DRUM - Digital Repository at the University of Maryland

DRUM collects, preserves, and provides public access to the scholarly output of the university. Faculty and researchers can upload research products for rapid dissemination, global visibility and impact, and long-term preservation.

 
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Submit to DRUM

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Equitable Access Policy

Equitable Access Policy

The University of Maryland Equitable Access Policy provides equitable, open access to the University's research and scholarship. Faculty can learn more about what is covered by the policy and how to deposit on the policy website.
Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations

DRUM includes all UMD theses and dissertations from 2003 forward.

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Recent Submissions

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Modeling Language Development: How Machine Learning can Enhance Analysis of the Language Environment
(2024-12-18) Harvey, James; Huang, Yi Ting; Newman, Rochelle; Domanski, Sophie
Language sampling elicits a representative picture of a child’s language and provides methods for assessing functional communication beyond what is offered by standardized tests. Naturalistic sampling reduces time costs, and offers an ideal way to assess differences in home language associated with differences in socioeconomic status (SES). Unfortunately, naturalistic dense recordings present challenges in terms of how to scale analysis and extract meaningful information. This study investigates the application and analysis of the Language ENvironment Analysis system (LENA) for sampling home language using technology-assisted transcription and topic modeling. To evaluate the efficacy of transcription, segments were selected in reference to their amount of meaningful speech as measured by LENA, and transcribed by Whisper, OpenAI’s automatic speech recognition software. Research assistants trimmed text files to retain available adult language separated by utterance. Results suggest that this method of sampling, technology-assisted transcription, and automated analysis of traditional language metrics reproduces expected associations between parental input, SES, and standardized child vocabulary size. Topic models did not identify activity contexts, likely due to the nature of the input. This research presents a validated pipeline to produce dense representative data that utilizes modern approaches to reduce traditional time costs.
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Maryland's Colonial History at West Ashcom the Archaeology Site (18ST871)
(2024-12) Gill, Katherine; Pavão-Zuckerman, Barnet; Linebaugh, Donald; Gijanto, Liza; Shackel, Paul
The archaeology site West Ashcom (18ST871) has been the focus of archaeological excavation in earnest from 2012 to the present day. This report focuses on the historical background of this site's history, primarily focusing on its 17th and 18th century histories and the results of the 2016 field season excavations. The excavations at site 18ST871 have recovered materials identifying this site as a late 17th century occupation by the Ashcom family on the early colonial Maryland landscape. Methods used at this archaeological site include shovel test surveys, unit excavation, magnetometer survey, materials characterization using x-ray fluorescence, and x-radiography of metal artifacts.
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Developing a National Register Nomination for the Institute of Notre Dame, Baltimore, Maryland
(2024) Bissett, Rachel E.; Kern, Susan; Sprinkle, John
Founded in 1847 in Baltimore, Maryland, by the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), the Institute of Notre Dame (IND) was a pioneering all-girls Catholic high school that provided educational opportunities to women for 173 years. Built as a convent school in a 19th-century classical revival style starting in 1863, the building expanded six times, creating one building of roughly 200,000 square feet that reflects its growth and adaptation to educational and religious needs. Unlike many historic Catholic high schools that relocated during Baltimore’s demographic shifts, IND remained committed to its community in the Oldtown neighborhood. IND also served as the SSND’s first motherhouse outside of Germany, anchoring its North American mission and allowing it to become a worldwide organization. Despite its closing in 2020 due to declining enrollment and funding, IND’s history, integrity, and contributions to women’s education highlight its significance. Currently part of the Old East Baltimore Historic District, this paper argues IND merits individual listing on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and historical importance. Additionally, this study outlines the research methodology employed, forming the foundation for a future National Register nomination.
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Quantum Optimization for Solving NP-Hard Problems
(2024) Dayal, Arnav; Kalidindi, Raghava; Kosuru, Sohan; Moosavi, Miles; Jabeen, Shabnab
The University of Maryland has a lot of resources that it seeks to ensure every student has easy access to, ranging from facilities like Wi-fi to basic safety measures such as streetlights. Ensuring these resources are properly distributed amongst campus can grow to be expensive considering the University’s 1,339-acre estate. This optimization algorithm aims to minimize the resources necessary to ensure the entirety of any given area is fully encompassed by whatever facility the user desires. Quantum optimization is the ideal way to accomplish this task as classical optimizers are unable to provide as efficient of a solution due to the risk of getting trapped in local minima and the significantly weaker processing ability. The poorer performance of the classical optimizer is demonstrated in our results.
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Connecting Spaces: Gender, Video Games and Computing in the Early Teens
(Sage, 2023-04) Ashlock, Jennifer; Stojnic, Miodrag; Tufekci, Zeynep
Informed by evidence that computing attitudes may be uniquely constructed in informal contexts and that the early teens are a key period for academic decision-making, we investigate lines of practice that connect computing skills, attitudes, and videogames. We compare the relationship between computer skill, computer efficacy, and activities associated with gaming using a data set of 3,868 children in middle school. The time that children spend gaming has very modest association with skill and efficacy. Accounting for the frequency with which children modify games, engage in social gaming activities, and the salience of gamer identity explains the gender gap in computer skill and significantly narrows the gender gap in computer efficacy. We find support for the argument that computer skill and efficacy are dependent on children connecting often isolated social contexts, a socially embedded characteristic of the digital divide.