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Waipoa Forest Trust drone survey report
No full textAIMS AND OBJECTIVES
This project aims to provide relevant spatial information that will inform project planning, decision making and implementation of management measures of the Waipoua Forest Trust Area Specifically, its objectives include the determination of the characteristics of vegetation and land cover of the area, the classification of the land cover and the identification of priority areas to focus efforts on. Additionally, this project also seeks to contribute to methods for improving the usefulness and effectivity of image acquisition using a drone with sensors designed for vegetation classification
How do they see us?
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION
What are the barriers perceived and experienced by High School students when considering seeing a school counsellor for emotional or mental well-being support
Missed opportunities : exploring third-year student nurses' clinical experiences in aged residential care
No full textPart of a wider study that examines students’ third-year clinical experiences in ARC, this paper reports on 38 participant responses from four focus groups, to consider how the clinical experience can be strengthened to promote ARC as a desirable career pathway. We identify a number of missed opportunities in the roles, tasks and responsibilities that nursing students are offered. With the pending introduction of the Te Pūkenga unified nursing curricula combining 13 existing schools of nursing (Te Pūkenga, 2023), this paper argues that education providers are in a position to exert influence and engender positive change through working collaboratively with the ARC sector. Current practices are not responsive to improving the shortage of ARC nurse specialists. Results from this study can inform future options to improve nursing students’ ARC clinical experience
Wealth creation and other reflections on community development
No full textI started working in aid and development in 1993, some 30 years ago. As an engineer, I mainly worked on construction projects funded by donors. As is often the case, these projects had a strong training and community development component. Our projects were in Vietnam, Indonesia, Tonga, Sāmoa and Fiji, but our company’s project portfolio extended to Niue, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands. The projects’ duration ranged from short-term assignments of a few months to large projects of several years. In 2008, I moved to another job and no longer participated in these projects. Over 15 years working in this field, I learned many things, and this article combines a Practice Reflection and an Opinion Piece. It is not an academic paper, and there are no references; similarly, I will not list the names of projects and countries as such mention may require the permission of donors, which would be beyond the scope of the article. I will reflect on three issues: sustainability, wealth creation and comfort with one’s value
How Kaon system affects family business in Solomon Island: Case study
No full textThis research examines the impact of the Kaon (depth) system on rural micro-business owners in Northeast Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, through a case study approach using semi-structured interviews. The aim was to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors affecting these businesses in their real-life context, employing thematic analysis for data analysis. The study identifies the Kaon (loan or debt) system as a significant constraint for these businesses. Kaon, in the Solomon Islands context, refers to the practice of purchasing goods on credit or borrowing, with a promise of future payment. This system has been found to contribute significantly to the failure of rural micro-enterprises. Customers commonly acquire goods with delayed payment, leading to prolonged debts or even non-payment, which places a financial strain on business owners. Furthermore, the research reveals that cultural aspects significantly influence business practices. In the Solomon Islands, cultural values are deeply intertwined with national systems like politics and economics, impacting business development and management. The study finds that cultural influences play a substantial role in how rural business owners approach the Kaon system, impacting their decision-making and, ultimately, the success or failure of their businesses. This cultural influence often results in business owners facing pressure to provide goods on loan, especially when perceived as financially stable or of higher status
Learner engagement with where-to-next feedback in early tertiary studies
Get PDFLearners on the New Zealand Diploma in Business are early tertiary learners and do not perform as well as it is believed that they should. In addition, there is a disparity between ethnicities and age groups. This study researched the use of where-to-next (WTN) feedback as a possible tool to address this disparity and prepare learners better for future study and employment. WTN uses focused feedback directing students to specific areas of improvement and is therefore effective (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). It also enables rich and motivational dialogue between faculty and learner (Elbra-Ramsay, 2022), which is especially effective in respectful classroom environments (Zhou et al., 2021). The qualitative phenomenological study proved that WTN is a useful tool; however, due to environmental demands on some learners’ time, some learners did not take up the opportunity to engage with the feedback
Challenges to the proof of violence, and social stigma for ethnic migrant women in the current Victims of Family Violence (VFV) visa policy in Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFINTRODUCTION
Applications for the victim-survivor family violence visa (VFV) are low from Middle Eastern, African, and Latin American (MELAA) communities compared to other groups. This does not reflect the number of family violence experiences in these communities reported by community-based practitioners (Ayallo, 2019); rather, low application numbers reflect cultural factors that impact the ability of ethnic victim-survivors1 to access this visa policy.
APPROACH:
Data were drawn from a study exploring the cultural contexts within which ethnic migrant women engage with the VFV visa policy. The study used narrative inquiry and semistructured interviews to explore 20 participants’ experiences with the VFV visa policy process. Participants included 10 victim-survivors and 10 supporting non-medical practitioners.
FINDINGS:
Analyses showed that victim-survivors face significant barriers in accessing this visa. P roving violence and an inability to return to their country of origin due to social stigma are complex and challenging factors for ethnic migrant women. The cultural reasons discussed in this article include that psychological abuse is dominant, violence occurs transnationally, and the social stigma experienced extends well beyond the victim-survivors’ individual and immediate circumstances.
IMPLICATIONS:
Given the potential of this visa policy initiative to provide safety for victimsurvivors, recommendations for change are proposed for compassionate approaches
Development of a virtual automation laboratory for teaching programmable logic controllers
Get PDFOnline learning during Semester 1 of 2022 meant that students in Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) 2 Courses (DE6411 ad MG6019) had reduced access to physical hardware and therefore an investigation into the creation of a virtual laboratory was undertaken. The hardware platform currently used is the Siemens S7-1200 PLC with Siemens TIA Portal software and the Lucas Nuelle Industrial Mechatronics System (IMS) which uses Profibus fieldbus communication protocols. While this system provides a campus facility based practical experience; online learning means we now need a virtual laboratory replacement.
The first virtual laboratory software replacement for the IMS system investigated uses FactoryIO simulation software. FactoryIO is an industrial automation simulation package used in the education field to simulate and replicate the behaviour of industrial equipment. It interfaces with a number of different PLCs and PLC simulators.
Our attempt to replace the physical IMS with a FactoryIO simulation used the following steps. For step 1, we developed a functional software solution that was verified using the physical IMS, in step 2, we developed a FactoryIO simulation of the IMS conveyance system, for step 3, we used the verified software solution to test if our FactoryIO simulation’s behaviour matches the IMS, step 4 involved modification of the FactoryIO simulation to better replicate the IMS and lastly steps 3 and 4 were iterated until our FactoryIO’s simulation behaviour matched the physical IMS.
One of the issues we identified when replacing physical IMS hardware with a virtual simulation is FactoryIO had limited tools and scenarios which did not completely match the IMS. We concluded that we may never get a perfect FactoryIO replacement for all the IMS equipment due to the simulation software’s limitations, however we have been able to successfully replicate the IMS conveyance system and we now have the ability start moving our teaching away from physical IMS hardware and onto virtual laboratory simulations for the IMS conveyance system. This virtual replacement allows us to provide course content to student numbers which could potentially greatly exceed our physical campus resources. We therefore consider the early stage endeavour worthwhile and successful
Exploration of the Vā between the New Zealand health system, Pasifika family and the Church: A qualitative study
No full textRESEARCH QUESTIONS
What is the nature of the relatedness between church minister, parishioners, and the health system?
How does the concept of Vā influence that relatedness?
Shaped by the concept of Vā, how can better relatedness between church minister, parishioners, and the health system improve Pasifika communities’ health outcomes?
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND
Some Pasifika health outcomes in New Zealand have been lower than the general New Zealand population. Research on the health outcomes of Pasifika people in New Zealand has begun to focus on the church's role as well as the Pasifika worldview of Vā. This study explores the relationship between the church, Pasifika/their family and the health system through the Vā.
DESIGN
This research used a Pasifika methodology, the Tafatolu framework, which has three elements: a contemporary academic approach, a cultural approach and a self-approach. Recruitment was through the church minister, who contacted the parishioners. The methods for data collection included church principles to create and maintain connection with the church throughout. Data was collected from ten interviews with five participants interviewed twice, conducted and recorded on Zoom. The data was thematically analysed.
RESULTS
Four themes emerged from the interviews and the data analysis. The first theme encompasses the family and close relationship and their role in the participants' health. The second theme showed the different values of the participants when it comes to interactions with the health system. The third theme discussed the role of the church for each of the participants. The fourth theme is all the discussions and arguments on a systematic level.
CONCLUSION
This research explored the connection, using the Vā as a framework, between the different contexts of Pasifika parishioner/family, the church and the health system.
The complexity of each of the relationships shows that having no prejudgement before creating a link with a Pasifika individual is critical. Preconceptions of the different contexts, such as familial, medical or religious, could lead to unfruitful connections. The Vā elements can form a framework to help in understanding the complexity of these connections