▼ For a growing number of students, education debt is becoming a familiar and common reality. Borrowing money for a college education is unlike any financial experience that exists today. Unlike taking out a loan for a car or a mortgage for a home, students enroll in a cycle of continuous investing-potentially carrying on for a lifetime. Faced with a number of challenges at the onset of their college experience, students are borrowing without regard to the future impact of their decision making, placing incredible strain and emphasis on the value of their education. Further, they rely heavily on the knowledge and decision making of others to guide their financial management experiences. Students are also discovering that their support needs and expectations are not being met through the traditional service offerings of Financial Aid offices and other such university resources. In regard to borrowing for education, these factors create a generation of students faced with inconceivable amounts of debt that lack the financial capability, experience, and resources necessary to gain a better perspective. Design serves as a positive vehicle for change in an area where students need assistance. Students are in need of a better experience, one that provides them greater value in support of their future growth as students and members of the greater society. Without change, students will continue to pursue their financial experiences with apathy or carelessness; consequently, debt rates will continue to rise with inflation and new generations of graduates will face adulthood on the cusp of financial ruin. Advisors/Committee Members: Visocky-O'Grady, Ken.

▼ This thesis proposes a Visual Art microformat specification which defines a way to semantically mark up information about visual art on the World Wide Web. Art museums are increasingly displaying and interpreting their collections online but adding semantics to the works of art on the web is complex and problematic. Primary research consists of documentation of labeling practices of four art museums and interviews with curators and relevant art museum professionals. The thesis demonstrates that information about visual art objects is in common use and relatively standardized. The thesis suggests that the proposed microformat is suitable to describe simple semantics of visual art labels on the web and indicates potential benefits of using the proposed microformat. Advisors/Committee Members: Katila, Sanda.

▼ For thousands of years, stories have been the ultimate source and basic instruction for human emotion and understanding. Stories operate on many levels and communicate on multiple ways that we as humans understand and appreciate. What makes family stories great is that they are real. These accounts capture our attention and teach us lessons in layers, while the most powerful experiences linger in our memories for years. Stories are easy to share, and become reference points for physical, emotional, mental, and sometimes spiritual connections in our lives. Historians are systematically collecting living people's testimony and life experiences while attempting to verify and analyze their findings. People's stories are unique and valuable treasures for families and communities. It is time to reevaluate how information such as personal narratives and memories are passed on between generations moving forward in a digital age. This thesis research will help aide families in capturing these stories the moment they happen and will create a resource for social historians, archivists, independent researchers, educators and future family members, offering more insight and guidance into everyday life in the future. Advisors/Committee Members: Visocky O'Grady, Ken.

▼ The emergency department can be a stressful, confusing place. Using touchscreen applications, patients can be educated and reassured about their stay in the ED. Once patients are discharged, following instructions can be difficult. Online discharge instructions provide greater readability and usability to patients, helping patients care for themselves more effectively. Advisors/Committee Members: Visocky O'Grady, Ken.

▼ The Millennials are a group, born from 1977-1994, that have experienced great technological advancements during their formative years as children. Cell phones, computers, the internet, social networks, video games, ipods, digital tablets, and GPS have impacted their lives in big ways. This unique aspect to their youth has resulted in distinctive generational characteristics; they are tech-savvy multitaskers, independent, and worldly. They also have formed expectations in what they wish for with their education, both in tools offered and delivery methods used by educators. This presents many challenges for educators to stay abreast of technological advancements as they are implemented in classrooms, as seen by the adoption of tablet technology across the nation. Tablets are quickly replacing traditional textbooks as school systems see new opportunities to save both districts and students a high financial savings. As tablets replace textbooks, educators are often left without proper training to understand the full capabilities of this new tool. A generational, societal, and cultural gap between educators and students will continue to widen if this area is not researched. Tablet based educational materials must meet a criteria that educators feel comfortable implementing, and students feel engaged by its design. This thesis sets out to understand the Millenial generation and develop an educational tool that harnesses aspects of their technological culture as a means to engage them as students in new ways. In addition, the format and delivery method of textbooks have remained untouched for decades. Educational materials no longer need to resemble a traditional textbook as they make the leap to a digital platform. Tablets need not remain a digital version of a book. This new technology presents vast opportunities to present the same educational materials with multiple learning styles, an interface that connects multiple course subjects in their relevancy, place it contextually in history, and place the audience as the authors themselves (similar to Wikipedia). Generation Y’s characteristics also demand the development of new concepts in regards to the presentation of educational materials. Engaging an audience that is familiar with juggling multiple devices and platforms must be considered as tablets are implemented. According to the most recent U.S. Census statistics on Generation Y, math and science scores are rising but the Scores from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment rates 15-year-old students in the U.S. performing about average in reading and science, and below average in math. Out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. Research is necessary to reveal the cognitive development and media usage habits of students in regular educational settings to then apply this information towards the production of a solution. In addition, the instructional techniques and technologies used by teachers will provided key analysis as a means to develop a tool conducive to both audiences. Tablet based educational materials must meet a criteria that educators feel comfortable implementing it, and students feel engaged by its design. The implications of this research will provide a foundation for continued development of educational tools in the classroom. As stated previously, this work will provide key analysis of Generation Y, the ‘gap’ between the generations, and how to effectively reach these new consumers in modes they are familiar with and comfortable to use. The prototyped solution is a result from the research of its users, both with students and faculty. Advisors/Committee Members: Visocky-O'Grady, Ken.

▼ This thesis explores the development of a series of illustrated portraits of current African American baseball players. It documents the artistic process and research necessary to make a narrative painting. In a world of instant communication and trash celebrity gossip photos, there exists an opportunity to surprise the viewer and gain attention with a well-conceived illustration. By advertising for baseball and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program with art, it could gain new life in an African American community that has abandoned the game. Advisors/Committee Members: Kalback, Jerry.

▼ Information retention is paramount to the education process. There is not a single act in academia that does not require extensive information recall. Beginning with the middle school grades, teachers increasingly rely on the lecture method of instruction. Incidentally, the middle grades are a critical period in the instruction of study skills as the students in that age range are developmentally ready to become strategic learners. Notable is a versatile tool that functions in varied note-taking environments. Considerations for different learning styles and activities that aid in information retention and recall are uniquely utilized throughout the application. This thesis offers a framework for the development of Notable. Ethnographic research was conducted on middle school students to gain insight on their learning environments, including the classroom, lecture styles, notetaking tools, organizational methods and social interactions among teachers and classmates. Quantitative research was conducted in the form of a survey. Over 70 participants submitted answers to questions revolving around achievement levels, learning styles, tools, and study habits. Data synthesized from surveys informed the construction of user personas and usage scenarios to help focus an iterative design approach toward the development of a comprehensive note-taking application. Advisors/Committee Members: Visocky O'Grady, Ken.

▼ Beginning with the Arts and Crafts period in the 1800s, craft has established itself as a vital cultural and socio-economic force in Western society. As the original movement cooled at the beginning of the 20th century, it evolved under the pressures generated by World War I and II taking on different forms as it influenced various art movements. Originally a reaction to industrialization, shifts in culture - due to technological innovation and redistribution in the labor force throughout the 20th century - reignited the craft flame for the everyday American in the form of the post-war Do-It-Yourself (DIY) spirit. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there has been a resurgence of craft as a means of personal fulfillment, ownership over environment and as a response to commercialization and standardization. This, fueled and propagated by the Internet, forms the ideological basis for a vast, diverse and scattered community of craftsmen. Through interviews, questionnaires, case studies and extensive secondary research on the topic of craftsmanship (both historical and current), the idea of unifying this group of modern craftsmen and projecting their thoughts for mainstream consideration will be investigated. Many individuals craft for various reasons, but there are threads that run deep through craft that link the contemporary American craftsman to the thinker-maker described by John Ruskin in the 19th century. It is this set of commonalities and departures that will be explored and brought to the public’s attention through this study. Advisors/Committee Members: Kalback, Jerry.

▼ More and more, children are spending time indoors in front of a television, computer or electronic gaming device. They are not spending time outside playing and interacting with other children and the natural world around them. Another aspect limiting children's opportunities for unstructured, outdoor play is their parent’s fear of the outside world, and a need to over-schedule, creating perfectly controlled environments for their children. “We are living in a time where parents may have to facilitate outdoor play for it to happen, but once they get their children started, they need to step back and leave them alone” (Marano, “Why Parents Should Stop Overprotecting Kids and Let Them Play…” 434). Imaginative, unstructured play is critical for children in becoming socially adept, building cognitive skills such as problem solving, and dealing with stress. It is through play that children engage and interact with the world around them. This research offers a way to combine digital media and unstructured, outdoor play through a mobile application called OhSnap! It provides children with a way to meet up with their neighborhood friends and play games that combine the use of their iPods outdoors. It also provides a tool for their parents to oversee their daily activities and participate in their child’s outdoor play adventures with their own mobile phone or device. Advisors/Committee Members: Rinnert, Gretchen.

▼ This research explores the hypothesis that the identity and environmental design of a business, whether created intentionally or not, attracts customers because it affirms some aspect of the customer’s self-concept. Two online surveys featuring photo-simulated shopping experiences in eight shopping scenarios—grocery stores, book stores, shoe stores, bakeries, wine stores, coffee shops, sit-down restaurants, and clothing stores—were distributed to online survey participants to evaluate self-concept, purchasing behavior, the application of retail patron images, store choice, and consumer perception of brand personality. Although connections to self-conflict were not conclusive, the findings of this research imply that consumers make judgments about the quality and availability of merchandise and service based on the exterior of a business. Consumers are also able to convey whom they think shops at a given store, an additional motivator for patronage. The research displays that it is important for retailers to have an understanding of their target audience in order to connect with them, and that predictive value may lie in consumer preference for similar store types. Advisors/Committee Members: Visocky O'Grady, Ken.

This thesis examines how contemporary education theory could support and justify certain advanced e-textbook design features, enhancing the student’s learning experience and fostering educational growth. Advisors/Committee Members: Visocky O'Grady, Ken.

▼ In Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood at the corner of East 66th and Lexington Avenue sits an abandoned brick building in front of a large open field. This is the only physical remnant of League Park, the ballpark where Cleveland’s professional baseball teams played from 1891 to 1950. For many this space is hallowed ground, rich in baseball history and Cleveland history. But for others it is a vacant space in a community that has suffered with inner city struggles for decades. Aside from an historical plaque, the famed story of the park on the actual site remains untold. Through the use of ethnographic research, including interviews with current and past residents of Hough, city officials, and other key stakeholders, the story of Hough neighborhood and League Park is explored to determine the need and direction for telling the story of the space, in the space. While the city of Cleveland has plans to renovate the space, there is no clear timetable in place to do so. In the meanwhile, a temporary environmental graphic design installation would serve to connect the community with the historical “jewel” in their midst, while also providing baseball enthusiasts something to engage with when visiting the site. Advisors/Committee Members: Middleton, Prof. David.