Syracuse University
Syracuse University Research Facility and Collaborative EnvironmentNot a member yet
20376 research outputs found
Sort by
Evidence of the Evolution of Interdisciplinarity: A Study of Boundary Objects In Information Science
Get PDFThis research investigates interdisciplinarity within the field of information science through the lens of boundary objects, addressing the primary research question: How does an examination of academic boundary objects provide evidence of the evolution of interdisciplinarity? By analyzing four boundary objects, (1) a peer-reviewed journal, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIS&T) (2) an academic conference, the iConference, (3) university organizational structures of U.S. iSchools, and (4) the nomenclature used to refer to U.S. iSchool academic units, the study explores how these artifacts document the collaboration and evolution of academic communities in information science. Motivated by the need to provide actionable insights for higher education administrators, this research provides a process to demonstrate fluctuations in interdisciplinarity that can inform resource allocation, recruitment, and organizational planning. Grounded in Star and Griesemer’s Theory of Boundary Objects and Kline’s interdisciplinarity framework, this study employs text and content analysis to track shifts in academic communities. It introduces a novel method that extends beyond bibliometric approaches, allowing for the examination of non-traditional artifacts such as course catalogs and syllabi. Findings reveal three distinct narratives: (1) the evolution of the information science field, (2) the evolving role of library science within information science, and (3) the shifting of key elements - Information, People, and Technology - within the discipline. By analyzing boundary objects within information science, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of interdisciplinarity amongst academic communities and over time
Anticipating the Adoption of Quantum Computing Technology by Organizations
Get PDFThis study investigated the challenges that may influence the successful adoption of adiabatic quantum computers based on an analysis of three case studies of organizations that adopted technologies adjacent to adiabatic quantum computers. Through the lens of the affordance framework, a mixed methods approach identified common challenges and themes when adopting different forms of classical computing. The qualitative method involved analyzing pre-existing documentation on classical computing technologies through a reflexive narrative review of the case studies. For the quantitative aspect, an A/B testing approach was used to compare the performance of D-Wave adiabatic quantum computers in solving a well-established computer science problem against traditional classical computing solutions. The qualitative findings revealed key factors impacting the adoption of technologies adjacent to adiabatic quantum computers. Despite different technological challenges, the desire to modernize and address competitive pressure was the common factor motivating organizations to adopt new technologies. Top management support and organizational adaptability were crucial for organizations to actualize these technologies. The quantitative approach demonstrated an example of how to implement a perceived affordance for adiabatic quantum computers. This experiment illustrates that quantum computers should be viewed as a complementary system to classical computers, working in cooperation rather than replacing them. Based on these findings, practical guidance recommendations for organizational managers on how to improve their supply chain and increase the likelihood of a successful adoption of adiabatic quantum computers are provided
Satisfying Singlehood: The Role of Need Fulfillment in Shaping Singlehood Satisfaction and Well-Being
No full textInterpersonal relationships are essential to individuals’ well-being as they contribute to psychological need fulfillment. Building on research on romantic relationships, I proposed that the extent to which a single person’s psychological needs are fulfilled should shape their experience of singlehood. Specifically, I predicted and found in Studies 1 and 2 that need fulfillment was positively associated with singlehood satisfaction both individually and when examined alongside expected need fulfillment and relationship desire. In Study 3, I found that need fulfillment predicted singlehood satisfaction over time only when controlling for relationship desire. I also examined the relationship between expected need fulfillment and singlehood satisfaction, but these results were less consistent. Across all three studies, I found that need fulfillment and expected need fulfillment were associated with some facets of well-being cross-sectionally (Studies 1 and 2) and over time (Study 3). In Study 3, I also tested whether need fulfillment and expected need fulfillment predicted remaining single and dating intention behaviors over time. Contradicting my hypothesis, there was no association between need fulfillment and expected need fulfillment and remaining single. Surprisingly, I found that need fulfillment was associated with an increase in dating behaviors over time. This work advances the need fulfillment literature, demonstrating that need fulfillment plays a role in shaping singlehood satisfaction, well-being, and dating behaviors. Consistent with research on romantic relationships, the extent to which a person’s psychological needs are fulfilled influences their satisfaction
ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE COLLABORATIVE INNOVATIONS
Get PDFPartnerships between government organizations and private sector firms combine efficiency advantages from the private sector with benefits of institutional supports and oversight from public agencies and thereby offer promising solutions to many “grand challenges” faced by contemporary society. A broad variety of such public-private partnerships (PPPs) are innovation-oriented and aim to create value through the search, creation, retention, and transfer of knowledge. Surprisingly, despite the seemingly important role of organizational learning (OL) in such partnerships, research on PPPs has largely focused on societal value creation and to a lesser extent on firm value capture but has not delved deeply into how such value considerations may influence OL, particularly OL related to private firms, in PPPs. My dissertation is motivated by this gap and starts with a conceptual framework that examines how the private firm’s value gain from its knowledge base may be influenced by risks embedded in the partnerships with the government. I specifically studied how two knowledge-related risks embedded in PPPs, namely knowledge myopia and knowledge spillovers, may reshape the private firm’s knowledge flows. The relevance of the theorization resides in the importance and uniqueness of the PPP context. Building on the conceptual framework, I proceed to explore how a private firm in the PPP would strategically respond to the governmental impacts in its own non-PPP learning behavior. The empirical results suggest that private firms may dig deeper into the PPP-relevant knowledge areas for innovation inputs and search wider in technological domains as their innovation outputs. This novel conceptualization of ambidexterity (knowledge sourcing and technology spanning) under the PPP context contributes to the learning literature by highlighting the links between organizational goals and ambidexterity dimensions. I further explore a broader theoretical extension that can be verified by appropriate empirical methods. Specifically, I investigate the scenario in which multiple private firms work together in the same PPP project. Based on interpartner learning theories and the dynamic interplay between private, common, and public benefits, I theorize that the governmental involvement in such partnerships increases the motivation and opportunity of knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing between partner firms, thus leading to a higher level of interfirm knowledge transfer as compared to the scenario in PPPs. In sum, my dissertation primarily focuses on how private-sector firms respond—in their knowledge-related strategies—to the opportunities and challenges of governmental involvement that might alter the firms’ innovation trajectory. My work is intended to initiate an effort toward the synergy between the PPP and OL literatures. I believe such cross-field conversation can help us reveal more enlightening and undocumented wisdom for a better understanding of how to manage the grand challenges faced by our society
Elucidating Climate Dynamics from Holocene Reconstructions in Alaska, Greenland, and the North Atlantic
Get PDFArctic amplification is a combination of ice-ocean-atmospheric feedbacks that causes the northern high latitudes to be extremely sensitive to climate change. These processes combined with anthropogenic warming are currently driving Arctic temperatures to increase at a rate almost four times faster than global average. However, it is unclear how current and future climate change in the Arctic compares to the natural variability of the climate system over longer timescales. The Holocene (11,700 years ago to present) provides abundant well-preserved, sub-millennial to centennial-scale records of climate, and encompasses periods of relatively rapid warming and cooling which can be compared to anthropogenic warming. Despite the utility of Holocene paleoclimate records for capturing climate variability relative to present, there remains questions regarding the spatiotemporal patterns and drivers of climate change in Arctic regions. One key limitation is the lack of a dense network of high-resolution proxies that capture temperature and precipitation variability. For example, in southwestern Greenland, ice-free terrestrial areas are key to understanding how temperature and precipitation variability drives the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) at is margins. In Arctic Alaska, the interplay between moisture source and sea-ice extent in the Arctic Ocean may be important to future precipitation dynamics in this region, but few records exist to examine centennial-scale linkages in the past. Broadly, existing paleoclimate records from these regions indicate that a complex combination of temperature, sea-ice extent, glacier thaw, and ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns drive climate change through time. However, disentangling these dynamic processes remains elusive. The three chapters that make up my dissertation are focused on 1) producing new climate reconstructions that contribute to our understanding of Arctic climate dynamics in the Holocene and 2) constrain the drivers of climate variability on centennial to millennial timescales in high latitude environments. The main questions of my dissertation research are as follows: Chapter 2 – Is the heterogeneity of climate trends observed over the Middle to Late Holocene in southwestern Greenland a result of disparate climate records capturing distinct aspects of the climate system? Are there complex feedbacks between ice thaw and ocean dynamics that can be elucidated from comparing paleoclimate records along a north to south gradient? Chapter 3 – What were the major drivers of hydroclimate variability in Arctic Alaska over the Late Holocene? Do regional records show comparable responses to sea-ice and atmospheric forcing, or is there local-scale variability? Chapter 4 – Does NAO-like climate variability impact the North Atlantic region on centennial timescales in the Late Holocene? What does a compilation of climate reconstructions from the North Atlantic and northern Europe suggest about the climate system in this region? For each of these chapters, I utilize isotope-based climate proxies and consider the relative information that can be obtained from site specific variability versus regional coherency among these records, with the overarching goal of highlighting the importance of understanding unique drivers of proxy variability when reconstructing the past. To address my first research questions (Chapter 2), I used oxygen isotopes from insect remains (chitin) preserved in lake sediments to reconstruct past temperature and precipitation variability from a site in southwestern Greenland and compare this new record to isotope-based reconstructions along the western coast of Greenland. This new isotope record spans the past 8,200 years and has among the highest temporal resolution of the existing paleoclimate records in the region. By examining the trends and relative magnitudes of change among these records, I elucidate the spatial variability of climate response to forcing in this region during the Middle to Late Holocene. These records suggest that sea-ice variability in the Labrador Sea likely played an important role the timing and magnitude of climate change from north to south along the western Coast of Greenland. For my second set of questions (Chapter 3), I build upon the techniques from Chapter 2 to further understand past moisture and temperature variability in the Arctic by focusing on the Alaskan North Slope. With this work, I capitalized on sediment measurements including magnetic susceptibility, elemental abundances from X-ray fluorescence, and bulk-sediment carbon isotopes to constrain how the lake catchment may have changed through time, and determine the impact of those changes on the isotopic composition of lake water. The chitin-isotope record from my site spans the past 3,000 years, capturing the broad-scale trend of Neoglacial cooling in the region as well as the Little Ice Age. I find evidence that the isotopic composition of rainfall, as recorded by insect remains, was strongly linked to the extent of sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean in the Late Holocene. Moreover, this study offers important insight into the local-scale variability that can impact the isotopic composition recorded in sedimentary records. To answer my final research questions (Chapter 4), I capitalize on empirical datasets of precipitation isotopes, including my newly generated isotope record from Greenland (Chapter 2), to generate a regional analysis for understanding dominant climate forcing mechanisms in the North Atlantic Sector over the past 3,000 years. I find that there is a robust bimodal pattern of moisture variability from the North Atlantic to eastern Europe, which is a pattern that at present is linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). However, careful consideration of these records and spatial patterns suggests that mechanisms such as sea-ice variability and ocean circulation more directly affect precipitation isotope variability in the North Atlantic sector on centennial timescales, contrary to previous records that suggest that NAO-like climate variability was an important driver. Together, these chapters illustrate the importance of careful consideration of proxy data when drawing inferences about climate variability on multiple timescales
UNDERSTANDING THE KNOWLEDGE USED IN PLANNING PROBLEM-SOLVING LESSONS: ADDRESSING SUBOPTIMAL MATHEMATICS PERFORMANCE IN A MIXED DAY SECONDARY SCHOOL SERVING MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN KENYA
No full textIn Kenya, mixed-day secondary schools, serving primarily economically marginalized communities, face significant challenges such as resource scarcity, overcrowded classrooms, and deeply rooted socio-cultural barriers. These factors contribute to persistent suboptimal mathematics performance, limiting students\u27 future educational and economic opportunities and reinforcing socio-economic inequality. This study, grounded in social constructivism, positions teacher professional development (TPD) as a transformative tool for disrupting these cycles of inequality. Theoretical frameworks by Vygotsky (1978) and Ladson-Billings (1994) support the idea that learning is shaped by social interaction and cultural tools, and that empowering teachers with contextually responsive practices can enhance students\u27 mathematical access, participation, and outcomes. This study examined the nature of knowledge used by nine mathematics teachers in a Lesson Study TPD model designed to improve problem solving lesson planning. Participants were recruited from Rieko Mixed-Day Secondary School in Kenya, and engaged in one full cycle of Lesson Study, consisting of eight collaborative sessions. The study focused on planning a problem-solving lesson for Form Two mathematics on Similarity and Enlargement. Data were collected through a pre-survey, audio-visual recordings, participant reflections, lesson plans, and field notes, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four categories of knowledge emerged: Knowledge of Mathematical Problems (KMP), Knowledge of Students as Problem Solvers (KSPS), Instructional Knowledge for Problem Solving (IKPS), and a newly identified category—Knowledge of Context and Culture (KCC). This latter category reflects how teachers used their understanding of students’ cultural backgrounds and local contexts in lesson planning. The study also revealed teachers’ beliefs about challenges contributing to suboptimal mathematics outcomes, including negative learner attitudes, gender stereotypes, and struggles with implementing the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). The findings highlight Lesson Study’s potential as a tool for fostering contextually grounded teacher knowledge and promoting professional collaboration in under-resourced settings. By addressing both cognitive and cultural aspects of learning, this research offers insights into creating more equitable and culturally responsive mathematics instruction for marginalized communities
Gamma Ray Detection In Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers
Get PDFGamma rays are photons in excess of 100 keV of energy and can be produced by a variety of mechanisms like radioactive decay and inelastic neutrino-argon interactions. A reconstruc- tion of Compton scattering gamma rays was developed for use in liquid argon time projection chambers. This reconstruction was tested with detectors developed to demonstrate the ca- pabilities of Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector Liquid Argon target (ND LAr). In October 2024, a radioactive fluorine-18 source was placed next to the Full Scale Demonstrator. The data obtained was used to test this reconstruction algorithm. It was able to determine the direction of the photons with an error of less than 10 percent. In addition to this work, there has been significant work on designing a liquid argon based Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner. PET scanners detect gamma rays emitted by a tracer chemical to help screen for diseases like cancer. In addition to the applications to medical imaging, this thesis briefly explores the applications of this reconstruction to de-excitation photons produced in interactions between neutrinos and argon nuclei. These applications could improve studies focusing on neutrinos originating from accelerators and supernovae
HOPE IN THE LIVING WATER
Get PDFThis thesis focuses on the concepts and ideas behind my paintings. It aims to explain the conceptual and theological aspects of my works as well as the importance of faith in a Christian’s life. Using my own experiences, I reveal how faith can help us understand sufferings, and how through our faith-related experiences we mature in spirit, learn to understand God’s ways, and ultimately enjoy His companionship. Though our faith does not live by understanding all the ways of God, by growing in faith we will understand in spirit that all things will work out for good for those who are in Christ, even if we cannot comprehend that truth with our earthly logic. In that respect, I will explain how our Christian belief comes into practice. The main ideas in this thesis are faith, Christian suffering, God’s way of working, and one’s relationship with God according to the Christian theological truth, confirming that all things have been created through God and for God (NIV Bible, Colossians 1:16)