Cooperative Design, Cooperative Science: Investigating Collaborative Research through Design with Floracaching

This dissertation presents a case study of collaborative research through design with Floracaching, a gamified mobile application for citizen science biodiversity data collection. One contribution of this study is the articulation of collaborative research through design (CRtD), an approach that blends cooperative design approaches with the research through design methodology (RtD). Collaborative research through design is thus defined as an iterative process of cooperative design, where the collaborative vision of an ideal state is embedded in a design. Applying collaborative research through design with Floracaching illustrates how a number of cooperative techniques—especially contextual inquiry, prototyping, and focus groups—may be applied in a research through design setting. Four suggestions for collaborative research through design (recruit from a range of relevant backgrounds; take flexibility as a goal; enable independence and agency; and, choose techniques that support agreement or consensus) are offered to help others who wish to experiment with this new approach. Applying collaborative research through design to Floracaching yielded a new prototype of the application, accompanied by design annotations in the form of framing constructs for designing to support mobile, place-based citizen science activities. The prototype and framing constructs, which may inform other designers of similar citizen science technologies, are a second contribution of this research.

THE FEASIBILITY OF USING WEB-BASED TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF DREDGING PROJECTS

The research investigates the feasibility of using web-based project management systems for dredging. To achieve this objective the research assessed both the positive and negative aspects of using web-based technology for the management of dredging projects. Information gained from literature review and prior investigations of dredging projects revealed that project performance, social, political, technical, and business aspects of the organization were important factors in deciding to use web-based systems for the management of dredging projects. These factors were used to develop the research assumptions. An exploratory case study methodology was used to gather the empirical evidence and perform the analysis. An operational prototype of the system was developed to help evaluate developmental and functional requirements, as well as the influence on performance, and on the organization. The evidence gathered from three case study projects, and from a survey of 31 experts, were used to validate the assumptions. Baselines, representing the assumptions, were created as a reference to assess the responses and qualitative measures. The deviation of the responses was used to evaluate for the analysis. Finally, the conclusions were assessed by validating the assumptions with the evidence, derived from the analysis. The research findings are as follows: 1. The system would help improve project performance. 2. Resistance to implementation may be experienced if the system is implemented. Therefore, resistance to implementation needs to be investigated further and more R&D work is needed in order to advance to the final design and implementation. 3. System may be divided into standalone modules in order to simplify the system and facilitate incremental changes. 4. The QA/QC conceptual approach used by this research needs to be redefined during future R&D to satisfy both owners and contractors. Yin (2009) Case Study Research Design and Methods was used to develop the research approach, design, data collection, and analysis. Markus (1983) Resistance Theory was used during the assumptions definition to predict potential problems to the implementation of web-based project management systems for the dredging industry. Keen (1981) incremental changes and facilitative approach tactics were used as basis to classify solutions, and how to overcome resistance to implementation of the web-based project management system. Davis (1989) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to assess the solutions needed to overcome the resistances to the implementation of web-base management systems for dredging projects.

Physiological Effects of Alcohol on Crayfish Escape Circuitry

Alcohol is one of the oldest and most widely used drugs on the planet, but the cellular mechanisms by which it affects neural function are still poorly understood. Unlike other drugs of abuse, alcohol has no specific receptor in the nervous system, but is believed to operate through GABAergic and serotonergic neurotransmitter systems. Invertebrate models offer circuits of reduced numerical complexity and involve the same cell types and neurotransmitter systems as vertebrate circuits. The well-understood neural circuits controlling crayfish escape behavior offer neurons that are modulated by GABAergic inhibition, thus making tail-flip circuitry an effective circuit model to study the cellular mechanisms of acute alcohol exposure. Crayfish are capable of two stereotyped, reflexive escape behaviors known as tail-flips that are controlled by two different pairs of giant interneurons, the lateral giants (LG) and the medial giants (MG). The LG circuit has been an established model in the neuroscience field for more than 60 years and is almost completely mapped out. In contrast, the MG is still poorly understood, but has important behavioral implications in social behavior and value-based decision making. In this dissertation, I show that both crayfish tail-flip circuitry are physiologically sensitive to relevant alcohol concentrations and that this sensitivity is observable on the single cell level. I also show that this ethyl alcohol (EtOH) sensitivity in the LG can be changed by altering the crayfish’s recent social experience and by removing descending inputs to the LG. While the MG exhibits similar physiological sensitivity, its inhibitory properties have never been studied before this research. Through the use of electrophysiological and pharmacological techniques, I show that the MG exhibits many similar inhibitory properties as the LG that appear to be the result of GABA-mediated chloride currents. Finally, I present evidence that the EtOH-induced changes in the MG are blocked through pre-treatment of the potent GABAA receptor agonist, muscimol, which underlines the role of GABA in EtOH’s effects on crayfish tail-flip circuitry. The work presented here opens the way for crayfish tail-flip circuitry to be used as an effective model for EtOH’s acute effects on aggression and value-based decision making.