ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: engineering
Description
This increasing role of highly automated and intelligent systems as team members has started a paradigm shift from human-human teaming to Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT). However, moving from human-human teaming to HAT is challenging. Teamwork requires skills that are often missing in robots and synthetic agents. It is possible that adding a synthetic agent as a team member may lead teams to demonstrate different coordination patterns resulting in differences in team cognition and ultimately team effectiveness. The theory of Interactive Team Cognition (ITC) emphasizes the importance of team interaction behaviors over the collection of individual knowledge. In this dissertation, Nonlinear Dynamical Methods (NDMs) were applied to capture characteristics of overall team coordination and communication behaviors. The findings supported the hypothesis that coordination stability is related to team performance in a nonlinear manner with optimal performance associated with moderate stability coupled with flexibility. Thus, we need to build mechanisms in HATs to demonstrate moderately stable and flexible coordination behavior to achieve team-level goals under routine and novel task conditions.
ContributorsDemir, Mustafa, Ph.D (Author) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer (Committee member) / Amazeen, Polemnia G (Committee member) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Although knowledge about effective teaching and learning exists, and theories of change strategies are considered, the lack of the understanding of the behavior of engineering faculty during curricular change remains a major contributor against robust efforts for change. In this work, faculty adaptability is conceptualized as self-regulation during curricular change. Faculty participants were recruited from two divergent curricular change contexts: one that is prescribed with interdependence while the other is emergent with uncertainty. In this study, attitude toward context’s strength is conceptualized along the four dimensions of clarity, consistency, constraints, and consequences of the context, while faculty’s self-efficacy and willingness for adaptability are conceptualized along the three dimensions of planning, reflecting, and adjusting. This study uses a mixed method, quantitative-qualitative, sequential explanatory research design. The quantitative phase addresses the question of “How does faculty group in the first context differ from faculty group in the second context in terms of self-efficacy and willingness for planning, adjusting, and reflecting?” The qualitative phase addresses the question of “How do faculty respond to curricular change, as exhibited in their activities of planning, adjusting, and reflecting during change?” Findings point to differences in patterns of correlations between attitude toward context with both self-efficacy and willingness across the two contexts, even though analysis showed no significant differences between attitude toward context, self-efficacy, and willingness across the two contexts. Moreover, faculty participants’ willingness for adjusting, in both contexts, was not correlated with neither attitude toward context’s clarity nor constraints. Furthermore, in the prescribed context, Group A faculty (self-identified as Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, or Adjunct Faculty) showed higher willingness for planning, adjusting, and reflecting activities, compared to Group B faculty (self-identified as Assistant, Associate or Full Professors). Also, in the prescribed context, Group A faculty showed no overall significant correlation with attitude toward context. This study has implications on the way change is conceived of, designed, and implemented, when special attention is given to faculty as key change agents. Without the comprehensive understanding of the adaptability of faculty as key change agents in the educational system, the effective enacting of curricular change initiatives will remain unfulfilled.
ContributorsAli, Hadi (Author) / McKenna, Ann (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer (Committee member) / Roscoe, Rod (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
For decades, engineering scholarship has presented data to address the underrepresentation of Black womxn in the engineering doctoral community. American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)’s Engineering by the Numbers Report (2021) statistically showed that only 57 Black womxn out of 10,037 scholars received engineering doctorates in 2021. Engineering scholars have theorized about constructs ranging from whiteness to explain the system, to doctoral socialization to explain the culture, to retention explain the experiences. Yet, even with the plethora of scholarship, the problem of underrepresentation has remained consistent with limited action towards change from the faculty, the program, or the institution. Therefore, I aim to address this problem by cultivating emotional resonance toward action within the engineering community regarding engineering doctoral program underrepresentation for Black womxn. Using Arts-Based Research (ABR) and Black Feminist Thought (BFT), this dissertation illustrates the engineering PhD spirit-murdering experiences of Black womxn. Six Homegirls intellectually contributed to this study by sharing their time and experiences through artistic expressions and homegirl conversations. Through the lens of BFT’s matrix of domination, the composite blog shows that spirit-murdering for these Homegirls: 1) is a targeted act that is dehumanizing 2) occurs because of the aloof nature and capitalist ideals of the engineering academy, and 3) causes further conflict in negotiating identities as Black, woman, professional, researcher, and student. Leaning on BFT’s grounding as an Afrocentric methodological approach, the composite poem illustrates that these Homegirls: 1) have a common, understood epistemology because of their shared experiences of being Black and woman in their current, multi-layered social locations, 2) identify strongly with their positionality and values while describing their outsider-within status, and 3) experience spirit-murdering in an emotional, intellectual, and spiritual way that then results in physical manifestations. Rooted in BFT’s ethic of caring, the hip-hop mixtape’s progression describes homegirl’s spirit-renewal tactics as: 1) owning their professional identity, 2) dispelling projected biases, stereotypes, and aggressions, 3) calling out inequities in their interpersonal relationships and program culture, 4) learning to set boundaries to protect themselves, and 5) standing on their ways of knowing and being.
ContributorsNicole, Fantasi (Author) / Coley, Brooke C. (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer (Committee member) / Holly, Jr., James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Engineering leadership is an emerging research area in engineering education that aligns well with recent attention to the production of leaders and diverse engineers. While engineering leadership studies have highlighted elements such as the skills, traits, and behaviors required in pursuing and executing leadership, there is a narrow focus on the current work that also considers marginalized engineers' leadership experiences. Currently, studies that explore engineering leadership as investigations have occurred without consideration of the ways identity also factors into leadership experiences. This work considers the experiences and perspectives of early-career Black engineers engaged in leadership. The research questions that guided this study were: What are the experiences of early-career Black engineers that influence their leadership development? Through the stories of early career Black engineers, what conceptualizations of leadership are illuminated because of explicit and intentional consideration of racial identity in engineering leadership performance and development? How do early-career Black engineers navigate leadership in their professional journeys? The following frameworks guided this work: Komives' Leadership Identity Development Model, Esteban-Guitart's Funds of Identity, McGee's Stereotype Management Theory, and Campbell's Theory of the Monomyth. This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry and semi-structured interviews and captures the stories from six early-career Black engineers. The findings from these stories illuminated the following elements of engineering leadership: a sense of duty and agency to lead, the power of mentorship, and the complex role of managing identity in leadership. This work illustrates strategies encouraging engineering institutions, organizations, and enterprises to consider how leadership is conceptualized and actualized for Black engineers. This study intentionally centers on the authentic voices of Black engineers and considers how personal identity impacts the pursuit and execution of leadership and leadership development. Such considerations have the potential to influence engineering leadership development programs and initiatives that incorporate the unique perspectives of Black engineers.
ContributorsThomas, Katreena (Author) / Coley, Brooke (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer (Committee member) / London, Jeremi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022