UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item Impact of COVID-19 on Parent and Child Mental Health in India: A Mixed-methods Longitudinal Study(2023) Havewala, Mazneen Cyrus; Wang, Cixin; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The COVID-19 pandemic has affected individuals around the world. Parents of young children have experienced significant strain as they have attempted to balance their work obligations as well as take care of household duties and attend to the needs of their young children. Several studies have demonstrated the detrimental impacts of COVID-19 on parent and child mental health. However, the majority of studies are quantitative, cross-sectional in nature, and were conducted during the early phases of the pandemic. Moreover, there is limited work on the topic of parent and child mental health within the COVID-19 context among families in India. Thus, the current mixed-methods longitudinal study aimed to fill these gaps in the literature by attempting to examine the impact of COVID-19 on child mental health and parent mental health among families with young children in India. The study also aimed to understand the moderating effects of parenting behaviors with relation to child COVID-19-related stress and child mental health difficulties, and the moderating effects of social support with relation to parent COVID-19-related stress and parent mental health difficulties. One hundred and forty parents of children between the ages of 4 to 8 completed a survey between October 2020 and February 2021 (Time 1), of which 85 parents completed it between May 2021 and July 2021 (Time 2), and 70 completed it between July 2022 and October 2022 (Time 3). Qualitative in-depth individual interviews were conducted with a subset of the sample (n=20) between July 2022 and December 2022 to gain a better understanding of challenges experienced by parents and how the pandemic impacted them and their children in various ways over the course of the pandemic. The findings indicated that the stress caused by changes brought about by the pandemic was related to parent and child mental health in India. Parents in India experienced several challenges that impacted their mental health. Factors contributing to those challenges, and in turn, possibly their mental health are discussed. Parenting behaviors such as parental nurturance and restrictiveness were also related to child mental health and served as moderators of the relation between child COVID-19-related stress and child mental health difficulties; parental nurturance emerged as a protective factor while parental restrictiveness was a possible risk factor. Perceived social support was negatively linked with parent mental health difficulties, and it also served as a buffer in the relation of parent COVID-19-related stress and parent mental health difficulties at Time 1. Qualitative findings also indicated that support from spouse, other family members, friends and co-workers helped parents cope with the challenges associated with the pandemic. In sum, the findings of this study helped identify important risk and protective factors for parent and child mental health within the COVID-19 context in India. The findings have important clinical implications that inform future intervention efforts to support children and families during related stressful events.Item Exploring The Role Of Generative Artificial Intelligence In Cultural Relevant Storytelling For Native Language Learning Among Children(2024) Nanduri, Dinesh Kumar; Marsh, Diana E; Information Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In an era marked by the rapid disappearance of languages, UNESCO warns that nearly half of the world's linguistic heritage might soon become dormant. Despite its current health, Telugu has seen a decline in usage, reduced focus in India's educational systems, and overshadowing by dominant global languages. This thesis explores Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to counter this trend, focusing on its application in native language learning for children, key carriers of their ancestral tongues. Through scoping reviews and participatory design sessions with young Telugu-speaking learners and their guardians, the study investigates GenAI's role in enhancing language learning tailored to individual and cultural contexts. It highlights storytelling as a potent mechanism for language acquisition, facilitated by GenAI's ability to personalize learning experiences and bridge generational gaps. The research also addresses ethical considerations vital for designing GenAI tools, promoting inclusivity, bias mitigation, and cultural integrity protection. It showcases a future where technology helps prevent linguistic dormancy and empowers children to celebrate human language and cultural diversity.Item SOUTH KOREAN FAMILIES’ CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF MUSEUM-BASED SCIENCE LEARNING(2020) Jeong, Hannoori; Elby, Andrew; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This exploratory research study examined how three South Korean families in theU.S. conceptualize museum-based science learning by exploring varied contexts in which they are embedded. In applying a sociocultural perspective, I investigated the families’ backgrounds, views of school and museum learning, in conjunction with their virtual museum tours to address my overarching research question: How do South Korean families in the U.S. conceptualize museum-based science learning? The purpose of this study is to understand how, or by what means, South Korean families’ conceptualizations about museum-based science learning are socially and culturally situated. In adhering to the guidelines of Yin’s (2018) suggestions to conduct multiple case research, I collected individual interviews prior to and following the families’ self-guided virtual museum tours, observations, self-reflections, and self-generated photographic images that captured their views of museum learning. Guided by the Contextual Model of Learning framework (Falk & Dierking, 2000), I used three analytic lenses to explore and analyze the data: personal context, sociocultural context, and physical context of learning. Through the use of narrative analysis, I reported within-case and cross-case findings across the three cases of families. In doing so, I first synthesized each family’s background setting, views of school and museum learning, and museum-based learning interactions to seek insights into how they shaped the family’s conceptualizations about museum-based science learning. Findings showed that the interweaving of each family’s varied contexts, namely personal, sociocultural, and physical, appeared to shape how they conceptualized museum-based science learning. Aspects of the families’ personal context—such as individual goals and beliefs—appeared to motivate their learning experience during the virtual museum tours mediated by sociocultural and physical contexts—such as within- group interactions and orientations to the physical space, respectively—that reinforced or shaped their conceptualizations of museum learning. Thus, in connection with prior literature, the families’ views of learning and authoring their sense of self that manifest their unique contexts may have spurred their conceptualizations of museum-based science learning. Broad implications of the study for museum education research, virtual museum learning, and future research related to informal science education are also discussed.Item Restoration Space: Designing for Improved Workplace Culture and Health(2020) Knoebel, Adam Thomas; Simon, Madlen; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Depression, as the leading cause of disability in the United States among people ages 15 - 44 and the top workplace issue. The goal of this thesis is to explore and identify strategies for designing for depression in the workplace. It aims to develop further the relationship between the built environment and the process of managing the vast symptoms and causes of workplace depression, stress, and anxiety. The goal will be to create spaces that encourage connection to nature, sensory comfort, physical wellness, and building social relations as a part of the solution. By understanding the difficulty of depression in the workplace and how those with depression react to their surroundings this thesis aims to design for health, engagement, and happiness.Item Normative Social Influence Across Cultures: The impact of injunctive and descriptive social norms in message-based persuasion.(2019) Li, Ren; Gelfand, Michele; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research seeks to understand how normative appeals differentially affect behavioral change across cultures. Two types of social information commonly used in persuasion include descriptive norms (i.e., information regarding the frequency of specific behaviors in a situation) and injunctive norms (i.e., forms of social coercion that tell people what ought to be done). A combination of three experiments and a field study systematically examined the effectiveness of different types of social norms in cultures that vary on their strengths of norms—or tightness looseness. In general, normative appeals differentially affected behavioral change across cultures. More specifically, both injunctive norm and descriptive norms were more effective than the control in influencing behavioral intentions in a tight culture versus a loose culture (e.g., China versus the U.S.) (study 1). In loose cultures, injunctive norm appeals showed a “boomerang” effect, whereby exposure to injunctive norms decreased, rather than increased the amount of donation compared to control (study 2). Further, in loose cultures, the injunctive norm message enhanced the strength of the threat to freedom and elicited psychological reactance, which in turn decreased their intention to follow the advocated behavior (study 3). The results provided evidence that psychological reactance contributed to injunctive norm’s “boomerang” effect. Finally, a field study (study 4) showed injunctive norm messages represented to be a promising technique for “nudging” water conservation behavior. Unexpectedly, the results showed that an injunctive norm message coercive words messages were more effective in promoting water-saving behavior than injunctive norm message without coercive words. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.Item A Cultural Balancing Act: The Learning, Beliefs and Practices of Novice Indonesian Teachers of English(2019) Kidwell, Tabitha; Peercy, Megan M; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)English teachers must be prepared to attend to the intercultural aspects of language learning. In Indonesia, this challenge is compounded by education policies that also require teachers to sustain Indonesian cultural values. Without explicit preparation or guidance, these two expectations could be quite challenging to novice teachers. The objective of this study was to better understand how novice Indonesian teachers of English balance those demands, by examining their learning, beliefs, practices regarding teaching about culture. This study was a qualitative ethnographic case study of English teacher preparation practices at a Muslim university in Central Java, complemented by embedded case studies (Yin, 2009) of 14 recent graduates during their early years of teaching. Data sources included: course syllabi; 97 class observations: interviews with 20 university faculty members, 21 current students and 20 recently graduated novice teachers: six professional learning community sessions with novice teachers; and journal entries by novice teacher participants. Data were analyzed using the constant comparison method (Corbin & Strauss, 2014) and a cross-case analysis. Findings showed that Indonesian English teachers had many opportunities to learn about culture, both within and outside of coursework, but they rarely learned methods to teach their future students about culture. Consequently, many did not include unfamiliar cultural content in their lessons. Concerning novice teachers’ beliefs and practices, this study identifies participants as primarily locally-oriented or globally-oriented, differentiated by their access to and investment in cultural learning opportunities. Globally-oriented teachers, who had had intercultural experiences themselves, were more likely to teach about unfamiliar cultures, despite contextual factors and limited preparation. This work highlights the need for language teacher education programs to help novice teachers learn to teach about culture, as well as the importance of offering intercultural experiences to novice teachers before and during their early careers. The distinction between locally-oriented teachers and globally-oriented teachers may allow language teacher educators to more purposefully prepare language teachers to address cultural content and develop their future students’ intercultural competence. In the future, more focused preparation efforts regarding teaching about culture would allow novice teachers to more effectively prepare their students to meaningfully engage across cultural differences.Item STORIES OF A TAIWANESE DIASPORA: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY ON THE EXPERIENCES OF TAIWANESE AMERICAN STUDENTS(2018) Chang, Stephanie Hsiao-Sho; Park, Julie J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)There is a growing emphasis on students’ cultural experiences on campus. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore Taiwanese American students and their connection to Taiwanese culture. As a critical-cultural narrative inquiry this study (a) brought attention to Taiwanese American students and their engagement with Taiwanese culture, (b) expanded upon notions of home and experiences of bicultural integration, and (c) utilized diaspora as a theoretical perspective in a student development and higher education context. Research questions guiding this exploration included the following: (1) What do Taiwanese American students identify as significant and meaningful components of Taiwanese culture? (2) How and where do Taiwanese American students connect to Taiwanese culture on campus? (3) In what ways do the experiences of Taiwanese American students contribute to the existence of Taiwanese diaspora? Eight Taiwanese American students from a Mid-Atlantic University participated in this study. Each participant engaged in two interviews. The outcome of this study included individual participant narratives and a grand narrative encompassing four themes: recognizing their parents’ influence, navigating multiple cultural contexts, finding meaningful connections in non-Taiwanese American settings, and making decisions to move closer to Taiwanese culture. This study explored the importance of Taiwanese American students’ connectedness to their ethnic cultural background.Item DE LA LITTÉRATURE UNIVERSALISTE SENGHORIENNE AU TOUT-MONDE DE GLISSANT: MÉTISSAGE ET DIALOGUE DES CULTURES DANS L’ÉCRITURE DE FATOU DIOME, ALAIN MABANCKOU, GASTON KELMAN ET AMINATA SOW FALL(2018) DIENE, Khady; Orlando, Valérie; French Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis focuses on how Senghorian universalism has influenced the world-views of contemporary mondial authors as well as Glissant’s concept of Tout-Monde. After reading the works of contemporary authors as Fatou Diome, Alain Mabanckou, Gaston Kelman and Aminata Sow Fall, we realized that their main themes as Métissage and Dialogue des cultures echo Senghor’s Civilisation de l’Universel. We also examine how le voyage, with its relation to globalization, influences or not these authors’ vision, as well as their writing and discourse about the universal ideas on the human condition. The objective of this thesis is to put in conversation Senghor’s Civilisation de l’Universel with contemporary works and to show through our literary and theorethical analysis that Senghorian universalism is atemporal.Item Worlds Unto Themselves: Tightness-Looseness and Social Class(2017) Harrington, Jesse Ryan; Gelfand, Michele J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Past research has convincingly demonstrated that social classes are culturally distinct entities with their own identities, values, beliefs, and customs. In short, they are “worlds unto themselves.” In this dissertation, I argue that social class cultural differences—particularly between the middle class and the working class—are also expressed in terms of tightness-looseness, or the degree to which a cultural entity has strong norms and low tolerance for norm deviance (tight) or weak norms and high tolerance for norm deviance (loose). Specifically, it is predicted that the working class is comparatively tighter relative to the middle class. In a series of six studies using survey, archival, and behavioral methods, this prediction found support. The working class had tighter perceptions of general life and specific domains (e.g., the workplace), endorsed tighter values, perceived rules more positively, were higher in traits like need for structure, conscientiousness, and conventionalism, perceived moral “transgressions” to be less justifiable, exhibited lower creativity, and were exposed to higher ecological threat. Working class adults were also found to exhibit higher explicit bias toward socially “deviant” individuals and greater xenophobia, and working class children were quicker and more likely to protest normatively incorrect actions made by a peer. Finally, it was found that working class students exhibited poorer outcomes in their first year of college due to a greater preference for simplicity—a psychological trait related to working class tightness. Overall, this research suggests that tightness-looseness is an important cultural difference between social class groups.Item NEGOTIATING DIVERSIFICATION: IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENT AND NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE—THE CASE OF GREEKTOWN IN BALTIMORE CITY, MARYLAND(2017) Matsumoto, Naka; Baum, Howell S; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Creating and maintaining diverse neighborhoods has been a challenge for planners, policymakers, and community organizers as the recent and rapid influx of immigrants from Latin and Asian countries into the United States generates many diversified neighborhoods throughout the country. This phenomenon has created new social dynamics in the neighborhoods due to the differences among new and longtime residents, such as ethnicity, language and culture, socioeconomic status, generation, and family type. The neighborhoods stand on the diverging point of whether the neighborhood stays diverse or one group takes over the place. This dissertation illustrates the situation in Greektown, Baltimore City, in Maryland, which has been seeing an influx of Latino immigrants as well as new, young professional residents in the last decade. This small neighborhood was once a Greek immigrant enclave and still maintains some original ethnic characteristics on the surface, yet it is becoming drastically more diverse. In this neighborhood, the three ethnically, socioeconomically, and generationally different groups—old timers who are mostly Greeks, Latino immigrants, and new residents who are in a higher socio-economic status than the others—are negotiating with each other on various occasions in various ways, which is leading the neighborhood in a certain direction. Interviews with the residents and community leaders, a survey, and more than two years of participant observation were conducted to examine their relationships and possible outcomes. The results of this research show that although they live side by side in a small neighborhood, none of the groups has much social interaction with the others in the neighborhood. Despite the little interaction, however, the neighborhood maintains its diversity without major conflicts, and many seem to accept, and some even embrace, the diversity. The study finds there are positive “symbolic relationships” that are built upon perceptions and images in people’s minds that derive from their previous experiences, their cultural heritage, and their self-identification. The symbolic relationships can be the foundation of a diverse and collaborative neighborhood. The study also finds that due to the diversity within each group, such as subsequent, US-born generations among the immigrants and racial minorities among the new residents generate various ties across each group’s boundary. This dissertation argues that in the contemporary diverse neighborhoods where residents’ interactions are becoming more selective, cultivating symbolic relationships and utilizing those multidimensional ties can be effective to create more collaborative yet diverse neighborhoods.