title: The University of Waikato usability laboratory

authors: Thomson, Kirsten

abstract: The University of Waikato Usability Laboratory is an environment where researchers are able to study and assess the usability of products while being used by their intended users. It allows for flexible configuration, and in particular can accommodate studies involving groups of collaborating users. This paper describes the Usability Laboratory with a particular emphasis on its background-why the Laboratory was established-and the facilities and services that it provides.

text: The University of Waikato usability laboratory The University of Waikato Usability Laboratory is an environment where researchers are able to study and assess the usability of products while being used by their intended users. It allows for flexible configuration, and in particular can accommodate studies involving groups of collaborating users. This paper describes the Usability Laboratory with a particular emphasis on its background-why the Laboratory was established-and the facilities and services that it provides.

year: 2001

title: Community influences on rural youth wellbeing: Young people's perspectives

authors: Simcock, Gillian Clare

subjects: Youth, community, wellbeing

abstract: This study considered rural young people’s perceptions of community factors involved in their wellbeing.  Two regional Waikato towns, Te Aroha and Otorohanga were used as the sites for the research project.  Four focus groups were conducted with students in their final year of senior school to obtain qualitative data.  The focus group participants were recruited via flyers placed in the two schools and there were two groups (one male and one female) from each college. Five further in-depth interviews and two less formal discussions with community members from these towns were used as additional information.  The data was considered from a social constructivist perspective.  Both towns provide opportunities for the members of the communities to come together which may engender a sense of community.  Te Aroha and Otorohanga’s students find that community-level events and, in particular, sport provides a good chance to meet with other sectors of the community.  These social processes provide opportunities where there may be some implicit endorsement of the adolescents which may enhance self-esteem and, in turn, sense of wellbeing.  The key findings are that sense of community cannot be the factor that directly determines wellbeing.  The study provided evidence to suggest that sense of community can encourage social capital which is likely to have a positive correlation with wellbeing.  Social capital is the “commodity” which can be accumulated by these community driven opportunities for interaction.

text: Community influences on rural youth wellbeing: Young people's perspectives This study considered rural young people’s perceptions of community factors involved in their wellbeing.  Two regional Waikato towns, Te Aroha and Otorohanga were used as the sites for the research project.  Four focus groups were conducted with students in their final year of senior school to obtain qualitative data.  The focus group participants were recruited via flyers placed in the two schools and there were two groups (one male and one female) from each college. Five further in-depth interviews and two less formal discussions with community members from these towns were used as additional information.  The data was considered from a social constructivist perspective.  Both towns provide opportunities for the members of the communities to come together which may engender a sense of community.  Te Aroha and Otorohanga’s students find that community-level events and, in particular, sport provides a good chance to meet with other sectors of the community.  These social processes provide opportunities where there may be some implicit endorsement of the adolescents which may enhance self-esteem and, in turn, sense of wellbeing.  The key findings are that sense of community cannot be the factor that directly determines wellbeing.  The study provided evidence to suggest that sense of community can encourage social capital which is likely to have a positive correlation with wellbeing.  Social capital is the “commodity” which can be accumulated by these community driven opportunities for interaction.

year: 2016

title: Piri Pāua: Mātauranga Māori and marine science approach to growth rate and length at maturity of pāua in the Bay of Plenty 2022-2024

authors: Paul-Burke, Kura

abstract: Pāua is a highly regarded taonga (culturally important) species. Mai i ngā Kurī ā Whārei ki Tihirau (the Bay of Plenty Regional Iwi Customary Fisheries Forum) raised concerns about the current state of pāua in Te Moana-a-Toi (Bay of Plenty). This project utilised localised intergenerational observations of population dynamics in traditional harvesting areas to assess pāua productivity in the Tauranga Moana Mātaitai Reserve in Tauranga and Te Rohe Moana o Ngāti Awa in Whakatāne. The project combined mātauranga Māori alongside marine science field methods.

Results were compared with previous iwi-led research at Tauranga in 2013 and Whakatāne in 2010. The pāua population in 2023 had declined by almost half in Tauranga but remained relatively consistent across all sites in Whakatāne. However, pāua were small sized in both locations, with less than 1% of individuals reaching the Minimum Legal Size (125 mm) for harvesting. Growth rate surveys were conducted in the wild at both locations from June 2023 to the end of May 2024 and identified pāua as slow growing and, as a result, sexually mature at smaller sizes than in other regions of Aotearoa New Zealand.

text: Piri Pāua: Mātauranga Māori and marine science approach to growth rate and length at maturity of pāua in the Bay of Plenty 2022-2024 Pāua is a highly regarded taonga (culturally important) species. Mai i ngā Kurī ā Whārei ki Tihirau (the Bay of Plenty Regional Iwi Customary Fisheries Forum) raised concerns about the current state of pāua in Te Moana-a-Toi (Bay of Plenty). This project utilised localised intergenerational observations of population dynamics in traditional harvesting areas to assess pāua productivity in the Tauranga Moana Mātaitai Reserve in Tauranga and Te Rohe Moana o Ngāti Awa in Whakatāne. The project combined mātauranga Māori alongside marine science field methods.

Results were compared with previous iwi-led research at Tauranga in 2013 and Whakatāne in 2010. The pāua population in 2023 had declined by almost half in Tauranga but remained relatively consistent across all sites in Whakatāne. However, pāua were small sized in both locations, with less than 1% of individuals reaching the Minimum Legal Size (125 mm) for harvesting. Growth rate surveys were conducted in the wild at both locations from June 2023 to the end of May 2024 and identified pāua as slow growing and, as a result, sexually mature at smaller sizes than in other regions of Aotearoa New Zealand.

year: 2025