Entity Resolution (ER) has been one of the bedrocks in the creation of information systems by ensuring ambiguous entities are identified and resolved by linking. One common design approach of traditional ER systems is to run in single-threaded mode, which makes the system prone to out-of-memory error when processing larger datasets. The Data…

Modern Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and open-source software (OSS) have revolutionized our ability to access and process data, enabling us to tackle increasingly complex problems and challenges. While these technologies provide substantial benefits, they often expose users to vulnerabilities that can severely damage individuals and…

As part of the process for designing an online information technology (IT) course, hands-on activities may be included; however, the literature has not readily revealed the best practices and challenges instructional designers (IDs) face with including hands-on activities in an online IT course. Research has shown that hands-on learning increases…

Graph data, especially large graph data, come up in many domains, such as social networks, the map of science, biological data, and even knitting! This presents a problem when we consider visualizing these structures. Layouts must be chosen carefully so that the structure of the graph is visible. Some graphs are large enough and connected enough…

Shoeprints are a common type of evidence found at crime scenes and are regularly used in forensic investigations. However, their utility is limited by the lack of reference footwear databases that cover the large and growing number of distinct shoe models. Additionally, existing methods for matching crime-scene shoeprints to reference databases…

Smart cities surveil through ubiquitous and intrusive data collection via networked sensors. Smart city efforts are also frequently imagined as primarily top-down and male visions of the future in service of economic benefit. The smart campus presents a new dimension of smart city urbanism as an identified gap in literature. In the following…

My dissertation focuses on coordination around personal data and human-data interaction in a high-stakes, high-performance environment: college sports. In the last decade, wearable tracking technologies--e.g., FitBit, Garmin, Catapult, Whoop, Oura Ring--have introduced new data streams, such as heart rate and sleep measurement, which college…

The field of instructional design and technology (IDT) has become an alternative career path for many former K-12 classroom teachers who have left the teaching profession. The purpose of this study was to determine the transferable skills, skills gaps, and their impacts on former K-12 educators who have made this career transition. A mixed methods…

To meet the employment demands in the information technology industry, it is crucial for higher education institutions to design sustainable curricula to prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed to enter and stay competitive in an ever-changing workforce. A review of one Mid-Atlantic University's information technology programs…

Members in online communities of practice (CoPs) take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to exchange practical or work-related knowledge in asynchronous online environments. Practical knowledge represents individuals' mental models allowing them to interact with the environment and perform tasks. With ICTs, practical…

This thesis explores the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in two challenging scenarios -- autism therapy, and network-constrained, remote collaboration. In the first half of this thesis, we highlight the design and implementation of CustomAR and Augmented Playgrounds -- two applications that leverage the visualization and contextual abilities of AR…

Population growth and migration patterns have shown an influx of residents from rural to urban environments. To deal with the problems caused by unprecedented urban influx, cities should plan to use technology in a smart and distinctive way. Tackling at the city scale is hard. But a set of smart buildings that are interconnected by technology will…

In this dissertation research, three studies were conducted to better understand how technology-driven design processes and skill sets are taught and mentored in Industrial Design (ID) education and the contemporary industry and to update existing design processes, methods, and tools that can help instructors to teach and guide ID students to…

Crisis necessitates society to renew itself, frequently in a disruptive manner. The recent pandemic is accelerating the transformative modalities of learning, working, and relating with one another, both abruptly and radically. This paper examines the area of online education and attempts to show the effects of how institutions of higher education…

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental correlational study was to evaluate the influences of video gaming activities on information technology enrollment at the post-secondary education level. The research entailed an examination of the relationships between video gaming, information technology academic entry, behavioral intention to…