Nilavra Bhattacharya’s Dissertation
Welcome to the eBook version of Nilavra Bhattacharya’s PhD Dissertation. This website disseminates my PhD research in a format that is more user-friendly and accessible than a 150-page, double-spaced PDF file.
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About the author, Nilavra Bhattacharya: https://nilavra.in
by
Nilavra Bhattacharya
Dissertation
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
of The University of Texas at Austin
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
The University of Texas at Austin
August 2023
Abstract
Learning today comprises navigation, discernment, induction, and synthesis of the wide body of information on the Internet present ubiquitously at every student’s fingertips. Learning, or addressing a gap in one’s knowledge, has been well established as an important motivator behind information-seeking activities. The Search as Learning research community advocates that online information search systems should be reconfigured to become educational platforms to foster learning and sensemaking. Modern search systems have yet to adapt to support this function. An important step to foster learning during online search is identifying behavioural patterns that distinguish searchers gaining more vs. less knowledge during search. Previous efforts have primarily studied searchers in the short term, typically during a single lab session. Researchers have expressed concerns over this ephemeral approach, as learning takes place over time, and is not fleeting. In this dissertation, an exploratory longitudinal study was conducted to observe the long-term searching behaviour of students enrolled in a university course, over the span of a semester. Our research aims were to identify if and how students’ searching behaviour changes over time, as they gain new knowledge on a subject; and how individual traits such as motivation, metacognition, self-regulation, and other individual differences moderate their searching as learning behaviour. We found that differences in these traits create observable and quantifiable differences in information searching as a learning activity. Students with higher levels of metacognition, self-regulation, and motivation were more effective and efficient in their search behaviours, reported better learning and search outcomes, and obtained better grades. We posit that learning environments should be designed to foster the effective use of metacognitive strategies to help learners develop and apply productive self-regulated learning. Moreover, learning technologies can be used to induce, track, model, and support learners’ metacognition across tasks, domains, and contexts. The study recommends that understanding the complex relationship between motivation and metacognition is essential to designing effective searching as learning environments. Findings from this exploratory longitudinal study will help to build improved search systems that foster human learning and sensemaking, which are more equitable in the face of learner diversity.
সারসংক্ষেপ (Abstract in Bengali)
বর্তমান যুগে শিক্ষালাভ এবং দৈনন্দিন জীবনযাপনের একটা বড় অংশ হলো ইন্টারনেট থেকে সঠিক তথ্য বা ইনফরমেশন খুঁজে বার করা, এবং তা থেকে জ্ঞান অর্জন করা। এই বিষয়ে সবচেয়ে অগ্রগামী গবেষণা সম্প্রদায়ের নাম হলো “সার্চ অ্যাস লার্নিং” (search as learning) বা “তথ্য অনুসন্ধানের মাধ্যমে শিক্ষা”। “সার্চ অ্যাস লার্নিং” গবেষকরা মনে করেন যে আজকালকার সার্চ ইঞ্জিনগুলি (যেমন গুগল, বিং, ইয়াহু, ইত্যাদি) এখনো মানুষকে শিক্ষালাভ বা জ্ঞানলাভ করতে পুরোপুরি সাহায্য করতে পারে না। সার্চ ইঞ্জিনগুলি কেবল তথ্য অনুসন্ধানের নিমিত্ত মাত্র। তারা যে তথ্য গুলি খুঁজে বার করে, সেগুলো আমাদের কাজের জন্য প্রাসঙ্গিক, বিশ্বাসযোগ্য, বা সত্য কিনা, তার সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়া সম্পূর্ণ আমাদের উপর নির্ভর করে; গুগল, বিং, বা ইয়াহু এটি তাদের দায়িত্ব হিসেবে দেখে না। তার উপর বিভিন্ন উৎস বা সার্চ রেজাল্ট থেকে যে সমস্ত তথ্য হাজির করে সার্চ ইঞ্জিনগুলি, সেই সমস্ত তথ্য একত্রিত করতেও আমাদের নিজস্ব বোধশক্তির প্রয়োগ করতে হয়; সার্চ ইঞ্জিনগুলি এখনো পর্যন্ত এ ব্যাপারে সম্পূর্ণ অক্ষম। অতএব “সার্চ অ্যাস লার্নিং” গবেষকরা প্রস্তাব করেছেন যে ভবিষ্যতের সার্চ ইঞ্জিনগুলিকে এই সমস্ত অক্ষমতা অতিক্রম করে মানুষের প্রকৃত জ্ঞানলানভের উপযোগী করতে হবে। এই বিষয়ে একটি গবেষণার দিক হলো শিক্ষার্থীদের ইন্টারনেটে তথ্য অনুসন্ধানের অভ্যাস গুলির বিশ্লেষণ করা, এবং সেখান থেকে কিছু অভ্যাসের প্যাটার্ন বা নমুনা সংগ্রহ করা। এই প্যাটার্ন গুলি থেকে বোঝা যেতে পারে যে কোন কোন অভ্যাসগুলি রপ্ত করলে ইন্টারনেটে তথ্য খুঁজে শিক্ষালাভ তাড়াতাড়ি হয়, আর কোন কোন অভ্যাসগুলি শিক্ষালাভের পথে বাধার সৃষ্টি করে। এই বিষয়ে অধিকাংশ পূর্ববর্তী গবেষকরা শিক্ষার্থীদের ইন্টারনেট ব্যবহার কেবলমাত্র কয়েক ঘণ্টার জন্য বিশ্লেষণ করেছেন। শিক্ষা এবং জ্ঞানলাভ একটি সময়সাপেক্ষ প্রক্রিয়া। ল্যাবরেটরিতে পড়ুয়াদের ডেকে এনে কয়েক ঘণ্টার জন্য তাদের ইন্টারনেট ব্যবহার পর্যবেক্ষণ করলে খুব সাময়িক একটা চিত্র পাওয়া যায়। “সার্চ অ্যাস লার্নিং” গবেষকরা এই ক্ষণস্থায়ী পদ্ধতির বিষয়ে বিশেষ উদ্বেগ প্রকাশ করেছেন: কারণ শিক্ষালাভ এত ক্ষণস্থায়ী নয়, তা দীর্ঘ সময়ের সাথে সংঘটিত হয়। এই পিএইচডি থিসিসে একটি ৫ মাস ব্যাপী দীর্ঘ মেয়াদী গবেষণা পরিচালনা করা হয়েছে। এই গবেষণার মূল উদ্দেশ্য ছিলো বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের শিক্ষার্থীরা তাদের ইন্টারনেট ব্যবহারের অভ্যাস কেমন ভাবে নিয়ন্ত্রণ করে, এবং এই অভ্যাসগুলির সময়ের সাথে সাথে পরিবর্তন হয় কিনা, তার বিশ্লেষণ করা। এছাড়াও দেখা হয়েছে যে শিক্ষার্থীদের মনস্তাত্ত্বিক বৈশিষ্ট্যগুলি –– তথা প্রেরণা বা মোটিভেশন (motivation), নিজস্ব চিন্তার বিষয়ে সচেতনতা বা মেটাকগনিশন (metacognition), এবং স্ব-নিয়ন্ত্রণ ক্ষমতা বা সেলফ-রেগুলেশন (self-regulation) –– ইন্টারনেটে তথ্য অনুসন্ধানের মাধ্যমে জ্ঞানলাভের ক্ষেত্রে কোন প্রভাব সৃষ্টি করে কিনা। ২০২২ সালের জানুয়ারি থেকে মে মাস পর্যন্ত এই গবেষণাটি পরিচালনা করা হয়, এবং জুন ২০২২ থেকে জানুয়ারি ২০২৩ অবধি তার ফলাফল বিশ্লেষণ করা হয়। গবেষণার ফলাফলে দেখা গেছে যে মেটাকগনিশন, সেলফ-রেগুলেশন, এবং মোটিভেশন প্রকৃতপক্ষে শিক্ষার্থীদের ইন্টারনেট ব্যবহারের অভ্যাসের পার্থক্য সৃষ্টি করে। যে সমস্ত শিক্ষার্থীদের মেটাকগনিশন, সেলফ-রেগুলেশন, এবং মোটিভেশন বেশি ছিলো, তারা সুদক্ষ ভাবে ইন্টারনেটে তথ্য অনুসন্ধান করতে পেরেছে, এবং একই সাথে তারা ক্লাসে ভালো নম্বরও পেয়েছে। অন্যদিকে, যে সমস্ত শিক্ষার্থীদের মেটাকগনিশন, সেলফ-রেগুলেশন, এবং মোটিভেশন কম ছিলো, তাদের পক্ষে ইন্টারনেটে তথ্য অনুসন্ধান, এবং ক্লাসে ভালো নম্বর পাওয়া বিশেষ ভাবে কঠিন ও শ্রমসাধ্য হয়ে পড়ে। অতএব, এই গবষণার ফলাফল সুপারিশ করে যে ক্লাসরুম এবং অনলাইন শিক্ষার পরিবেশগুলি এমনভাবে তৈরি করা উচিৎ যাতে সেই পরিবেশগুলি শিক্ষার্থী তথা সাধারণ মানুষকে তাদের নিজস্ব চিন্তার বিষয়ে সচেতনতা বৃদ্ধি করতে সাহায্য করে, এবং মেটাকগনিটিভ কৌশলগুলির কার্যকর ব্যবহারকে উৎসাহিত করে। এর ফলে আমরা ভবিষ্যতে নতুন ধরণের তথ্য অনুসন্ধান এবং শিক্ষালাভের পরিবেশের সৃষ্টি করতে পারব, যেখানে প্রতিটি বৈচিত্র্যময় মানুষ তার নিজস্ব মতে সুদক্ষ ভাবে শিক্ষালাভ তথা জ্ঞানলাভ করতে পারবে, এবং যা বৈচিত্র্যময় শিক্ষার্থীদের জন্য আরও বেশি ব্যবহারোপযোগী, যথাযথ, এবং ন্যায়সঙ্গত হবে।
(Special thanks go to Rifat Rahman, Suchismita Ghosh, Sagnika Das, Dr. Sourav Sikdar, Titiksha Sarkar, and Tapati Sarkar, for reviewing the Bengali version of the abstract. বাংলা অনুবাদে সাহায্যের জন্য বিশেষ কৃতজ্ঞতা স্বীকার: রিফাত রহমান, শুচিস্মিতা ঘোষ, সাগ্নিকা দাস, ডঃ সৌরভ সিকদার, তিতিক্ষা সরকার, ও তপতী সরকার।)
Acknowledgments
It takes a village to raise a child. It is impossible to even begin to properly acknowledge all the amazing people who have impacted my PhD journey in the last half a decade of doctoral experience. I was extremely lucky to have my Academic Village spread across five continents: Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Australia; and fifty-three people from all over the world attended my doctoral dissertation defense, which was conducted online on Thursday, 11 May 2023, at 9AM US-Central Time.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to these groups of fantastic people who have supported me throughout this incredible journey. Without your encouragement, humour, and frequent supply of food, completing this PhD would have been a far more arduous task. So, from the depths of my cola-zero and Tacos-de-pescado fueled soul, thank you!
Doctoral advisor, Prof. Jacek Gwizdka: I have been fortunate enough to encounter a supernova of guidance and support in the form of the most awesome PhD advisor in the world. Words alone cannot capture the depth of my gratitude, but I will attempt to express my heartfelt appreciation nonetheless. To my incredible PhD advisor, Jacek, you have been more than just a mentor. Your brilliance as a researcher and scholar is surpassed only by your dedication to nurturing the minds and spirits of your students. You possess the unique ability to challenge and inspire, to encourage and motivate, all while maintaining an infectious enthusiasm for our shared field of study. It is your genuine care for your students that sets you apart. You have created an environment where intellectual growth thrives, where curiosity is nurtured, and where laughter is not only welcomed but encouraged. Your open-door policy and willingness to listen, not just to academic concerns but also to personal struggles, have provided solace during the challenging times of this journey. Your mentorship extends far beyond the realm of research, shaping me not only as a scholar but also as a compassionate human being. Thank you for the numerous lunches and dinners around the world: Warsaw, Glasgow, Vienna, Frankfurt, Austin, Pittsburgh, and hope to keep it counting in the years to come.
Dissertation committee members: Professors Soo-Young Rieh, Matt Lease, and Rob Capra: thank you for your guidance and expert advice. You are the kindest dissertation committee in the universe. Your patience in reading countless drafts, deciphering my sleep-deprived ramblings, and offering insightful feedback during both the dissertation proposal and the defense has been invaluable. I promise to use my newfound knowledge for good, and not to subject you to any more pun-filled introductions. Special thank you to Professor Pertti Vakkari, for being an ever-present mentor for my dissertation research since the CHIIR 2021 doctoral consortium, and also for inviting me to Tampere University in Finland in October 2022.
Participant and study facilitators: To the brave souls who participated in the SALpilot and LongSAL studies, your willingness to endure my never-ending surveys and quirky experiments has contributed immensely to the advancement of knowledge. Your dedication and contributions are deeply appreciated, and I promise that your efforts have not been in vain. You’re the real superheroes of this doctoral research endeavour!
Thank you, Professor Ken Fleischmann, and other co-instructors of the Spring 2022 I303 course: Dr. Nitin Verma, Dr. Ayse Gursoy, Dr. John Robert Bautista, and Jaxsen Day, for graciously giving me access to your I303 course for recruiting study participants. Thank you, Quinn Stewart, Molly McGee, and Rajashree Kamat, for helping to facilitate the pilot study (SALpilot) of this dissertation research. Without your unwavering help and support, this dissertation would have been impossible.
Doctoral students at the School of Information, University of Texas at Austin: To my fellow compadres at the UT iSchool: you’ve been more than just classmates – you’ve been my sanity-saving squad. From late-night discussion sessions to commiserating over failed experiments, we’ve navigated the treacherous seas of research together. Thank you, Li Shi, for being an awesome ever-present colleague and officemate, providing me with a near-permanent front seat in your shiny Audi, and offering to drive this poor souls all around Austin. Thank you to my other officemates, Chongyan Chen and Takayuki Suzuki, for the numerous dinner outings in Austin, after which we named our WhatsApp group “China Family Restaurant”. Thank you recently-Dr. Nitin Verma (congratulations!), and soon-to-be Drs. Nathan Davis and Kristina Shiroma, for being in the same boat with me during the dissertation phase and being awesome sounding boards for my crazy ideas. Thank you, Angie Zhang, for the awesome headshot photos that you took of me. They have changed my LinkedIn game completely. Thank you, Tina Lassiter, and Hana Frluckaj, for answering hundreds of of my Europe-related questions. Thank you, Ayesha Bhimdiwala, Yujin Choi, Anubrata Das, Ajay Jaiswal, Isabella Schloss, Chelsea Collier, Yung-Sheng Chang (and all the others that I have missed) for your endless support, laughter, and camaraderie. May our future research endeavours be filled with fewer bugs and more breakthroughs!
Faculty and administration at University of Texas at Austin: To the vibrant and incredible community at the School of Information, and more broadly to the University of Texas at Austin, you’ve provided the perfect blend of intellectual stimulation and burnt-orange spirit. Your collective brilliance has inspired me to reach higher and think deeper. Thank you, Professor Randolph Bias and Cheryl Bias, for repeatedly hosting us in your lovely home in Manor, TX, over many fun-filled intellectual discussions about experimental design, statistics, teaching pedagogy, or random facts of life, while sitting around the firepit. Thank you, Professor Andrew Dillon, for always being incredibly positive and encouraging about the process of writing, which made me take your writing studio class thrice. Also, I wish you the heartiest congratulations for the very recent ASIS&T 2023 Award of Merit. No one deserves it more than you do. Thank you, Dean Eric Meyer, for being a brilliant leader for our iSchool. Your policy to include doctoral students in the faculty hiring committees has been a total game changer for me and fellow doctoral students. We learnt so much from merely sitting at those meetings and discussions about faculty hiring that would just never be possible from any place else. Thank you, Dona Kurtz, for being ever present for any questions and concerns, and stewarding the iSchool through thick and thin. Thank you, Sam Burns, Philip Jones, and Quinn Stewart, for the last six years’ worth of IT help and support that you have given me, and our Information eXperience (IX) lab. From the greater UT community, thank you, Elizabeth Korves, for managing the UT scholarship process for hundreds or maybe thousands of students every year, and always being ever present for any questions via email. It is a huge thankless task, and I want to thank you for smoothly administering it for so many years, and hopefully many more years to come.
Friends in Austin: To my friends in the weird and wonderful city of Austin, you’ve been my pillars of sanity in this whirlwind of academia. From rooftop BBQs to impromptu kayaking adventures, you’ve reminded me that life exists beyond the confines of research. Thank you to my flatmates, recently-Dr. Naman Katyal, and soon-to-be Drs. Anubrata Das and Atreya Dey, for sharing the doctoral journey with me. Thank you, Biswajit Saha, Sagnika Das, soon-to-be Dr. Rachel Selina, Sathish Raj K, Nikitha Verghese Jainy, Mayank Arora, Behzad Bigdeli, Jayeeta Roy, Srabonti Chakraborty, Ericka Salas, Cesar Martinez and others, for your constant support, mentoring, and being my family away from home in Austin, Texas. Thank you, Texas Ballroom, for teaching me the basics of how to dance, and providing great friends: Lyndsey Allen, Thomas Porter, Nathan Gates, and others. Thank you, Terry Dykstra, and the RUF community, for the numerous get-togethers and good food! Through these get-togethers, I got to meet some amazing friends: Parastoo Maleki, Filipe Morais, and Mila Seppälä. Special thanks to HEB for being the most awesome grocery store chain in the world. From your freshly-made tortiallas, to the heaps of green cilantro and suprt hot chile serrano, and the impressive Mexican / Indian food collection, I never felt far from home while shopping inside any of your stores. Y’all are the true MVPs!
Friends in the rest of the United States: To my friends scattered across the vast nation, thank you for your unwavering support despite the distance. Thank you Rajrup Ghosh, Anubhab Majumdar, Sudipto Mukherjee, Enakshi Roy, and others. Your virtual presence, hilarious memes, and occasional travel opportunities to meet up with y’all have kept me going when the going got tough. Thank you for the shared memories made in the glaciers of Alaska, the national parks of Montana, the metropolises of Chicago and New York, the beaches of Texas, and elsewhere.
HCI4SouthAsia: During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was incredibly lucky to be part of a fantastic network of like-minded HCI researchers and enthusiasts, who shared a collective vision: promote and cultivate HCI research in the South Asian region, especially in and around the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Through this research community, I got to have some amazing friends from across the world: Anupriya Tuli, thank you for the heartfelt conversations, and the hundreds of incredible bite-sized lessons on qualitative research. I am grateful for the countless late-night conversations that turned into valuable therapy sessions, where we shared our triumphs, vented our frustrations, and found solace in each other’s virtual presence. Pranjal Jain, thank you for giving me all the insider access at CHI 2023 in Hamburg, Germany. Sumita Sharma, thank you for your warm hospitality in one of the coldest places on earth: Oulu, Finland. Rucha Tulaskar and Biju Thankachan, thank you for showing me around in Tampere, Finland. Sayan Sircar, thank you for being a fellow Bengali-speaking HCI researcher from Kolkata, India, and showing me that there are others like us. Thank you to all the members and mentors of HCI4SouthAsia to came together at one of the most difficult periods of recent past, and helped to make the initiative a grand success.
Mentors and friends across the world: To my international friends and mentors, you’ve brought the world to my doorstep and expanded my horizons in more ways than I can express. From the breathtaking landscapes of Finland, to the precision engineering of Germany, the beautiful landscapes of Slovenia, the IR community of UK (Glasgow), the incredible support from the DAAD, and the electrifying experiences at ABB, you’ve shown me the power of global connections. Thank you for embracing me as part of your diverse tapestry.
From India, thank you, Dr. Swalpa Kumar Roy, for helping me start this incredible PhD journey, by giving me the much-needed research mentoring and guidance from my undergrad days, helping me find champion letter writers, and overall support in this incredible journey. Your support has opened doors and created opportunities that have brought me closer to my academic dreams.
Thank you, my esteemed recommendation letter writers: Professor Bidyut Baran Chaudhuri, Professor Soumitro Banerjee, and Professor Manah Hira, for taking the time and effort to write recommendation letters in support of my grad school applications. I recognize the thoughtfulness and care you put into crafting each recommendation, tailoring them to specific programs, and showcasing how I would be a strong fit for their academic community. Your words of endorsement, mentorship, and unwavering support have played a significant role in shaping my academic trajectory.
Thank you, Anke Storch, for being like a mother to me, teaching me camping, and showing me around the wonderful city of Berlin, Germany. Thank you, soon-to-be Dr. Debjani Bhattacharya, for always inviting me to your wonderful home, wherever you are in Europe, be it in Belgium or in Munich.
Thank you to my second family in Slovenia: soon-to-be Dr. Galena Jordanova, soon-to-be Dr. Maja Kuhar (fingers crossed!), Nataa Poljanek, longtime-Dr. Tina Peternel (way ahead of us in the game), Gaper Debevec, and Matija Zupan, for your warmest and friendliest hospitality whenever I visited Ljubljana. Galena, Maja, and Nataa, whether it was sharing hilarious memes, engaging in thought-provoking conversations, or simply checking in to see how I was doing, your virtual presence always brought warmth and a sense of connection to my daily life. I cannot wait to meet all of y’all again and again for more awesome adventures.
Thank you to the amazing people in Germany and Switzerland. Thank you, Michael Barz, for inviting me to the DFKI (German Centre for Artificial Intelligence) meetup party in Saarbrücken, Germany. Thank you, Arpan Sen, and soon-to-be Dr. Shrestha Ghosh, for showing me around the beautiful city of Saarbrücken. Thank you, Tobias Margiani, for showing me around beautiful Zurich, Switzerland, and the impressive ETH Zurich Campus. Thank you, Meghranjana Chatterjee for hosting me in Bern, Switzerland, showing me the beautiful University of Bern campus, and the River swimming in the Aare. Thank you, Louis, for giving me opportunity to drive from Bern to Interlaken, and showing me around the gorgeous twin lakes, and the breathtaking Harder Kulm.
A big shoutout to my amazing team of friends from Brazil, for whom I was able to visit the southern-hemisphere for the first time in my life in 2021. Thank you soon-to-be Dr. Giovana Casteluci, and your warm and caring family; for graciously hosting me in your wonderful home in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil during Christmas 2021. Thank you to all the other amazing friends I made in São José do Rio Preto: Mateus Fernandez, Junio Martins, Joel Stivali, Denilson Tavante, and once again, Filipe Morais, whom I met in Austin. All of you made my Brazil trip immensely memorable, and I cannot wait to visit all of you again in Brazil.
Thank you, recently-Dr. Dima El Zein (congratulations!), for hosting me in the wonderful French Riviera, and showing me around your beautiful campus at Université Cote d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, and Antibes, in France. Lastly, thank you, Ayah Soufan, Marwah Alaofi, and recently-Dr. Zuzana Pinkosova (congratulations!), for always being just a WhatsApp message away, ready to lend a ear, or offer a word of encouragement. I hugely appreciate the constant stream of jokes, funny anecdotes, and GIFs that have brought laughter and joy to my PhD days. Your virtual presence has made a world of difference for me, and I am truly blessed to have you in my life.
Financial supporters: I extend my heartfelt thanks to the numerous University of Texas Graduate School Fellowships, the 2022 ASIS&T Doctoral Proposal Scholarship award, the 2023 ACM SIGCHI Student Research Competition Award, and the 2018 and 2022 DAAD RISE Professional Awards for their invaluable contributions to my academic pursuits. Your financial support has been instrumental in shaping my research, fostering my intellectual growth, and helping me realise my potential as a scholar. I am forever grateful for the opportunities you have afforded me and will strive to make the most of them in my future endeavours.
Family members: Last but certainly not least, to my incredible family, thank you for your unwavering love and support. Thank you, Ratna Bhattacharya (mom), Nihar Ranjan Bhattacharya (dad), Swapna Mukherjee (grandmother), and Sushil Kumar Mukherjee (grandfather), for tolerating my erratic research schedule and providing the constant reality checks. You have been my constant source of strength. I am forever grateful for your belief in me, even when my ramblings sounded like gibberish. Your unconditional love and unwavering faith have been the bedrock of my success.
In conclusion, this dissertation is not just the product of my solitary efforts, but a testament to the collective support, laughter, and encouragement of an amazing network of people. Thank you all for being a part of this unforgettable journey.
This acknowledgement section is greatly inspired by the PhD thesis of Dr. David Maxwell. In his thesis, David did a fantastic job of storytelling his entire PhD journey, replete with photos, anecdotes, and even writing the names of all those who inspired him in their native language alphabets! David’s thesis is as a shining example of how acknowledgements can go beyond a mere list of names and become a heartfelt narrative that honours the individuals who played a significant role in the journey of research and personal growth. David Maxwell’s PhD thesis is available at https://theses.gla.ac.uk/41132.
Nilavra’s Homepage: https://nilavra.in