Advising

I work with an ecclectic mix of undergraduate and graduate students specializing in diverse research areas including the social impacts of technology, the design of software and research approaches that support community computing and collaboration, the usability and usefulness of health information for tailored for women, the creation of emacipatory pedagogies and criticalframeworks for engaging with digital multimedia, and the use of technology to maintain romantic relationships.

Recent Students

Doctorial Dissertations

Bikelpa Neupane Bikalpa Neupane
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Dissertation Committee Chair)

Mr. Neupane's dissertation examines equity in digital media design for learning environments.
Richard Wirth Richard Wirth
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Committee Member)

Mr. Worth is is currently finishing his dissertation on the ethnographic study of player self-governance in massively multiplayer online games.
Sarah Almoaiqel Sarah Almoaiqel (2018)
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Dissertation Committee Member)

Dr. Almoaiqel's ethnographic study examines effective organizational and technology design strategies to facilitate collaboration in gender segregated workplaces.
Kayla Booth Kayla Booth (2018)
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Dissertation Advisor)

This interpretive study examines how young people assess the quality of fitness information found on social media. The relationship between intersections of mulitiple identity characteristics (race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomoic class) are theorized.
Ying Xu Ying Xu (2018)
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Dissertation Committee Member)

Dr. Xu's fieldwork uses a participatory design approach to train refugees in Rwanda to use ICT to gather data about assets in their local community.
Elizabeth Eikey Elizabeth Eikey (2017)
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Dissertation Advisor)

This research examines technologies for health, wellness, and eating disorders. Eikey studies how various design elements affect users' beliefs and behaviors, and how people use technology.
David James David James (2017)
PhD, Information Studies, Syracuse University
(Dissertation Committee Member)

This study seeks to determine whether optimal collaborations called group flow experiences can happen in groups of musicians writing songs in an online music composition community. Specifically, the research will describe how and why social practices and digital tools impact a group's ability to achieve flow.
Curtis Cain Curtis Cain (2016)
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Dissertation Committee Member)

This study identifies and analyzes the individual, institutional and societal factors both that support and undermine the achievement of Black males completing IT degrees and entering the workforce. In addition, the study addresses coping mechanisms used by Black males when presented with stereotypes while pursuing an IT degree.
Anna Levy Anna Levy (2015)
PhD, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Dissertation Committee Member)

This research centers on issues related to development of local eGovernment in small college towns in Pennsylvania. This study explores how the design, online content and functionality of several municipal government websites have been shaped in response to shifts in administrative policies, goals and priorities of local government as well as, possibly, town-gown connections.

Masters Theses

Anthony Pinter Anthony Pinter (2018)
MS, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Thesis Advisor)

Mr. Pinter's research examines identity performance and perception in online communities. He has also served as a research assistant on an NSF sponsored project that examines adolescent online safety and another that examines crowdsourcing the construction of an online cyberlaw textbook.
Sarah Almoaiqel Sarah Almoaiqel (2015)
MS, Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
(Thesis Committee Member)

Ms. Almoaiqel's study examines the challenges and enablers to ICT integration in Saudi Arabian girl's schools.

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Skylar Slotter Skylar Slotter (2016)
Schreyer Honors College and the College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State
(Thesis Adviser)

Ms. Slotter's thesis examines the under-representation of women in computing with a particular focus on how the team environment impacts persistence of women in the College of IST.