General Papers

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/6879

This Research Commons Collection contains research from General Staff at the University of Waikato.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 103

‘Returning to normal?’: Bourdieu, systems thinking, and online teaching post-COVID-19
(University of Newcastle, 2025) Richardson, Anthony; Herb, Annika; Lloyd, Clare; Richardson, Anthony; Corino, Maria-Teresa
The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant transition to online teaching was a profound shock for universities and their stakeholders (teachers, students, and administrators). Bourdieu’s concept of hysteresis (systemic rupture) describes how such disruptions provide an opportunity to question and potentially reshape elements of our collective social reality. However, his work also explores how our shared sense of what is ‘normal’ tends to be deeply ingrained and resistant to change. As the pandemic fades into the background of our collective memory, many tertiary teachers may be tempted to view tertiary teaching as a rubber ball which can simply bounce back to ‘the way things were’. But the Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) which underpin our social reality do not behave like rubber balls. The Panarchy (Adaptive Cycle) heuristic offers a useful lens for understanding how the resilience of such systems lies in their ability to adapt when faced with challenges like the pandemic. Such disruptions can ripple through interconnected parts of the system, leading to changes which persist even after the initial crisis has passed. Such systems do not ‘bounce back’ unchanged after such shocks. The longing to return to pre-pandemic norms in university teaching is both personally understandable and sociologically explicable by reference to Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field. Yet the disruption caused by COVID may be precisely the kind of transformative event that the panarchy model captures well. The changes triggered by the pandemic may endure beyond its official end, reshaping systems in ways we did not anticipate. In this sense, our systems are not always resilient in the way we want them to be.
Loess studies in Aotearoa New Zealand
(Wiley (for Royal Society of New Zealand Te Aparangi), 2026-04-13) Alloway, Brent V; Lowe, David J; Pillans, Brad J; Almond, Peter C; Palmer, Alan S; Rees, Callum J
Loess in Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ) has been studied since its first documented recognition (on Banks Peninsula) in 1878 by Julius von Haast. A decade later, John Hardcastle revealed that southern ANZ loess was both glacial in origin and contained signals of past climates. As a fine-grained aeolian deposit dominated by quartz and feldspar (± mica), it is derived mainly from greywacke and schist rocks shattered by frost cracking at high elevations, fluvially comminuted then deflated from aggrading floodplains, and from exposed continental shelves during cold periods. Such quartzo-feldspathic loess predominates in eastern and southern parts of both South and North islands and in Westland and Tasman. In addition, subsurface tephric loess prevails in central-western North Island. Unlike many deposits overseas, ANZ loess generally lacks secondary calcium carbonate, is denser (with lower macro- and mesoporosity, higher clay content) and, although less prone to collapse, is susceptible to accelerated erosion including tunnel gullying and landsliding. Mean rates of accumulation in the Last Glacial Maximum were ~3−25 mm/century; mass accumulation rates were generally 70−150 g cm ⁻² yr ⁻¹ but locally could be as low as 20 g cm ⁻² yr ⁻¹ and as high as 360 g cm ⁻² yr ⁻¹ . Studies mapping and characterizing loess have been driven in part by cognizance of its importance as a widespread parent material (~60%−70% of ANZ’s soils contain loess) for arable/pastoral soils underpinning ANZ’s predominantly agronomy-based economy. A key feature of ANZ loess studies has been the recognition of developmental upbuilding pedogenesis involving syn-depositional alteration of loess as it accumulates in cold and/or cool (stadial) periods, and stronger alteration (forming more-developed soils, which subsequently become recognizable as buried soil stratigraphic units or paleosols) during minimal accumulation in interglacial and/or warm (interstadial) periods. Multisequal loess-paleosol successions are the result. ANZ loess-paleosol successions have been dated and correlated via a range of dating and age-equivalent techniques including tephrochronology and paleomagnetism. Most loess is ≤500 kyrs old, but occurrences as old as Pliocene (Otago) and c. 1.7–1.0 Ma (Waikato, Wairarapa) are recognized. Loess chronostratigraphy has enabled loess and associated buried soils/paleosols to be correlated to the Quaternary marine oxygen isotope records, which, alongside mapping efforts, have revealed landscape responses to climate and tectonic controls particularly along the eastern regions of ANZ bordering the Hikurangi Subduction Margin.
PeaceMaker: Using an online educational game on Middle East politics as an ‘Object To Think With’ (OTTW) in a Masters-level public policy course
(Cardiff University Press, 2024-05) Richardson, Anthony; Bowell, Tracy; Pepperell, Nicole; Richardson, Anthony; Corino, Maria-Teresa
Teaching tertiary students about causality in complex adaptive systems can be challenging for two primary reasons. The first challenge is to present and explore the relevant concepts (such as tipping points, emergence, nonlinearity, path dependency and feedback). But the second challenge is often harder: helping students unpack the implications of the radical uncertainty, in terms of policy, decision making and management that such concepts imply. In the words of one student: “Ok, this is all very interesting… but what does it mean for me in my department, trying to make and implement policy? What am I meant to actually do?” At the same time, while there is a growing acceptance in the academic literature that games and simulations are educationally valuable, there is there is still no solid consensus around the learning theories or game design principles that underpin this value. For example, a ‘behaviorist’ approach to educational gaming (building competency through repetition) does not deal well with the nonlinearity and emergence found in complex systems. Instead, a more constructivist approach to games theory and design, and in particular a focus on games as “objects-to-think-with” (OTTWs) (Holbert & Wilensky, 2019), seems a better fit. I taught a Masters-level Public Policy course on policy evaluation at an Australian university in 2019 and used the online game Peacemaker (an interactive digital game from Israel designed to introduce the complexity of Israeli/Palestinian politics to high school students from both communities) in class as an OTTW: exploring some of the challenges and implications of policy design and implementation within complex adaptive systems (such as dynamic public policy environments). Holbert, N. & Wilensky, U. (2019) ‘Designing Educational Video Games to Be Objects-to-Think-With’, Journal of the Learning Sciences, 28:1, pp. 32-72, DOI: 10.1080/10508406.2018.1487302
Ecosomatics and communities
(2024-09-24) Hunter, Victoria; Angot, Laetitia; Barbour, Karen
Roundtable discussion "Communities" with the LOBA association (Bolewa Sabourin, Puskarini Chellapermal), Laetitia Angot (choreographer, France), Karen Barbour (choreographic artist-researcher, NZ/Aotearoa), Victoria Hunter (choreographic artist-researcher, England). Translator: Léa Bonneau-Deborde. Ten years after the international conference "Ecosomatics" hosted by the CN D in 2014, and the publication Ecosomatics: Thinking about ecology from the gesture (2019), the Soma & Po group is reactivating a meeting around the future of this term. While the environmental disaster multiplies the levels of precariousness (material, psychological, emotional, network), how do somatic practices participate in a reconfiguration of the ways of inhabiting the earth?
Integrating inclusivity in research communications workshops
(University of Newcastle, 2025-12-16) Sheridan, Brendan Daniel
This paper focuses on actions taken to promote inclusivity in workshops about communicating research both in the academy and beyond. The New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission’s 2020 statement on Ōritetanga (equity) pushed for institutions to prioritise removing barriers to education for Māori, Pacific and disabled communities. Informed by ideas of universal design for learning, cultural competency, and literature surrounding postgraduate research training, the workshops discussed in this chapter cover inclusive ideas related to research communication. They aim to provide postgraduate research students with skills and awareness for communicating research in both academic and non-academic spaces.
Between the borders
(Māori Literature Blog, 2023-11-30) Apiata, Hāwea
Ekphrasis in response to the artwork 'Taniko Border 6' by Ngāti Raukawa artist, John Bevan Ford.
Rototuna, 2024
(Māori Literature Blog, 2024-03-29) Apiata, Hāwea
Bilingual poetry in response to the public sculpture 'Te Ohomauri o Matariki' by Dion Hitchens in collaboration with James Ormsby.
Wilspace: Reflections on establishing small significant online network groups (SSONG) to advance knowledge in work-integrated learning
(IATED Academy, 2024) Wilkinson, Helene; Lucas, Patricia; Zegwaard, Karsten E.
In 2020 during COVID-19 lockdowns, a small group of Australasian Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) practitioners gathered online for semi-regular conversations. The purpose of this small significant network group (SSONG) was to provide support for one another as we navigated WIL education during this time of turmoil. Reflecting on their SSONG experience two years later, the authors realised these small online group conversations provided the means to engage at a deeper level with likeminded individuals, without restrictions arising from differences in physical location. SSONG members could share alternative viewpoints with ease and interest because they were familiar with one another, yet from diverse perspectives including disciplines, location, experience and background, hence adding to the richness of their conversations. Out of this, and in discussions with a third New Zealand based academic, WILspace was conceptualised. WILspace is an online international community of practice, comprising of multiple SSONGs. It was launched at World Association of Cooperative Education (WACE) in June 2023, where WIL practitioners were invited to register their interest. The first WIL SSONG conversations were held in November 2023. We report on our experience in developing and managing this international community of practice. A key aim of the initiative was to facilitate meaningful discussions about WIL related issues, extending conversations beyond the physical environment of an international conference or a WIL-related course. Topics & prompts developed by the WILspace team were used to activate these conversations, after which each SSONG provided feedback on their discussions via an email to the facilitators. These resources were then summarised and shared via the WILspace website. Following each conversation, feedback was also obtained from SSONG members via a short Qualtrics survey. It was important to the authors that we were able to measure the success of this innovative initiative. Ethics approval (AUTEC 22/329) had been gained from both University Ethics Committees prior to the launch of the global conversation platform. In this paper we identify, examine and reflect on our successes and challenges in maintaining conversations with an international group membership, across multiple time zones. To date, evaluations suggest support for the initiative is strong amongst active participants, however there is evidence of continuing challenges in maintaining these conversations. Strategies are presented to facilitate implementation and management of future online communities of practice, based on the use of SSONGs.
Motivation factors for students using Generative AI
(2025-09-05) Sheridan, Brendan Daniel
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has caused a shift in approaches to assessment and academic integrity in tertiary institutions. Recent research internationally and within Australasia underscores the need for responsible GenAI conduct and preparation for a future where work and education are shaped by GenAI technologies. However, ethical considerations often need to be made based on the impact on human research, intellectual property rights, and AI literacy in higher education. Academic integrity and ethical considerations should be used to balance hasty approaches to GenAI to ensure tertiary institutions provide inclusive learning opportunities. All of these impact on the need to understand what motivates student use of GenAI. Using the framework proposed by Bouteraa et al. (2024) as a model, this presentation applies data and results from recent literature to explore the factors which motivate use of Generative AI in a tertiary education context. These factors consist of Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Technological Self-Efficacy, Educational Self-Efficacy, Integrity, and Personal Anxiety. The presentation highlights what factors make students likely to use Generative AI, what factors demotivate use, and how motivation and demotivation do not always produce a desired outcome.
Three-dimensional numerical simulation of mixing patterns at open channel confluences
(Elsevier, 2025) Aghazadegan, Ali; Shokri, Ali
Open channel confluences, where two streams or rivers converge, play a crucial role in hydraulic engineering and river dynamics. These confluences are characterized by complex hydrodynamics influenced by the discharge ratios of merging water bodies. This study investigated the mixing structure at open channel confluences using three-dimensional numerical modeling. A comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model was developed and validated against a dataset obtained from controlled laboratory experiments. This dataset incorporated three-dimensional time-averaged velocity measurements. The skew-induced and stress-induced equation systems were adopted as the core governing equations, providing a framework for simulating various scenarios. A total of ten different cases were analyzed. The results highlighted the effect of discharge ratios on turbulence, lateral and vertical vorticities, and the distribution of mixing, which intensified with higher magnitudes of discharge ratios. The mixing structure, driven by velocity gradients and vorticity, revealed the significant role of lateral and vertical vorticities in determining hydrodynamic behaviors and mixing distributions at confluences. Specifically, the momentum ratio of incoming flows governed the spatial evolution of mixing processes. This study revealed that the distribution of mixing served as a key indicator for identifying the formation of mid-channel scours. High normalized velocities induced toward the left bank led to the superelevation of the water surface, enhancing the potential for bed material and the formation of significant scour holes beneath the elevated water surface. This novel approach provides a deeper understanding of the mixing patterns at confluences, particularly in scenarios with equilibrated discharge ratios but in different magnitudes.
Urban beekeepers and local councils in Aotearoa, New Zealand: Honeybees are valuable allies in achieving the sustainable development goals
(Cogitatio, 2025) Dimitrov, Dara
Beekeeping is a popular hobby, and urban beekeepers make up the largest number of beekeepers in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The ease of purchasing beehives, together with New Zealander’s positive attitude toward honeybees has meant that hobbyist beekeeper numbers have steadily increased since 2012. The impact of the increasing numbers of urban beehives has meant Aotearoa, New Zealand’s local councils, have been forced to deal with honeybees and, ultimately, with urban beekeepers. This has, in some instances, led to nonsensical bylaws that the urban beekeepers have largely ignored. However, this article will demonstrate that local councils and, by inference, urban planners should take an alternative approach to urban beekeeping only because urban beekeeping leads to better sustainability outcomes. This article will show how urban beehives and beekeeping link well to the Sustainable Development Goals and provide local councils and urban planners with justifications to engage with urban beekeepers. Finally, this article states that local councils should stop treating honeybees as farm livestock and instead treat them as valuable pollinators and the indicator species that they are.
The institutional role of charity regulators in bringing charities to account: An international comparative study of charity regulators in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England and Wales
(Walter de Gruyter GmbH) Dimitrov, Dara
Accountability in the charity sector continues to be important, especially since charity numbers continue to grow regardless of the economic cycle. Charity regulators play a critical role in managing the charity sector as its primary task is ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework. However, it is also important to evaluate whether the practices and procedures of charity regulators are effective within the broader context of charity accountability. This paper aims to explore charity accountability from the perspective of charity regulators. In common law countries, the charity regulator has oversight over the charity sector and, therefore, has the opportunity to enhance charity accountability. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper provides an international comparative study of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England and Wales, all of which share a common law heritage. This study demonstrates how the state regulators in each country have applied different mechanisms of charity accountability by institutionalising the norms and standards required from charities. By identifying and comparing the countries, this paper reveals whether some institutional practices by some regulators have been more effective than others in bringing charities to account.
Oligocene-Miocene sedimentary record, eastern Taranki Basin margin
(2012) Nelson, Campbell S.; Kamp, Peter J.J.
A 2-day field trip departing 8am Thursday 29 November 2012 from Hamilton south to Te Kuiti-Piopio-Awakino-Tongaporutu affords a fine north to south transect through examples of the Mesozoic to Quaternary succession in the Waikato-King Country region bordering the eastern margin of Taranaki Basin. The trip will view some of the onshore Oliocene and Miocene sedimentary record in the Waikato and King Country basins and comment on how this links into the offshore parts of eastern Taranaki Basin. Primarily under both local and more distant tectonic control, we will track the various carbonate and terrigenous (locally volcaniclastic)-dominated facies associated with marginal marine, shoreline, shelf and slope-to-basin depositional settings, and consider their stratigraphic architecture and wider sequence stratigraphic context. Visits are planned along the way to basement greywacke, serpentinite and limestone quarries.
Stemming the colonial environmental tide – Ecosystem-based management and shared Crown-Māori co-governance for sustaining our marine coastal estate in Aotearoa New Zealand – Summary report
(e Mata Hautū Taketake – the Māori and Indigenous Governance Centre, University of Waikato, 2023-12) Joseph, Robert
This summary report was prepared by Dr Robert Joseph from Te Mata Hautū Taketake – the Māori and Indigenous Governance Centre, Te Piringa Faculty of Law at the University of Waikato for the National Science Challenge Sustainable Seas Ko Ngā Moana Whakauka Project.
E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | Return to your place of nourishment [Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi | Whakatāne Art Gallery]
(Whakatāne Art Gallery, 2025-04-17) Apiata, Hāwea; Tawhiao, Hollie; Ratana, Aimee; Timutimu, Maraea; Roberts, Aisha
E Hoki Mai Nei ki te Ūkaipō | Return to Your Place of Nourishment brings together works by four wāhine Māori artists, Aimee Ratana, Aisha Roberts, Hollie Tawhiao and Maraea Timutimu, which explore narratives of pakanga (conflict) through toi (art). In this show, the four artists weave together their unique practices and stories to present a cohesive yet diverse examination of conflicts, with a particular focus on the artists’ own whānau, hapū, and iwi narratives. Curated by Hāwea Apiata.
Geothermal energy, decarbonisation and the just transition: developments in governance and regulation
(Informa UK Limited, 2025) Parson, Phoebe; Luketina, Katherine; Barton, Barry
This review article pursues this special issue’s theme of renewable energy and just transition into the field of geothermal energy, an energy source which has a special role in Aotearoa New Zealand, and which raises clear questions of justice in the energy transition. It evaluates the track record, and examines the legal, regulatory and institutional challenges and opportunities for a just transition for geothermal in New Zealand. It particularly considers the role of Māori, and the challenges presented by emerging technological change. It considers the problems of renewability and sustainability that are special to geothermal resources. It evaluates the just transition issues that have particularly affected Māori landowners and holders of mana whenua. It finds that what constitutes a just transition must be seen against a longer historical time frame than many observers might assume. It shows that the distinctive regulatory framework for geothermal has been considerably affected by addressing these problems but may need to adapt further in the future. It considers the technical features that have shaped geothermal regulation and are likely to shape it in the future as new technological options emerge.
The ever-changing landscape of New Zealand vocational education and training: The Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) and the current and planned changes sought by the current coalition government
(2025) Piercy-Cameron, Gemma
A market model to industry training was introduced in 1992 since then vocational education and training has been in a state of constant change. My presentation will: - Assess the capacity of the current VET system to deliver long-term improvement to vocational training, - Explain RoVE reforms, - Outline current changes, - Offer views on likely impacts, on-going issues.
A relational approach to youth healthcare: Examining young people's, parents' and clinicians' experiences in the context of variations in sex characteristics
(Elsevier, B.V., 2024) Roen, K; Lundberg, T; Joy, E
According to popular understandings, children grow from a state of dependence to eventually become independent adults. Interdependence helps to disrupt the in/dependence binary and is a useful concept for making sense of the experiences young people with variations in sex characteristics in relation to healthcare. This study used semi-structured interviews with 32 health professionals, 33 caregivers and 12 young people recruited in the UK and Sweden. The analysis is guided by the questions: (1) how do young people, carers and health professionals position themselves in the adult/young person relationship in the context of healthcare? (2) how is the (in/ter)dependence of young people imagined when young people, carers and health professionals talk about healthcare? Our analysis shows how carers and health professionals might support dominant understandings about young people growing towards independence while providing little opportunity for young people's agency and voice. Interviews with young people gave clear examples of their negotiating relational ways of being, seeking agency in the context of healthcare and not simply becoming independent of adults. This analysis also draws attention to the ways young people might be silenced within healthcare contexts. The present paper is based on secondary analysis of data from the SENS. It works with concepts of relationality and interdependence to draw out the possibilities of voice and agency for young people with variations in sex characteristics in healthcare contexts.
Jonathan Sumption's conceptual gaps and misconceptions on historical apologies and judicial diversity
(2024) Alvarez-Jimenez, Alberto
Which historical wrongs necessitate an apology? What is the value of judicial diversity, and what is the best way to achieve this? Writing for 𝘊𝘑𝘓𝘗𝘈, University of Waikato senior lecturer Alberto Alvarez-Jimenez tackles the treatment of these topics in Jonathan Sumption's recent book 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴, suggesting that the work is characterized by misconceptions and conceptual gaps.
Exploring the impact of rainfall intensity on the attenuation-rainfall relationship
(Elsevier BV, 2025) Nia, Saeid Esmaeil; Shokri, Ali
The attenuation of electromagnetic waves due to rainfall is a critical factor in radar and telecommunication systems, particularly in frequency bands above 10 GHz, which is increasingly utilised for data transfer. This study addresses the gaps in understanding how these attenuation effects vary across different rainfall intensities and Drop Size Distributions (DSD). By analytically investigating the irregularities in the cross-sections of raindrops within the 1 to 30 GHz frequency range, the study mentions significant peaks in attenuation at frequencies below 10 GHz, which are more pronounced as DSD changes with rainfall intensity. Using the extinction and efficiency cross-sections of raindrops in 1–30 GHz microwave transmission, the coefficients of rainfall-attenuation correlation were derived for each sector of rainfall intensity of 1–300 mm/hr. Building on these findings, we propose an enhanced rainfall-attenuation relationship, incorporating dynamic coefficients, varying with both factors, DSD and rainfall intensity. Unlike previous models that only suggest calibration of the attenuation-rainfall relationship with DSD, our results indicate that the coefficients should also dynamically adjust based on rainfall intensity. We further demonstrate how these varying coefficients differ from the ITU's recommendations, providing detailed graphical comparisons. This advancement allows for more accurate calculations of rainfall intensity, improving the precision of telecommunication and radar systems in diverse weather conditions.

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