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 PowerHour Sessions

UCOL staff enjoy sharing their research regularly through our monthly PowerHour Sessions. The following are some recent topics.

Preparing students for the modern nursing context

Most students come into nursing degrees with the desire to make a difference and to care for others. How do we, Schools of Nursing, prepare students for the caring required within a modern professional nursing context?
Author: Carol Stewart
Date: 22 September 2016


Nursing students' perceptions of aged care

This study presents an investigation into Bachelor of Nursing students’ perceptions of older adults, their role in society, and aged care prior to clinical experience. Previous studies have indicated that aged care nursing is often perceived as a fall-back career for many nursing students and new graduates. This is of grave concern for the nursing workforce as globally.
Authors: Lucy Eade, Kay Nesdale and Vicki-Lee Tyacke
Date: 22 September 2016


Exercise intervention for type 2 diabetes

It's purported that 15 minutes of high intensity interval training per week can positively impact type 2 diabetes better than traditional cardiovascular training of up to three hours per week. Shohn reviewed the research and talked about how this guides future treatment of type 2 diabetes patients at UCOL's U-Kinetics clinic.
Author: Shohn WormGoor
Date: 25 August 2016


Reflections of student perceptions of differences in learning in the classroom and work integrated learning experience

This presentation looked at how students in their first semester of study viewed learning in a classroom and work integrated learning settings in the Culinary Arts Sector. The aim was to provide some insight into the effectiveness of current teaching practices and for further curriculum development.
Author: Chantal Pillay, Degree Lecturer from Le Cordon Bleu
Date: 21 July 2016

The transition from student to professional in the field of exercise and sports science

This study is aimed at capturing the students’ voice and learning experience gained through exercise and sport science internships with regards to their overall development as strength and conditioning professionals.
Author: Farzanah Desai
Date: 21 July 2016


The role of alternative media

A key finding of this research is that alternative media provides a voice for those silenced by state processes and policies, disseminating urgent calls for community-based engagement and recognition of the ongoing impacts of colonisation for Indigenous development.
Author: Laura Stillwell
Date: 28 April 2016

Human clinical trial – habitual dietary intake and responsiveness of the gut microbiota to a prebiotic

Investigating the influence of habitual fermentable carbohydrate intake has on the responsiveness of the gut microbiota to a prebiotic intervention. Healthy participants were to be recruited with particularly low or high fermentable carbohydrate intakes to take part in a human clinical trial commencing in March/April 2016.
Author: Genelle Healey, PhD Student, Massey University/Plant and Food Research
Date: 25 February 2016

Signage and typography through the South Island

A trip taken through the South Island where Dave documented signage and typography in order to find out whether New Zealand has a retained a unique typographical identity.
Author: Dave Cochrane
Date: 5 November 2015

Preserving memories

The preservation of our cultural heritage is central to protecting a sense of who we are at any point in time, and encompasses elements such as: our traditions, beliefs, arts, architecture and language, along with the urban and rural landscape of our communities. This presentation focused on the urban and rural landscape of small communities within New Zealand whose populations have been declining over a number of years. The work so far … the planning, the road trip, some rough cuts.
Author: Kaye Davis
Date: 5 November 2015

The COPD learning experience

Clinical education is a central component of nursing education, however the complexities of the healthcare environment mean that learning can often be ‘haphazard’.  A two-day learning was developed utilising the Oregon Consortium for Nurse Education model for 3rd year nursing students. The background, pedagogy, and details of the learning experience were presented, along with feedback from the participants.
Author: Sandie Baylis
Date: 1 October 2015


Connecting research with teaching and learning

Ways of incorporating research in our teaching and learning. Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science year 3 students were asked to research a topic of their choice in the broad area of exercise, health and sport and carry out a systematic analysis of the findings of up to 15 peer reviewed journal articles. These findings were presented in poster format and some students presented at the PowerHour Session.
Author: Michael Mann
Date: 6 August 2015


Work-integrated classrooms: the ICT Development Hub

This presentation detailed a proposal for the implementation and establishment of an ICT Development Hub within the School of Business and Computing. Students would enter the Development Hub during their second year of studies as junior developers and would exit at the end of their studies as senior developers. The Development Hub would undertake team-based projects for real-world clients, primarily targeting non-profit and community focused organisations. 
Authors: Aaron Steele and Sandra Cleland
Date: 2 July 2015

Visual representations during the interview process

When research respondents struggle to articulate thoughts and feelings concerning an experience, visual representation can be used to help respondents voice their experiences in a unique way. This workshop demonstrated the potential of using visual representation during an interview and explored the ethical considerations of using such a technique.
Author: Bridget Percy
Date: 11 June 2015


The e-Learning experience of New Zealand Bachelor of Nursing Students

The aim of this research project was to investigate factors that impacted on the e-Learning experience for New Zealand First Year Bachelor of Nursing students, and provide guidance to tertiary sector lecturers to support them to enhance learner engagement and achievement within the e-Teaching context.
Author: Vicki-Lee Tyacke
Date: 14 May 2015


Musculoskeletal stress

During surgery, surgeons experience substantial stress to the musculoskeletal system. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and its predisposing mechanism of injury among general surgeons in South Africa.
Author: Farzanah Desai
Date: 14 May 2015


Optimal tapering strategies to enhance maximal strength

Hayden’s presentation was based on his research for his PhD with AUT. He spoke about how strength athletes can best structure their taper to optimise strength performance in competition, and the mechanisms that cause improved performance.
Author: Hayden Pritchard
Date: 5 March 2015


Qualities, concepts and considerations required to create a unique Māori identity for a typeface

This research has been driven by the frustrations experienced as a visual practitioner, with the lack of relevant and well-designed Māori fonts that are available for use within current Māori design practice. With this in mind, the intent behind this project was to explore the visual qualities of both traditional Māori art forms and printed text, in order to combine these and develop a range of fonts that display characteristics of authentic Māori forms, without being too obvious or tokenistic.
Author: Andre Te Hira
Date: 27 April 2017


A more creatively friendly approach to interactive media

While traditionally the development of a video game has heavily involved a knowledge and expertise of computer programming language to achieve the final product, current popularity and success of independent development within the game industry, has resulted in an evolving online community of tools and applications designed to streamline the process with no coding knowledge needed but is the promise to good to be true?
Author: Barry McGoldrick
Date: 27 April 2017


To enquire about an upcoming event or access UCOL's research expertise, contact us via research@ucol.ac.nz.

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