Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
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 give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item THE “PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS”: HOW JOURNALISM EDUCATORS ARE INNOVATING AND COLLABORATING IN RESPONSE TO THE NEWS CRISIS(2023) Burns, Mary Alison; Steiner, Linda; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the motives, experiences, and perspectives of journalism faculty members at colleges and universities who have invented, developed, and led innovative experiential learning collaborations in their programs. Through qualitative interviews and constructivist grounded theory, this study finds that journalism educators are launching specific types of collaborative projects in response to ongoing and emerging problems in journalism. This dissertation offers a typology of ideal-type j-school collaborations, and a new conceptualization of collaboration as a strategy for democratic stewarding in journalism education.Item "I'm not alone in this": Co-managing stigmatized chronic health conditions(2021) Chopra, Shaan; Choe, Eun Kyoung; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)People living with chronic health conditions often have to take care of multiple medical, logistical, and everyday tasks, including monitoring symptoms, following treatments, going for appointments, as well as managing work, familial, and social obligations. Unlike shorter illnesses, chronic health conditions are lifelong, often requiring constant monitoring and management, and as such, it is challenging for the individual to manage their daily life alongside their health, all by themselves. Further, people often experience stigma around their self-image and abilities due to their chronic conditions, further making acceptance of and life with the condition challenging. In this work, I look into how people living with chronic health conditions informally share the responsibility of managing their health and affected daily life activities with people in their close circle. I conducted in-depth interviews with 16 people living with chronic health conditions who collaboratively manage (or "co-manage") at least some aspects of their health with people in their close circles. I report on their (a) current co-management practices, including their use of technology to facilitate the same, and (b) experiences with stigma and its impacts on disclosure, support-seeking, and communication around their health, in different environments. I found that people appropriated different tools and technologies to monitor, coordinate, and collaborate with their co-managers. The nature of their relationship with co-managers and the physical or virtual space within which they co-managed were also key in shaping their current practices. I further identified avenues for designing technology to support people's diverse co-management needs, such as collaborative tracking, shared-space coordination, and navigating stigma during disclosure and support-seeking, contributing to HCI literature on designing for stigmatized health topics, chronic health management, and collaborative care.Item The Cunning Little Vixen: A Scenic Design(2020) Guarniere, Grace Limbach; Conway, Daniel; Theatre; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this thesis is to provide research, supporting paperwork, production photographs, and other materials that document the scenic design process for The Cunning Little Vixen by the University of Maryland – College Park, Maryland Opera Studio. This thesis contains the following: scenic research images that express the play, and location, and inspiration that helped develop a common emotional vocabulary with the production team; preliminary sketches; photographs of the ¼” scale model; a full set of drafting plates and paint elevations used to communicate the design to the technical director and the paint charge; a prop list with research supporting, in detail, what is needed for hand props, set dressing, and consumable pieces for the prop master; and an epilogue of the continuing transformation of this production due to the unforeseen circumstance of COVID-19.Item Corpora Caelestia: A Movement Opera(2020) McFall, Heidi M; Fang, Adriane; Mayes, Alvin; Dance; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Corpora Caelestia: A Movement Opera is the written thesis prepared in conjunction with a performance that took place in October 2019. A requirement for the MFA in Dance at the University of Maryland, this performance crossed genres by blending dance and music. This paper outlines the performance from conception until completion, placing it within an experimental tradition of interdisciplinary work beginning in 1950s-60s New York. This written thesis articulates and engages two overarching concepts central to the thesis performance: dance as a practice of listening and dance as a path to transcendence. Each exploration surveys a history of its subject and uses the performance of Corpora Caelestia: A Movement Opera as a site of analysis to support a claim. First, I argue that postmodern dance improvisation can act as a practice of listening. Second, I defend the claim that transcendent encounters are desirable and possible through contemporary dance performances.Item Enabling Collaborative Visual Analysis across Heterogeneous Devices(2019) Badam, Sriram Karthik; Elmqvist, Niklas; Computer Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)We are surrounded by novel device technologies emerging at an unprecedented pace. These devices are heterogeneous in nature: in large and small sizes with many input and sensing mechanisms. When many such devices are used by multiple users with a shared goal, they form a heterogeneous device ecosystem. A device ecosystem has great potential in data science to act as a natural medium for multiple analysts to make sense of data using visualization. It is essential as today's big data problems require more than a single mind or a single machine to solve them. Towards this vision, I introduce the concept of collaborative, cross-device visual analytics (C2-VA) and outline a reference model to develop user interfaces for C2-VA. This dissertation covers interaction models, coordination techniques, and software platforms to enable full stack support for C2-VA. Firstly, we connected devices to form an ecosystem using software primitives introduced in the early frameworks from this dissertation. To work in a device ecosystem, we designed multi-user interaction for visual analysis in front of large displays by finding a balance between proxemics and mid-air gestures. Extending these techniques, we considered the roles of different devices–large and small–to present a conceptual framework for utilizing multiple devices for visual analytics. When applying this framework, findings from a user study showcase flexibility in the analytic workflow and potential for generation of complex insights in device ecosystems. Beyond this, we supported coordination between multiple users in a device ecosystem by depicting the presence, attention, and data coverage of each analyst within a group. Building on these parts of the C2-VA stack, the culmination of this dissertation is a platform called Vistrates. This platform introduces a component model for modular creation of user interfaces that work across multiple devices and users. A component is an analytical primitive–a data processing method, a visualization, or an interaction technique–that is reusable, composable, and extensible. Together, components can support a complex analytical activity. On top of the component model, the support for collaboration and device ecosystems comes for granted in Vistrates. Overall, this enables the exploration of new research ideas within C2-VA.Item Interpreting Music in the Age of Recording: The Collaboration Between Mstislav Rostropovich and Benjamin Britten(2019) Clopton, Kacy Anne; Kutz, Eric; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Benjamin Britten, a prolific and distinguished English composer, and Mstislav Rostropovich, a virtuoso Russian cellist were both at the height of their popularity mid-twentieth century and were highly celebrated internationally. Upon their meeting in 1960, Britten and Rostropovich formed a uniquely personal and musical bond, and the resulting six pieces written for cello as well as their many recordings together demonstrate the depth of that friendship and collaborative inspiration. This paper considers the question of musical authority and what may be considered a definitive interpretation, particularly when peering through the lens of recordings. When one is presented with the knowledge that a piece has been composed for the artist performing on the recording, it can become limiting when attempting one’s own interpretation. However, said recording can also provide valuable insight into the wishes of the composer, and the evolution of the music from paper to sound through the subjective perspective of the performer. I suggest that as modern performers, we need a balance of both absorbing what has come before and affirming what we do now. Reflecting on the work of Britten and Rostropovich together as colleagues and friends, I aim to study the meaning of this kind of collaboration and its larger implications for ensuing generations of musicians, particularly in how it is expressed through the aural heritage of recordings. I hope that through exploring the collaborative output but more importantly the friendship between Britten and Rostropovich, I am able to shed new light on the impact they made together.Item FURTHERING PSYCHOLOGICALUNDERSTANDING AND OVERCOMINGCOST-RELATED SHOPPING CARTABANDONMENT WITH GEOLOCATIONCROWDSOURCING(2018) Chang, Chiun-yao; Golbeck, Jennifer; Computer Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Online shopping cart abandonment continues to be a widely studied phenomenon in the e-commerce space. While many existing studies are designed to analyze a breadth of factors, our specialized study aims to further our understanding of purchase hesitation and subsequent cart abandonment specifically caused by shipping fees. In order to explore shipping fee-related purchase hesitation, we employed a two part study in which we 1) collected data regarding the amount of additional fees a user is willing to pay at different price points as well as the user's psychological responses to these fees, then we 2) integrated crowdsourcing techniques into the results of part 1 and proposed a new interaction model, CrowdShop, that aims to crowdsource users' orders together based on geo-location proximity in order to reach a minimum free shipping threshold. Furthermore, we presented CrowdShop as a functioning prototype to gauge user response and sentiment. In both parts of the study, we employed a grounded-theory approach along with statistical methods for the analysis of the data. In order to reach a free shipping threshold for online orders, we found that many users combine purchasing efforts with closely-located family members and friends. However, user success of reaching a minimum order amount was hindered by the manual nature of such a collaboration. Through user testing sessions, we received positive responses in favor of Crowdshop's ability to streamline and automate collaboration efforts. However, there still exists opportunities for further development regarding user concerns with CrowdShop.Item The Relationship Between Therapist Common Factor Behaviors and Client Evaluations of Couple Therapy Sessions(2017) Baker, Taylor Norene; Epstein, Norman B; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)There is an insufficient amount of research on therapist common factor behaviors during therapy sessions that contribute to the process of therapeutic change in couple and family therapy. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between therapists’ common factor behaviors during a couple therapy session and clients’ evaluations of that session. The sample was 40 couples presenting with mild to moderate psychological and physical partner aggression who received ten therapy sessions at a university-based clinic. A set of Pearson product-moment correlations were conducted and revealed that only the degree of therapist collaboration behavior was significantly associated with female partners’ positive evaluations of the session; statistical trend for males. Overall, male and female ratings of session helpfulness were positively correlated. The possible explanations for the lack of relationships between other therapist behaviors and session evaluations are discussed.Item Cultivating Collaborative Relationships: A Case Study of Teacher Collaboration and Professional Development(2016) Jorisch, Renee; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Students often receive instruction from specialists, professionals other than their general educators, such as special educators, reading specialists, and ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine how general educators and specialists develop collaborative relationships over time within the context of receiving professional development. While collaboration is considered essential to increasing student achievement, improving teachers’ practice, and creating comprehensive school reform, collaborative partnerships take time to develop and require multiple sources of support. Additionally, both practitioners and researchers often conflate collaboration with structural reforms such as co-teaching. This study used a retrospective single case study with a grounded theory approach to analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with thirteen teachers and an administrator after three workshops were conducted throughout the school year. The theory, Cultivating Interprofessional Collaboration, describes how interprofessional relationships grow as teachers engage in a cycle of learning, constructing partnership, and reflecting. As relationships deepen some partners experience a seamless dimension to their work. A variety of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and external factors work in concert to promote this growth, which is strengthened through professional development. In this theory, professional development provides a common ground for strengthening relationships, knowledge about the collaborative process, and a reflective space to create new collaborative practices. Effective collaborative practice can lead to aligned instruction and teachers’ own professional growth. This study has implications for school interventions, professional development, and future research on collaboration in schools.Item A Qualitative Investigation of Collaboration Between General Education and Instructional Support Teachers(2013) Jorisch, Renee; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)General education students often receive instruction from multiple school staff, such as reading specialists and English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers. This study's purpose was to explore how instructional support teachers and general education teachers collaborate in order to align instruction, and employed grounded theory methodology to code and analyze teacher interviews in a public school system. Research questions included perceptions of how these two types of school professionals work together, along with perceptions about school level collaboration and administrative support. Results show that factors from the district to the intrapersonal level, along with different modes of communication, cumulatively affect the interactions between these two types of school professionals. Subsequently, the nature of these interactions has an effect on both teachers and students. This study has implications for school interventions, professional development, and future research on collaboration in schools.