Thursday, April 13, 2023

Pumping up astronomy outreach with the Astro-Bubble

By Roan Haggar and Carolyn McCoey, Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics.

Thanks to a generous philanthropic donation, the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics (WCA) has recently acquired an exciting addition to our outreach resources -- our inflatable planetarium!

The planetarium is advertised on our outreach page as the Astro-Bubble, so named to appeal to children and educators.  We will take the Astro-Bubble to schools regularly as well as have classes come to visit the Astro-Bubble as part of university visits. Initially, we will focus on high school classes but, as we gain experience, we will expand to elementary schools, as well as groups of Guides and Scouts. 

The Astro-Bubble is run by our Outreach Coordinator, Roan Haggar, and volunteer astronomy graduate students.  So far, the content of the planetarium shows has focused on planets, stars and constellations that can be seen in the night sky, to encourage students to develop an interest in looking at the night sky themselves. We also discuss the cultural significance of the night sky and the history of observational astronomy. In the future, we plan to expand the content of our presentations, tailoring them to the respective curricula for each year group.

The Astro-Bubble is a 6m diameter inflatable dome and digital projector from Digitalis, who specialize in the production of projectors and domes for scientific education. The high-resolution 4K projector covers the entire dome, providing a fully immersive experience for a class of thirty school children and teachers who can be accommodated inside. Entry to the dome is by a zippered doorway, but it is also wheelchair accessible. Once deflated, the entire system is easily transportable.

The planetarium software is fully customisable, but also includes more than twenty planetarium shows and lesson plans for elementary through to high school classes. However, full-dome shows are available in many subject areas, meaning we are not just restricted to astronomy! If you are interested in collaborating with us to have a dome show at your next outreach event, please contact the WCA outreach team at wca.outreach@uwaterloo.ca.

Spring cohort now open for Mental Health Literacy Program

A message from Campus Wellness. 

Maintaining positive mental health is important to us all. Perhaps you’ve noticed signs of distress in a student or increased levels of anxiety in a colleague. Not sure how to help them? Understanding the signs and symptoms of distress and the steps you can take to ensure they get the support they need involves having a good level of mental health literacy. 

The Mental Health Literacy (MHL) Certificate was developed to support faculty and staff to develop and practice these skills. The program is aimed at faculty and staff to encourage discussion and reflection on mental health through an equity-focused lens. Additionally, it empowers participants to build a supportive community of care, concern, and compassion. Over the course of five modules, participants will enhance their understanding of barriers to mental health and competency in responding to a person in distress, accessing resources and supports. 

UWaterloo employees that have completed the program thus far find it comprehensive and easily applicable to their work. It provides a safe space for mental health conversations while prompting critical thinking about UWaterloo culture and systems. Participants will also walk away with strategies for incorporating self-care when supporting others​. 

For faculty and staff not able to complete the entire MHL certificate program, alternative options are available to build their capacity to support students, colleagues, or family members: 

• Recognizing and Responding to a Person in Distress. This is a 2.5-hour standalone offering from the MHL program 

• Question, Persuade & Refer (QPR) is a 1.5-hour suicide prevention training.  

If you’re interested in signing up for any of the mental health trainings, please visit Campus Wellness’ training page. 

Instructors urged to use Turnitin AI detection results with caution

Turnitin, the plagiarism detection software used by instructors across the University, has begun including AI detection results, according to a memo circulated by the Office of the Associate Vice-President, Academic to faculty this week.

“Turnitin released an artificial intelligence detection tool on April 4, and it went live at Waterloo on April 6,” says the memo, which was sent to Associate Deans, Undergraduate for further cascade to instructors and teaching assistants. “The tool has been trained on GPT 3 and GPT 3.5 (which includes ChatGPT) and Turnitin claims that it has impressive accuracy.”

Instructors who use Turnitin will start receiving an AI detection score (independently generated from Originality score) as part of its Similarity report. The report on artificial intelligence will only be visible to instructors and administrators, and only from within the Originality report.

“We are writing to urge instructors to exercise caution if considering the results of the AI detection score,” the memo continues.

As Turnitin itself notes, “we must emphasize that the percentage on the AI writing indicator should not be used as the sole basis for action or a definitive grading measure by instructors.” A high percentage of “likely AI content” does not in itself warrant a determination of academic misconduct. The tool has not been widely tested by anyone besides Turnitin. Other existing AI detection tools have a high rate of false positives (i.e., incorrect determinations that human-produced prose was generated by AI). False negatives (i.e., suggestions that AI generated text is likely human) are also possible.

“If you are using Turnitin, you’ll have a statement in your course outline to that effect,” the memo continues. “We may modify the wording of the recommended statement in the future, but for now we will consider that statement to also cover the Turnitin AI Detection tool. However, your associate dean and appeal committees should treat its reports with skepticism until we have better evidence of reliability.”

“A high score from the AI detection tool may warrant a conversation with the relevant associate dean in your Faculty. They may suggest approaches for gathering other relevant evidence (e.g., meeting with the student to assess their ability to engage with the assignment’s subject matter).”

“In early February, we sent out a memo encouraging instructors to, when possible, use pedagogical approaches that avoid the need for detection tools in this rapidly changing landscape. See related FAQs or consult the other resources linked to in that memo. We also hope for a more thorough investigation on the usefulness of detection tools, among other topics, by the Standing Committee on New Technology, Pedagogy, and Academic Integrity that is also mentioned in the memo. We are still soliciting expressions of interest for this committee, which will have its first meeting (we anticipate) in early May.”

May Anti-Racism Reads presents Minor Feelings

A message from the Library and Print + Retail Solutions. 

We are pleased to announce that Sarah Menzies, Anti-Racism Specialist at the EDI-R office, will facilitate the May edition of Anti-Racism Reads. She will be facilitating a discussion of Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning with Janice Jo Lee, artist and anti-oppression facilitator. With sly humor and a poet’s searching mind, Cathy Park Hong's book uses her own story as a portal into a deeper examination of racial consciousness in America today. 

This event is scheduled for Tuesday, May 30 from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. and will be held in person at the Dana Porter Library. To register for this event, please visit the Library’s website. 

Copies of Minor Feelings are available through the Library's reserve system or for purchase at the W Store. Please note: We are working towards removing barriers to participation, providing easy access to the selected text. We have limited copies available free of cost for those who sign up for the event and indicate they'd like a copy on the registration form. 

"Keeping up with the Joneses"

By Wendy Philpott. This article is part of the Global Futures series.

Our very human tendency to want to “keep up with the Joneses” is as apparent today as ever. In fact, research shows that over the past decade, conspicuous consumption has intensified in developed economies.

While the impacts of economic inequality are complex, a negative social impact identified by a Waterloo graduate student is that it encourages consumer habits such as buying expensive clothing, cars, or personalized services at the expense of both essential consumption and savings.

Iuliia Nesterova, a PhD candidate in economics, has found that higher inequality is associated with more conspicuous consumption. Her research shows that people across income groups are spending more money on non-essential goods and especially services, regardless of their financial resources.

In her dissertation, Nesterova explores how consumer choices spurred by social comparisons — “keeping up with the Joneses” — encourages conspicuous consumption, which leads to excess borrowing and insufficient saving. Her research suggests that mitigating inequality can lower conspicuous consumption and consequently benefit everyone.

“I have always been intrigued by anecdotal evidence that relative consumption seems to matter to people,” Nesterova says. “Yet standard economic theories do not incorporate the interdependent nature of individual preference over consumption. So, I started my dissertation research by looking at the data on household consumption to find evidence of conspicuous behaviour.”

Her examination found that, empirically, inequality has had a significant effect on household consumer behaviour after 2010 — people in all income groups started spending more on goods and services.

Nesterova attributes historically low interest rates and the rise of social media as key factors in this trend. The former encourages more borrowing and buying, the latter normalizes the consumption of expensive products and services.

Importantly, she has found that the rise of the service economy — such as personal care, dinning out and other lifestyle services — is a significant contributing factor. To understand more about this transition in consumer behaviour, Nesterova looks at consumption as a dynamic process, including the role of social interaction and its pressures on individuals.

“If I care about my social standing,” she explains, “I might be inclined to buy too much conspicuous items that others will see, to improve my position relative to them. But consuming more today to improve my relative social position, also weakens my relative economic position in the future. It becomes a question of a rat race today vs a rat race tomorrow.”

Nesterova considers economic strategies that could help mitigate consumption inequality, such as more redistributive policies — sharing wealth across income groups. For instance, she found “the benefit of income taxes are particularly apparent through the lens of my research on conspicuous consumption. Redistribution from the rich to the poor may help both the poor and the rich via reductions in inefficient conspicuous consumption.”

Considering the future of consumer economies in Canada and other developed countries, Nesterova anticipates a growing shift toward service economies. “If we implement the right policies, this shift can bring new opportunities and challenges to make sure that inequality is kept under control and innovation benefits all.”

Hear more from Nesterova

Recently, Nesterova attended the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings and had the opportunity to meet 2021 Laureate Joshua Angrist to discuss what drew them into researching economics.