Symposium 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Employing Technology to Support Indigenous University Students (#412)

Robert N Brockman 1
  1. Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, NSW, Australia

In a research project conducted in collaboration between two universities, a private design firm, and Indigenous University students, conceptions of Indigenous youth wellbeing were explored, and a wellbeing app was co-developed to promote the wellbeing of Indigenous youth at university. A participatory design method was utilised in order to ensure the direct involvement of end-users as active co-creators of the technology solution. Four Indigenous facilitators, a male and female student from each university were trained to conduct a series of co-design workshops with Indigenous university students from the Australian Catholic University and the University of Sydney. This approach also draws upon the Reciprocal Partnership model of thriving which utilises a research framework founded upon positive psychology principles and holistic Indigenous Australian worldviews, seeking to foregrounding the voices and agency of Indigenous people to ensure that research is conducted in partnership as opposed to being imposed on Indigenous communities. This presentation will discuss the process and learning derived from utilising a participatory design method and review the implications for developing technology-based interventions to promote the wellbeing of Indigenous students in educational settings.