Master of Science / Department of Psychological Sciences / Patrick A. Knight / For decades psychologists have studied ways in which organizations can redesign jobs to achieve improved performance and worker satisfaction. Recently there has been interest in job crafting, the process by which workers themselves change their jobs to achieve similar ends. This study examined the relationships between job crafting and (a) worker autonomy and (b) proactive personality. It was found that both autonomy and proactive personality were positively related to job crafting, with proactive personality being more strongly related to job crafting than was autonomy. Thus, the potential for both situational and individual characteristics to influence job crafting was found.

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When exploring an original and relevant contribution to the continuing development of future transportation solutions, the author was inspired by the unbalanced influence mankind has on our planet earth. Amongst other effects of climate change, sea level is rising and will by the end of this century resultin uninhabitable areas. With this design project, the author aimed at emitting a positive answer to climate change; showing how with a different way of thinking the water no longer has to been seen as a problem but instead as a solution. Forming a basic understanding of how people in the future could live on water required a broad exploration of trends which are currently influencing society and living environment needs. The aging population and the need for smaller living and shared facilities were some of the conclusions of this research, which in collaboration with an architect were translated into a hypothetical floating village plan. Far future scenario planning proved to be a process with many uncertainties, however by empirically filling in the blanks an image emerged which provided a sufficient foundation for the development of potential mobility and transportation opportunities. A living environment where houses and facilities are separated from each other by a barrier (the water), presented challenges for its inhabitants in regards to mobility yet unknown in life as we know on land. The transportation solution the author is putting forward is a shared autonomous shuttle system, seamlessly integrated with the floating architecture and infrastructure, which make the inhabitants perceive the water not as a barrier. The fact that in a floating village architecture and infrastructure move along with the fluctuating water level just like the water transport, allowed for rethinking the archetype of a boat and designing a flush and stable ingress/egress experience. Aesthetic inspiration was found in nature; by analyzing the stance of the water strider insect, a stable looking vehicle was realized which conveys trust towards its users. In short, it has been a degree topic containing a multi-faceted challenge from which the author at the beginning of the project could not foresee the impact.

Thesis advisor: Martin Scanlan / This qualitative case study examined the roles autonomy played in how principals in one Massachusetts district learned to prioritize curricular goals and to support instruction during a time of crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. A Communities of Practice (CoP) theory and the concepts of boundaries and brokering served as a theoretical framework to examine principal autonomy. Findings revealed that principals, as members of both their school CoP and the district CoP, existed in a state of multi-membership between the two. Principals then reconciled competing messages and demands between the district CoP and their school CoPs through bridging and buffering. Findings further demonstrated that principals struggled to see themselves as instructional leaders during the pandemic given logistical challenges. Principals also had to adjust their instructional goals to meet changing student social emotional needs and developmental gaps. Finally, data revealed that there was a shift in the roles of autonomy over the course of the three school years of the pandemic: district leaders supported principal autonomy, and the needed improvisation it brought to the district CoP, at the onset of the pandemic and during the second school year but returned to a more centralized calibration as the pandemic continued into the third school year. This research has implications for districts seeking to prepare for crises and suggests that districts might consider principal autonomy as a strategy for innovation. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

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Medical decision making is complicated and requires a full understanding of the options being presented. It is easy as a practitioner to assume that a patient has capacity, when in fact they might not. Evidence indicates that frequently with the best intentions, health care practitioners allow people to make medical decisions when they do not understand the implications of that choice. I believe that this happens when practitioners feel that the patient is autonomously making a choice that promotes beneficence. This too creates an ethical dilemma, as it does not fully promote autonomy if the patient does not have capacity to make the decision. I believe that further reflection can help physicians understand what motivates their patient’s, and their own, decision making. / Urban Bioethics

Yes / This report is a summary of the activity and findings of a small-scale educational research project conducted as the part of the Fourth Cohort of the Inter/National Coalition for Research into Electronic Portfolios. The project was conducted between 2007 and 2010 at the University of Bradford in the UK. It investigates how academic staff are utilising eportfolio tools to support learner development, particularly within specific modules of study. In particular it aims to identify strategies that contribute to the development of learner autonomy. Modules from a range of subject areas: Psychology, Midwifery, Geography and Combined Studies were included in the study.

This study seeks to explore variations in the development of racial identities for multiracial Virginians in the 21st century by focusing on the roles that physical appearance, group associations and social networks, family and region play in the process. Simultaneously, this study seeks to explore the presence of autonomy in the racial identity development process. Using Michael Omi and Howard Winant's racial formation theory as the framework, I argue that a racial project termed biracialism, defined as the increase in the levels of autonomy in self identification, holds the potential to contribute to transformations in racial understandings in U.S. society by opposing imposed racial categorization. Through the process of conducting and analyzing semistructured interviews with mixed-race Virginia Tech students I conclude that variations do exist in the identities they develop and that the process of identity development is significantly affected by the factors of physical appearance, group associations and social networks, family and region. Furthermore, I find that while some individuals display racial autonomy, others find themselves negotiating between their self-images and society's perceptions or do not display it at all. In addition to these conclusions, the issues of acknowledging racism, the prevalence of whiteness, assimilation and socialization also emerged as contributors to the identity development process for the multiracial population. / Master of Science

This thesis explores the design of a T-shaped brick and its influence throughout the course of the project. The T-brick established a significant direction towards weaving masonry and my firsthand recognition of the utmost importance of poetic construction for an architect. This thesis helps to affirm that construction is vital for architecture to be autonomous. Programmatic requirements, technology, social change, new inventions, etc., distract from the potential of architecture. We must first concern ourselves with how a building is to be made and trust that those things outside of architecture will only be right when a building is ready to accept them, not vice versa. But, that is not to say a building should not serve human needs well. Rather, serving needs well is but a bare minimum of good architecture. / Master of Architecture

Autonomy is a critical component of early childhood with important implications for children’s competence and well-being (e.g., Erikson, 1963; Mahler, Pine & Bergman, 1975; Sroufe & Rutter, 1984). Although parental autonomy support is associated with the development of early autonomy (e.g., Endsley, Hutcherson, Garner & Martin, 1979; Frodi, Bridges & Grolnick, 1985; Landry, Smith, Swank & Miller-Loncar, 2000), the mechanisms underlying these associations are largely unexplored. Mothers’ emotions and the affective climate of parent-child interactions may be critical factors by which parenting influences early autonomy. This study (a) examined the degree to which discrete, naturally occurring maternal emotions regulate four indicators of autonomy during toddlerhood: co-regulated goal-directed behavior, low aimlessness, self-assertion, and positive initiative, (b) explored mechanisms through which maternal emotion exerts an influence on children’s autonomous behaviors, and (c) isolated the contribution of mothers’ emotions to children’s autonomous behaviors over that of mothers’ autonomy-supportive behavior. Several important findings emerged. First, maternal emotions, both felt and expressed, were related to children’s autonomous behaviors--mostly in ways predicted by emotion and relationship theories. In general, mothers’ frequent joy and infrequent anger, sadness, and fear predicted high autonomy. Second, the affective climate of mothers’ interactions with their toddlers predicted children’s autonomous behaviors over and above mothers’ autonomy-supportive behavior, suggesting that parental emotion is a unique aspect of autonomy support. Finally, different forms of early autonomy were predicted by different emotions in mothers, emphasizing the complexity of autonomy and the need to better define and measure this construct. / text