Welcome to Massey Research Online


Massey Research Online is an open access digital archive of the research and scholarship of Massey University and is jointly managed by the University Library and Information Technology Services.

Massey Research Online contains research theses and research outputs including published work by Massey University students and academic staff as well as peer-reviewed material not published elsewhere. In the case of previously published research outputs all requirements of copyright owners are observed.

Items in Massey Research Online are fully indexed and searchable on Google Scholar and NZ Research.

To submit research outputs to Massey Research Online, check out the Depositing content to MRO page. For all other queries, email the Library.

 

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Diverse Students’ Mathematical Wellbeing
(Springer Nature, 2024-04-18) Hill JL; Hunter J
Supporting student wellbeing in schools is increasingly becoming a global priority. However, research and initiatives primarily focus on general wellbeing rather than subject-specific experiences. Given the pervasive levels of mathematics anxiety, negative attitudes, and disengagement in mathematics education, we argue for a more contextualised wellbeing approach. We define ‘mathematical wellbeing’ (MWB) as the fulfilment of values whilst learning mathematics accompanied by positive feelings (e.g., enjoyment) and functioning (e.g., engagement) in the discipline. We report on 3073 New Zealand Year Three to Eight students’ responses to a survey measuring their fulfilment of seven MWB values: accomplishments, cognitions, engagement, meaning, perseverance, positive emotions, and relationships. Students’ MWB was highest for relationships and perseverance and lowest for engagement and positive emotions; MWB declined from Years Three to Eight; females often rated higher MWB than males; school sociodemographic status was mostly not significant, whilst engagement and positive emotions differed across ethnicities. Research implications include understanding target areas to improve diverse students’ experiences and wellbeing in mathematics education.
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Weaving together the threads of Indigenous knowledge and mathematics
(Springer Nature B.V., 2023-09-14) Hunter J; Hunter R
As in many countries, for decades in Aotearoa (New Zealand), we have heard the story of the Pacific and Māori achievement gap in mathematics. This has become a widely accepted part of beliefs constructed across multiple communities about students and schools and who can do and learn mathematics successfully. A common response by policy makers and educators alike is to fix the problem of those deemed academically bleak by putting in place a range of interventions. In this article, we challenge the positioning of Pacific students as a problem to be fixed and instead focus on how we can address the practices inherent in historical forms of institutionalised racism related to colonisation. We use an Indigenous research model—Tivaevae—to develop an exemplary case study of the teachers and students from one low socio-economic urban school as they were involved in conscientisation and the reconstitution of educational practices to privilege indigenous knowledge systems. The findings highlight one model of how teachers and students can change institutionalised Western world practices in the mathematics classroom. We argue that the shift to honouring indigenous knowledge systems and a strength-based approach provided opportunities for Pacific students to learn mathematics in ways that supported them to build strong mathematical dispositions, and rather than being assimilated, retain their cultural identity.
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A Cross-Sectional Investigation of Preadolescent Cardiometabolic Health: Associations with Fitness, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, Nutrition, and Sleep.
(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2023-02-09) Castro N; Zieff G; Bates LC; Pagan Lassalle P; Higgins S; Faulkner J; Lark S; Skidmore P; Hamlin MJ; Signal TL; Williams MA; Stoner L; Kambas A
BACKGROUND: Cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk often begins early in life. Healthy lifestyle behaviors can mitigate risk, but the optimal combination of behaviors has not been determined. This cross-sectional study simultaneously examined the associations between lifestyle factors (fitness, activity behaviors, and dietary patterns) and CMD risk in preadolescent children. METHODS: 1480 New Zealand children aged 8-10 years were recruited. Participants included 316 preadolescents (50% female, age: 9.5 ± 1.1 years, BMI: 17.9 ± 3.3 kg/m2). Fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness [CRF], muscular fitness), activity behaviors (physical activity, sedentary, sleep), and dietary patterns were measured. Factor analysis was used to derive a CMD risk score from 13 variables (adiposity, peripheral and central hemodynamics, glycemic control, and blood lipids). RESULTS: Only CRF (β = -0.45, p < 0.001) and sedentary time (β = 0.12, p = 0.019) were associated with the CMD risk score in the adjusted multivariable analysis. CRF was found to be nonlinear (VO2 max ≤ ≈42 mL/kg/min associated with higher CMD risk score), and thus a CRF polynomial term was added, which was also associated (β = 0.19, p < 0.001) with the CMD risk score. Significant associations were not found with sleep or dietary variables. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that increasing CRF and decreasing sedentary behavior may be important public health targets in preadolescent children.
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University students’ communication in learning settings and basic psychological needs: a latent profile analysis of their interrelationships
(Taylor and Francis Group on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association, 2023-06-29) Hodis GM; Hodis FA; Bardhan NR
This research investigated the intertwined nature of university students’ communication in learning settings and their satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs. To do so, it collected data from 307 university students and explored the communication patterns defined by interrelationships among achieving communication goals, feeling confident about communicating in learning settings, and being satisfied in communicating with instructors. In addition, it assessed the degree to which groups of students who had different patterns with regard to these communication factors significantly differed in terms of the satisfaction and frustration of their basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. To examine these aspects latent profile analyses were conducted. Findings show that three groups (that is, three classes or profiles) parsimoniously represented students’ patterns of communication. Notably, profiles that illustrated more adaptive communication patterns were associated with both stronger basic needs satisfaction and weaker needs frustration than profiles that reflected less adaptive communication patterns.