Masters Degree Theses
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University of Waikato digital theses deposited since 2006. Prior to 2006, digitisation for open access was not mandatory. To identify older hard-copy theses please check Library Search.
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Item RE-AUTHORISING BICULTURAL EXPERIENCES: Listening to previously silenced voices(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2023) Stubbings, Mary Ann"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." Leonardo de Vinci The principles of the Doctrine of Discovery, conceived 500 years ago, advocated absolute power and authority for European invaders to conquer and claim indigenous land. This shaped the converging of Māori/Settler relationships and validated the colonisation of Aotearoa New Zealand. This thesis contends that the historic and taken for granted power and privilege that has benefitted Pākehā, transpired through a reimagined, fabricated version of our separate and combined past. The study unearths ingrained Pākehā perspectives and stereotypes about Māori, and a rejection of their disparate culture and identity. It highlights the role of schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand as a tool of colonisation to erase the culture and identity of Māori and to maintain a world view that authorised power and privilege for the Settlers. The study challenges Pākehā to 'step up' by shattering the sphere of silence around our combined historical narratives. It urges us [Pākehā] to develop critical consciousness so we may reflect on the world, and our position within it. Inherent in this research is the premise that for Aotearoa, New Zealand to devise a future based on respectful and equitable sharing of social, financial, cultural, spiritual, and physical resources and opportunities, our silenced history, authorised by the State through the procedures of colonisation, must be acknowledged.Item A toolbox for the use of electromagnetic induction technology and quasi-3D inversion to determine the spatial heterogeneity of soil texture and moisture in forested catchments(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2023) Corbett-Lad, PriscillaForest soils are critical to forest health and productivity, and by recognising their spatial heterogeneity, we can optimise productivity and preserve our natural resources in the face of a changing climate. Electromagnetic induction (EMI) technology provides a repeatable, non-destructive, and cost-effective approach to studying soil heterogeneity in managed forests. Electromagnetic induction technology has proven its versatility in agricultural settings to map soil texture, moisture and crop productivity and geological and archaeological exploration to identify underground natural and anthropogenic structures. Yet, the application in forests has been limited, and it is essential to understand the impact of soil and environmental factors on apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) if attempting to use this EMI technology in a forested environment. The overarching aim of this thesis was to determine if EMI can be used in a forested environment, focusing on two contrasting Pinus radiata D. Don production forests to capture the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties. Furthermore, this thesis can serve as a 'toolbox' for measurement protocols and analysis for forest owners interested in low-cost, time-efficient methods of understanding microsite heterogeneity in their forest soils to guide management practices. The research addressed the three main questions: The impact of various environmental factors on apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), the ability of ECa to characterise soil texture and moisture across forested catchments, and the effectiveness of quasi-3D inversion software in capturing the spatial heterogeneity of forest soils in three dimensions. To answer the first question, measurements were taken on forest litter thickness, gravimetric water content, density, soil temperature, ambient temperature, instrument temperature, and instrument voltage. The study found no significant linear relationship between ECa and these environmental factors, indicating that a correction factor for drift in ECa caused by temperature and voltage variations was not required. The insulating effect of forest soils, the forest canopy, and the instrument's housing played a role in maintaining stability. In addition, there was no significant effect of the presence or absence of forest litter on ECa, which was most likely due to the structure and makeup of forest litter, indicating that EMI technology could predict soil properties without considering the effect of forest litter. Questions two and three aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using apparent electrical conductivity and modelled electrical conductivity (ECm) as predictors for soil properties, including gravimetric water content (GWC), the electrical conductivity of a 1-part soil to 5-part water solution (ECe1:5), and the percentages of clay (CLAY), fine sand (FSAND), and medium sand particles (MSAND). Firstly, generalised linear mixed-effects models (GLMERs) were employed to assess the measured variables' main effects and interaction effects on ECa and ECm and the within and between site variability as a random effect. The GLMERs demonstrated that incorporating multiple predictor variables reduced unexplained variability, with specific interactions, such as GWC and ECe1:5, playing crucial roles in explaining ECm variability at particular depths. However, multicollinearity issues were observed, primarily driven by the GWC-ECe1:5 interaction. The study also discussed the findings of 3D inversion maps of ECm, which provided detailed insights into spatial distribution patterns, particularly when overlaid with topographic and soil variable data. Secondly, one-dimension and three-dimensional maps were produced and overlaid onto base maps of each catchment to identify spatial patterns within each catchment related to soil texture and moisture using standard kriging in Arc GIS Pro software and custom EM4Soil software designed to interpolate one-dimensional ECa measurements into three dimensions. Finally, the research delved into the implications of these findings for forest owners and their management practices. It emphasised that while ECa technology is a valuable tool in predicting forest soil heterogeneity, it should not be used in isolation, and soil sampling and validation remain essential. The study recommended using EMI as a time and cost-effective tool for understanding soil heterogeneity, offering repeatable and non-destructive measurements for informed land use decisions. Overlaying spatial maps with additional geospatial data was recommended to comprehensively understand soil variability within catchments.Item Out-of-distribution detection with deep hybrid models(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2024-03-17) Schlumbom, Paul-RubenDeep learning systems suffer from “silent failures” where they make highly confident, but incorrect, predictions for input instances well outside of their training data. This motivates the development of out-of-distribution (OOD) detection for such systems: the ability to recognise when an input deviates significantly from the training data. The “deep hybrid model” (DHM) for image classification presented by Cao and Z. Zhang (2022a) uses a normalising flow to perform density estimation for OOD detection and addresses shortcomings of approaches that model pixel-space densities: it performs density estimation using classifier features. Remarkably, Cao and Z. Zhang (2022a) claim 100% detection accuracy on a number of common benchmarks but do not make their code available. As we find the principles behind the DHM interesting and sound, we reimplement it to either confirm its capabilities or understand why it falls short. We perform an extensive search over possible model configurations to maximise performance and provide a detailed record for best practice. Although unable to achieve 100% detection accuracy in our experiments, the DHM delivers competitive performance with careful fine-tuning, while exhibiting great sensitivity to hyperparameter settings. We argue that this is predominantly due to an adversarial relationship between the classifier and the normalising flow that can result in the collapse of the feature space. We verify this by means of several synthetic datasets and show that one of the assumptions underlying the DHM architecture, that the feature extractor can be regularised to preserve input-space densities in feature space, is not satisfied, thereby providing an understanding of where the DHM falls short and informing the development of future OOD detectors based on modelling feature space densities. We also evaluate the DHM on a real-world dataset of endemic and invasive stink bugs in New Zealand that poses a fine-grained OOD problem due to the high visual similarity between the bug species. Low DHM performance, compared to OOD benchmarks, reveals the benefit of testing OOD systems in real-world settings.Item Pupillometry as a measure of cognitive load during a motor task: Comparing analogy learning to traditional coaching methods(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2023) Stone, TylaAnalogies are thought to reduce cognitive load during motor skill acquisition, yet a reliable and direct measure of cognitive load during movement remains elusive. This thesis seeks to contribute to the existing gap by exploring the use of pupillometry as a potential tool to evaluate cognitive load during a hockey push-pass task. Additionally, the study explores whether analogy instructions contribute to consistency in mental effort and performance compared to discovery and explicit instructional approaches. Chapter One provides a comprehensive review of relevant literature, setting the stage for the further investigation. In Chapter Two, an experiment examines pupil dilation in dual-task conditions versus single-task conditions during hockey push-passes. Results revealed significant differences in pupil dilation for single task versus dual task performance. The study also evaluates pupillometry and performance across analogy, discovery, and explicit instruction groups, finding no significant differences. Chapter Three summarizes key findings and delves into their implications. The results suggest pupillometry's potential as an accurate measure of cognitive load during motor learning, with considerations for further refinement being addressed. The thesis concludes by emphasizing the need for additional research to deepen our understanding of the relationship between pupillometry and cognitive load measurement during a motor task.Item Coaching for the game of life: Driving coaching with mana(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2023) Were, Brandyn MāiaCoaching needs to account for culture. This indigenous autoethnography explores personal experience to show how I, a young Māori male coach in Aotearoa New Zealand, navigates the complex nature of coaching. By weaving together Kaupapa Māori, established coaching knowledge, and experiences from my playing and coaching journey to date, a Kaupapa Māori coaching framework emerges – Driving Coaching with Mana. As I reflect on the teachings of my coach, Mr. Mel Young, combined with my cultural identity, I reconnect to critical moments in my life that have shaped the person I am today and the values I hold, elevating the centrality of culture through the practice of Kaupapa, Ako, Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Wairuatanga, and self-reflection as Āta-kaiako (a reflective coach). Driven to enhance the development of rangatahi (youth) through sport, and informed by literature and experience, Driving Coaching with Mana is personally and culturally grounded – a way of thinking about coaching differently and in a more holistic way. There is more to the people we coach than their lives as athletes. Coaching is more than skill acquisition.