UC Research Repository

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The UC Research Repository collects, stores and makes available original research from postgraduate students, researchers and academics based at the University of Canterbury.

 

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ItemOpen Access
Immersive virtual reality for children in formal education.
(2023) Belter, Meike
This PhD thesis explored the integration of virtual reality (VR) technology into formal education, specifically targeting school-aged children. While VR has gained traction primarily for entertainment, this study sought to harness its immersive potential for educational purposes within, for example, schools. Games have long been recognized as valuable tools for enhancing learning experiences. In recent years, schools have increasingly adopted them, particularly in subjects such as math. Not all learning methods and tools are inclusive to all learners. Common challenges for children in a school context are inattention and hyperactivity. VR, with its ability to create immersive and customizable environments, presents an intriguing avenue for addressing these challenges. To address this, a VR math game was developed for this research, drawing from established educational frameworks and insights garnered from subject matter experts. Through qualitative interviews and thorough requirement analysis, the game’s design was refined. Subsequently, two user studies were conducted within real-world school environments. The initial study focused on assessing usability and refining the prototype based on user feedback. Encouraging outcomes paved the way for a more extensive second study. This followup delved into the influence of a reward system and virtual agent on the user experience, and comparing the VR game against a non-VR counterpart. The findings demonstrated that the VR game not only cultivated positive user experiences but also heightened motivation and engagement. Despite these promising results, further exploration is necessary to determine the role of ‘peerpresence’ in VR learning, and the game’s suitability for children with clinically diagnosed attention and hyperactivity issues. This research adds valuable insights into the process of creating inclusive and effective VR learning experiences. Through a comprehensive research approach, including design, usability testing, and user studies, the thesis underscored the potential of VR to enhance user engagement and experiences within educational contexts.
ItemOpen Access
Barriers and supports to the use of research by human resources practitioners in New Zealand.
(2024) O'Sullivan, Z. M.
The research-practitioner gap has been long established within the field of organisational psychology and has implications for both the relevance of the field and the efficacy of Human Resources (HR). However, although there are many recommendations from researchers about how to address this gap, these recommendations are based on the perspectives of researchers, not HR practitioners. Research also suggests a difference in research utilisation across domains of HR practice, however, the reasons for this difference have not been explored. To address this gap in the literature, the present study interviewed 15 HR practitioners within New Zealand about their perspective on research, their use of research across domains, and the barriers and supporting factors to use of research. It utilised theoretical sampling and semi-structured qualitative interviews to identify these barriers and supports to research use. The findings of the study support previous research’s findings regarding the impact of academic language and restrictions on organisational resources, but also demonstrate the factors influencing practitioners’ relationship with research, factors motivating and prompting research use and how practitioners interact with research, and tensions present within participants. Based on these results a new typology for categorising practitioners is proposed, and recommendations for increasing HR practitioners’ utilisation of research are provided.
ItemOpen Access
Exploring employee green behaviours in Aotearoa New Zealand organisations : a qualitative comparative case study.
(2024) Steyn, Josie
Organisations globally are urged to embrace environmental sustainability responsibility in light of their potential positive impact on mitigating climate change. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the government’s introduction of environmental policies has prompted organisations to integrate such policies into their purpose, vision, mission, and activities. However, the success of these environmental sustainability efforts relies on individual employees attitudes and behaviours. The current study aims to explore the multi-level factors that influence the adoption of employee green behaviours within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand’s current climate and environmental policies, utilising the Abilities-Motivation-Opportunities Theory as a theoretical framework. Employing an exploratory, qualitative, comparative case-study approach, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted across two case organisations. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed five factors that were common across organisational levels: Individualism, Alignment, Perceptions of Authenticity, Motivation, and Facilitation. This study contributes to the existing literature examining employee green behaviours, and provides direction for future research. Furthermore, it provides practical applications for organisations wishing to encourage their employees in adopting green behaviours to collectively achieve organisational green goals and enhance their environmental sustainability efforts.
ItemOpen Access
Percolating networks of nanoparticles for neuromorphic computing.
(2024) Heywood, Zachary
Inspired by biology, neuromorphic (brain-like) computing aims to capture the incredible capabilities of the human brain with physical devices. The brain completes numerous complex tasks such as pattern recognition using a fraction of the time and energy of conventional computers. In order to build systems with similar computational abilities, it makes sense to investigate systems that have intrinsic brain-like qualities. Percolating networks of nanoparticles (PNNs) have many features that make them suitable for neuromorphic computing. The neuromorphic properties of PNNs have previously been demonstrated for simple two-electrode devices. Multiple electrodes are required, however, for the implementation of PNNs as the reservoir in a conventional reservoir computing (RC) scheme, where multiple inputs and outputs are used. This thesis focuses on simulations of PNNs and it is demonstrated that the neuromorphic properties are conserved in devices with multiple electrodes. RC utilises temporal correlations in a dynamical system in order to perform computation. A model for operating in the low-voltage tunnelling regime is described, which allows PNNs to be used as the physical reservoir. A range of benchmark tasks are successfully performed and the effect of network size on RC performance is investigated. The RC scheme is extended to the emulation of swarming behaviour, like that seen in flocks of birds. A number of approaches are investigated and a novel method is developed that produces ‘swarm-like’ behaviour with PNNs for the first time. The results presented in this thesis demonstrate that PNNs have capability for neuromorphic computing and show that there is promise for solving even complex problems.
ItemOpen Access
A comprehensive review of publications about kelp and fucoids from New Zealand and subsequent experiments on the early life stages of Hormosira banksii.
(2023) Edmunds, Nicolette Rene
Kelp (Laminariales) and fucoids (Fucales) are canopy-forming macroalgae that cover ca. 25% of the world’s coastlines, including many rocky coastlines throughout New Zealand. Marine forests, dominated by kelp and fucoids, are highly biodiverse and productive ecosystems that provide ecosystem functions, such as nutrient and carbon sequestration and habitat for marine species. However, seismic uplift, urbanization, warming, heatwaves, invasive species, eutrophication, coastal darkening, sedimentation, and elevated grazing pressure have reduced their vertical and horizontal distributions, globally and in New Zealand, motivating calls for protection and restoration. Kelp and fucoids have been studied in New Zealand since the 1930s but their research has not yet been systematically reviewed. Here I reviewed published kelp and fucoid research from New Zealand using Scopus searches, and extracted data about spatial locations, elevations, temporal patterns, study species, and study topics (Chapter 2). Data extractions from 430 papers showed that most kelp and fucoids were studied in central New Zealand, in the shallow subtidal zone (<30 m), over relatively short time scales (<2 years) and predominately in a single summer season. Furthermore, most studies were done on a multi-species community level typically showing distribution and abundance data. Ecklonia radiata and Durvillaea antarctica were the most studied kelp and fucoid species, respectively. I also identified a key research gap arising from few published studies on the early life history of fucoids – a research topic that is important for future protection and restoration projects. The systematic review was therefore followed by factorial laboratory experiments to determine optimal conditions to induce gamete release and grow zygotes of fucoids (Chapter 3). Experiments focused on reducing contaminants and specifically test for the relative importance of (a) temperature and heat stress on gamete release, (b) gamete solution-concentration and substrate types, slope, and rugosity on zygote settlement and (c) temperature, shading, fertilization, and competition with diatoms (through GeO2 addition) on germling growth and sizes. The first experiments compared propagule release between Hormosira banksii and other fucoids, but only Hormosira successfully produced zygotes that grew successfully on different substrates. Hormosira was therefore studied in follow-up experiments. First, I found that the release of Hormosira gametes and settlement of zygotes was greatest (when pooled over crossed test factors) at high zygote solution concentration (this single factor explained 10% of the data variability), at short stress duration of the parents (7%), at high temperature stress of the parents (6%), and when the slope of substrate slides was zero (2%) (there was no effects of slide rugosity). Second, in a longer 6-week zygote growth experiment, I found that germling densities were greater in fertilized aquaria (this single factor explained 21% of the data variability), without addition of GeO2 (8%, supposed to inhibit competing diatoms), and on Hardiflex substrates (7%, compared to slide substrates). However, adding shade cloth at two different temperatures (18 vs. 23°C) did not affect densities. Third, I found that factorial analysis on germling sizes was relative similar to the described analysis on densities. Finally, when evaluated across the different factorial experiments, only few higher order interactions were significant, and the significant interactions explained little of the data-variability, mainly varying in magnitude - not direction. This result suggests that effects on early life stages of Hormosira, by different environmental stressors, generally are additive. In conclusion, my work identified (a) key gaps to stimulate new kelp and fucoid research, e.g., associated with early life histories and restoration, and (b) environmental conditions that maximize success of early Hormosira life stages, which could improve future restoration aimed to rebuild and restore decimated intertidal Hormosira beds.