended to marketing professionals and individuals who want to pursue a digital marketing career in the Niagara region,” Wang says.

  He will be officially welcomed into the Fellowship during a conference in Charlottetown, P.E.I., from June 13 to 16.

  A video of Kai-Yu Wang speaking about the 3M National Teaching Fellowship is available on YouTube.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock awarded funding for research on youth and social media, and biases in health care

  Tuesday, April 25, 2023 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 25 April 2023 – R0034

  Renata Dividino and her colleagues are concerned about how social media algorithmic bias is shaping young people’s engagements with political and social issues.

  In less than a generation, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others have evolved to become “platforms of fake news, disinformation and propaganda that empower disruptive, divisive voices and conspiracies,” says the Brock University Assistant Professor of Computer Science.

  Supported by the federal government’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), announced April 25 by Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos, Dividino and her research team aim to help young Canadians develop ‘digital citizenship’ skills on social media.

  In the long run, the team — consisting of Assistant Professor of Child and Youth Studies Heather Ramey, Associate Professor of Digital Media Aaron Mauro and Assistant Professor of Computer Science Ali Emami — hopes to transform social media into a “safe, inclusive and positive space where youth can develop and exercise participatory citizenship with confidence,” says Dividino.

  Also receiving support through the NFRF are Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Valerie Michaelson and Associate Professor of Nursing Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy, who note that COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have deepened inequalities in access to health care locally and worldwide.

  Through their research, their team strives to reduce discrimination in health-care systems by motivating health-care workers to examine how biases and assumptions shape discriminatory decisions and actions.

  Their transdisciplinary group includes Assistant Professor of Educational Studies Sherri Vansickle, Associate Professor of Sociology Margot Francis and Professor Emeritus of Dramatic Arts Joe Norris, all from Brock University, as well as Kevin Hobbs with Mirror Theatre, Nisha Sajnani with New York University and Mona Sawhney at Queen’s University.

  “These prestigious NFRF awards recognize the profound insights our researchers are contributing on how we can create a more just and inclusive world,” says Brock Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon. “By addressing deep divisions that polarize people, Drs. Michaelson, O’Keefe-McCarthy and Dividino are opening the space for all to engage with, and reap the benefits of, a democratic society.”

  With their $249,044 Exploration grant, titled “Next Gen Edtech: A Systematic Analysis and Modelling of the Latent Effects of Social Media on Youth Digital Citizenship,” Dividino, Ramey, Mauro, Emami and their team will study how young people navigate social media and ways to open up the space through:

  • Interviews about their social media habits and how they use social media to engage in societal issues and movements.
  • Exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can break ‘echo chambers,’ which is the use of algorithms to direct users to material they and like-minded people are interested in.
  • Examining measures that identify toxic linguistic cues in social media posts.
  • Determining the most common characteristics that make youth vulnerable to behaviour manipulation techniques, such as ‘likes’ and real-time notifications.

  “Our vision is to change the way youth interact, play and learn in AI-based, multi-collaborative online environments as they grow up to be responsible social citizens,” says Dividino.

  With their $492,920 Special Calls grant, “Using participatory theatre to eliminate discrimination in health service delivery,” Michaelson, O’Keefe-McCarthy and their team will develop an intervention that is based on applied theatre methods. Their goal is to use it to illuminate and disrupt discriminatory attitudes and actions among health-care workers in clinical settings.

  They will do so by:

  • Interviewing people who have experienced discrimination in health-care delivery in the Niagara regions of Canada and the U.S.
  • Developing theatrical vignettes based on the experiences gathered during interviews.
  • Using the vignettes to develop a theatre-based intervention that is intended to help health-care providers become more aware of their own biases.
  • Developing a parallel intervention to address health system discrimination of Indigenous Peoples in Canada’s Niagara region.

  “Participatory theatre is a form of drama that invites audience members to interact with the performers and each other and is often used to engage audience members to create social change,” says O’Keefe-McCarthy.

  The NFRF Exploration grant supports high-risk, high-reward and interdisciplinary research that explores something new that might fail, but that has the potential for significant impact.

  The NFRF Special Calls grant supports research that targets emerging areas and aligns with the fund’s overall objectives, which, in 2022, was research for post-pandemic recovery.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases