Information Studies Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2780
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Item “I FEEL LIKE I’M TEACHING IN A GLADIATOR RING”: BARRIERS AND BENEFITS OF LIVE CODING(2023) Berger, Caroline Palma; Elmqvist, Niklas; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Live coding—synchronously writing software in front of students for the purpose of teaching—can be an effective method for engaging students and instilling practical programming skills. However, not all live coding sessions are effective and not all instructors are successful in this challenging task. We present results from an interview study involving university instructors,teaching assistants, and students identifying both barriers and benefits of live coding. We also designed and collected participant feedback on a prototype live coding tool to better facilitate learner engagement with the live coding pedagogical practice. Finally, we use this feedback to propose guidelines for how to design tools to support effective live coding in the classroom. This work advances our understanding of the benefits and challenges of live coding in university computer science instruction and highlights potential future work on the design of tools to better support this productive instructional practice.Item Teaching Methods and Partnership Development Patterns for Non-University Archivists(2022) Keefer, Scott; Marsh, Diana E; Van Hyning, Victoria A; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Teaching has become a more prevalent and rigorous part of the archival profession over the last two decades. While the majority of the established literature and case studies on the subject focus on university settings, this thesis examines the results of qualitative interviews with teaching archivists in institutions outside of university settings. The results show that the active learning methods of universities have largely been embraced by non-university archivists, but also show that the profession remains in flux in terms of training and transitioning away from more passive methods. This study can be used to implement or improve teaching programs in non-university institutions of all sizes and reflect a need for wider training in teaching and encouragement of pedagogical training in institutions and library science schools.Item Student Experiences with Diversity and Inclusion in Technology Design Courses(2020) Fitzgerald, Shannon; Kules, Bill; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Technology design education does not yet teach students how to effectively avoid embedding their unconscious social and cultural biases into artifacts they design and build, despite widespread critical examination of the social impact of technology. Unintended consequences that exclude or discriminate against people as they use technology reflect an inability to acknowledge diversity and inclusion topics as integral to technology design. Through a national survey, this exploratory study examined the attitudes of 115 students studying Computer Science, Information Science, User-Centered-Design and related disciplines, yielding insights into their classroom experiences; receptiveness to and concerns about engaging in discussions of equity, diversity and inclusion; and interest in addressing these issues in their own designs. These findings inform a set of proposed curricular interventions that incorporate ethics, equity, and bias into technology design courses as a supplement to traditional lectures introducing basic diversity and inclusion concepts.Item Design for Just-In-Time: Resource Design for Self-Teaching Computer Science and Online Learning(2020) Lindeman, Carrie Lucille; Weintrop, David; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The goal of this study is to investigate how just-in-time resources may support self-teaching for adult computer science learners who are new to coding. For people learning computer science on their own, just-in-time resources can be essential for solving problems. A popular online resource that computer scientists of all experience levels rely on is Stack Overflow, a forum that has a question and answer format. Resources like Stack Overflow can help new programmers problem-solve their code without consulting a teacher or professor. However, these resources may be creating barriers in the learning experience that should prepare them for future computer science education. By observing learners using just-in-time resources and interviewing learners about their habits, this thesis provides guidance on potential design suggestions for better supporting users’ future learning. Understanding how just-in-time materials currently support self-teaching for adult novice computer science learners will provide the foundation for these designs.Item SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARY SUPERVISORS AND THEIR ROLE IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR BUILDING-LEVEL SCHOOL LIBRARIANS: A BASELINE STUDY(2019) Kodama, Christie; Weeks, Ann C.; Butler, Brian; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The advent and ubiquity of mobile technologies, the Internet, and broadband have allowed people to access, use, and create a seemingly endless amount of information in unprecedented ways. This has led to an information world that is more connected, more complex, and more overwhelming than ever before. For children, learning how to use these 21st century advances is important not only for their current needs in and out of school, but also for their future as they go on to college and enter the workforce. As information specialists, school librarians play a unique role in ensuring students are equipped to access, use, and create information in ways that are meaningful and productive. However, with the ever-changing landscape of technology and the multiple literacies now necessary for children’s success, school librarians need to remain current in their knowledge and skills related to these topics. Continuing professional development (PD) is a way for practicing school librarians to stay up-to-date on digital literacies and information and communication technologies (ICTs) so that they are able to be the information specialists and experts the students in their school communities need. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Framework for Human Development (1977, 1988, 1994) and what the education literature states is effective PD as the foundation, this dissertation first describes the multiple parties responsible for the effective PD of school librarians. It then examines the role that one party responsible in librarians’ PD, school district library supervisors, play in the planning and implementation of PD for building-level school librarians through a nationwide survey of 267 library supervisors and semi-structured follow-up interviews with 8 supervisors. School district library supervisors are those individuals who work at the district-level and are generally responsible for creating and providing PD for building-level school librarians. This dissertation is a first attempt at illustrating what PD looks like for school librarians in districts nationwide and to compare what is being done to what the literature says are effective means of PD. Findings show that supervisors are providing PD for their librarians that adheres to at least one or two of the characteristics of effective PD. Supervisors are using the affordances of technology to create avenues and spaces for their librarians to connect and collaborate with each other. Findings also showed that the content of PD sessions were widely varied and ranged from more traditional library skills that focused on traditional literacy and administrative skills to more current topics such as makerspaces and digital literacy. As a whole, supervisors revealed a need to grow in the areas of providing long-term PD for their librarians and creating a coherent plan for the PD they provided. This study also illustrated several conditions that facilitate effective PD, including having a culture of continued learning with leaders who support this growth and a budget to support these PD activities. These findings provide an initial look into the PD that is offered to school librarians as planned by the district-level library supervisor and the areas in which PD for librarians can be improved.Item Playing for Real: Designing Alternate Reality Games in Learning Contexts(2016) Bonsignore, Elizabeth Marie; Druin, Allison; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Alternate Reality Game (ARG) represent a new genre of transmedia practice where players hunt for scattered clues, make sense of disparate information, and solve puzzles to advance an ever-evolving storyline. Players participate in ARGs using multiple communications technologies, ranging from print materials to mobile devices. However, many interaction design challenges must be addressed to weave these everyday communication tools together into an immersive, participatory experience. Transmedia design is not an everyday process. Designers must create and connect story bits across multiple media (video, audio, text) and multiple platforms (phones, computers, physical spaces). Furthermore, they must engage with players of varying skill levels. Few studies to-date have explored the design process of ARGs in learning contexts. Fewer still have focused on challenges involved in designing for youth (13-17 years old). In this study, I explore the process of designing ARGs as vehicles for promoting information literacy and participatory culture for adolescents (13-17 years old). Two ARG design scenarios, distinguished by target learning environment (formal and informal context) and target audience (adolescents), comprise the two cases that I examine. Through my analysis of these two design cases, I articulate several unique challenges faced by designers who create interactive, transmedia stories for – and with – youth. Drawing from these design challenges, I derive a repertoire of design strategies that future designers and researchers may use to create and implement ARGs for teens in learning contexts. In particular, I propose a narrative design framework that allows for the categorization of ARGs as storytelling constructs that lie along a continuum of participation and interaction. The framework can serve as an analytic tool for researchers and a guide for designers. In addition, I establish a framework of social roles that designers may employ to craft transmedia narratives before live launch and to promote and scaffold player participation after play begins. Overall, the contributions of my study include theoretical insights that may advance our understanding of narrative design and analysis as well as more practical design implications for designers and practitioners seeking to incorporate transmedia features into learning experiences that target youth.Item Children's Public Library Use and Kindergarten Literacy Readiness in the State of Maryland(2014) Slaby, Marie H.; Jaeger, Paul T.; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the last fifteen years dramatic changes have occurred in early childhood education, particularly in early literacy. Responding to the research, public libraries have transformed their services to young children and caregivers. In 2004, the Public Library Association launched Every Child Ready to Read. Maryland librarians were on the forefront of this effort, which developed in tandem with their It's Never Too Early campaign. At the same time, libraries have been trying to develop outcome measures to assess their impact on users. The current study uses data from a kindergarten readiness assessment in literacy and finds a positive correlation with children's library use as shown by circulation and attendance at children's programs in Maryland. This paper examines the implications of such research on policies and practices and makes recommendations for future study.Item Information Seeking in Context: Teachers' Content Selection during Lesson Planning Using the Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive of Holocaust Survivor Testimony(2011) Lawley, Kathryn Newton; Soergel, Dagobert; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study explored the information seeking task of content selection. An integrative conceptual framework used existing models to examine the context and process of information seeking, evaluation, and selection. The conceptual framework incorporated three main elements of the information seeking process: * The information need context, * The information search process, * Relevance criteria. Among teachers' many duties are the creation, implementation, and revision of lesson plans. A subtask of lesson planning is content selection, which occurs when teachers seek outside content, such as readings or audio recordings, to incorporate into lesson plans. Content selection is seen here as a work-task-embedded information seeking process. A qualitative study was implemented within the setting of a week-long professional development workshop, during which eight teachers used a custom software product that combined a lesson-planning module with an information retrieval (IR) system. The IR system provided access to a subset of the Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive. Data types included interviews, fly-on-the-wall transcripts, transaction logs, relevance judgments, and lesson plans. Analysis combined inductive and deductive techniques, including start codes, constant comparison, emergent themes, and matrix analysis. Findings depict associations among each component of the framework. 1. The information need context consists of five layers (Environment, Role, Person, Task, Information Source), each of which influences information search and relevance. 2. The ISP includes two cognitive-behavioral facets: Conceptualizing and Actualizing. 3. Relevance criteria are the situationally-driven embodiment of contextual elements that apply to information seeking. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for information studies and education. For information studies, this study contributes to understanding of the ISP as contextual, cognitive, and interactive. Information need, while unobservable in its native form, can be depicted in enough detail to supply meaningful requirements for the design of information systems and processes. Content selection is a form of exploratory search, and this study's implications suggest that the "traditional" reference interview should be used as an interaction model during exploratory search. For education, this study extends the discourse about consequences of standards-based education for teacher practice and contributes to models of teacher planning as an iterative, cognitive process.