16168 research outputs found
Sort by
An investigation into the effects of tootling for instruction- following and on-task student behaviour in a New Zealand primary school
Get PDFThis study aimed to extend the literature on tootling interventions within a New Zealand. In a tootling procedure, students are taught how to report on their peers’ prosocial behaviours, which is combined with public posting and inter-dependent group contingency components. This focus of this study was to determine if tootling affected the keystone skill of instruction-following for three target students and their comparison peers in one primary classroom. Additionally, on-task behaviour, teacher praise statements and teacher stress were measured in an A-B-A-B-C-D reversal design with a fading and follow-up phase. Increases in instruction-following and on-task behaviour occurred for two of the three target students and their peers. Mixed results were reported concerning teacher praise statements and teacher stress. Both the teacher and the students viewed the intervention as socially acceptable, and treatment integrity remained high across all phases. Strengths, limitations, and implications for further practice are discussed
Gait Analysis of Running and the Management of Common Injuries
No full textThe book describes both normal and pathological gait and covers the range of simple and complex methods available to perform gait analysis
Queering public transport: Understanding access for Aotearoa queer communities
Get PDFQueer people face inequitable access to public transport. International literature suggests that queer people are more likely to be transit dependent, but at the same time more likely to experience discrimination, harassment or violence while using it. However, little is known about what makes public transport attractive or accessible to this group. This thesis seeks to address this through a survey of 347 public transport users (half of whom are queer) to understand this issue in an Aotearoa context. The results show the main factors influencing the attractiveness and accessibility of public transport to queer people are not feeling safe, lack of transport choice, long journey times, and affordability. Straight people are also influenced by these factors, however at lower rates. Interventions that could improve public transport attractiveness and accessibility for queer people were also identified. Safety improvements such as more frequent services, safety interventions along walking routes to public transport, and staff training are key to improving queer public transport access. Improving travel times to reduce queer exposure to discrimination and harassment is also important. Engagement with queer people is key to ensuring interventions are appropriate for local contexts. The survey also showed that police presence is unlikely to improve queer feelings of safety. This research was the first study of queer people’s access to public transport in Aotearoa and offers important practical insights as to how planners can support a just transition to a low emissions transport future
Feasibility Study of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavements (RAP) as Recycled Aggregates Used in Rigid Pavement Construction.
Get PDFReclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) as recycled aggregates is a relatively new construction process of rigid pavements due to the scarcity and degradation of natural aggregates. This study aims at the sequential characterization of RAP aggregate to obtain optimized proportions for strength. For this purpose, RAP aggregates were used for the replacement of natural aggregates (NA) in the concrete mix which was achieved by varying from 0-100%. Furthermore, zirconia silica fume (ZSF) was used as a partial replacement of the cement in the concrete mix, replacing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Experimental studies have shown that the incorporation of washed RAP (WRAP) slightly reduces the compressive strength of concrete by 2.7-37.35% as compared to the reference control concrete mix. Although the 7-days, 28-days and 56-day compressive strength of WRAP recycled aggregate-based concrete is slightly better than the 7-days, 28-days and 56-day compressive strength of dirty RAP (DRAP) recycled aggregate-based concrete. A similar trend was observed in the flexural strength and split tensile strength of WRAP recycled aggregate-based. Overall, the results show that 40% WRAP recycled aggregates with 10% ZSF as a replacement for cement outperform DRAP aggregates in concrete mixes. According to the ANOVA results, the combination of ZSF and WRAP aggregates met the cement concrete pavement strength standard, thereby contributing to sustainable development. Reclaimed Asphalt Concrete Pavements (RACP) are now seen as a potential and long-term answer to the present environmental and economic crisis
Job satisfaction of women teachers in Saudi private schools: Examining perceptions, challenges and teachers turnover
Get PDFThis research is the first study thus far to investigate factors influencing the job satisfaction/dissatisfaction of women teachers in Saudi private schools, and the factors that prompt them to consider leaving or remaining in their jobs. As part of Saudi ‘Vision 2030’, the government is striving to improve the quality of its educational system. Teacher satisfaction is an integral part of these efforts as satisfied teachers are more committed, stay longer, and are better instructors.
Using a qualitative approach, this study was underpinned by Herzberg’s two-factor theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in exploring women teachers’ experiences in Saudi private schools. The results from interviewing 16 women teachers illustrated the limited applicability of Herzberg’s two-factor model and Maslow's hierarchy of needs to explicate the job satisfaction/dissatisfaction of the study participants. The applicability of Herzberg's theory was only insofar as the findings indicated that extrinsic and intrinsic factors influenced teachers’ level of job satisfaction. However, contrary to Herzberg's linking extrinsic factors specifically to dissatisfaction and intrinsic factors to satisfaction, the findings showed that factors affecting women teachers’ job satisfaction were a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic factors, with the extrinsic factors playing a more dominant role. Similarly, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was not entirely applicable due to contextual issues which made the women’s experiences vary from Maslow's position that people seek higher-level needs after attaining lower-level needs.
Furthermore, the study highlighted that teacher job satisfaction is very complex and goes beyond the work environment-based rational explanations. The findings showed that factors that prompted the women teachers to consider leaving or remaining in their jobs had less to do with satisfaction or dissatisfaction but more to do with social norms and the job market, which made staying at home a non-viable option. Remaining on the job, therefore, was a strategy to gain experience that would facilitate access to better public-school jobs or might result from the religious rationalisation of the teaching role.
This investigation indicated that strategies to improve the job satisfaction of women teachers should focus beyond intrinsic factors such as opportunities for growth and participation in decisions affecting their work. Instead, strategies should include extrinsic factors such as pay and job security. In addition, the study indicated a need for more interventions by the Ministry of Education in private schools sector, such as: improving the governance of private schools, especially in terms of monitoring mechanisms; the need for private schools to revisit their conditions of service in view of the participating women’s experiences; and the need to decentralise decision-making in private schools to give teachers more responsibility and autonomy over their work. Also, employment policies in private schools should be clear and aligned with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour’s requirements to improve general working conditions
How do people assess the truth of partially-familiar claims, relative to both familiar and unfamiliar claims?
Get PDFPeople rate familiar claims as more true than unfamiliar claims, possibly because familiarity makes these claims feel easier to process. But little is known about how people assess the truth of claims that consist of a combination of familiar and unfamiliar information. It is important to know how people assess such “partially-familiar” claims because false claims often contain a familiar “kernel of truth” that may make the claim as a whole seem more believable. If this were the case, we would expect people to rate more partially-familiar claims true than unfamiliar claims, yet fewer than familiar claims. Across three experiments, we investigated how people assess the truth of partially-familiar claims, relative to both familiar and unfamiliar claims. We found that people classified more familiar claims as true than unfamiliar claims, and roughly the same number of partially-familiar claims true as unfamiliar claims. In other words, we replicated the known finding that people inflate their judgements of truth for familiar claims compared with unfamiliar claims; however, we found no evidence that a “kernel of truth” similarly inflates people’s judgements. This research contributes to our understanding of how people decide whether a claim is true
How Well Does Psychological Research in Aotearoa New Zealand Reflect Diversity?
Get PDFThis paper presents our reflections as psychological researchers based on a content analysis of studies published in Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists and New Zealand Journal of Psychology over the last decade. We found the frequency of articles that had considered biculturalism, multiculturalism and diversity was related to the scope of the journal and the release of special issues on specific themes (e.g. Indigenous psychologies in 2017). Five issues were identified around the inclusion of cultural diversity in psychological research: inadequate data collection, controlling for diversity, no contextualisation of diversity, pathologisation of diversity and passing responsibility to others. Each issue was succinctly discussed with examples provided. Through this paper, we hope to open up a conversation on how psychological researchers can meet their ethical responsibility to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The effect of warming temperatures on the physiology and behaviour of pollinating insects
Get PDFPollination is an important ecosystem service for both agricultural and natural systems. However, climate change is driving changes in the delivery of pollination services. One of the main influencing factors of climate change is rising temperatures. Most research on this issue has focused on phenological shifts (resulting in temporal mismatches between pollinators and plants), while the influence of warming on insect pollinator metabolism and pollination behaviour has not received equal attention. My research aims to fill both gaps by first testing if pollinator metabolism scales with temperature in pollinator body size according to the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE). The MTE aims to explain a range of biological patterns and processes based on the underlying energetic constraints of organisms arising from metabolism. These constraints are primarily dependent on organismal body size and temperature, making the MTE highly relevant for predicting the impacts of warming on pollinating insects. Secondly, I tested if differences in air temperature can change pollinator foraging behaviour and if it can influence how pollinators alter their foraging behaviour in response to predation risk. I experimentally studied the patterns of foraging behaviour and metabolic scaling in four different pollinator species, Apis mellifera (honeybee), Bombus terrestris (bumblebee), Eristalis tenax (drone fly), and Lucilia sericata (blow fly) across a range of temperatures that represent a rise in average and maximum temperatures across New Zealand. My findings suggested that the MTE predictions only hold for certain species and only for the temperature-metabolism relationship for all species combined. Thus, the MTE may not be adequate for predicting the full impacts of warming on insect pollinators without further development, but the underlying theory itself still has uses in providing us with information on species-specific temperature sensitivities. Furthermore, I discovered that temperature and predation risk both affect insect pollinator behaviour, though not interactively, suggesting that warming will alter insect pollinator foraging behaviour, but not in concert with predation risk. In summary, this thesis provides meaningful insights into individual and species-level responses of pollinator behaviour and physiology to climate warming and the potential consequences for future pollination services
Te karanga tūturu o maieke: Ngāti Kuri women’s taiao geographies
Get PDFThis research examines the relationships, identities and sense of belonging of Māori women of within the Ngāti Kuri iwi (tribe) and te taiao (the natural world, environment, nature, country) in Te Hiku o te Ika, Far North, Aotearoa New Zealand. It shows how Ngāti Kuri women and te taiao are embedded in - yet also resist - colonial and patriarchal discourses.
The Kaupapa Māori and Mana Wahine theoretical framework decolonises and transforms the ways in which Māori women have been represented and marginalised. Pūrākau (storywork) as a theory and methodology ensures Ngāti Kuri women’s stories are told by them and for them. Indigenous relational geography is woven into the theoretical framework to further understand Indigenous relationships to place and diverse feelings of belonging and responsibility.
Whakawhiti kōrero (research conversations), wānanga (workshops) and tipi haere (mobile wānanga) were carried out with 19 Ngāti Kuri women. Approximately 40 people from the iwi and / or scientific communities contribute to the thesis through the initiatives of the Ngāti Kuri Relationship Working Group (NKRWG), the Auckland War Memorial Museum and other research partners and as conservationists.
Findings are organised around three themes: identities; relationships; and a sense of belonging. The first theme introduces Ngāti Kuri women’s identities as leaders and drivers of change, disrupting and dismantling the intersection of patriarchal and colonial discourse. The pūrākau of Maieke, a founding ancestress of Ngāti Kuri, brings to light the reclamation and transformation of Māori women’s identities and geographies, as defined by participants. Pre-colonisation Ngāti Kuri women had the capacity and authority to become a governing force in the daily lives of the iwi. The second theme highlights colonial and patriarchal naming of our world. Ngāti Kuri women are reconfiguring relationships and representation through the scientific naming of taonga (culturally valuable objects and species). Values and principles of kaitiakitanga (inherited guardianship) and whakawhanaugatanga (relating well to others) guide the naming process. The third theme focuses on participants’ reflections and understandings of the ways in which they sense place and feelings of belonging. Participants’ engagement with te taiao - through singing, storying and sensing place – highlights the way te taiao re-centres and transforms Ngāti Kuri women’s relationships and experiences of belonging to iwi homelands.
Importantly, the thesis concludes with a discussion of the challenges, successes and actions of Ngāti Kuri women as they continue to strive for tino rangatiratanga (self-determination), social and environmental well-being. I conceptualise new geographies that account for, and celebrate, uniquely Ngāti Kuri understandings of identities, relationships and feelings of belonging. Finally, a short creative story ends the thesis in order to show the transformative power of Ngāti Kuri women’s te taiao experiences
Isolation and characterization of soda lignin from OPEFB and evaluation of its performance as wood adhesive
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore the mechanical properties of plywood panels that had been bound with lignin-phenol-formaldehyde (LPF) adhesive. LPF, composed of lignin that was extracted from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) fiber by soda pulping method and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (HNMR), and Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA) analysis. Then, various compositions of soda lignin (10-50 wt %) were used as a phenol substitute in LPF synthesis. The characteristics of the synthesized adhesive were compared to the properties of phenol formaldehyde (PF) adhesive. Plywood was fabricated with LPF and its mechanical properties were studied and evaluated using industrial standards. The result indicates that the increase of phenol substitution with soda lignin, up to 40%, improves the mechanical properties of plywood. This research demonstrated the use of lignin as a renewable replacement of phenol in PF adhesive formulation