Digital Commons Network^™

Llamatalk: Empowering Conversations With Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Aravind Rokkam

Master's Projects

This research report talks about the implementation and a comparative study of Llama 7B model’s fine-tuning technique and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) capabilities in the context of creating a reliable AI therapist. This study focuses on training these models using diverse datasets consisting of doctor-patient conversations predominantly addressing general health issues. Using a technique like fine-tuning within the Llama 7B model, the project focuses on training the model with a diverse dataset comprising doctor-patient interactions primarily addressing general health concerns. Additionally, carefully organized mental health dataset from HOPE dataset, ensuring the bot's responsiveness to mental health inquiries. Through integration with …

Exploring Fluctuations In Working Memory Load Through Pupillometry Using Gabor Image Deletion Tasks, Neenu Antony

Master's Projects

Van der Wel & Van Steenbergen mention that there has been a surge in pupillometry research in the past two decades, particularly in the area of task-evoked pupil dilation in the context of cognitive control tasks. The goal of most of these studies has been focused on finding a link between pupil dilation and effort exerted by an individual [10]. The review by authors Van der Wel & Van Steenbergen, aimed to assess the potential of pupil dilation as an indicator of effort rather than task complexity. Their analysis revealed that heightened task demands in domains such as updating, switching, …

The Impact Of Daylight Saving Time Transitions On Domestic Violence Call Volume, Quynh-Nhu Pham

Master's Projects

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a longstanding practice in many countries, involving the seasonal adjustment of clocks by one hour forward in the spring, and one hour backward in the fall. Although DST was initially introduced to promote energy conservation and maximize daylight hours, it has become a subject of debate, given its impact on physical and mental health, cognitive performance, and criminal behavior (Kountouris & Remoundou, 2014).

In 2022, Colorado enacted a law adopting year-round DST, contingent upon a federal law enabling states to maintain DST throughout the year as opposed to ST, like Hawaii and Arizona (Chasan, 2024). …

A Two-Stage Machine Learning Approach For Fake News Detection And News Article Categorization, Snegdha Adusumilli

Master's Projects

This project employs machine learning techniques to develop a sequential model for detecting and categorizing fake news, aiming to mitigate its proliferation in today's digital landscape. The model operates in two phases: in the first phase, the classification algorithms like Naïve Bayes, XGBoost and Random Forest are used to distinguish between true and false news stories and in the second phase the capabilities of Naïve Bayes, XGBoost, Random Forest, and the Transformer-based BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) model are leveraged to further categorize the news into specific topics.

The methodology encompasses several key steps: data acquisition, preprocessing, feature extraction, …

Emulating Human Personality With Large Language Models Through Contextual Prompts And Fine-Tuning, Mrunal Zambre

Master's Projects

The quest for AI systems that can mirror the intricate aspects of human emotion and personality is crucial for enhancing their performance. This project delves into the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) to mimic the Big Five personality traits in human-written essays by utilizing contextual prompts and fine-tuning methods. Diverging from traditional research in this domain, this project explores smaller, open-source LLMs, including LLaMA 2 7B chat, LLaMA 2 13B chat, and Vicuna v.15 13B, to assess their potential in personality prediction tasks, thereby making high-level personality emulation more accessible and practical for application integration. Through meticulous prompt engineering, …

In Their Words: Voices Of High School Graduates Who Were Labeled English Learners, Yolanda K. Jimenez

Dissertations

This research captures the experiences of high school graduates who were labeled English Learners while they were enrolled in a public high school in the greater Sacramento area of California. The study examined what these bilingual high school graduates report as beneficial and detrimental experiences faced while completing the course requirements for high school graduation. This study builds on research that includes secondary classroom teachers and their perceptions of English Learners, classroom teaching and learning, and experiences of emergent bilingual students. The study expands the body of research and informs praxis pertaining to supporting emergent bilingual students as they attempt …

"Who The Hell Am I? What Am I Bringing In Here?": A Phenomenographic Exploration Of Antiracist Mentor Development, Kelly Lynn Mack

Dissertations

Teacher attitudes toward racial diversity profoundly impact students, especially when compounded by teacher and student demographic disparities. Despite the purported goal of addressing biases and deficit thinking that limit teachers' ability to support all learners, antiracist pedagogy in teacher credentialing is poorly understood. Also included in the credentialing process, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) in California engage in a two-year induction program, collaborating closely with an induction mentor to attain their clear credential. Employing a qualitative, phenomenographic approach, this study explored how mentors within a longstanding induction program understood and implemented antiracist pedagogy. The research uncovered significant insights into (a) dimensions …

Addressing Equity Gaps In Stem: A Self-Study, Prabhjeet Kaur Brar

Dissertations

The Hispanic/Latinx population is increasing nationwide and in the state of California; however, the Hispanic/Latinx population remains underrepresented in STEM professions contributing to a lack of diversity in STEM. To increase the academic success of the Hispanic/Latinx student population in STEM majors, high leverage research-based teaching strategies through the lens of historically responsive literacy were applied and examined throughout this research. The purpose of this mixed-methods self-study was to examine the impact of research-based effective strategies/high leverage practices on Latinx students’ success rates in my introductory biology classrooms. The study focused on two biology course sections with a laboratory. Each …

How Can We Do Better? Understanding Student Experiences And Support Needs During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kevina M. Brown

Dissertations

This dissertation study aimed to provide opportunities for students at San José State University (SJSU), to share about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and to provide feedback and recommendations regarding resources and culturally engaging supports on campus. The research inquiry involved survey and interview methodology to gain insights into student experiences pertaining to financial and mental health challenges and academic disruption and social isolation during the beginning, middle and end of the pandemic, as well as their engagement with resources and supports provided on campus. Recruitment was done by flyer distribution throughout campus and via email distribution to students …

Queer A.F.: Queer Educators In Affinity Family Personal-Professional Development, James Egisto Aguirre

Dissertations

Scholarship shows that affinity groups are spaces of support, learning, and healthy career development that are responsive to the needs of a particular marginalized community. The concept of heteroprofessionalism– the implicit or explicit pressure/s queer educators feel to fit within the proverbial cisgender/heterosexual (cishet) box–is but one of a myriad issues and pressures affect queer educators across the nation. This study brings queer educators from one school district together to unpack their experiences through the lens of heteroprofessionalism. Via queer theory, qualitative, written response data was collected and subsequently analyzed in three, half-day sessions offered in spring 2024. Thirty participants …

Examining The Impact Of Registered Nurse Engagement In Medical Assistant Clinical Competency Development And Team Effectiveness In Ambulatory Care, Colleen Burckin

Doctoral Projects

Background

As ambulatory care grows in complexity, there is a growing need to ensure that staff possess a high level of competence and team effectiveness to provide safe, efficient, and cost-effective care. Leveraging the expertise and leadership skills of Registered Nurses (RN) to support the team of unlicensed, Medical Assistants (MA) will be incentivized. With limited knowledge of MA preparation to meet the rapidly changing demands, managers will struggle to build effective teams and look to the impact of RN- supported MA onboarding to bridge skill gaps.

Purpose

To examine this issue, a quasi-experimental, quality improvement study was done to …

Embracing Mindfulness-Based Professional Development In Early Childhood Education, Drew Giles

Dissertations

There is a growing need for school districts to identify additional strategies to support the work-related stress and emotional labor ingrained in an early educator’s career. By orienting early childhood education (ECE) staff to mindfulness practices, education leaders may identify new approaches to assist early childhood educators’ well-being, building healthy work atmospheres, and activities to shift the culture in early childhood settings. This study employs a qualitative exploratory research design, specifically video documentary methodology to better understand how early childhood educators experience a mindfulness-based professional development (MBPD) program designed for ECE staff, explore what they say education leaders should know …

(Miss)Educated Latino Males: Academic Preparedness, Navigation, And Retention At 2-Year Colleges, Nannette Stephanie Regua

Dissertations

This study centers Latino males, first generation, first year students at four 2-year colleges in the Silicon Valley by understanding their experiences in transferable English 1A Writing Composition course and looking at the acts of instilling a sense of belonging and mattering by institutional agents and support services that are invaluable to student retention and success. The purpose of this study is to determine Latino male students’ perceptions of academic preparation, navigation, and success in higher education after the implementation of California Assembly Bill 705. My findings revealed important themes that map onto conceptual frameworks, most notably the Community Cultural …

The Anticipation Is Killing Me! - Examining The Mediating And Moderating Relationships Between Mistreatment Anticipation And Work Engagement, Mia N. Fagan

Master's Theses

The mistreatment of workers by customers in the service industry is widespread and well-known. Although customer mistreatment is associated with negative consequences for employees, there is little knowledge about the potential consequences of the expectation of future mistreatment. The present study examined the relationship between mistreatment anticipation and work engagement and hypothesized that mistreatment anxiety would mediate the relationship between the two and that perceived organizational support (POS) would moderate the relationship between mistreatment anticipation and mistreatment anxiety. Data were collected from a sample of 183 individuals via an online survey. Results showed a significant and negative relationship between mistreatment …

Episodic Memory Assessment: Effects Of Sex And Age On Performance And Response Time During A Continuous Recognition Task, James O. Clifford, Sulekha Anand, Franck Tarpin-Bernard, Michael F. Bergeron, Curtis B. Ashford, Peter J. Bayley, John Wesson Ashford

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Introduction: Continuous recognition tasks (CRTs) assess episodic memory (EM), the central functional disturbance in Alzheimer’s disease and several related disorders. The online MemTrax computerized CRT provides a platform for screening and assessment that is engaging and can be repeated frequently. MemTrax presents complex visual stimuli, which require complex involvement of the lateral and medial temporal lobes and can be completed in less than 2 min. Results include number of correct recognitions (HITs), recognition failures (MISSes = 1-HITs), correct rejections (CRs), false alarms (FAs = 1-CRs), total correct (TC = HITs + CRs), and response times (RTs) for each HIT and …

Sample Sizes For 10 Types Of Qualitative Data Analysis: An Integrative Review, Empirical Guidance, And Next Steps, Amber Wutich, Melissa Beresford, H. Russell Bernard

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

There has been a recent explosion of articles on minimum sample sizes needed for analyzing qualitative data. The purpose of this integrated review is to examine this literature for 10 types of qualitative data analysis (5 types of saturation and 5 common methods). Building on established reviews and expanding to new methods, our findings extract the following sample size guidelines: theme saturation (9 interviews; 4 focus groups), meaning saturation (24 interviews; 8 focus groups), theoretical saturation (20–30+ interviews), metatheme saturation (20–40 interviews per site), and saturation in salience (10 exhaustive free lists); two methods where power analysis determines sample size: …

Using Problem-Based Exploratory Training To Improve Pilot Understanding Of Autopilot Functions, Jordy K.Van Leeuwen, Annemarie Landman, Eric L. Groen, Randall J. Mumaw, Olaf Stroosma, Marinus M.Van Paassen, Max Mulder

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Previous research indicated a need to improve pilot training with regard to understanding of autopilot logic and behavior, especially in non-routine situations. Therefore, we tested the effect of problem-based exploratory training on pilots’ understanding of autopilot functions. Using a moving-base flight simulator, general aviation pilots (n = 45) were trained to diagnose failures either without foreknowledge and guidance (exploratory group), without foreknowledge but with some guidance (exploratory-guidance group) or with foreknowledge and full guidance (control group). They subsequently performed six test scenarios in which their understanding of the effects of failures was tested by requiring them to deduce the failures …

The Moderating Role Of Job Insecurity On The Relationship Between Psychological Contract Breach And Employee Turnover Intention, Madeline R. Clark

Master's Theses

The intentions for an employee to voluntarily leave their position at an organization has been widely researched, given it is a strong determinant of actual employee turnover. Psychological contract breach (PCB), an employee’s perception that their organization has failed to fulfill its promises or obligations, has been identified as a known predictor of employee turnover intention. While various moderators of the relationship between PCB and turnover intention have been explored in previous research, current literature had yet to examine how the job insecurity employees experience might be associated with this relationship. Therefore, the present study examined job insecurity as a …

Incorporating Uas Traffic Management Into Wildland Firefighting Operations: Initial Findings Of Subject Matter Expert Interviews, Deborah L. Bakowski, Lynne Martin, Gil Dustin, Chris Mariano

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UASs) are being utilized throughout the disaster and emergency response domain, including in wildland firefighting operations. While UASs can offer safety benefits in comparison to crewed aircraft, such as removing the human pilot from the vehicle so that they are not exposed to the same risks and the ability to operate in low-visibility conditions, they are not without tradeoffs. For example, it can be challenging for UAS pilots (UASPs) to build situation awareness of the airspace in which their UAS is operating. In order to address some of the challenges associated with using UASs and provide greater …

Improving Field Education For Social Work In Vietnam: Intern Supervisors’ Perspectives Of The Current State And Potential Solutions, Megan Aikawa, Meekyung Han, Trang T. Nguyen, Linh Dinh, Minh Thanh Bui

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Research has identified challenges associated with the implementation of competency-based social work field education in Vietnam. However, there is limited information available from intern supervisors, who have unique perspectives at the crux of social work training and service delivery. An exploratory phenomenological qualitative approach was used to explore their experiences and perceptions through online interviews. Four categories were identified: diverse implementation of a common framework, rudimentary expectations and activities, challenges to implementation, and opportunities for improvement. These findings suggest that a multidimensional approach is needed, including improved collaborations between field agencies and universities to empower students, intern supervisors, and faculty.

Research On Teachers Of Color And Indigenous Teachers: Developing And Fortifying Policies That Diversify The Educator Workforce, Conra Gist, Travis J. Bristol, Saili Kulkarni

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This special issue expands upon the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (Gist & Bristol, 2022a) and the practitioner-focused Phi Delta Kappan special issue, “Learning from the Voices of Black, Indigenous and People of Color Educators: Charting New Directions for Research, Policy, and Practice” (Gist & Bristol, 2021). The co-created articles in this special issue highlight the combined expertise of policy makers and education researchers. While the Handbook featured empirical research, and the Phi Delta Kappan special issue featured research briefs and teacher testimonies, the policy-driven articles in this special issue explore how research can be …

The Applicability Of Llms In Generating Textual Samples For Analysis Of Imbalanced Datasets, Saroj Gopali, Faranak Abri, Akbar Siami Namin, Keith S. Jones

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In machine learning class imbalance is a pressing issue, where the model is biased towards the majority classes and underperforms in the minority classes. In textual data, the natural language processing (NLP) model bias significantly reduces overall accuracy, along with poor performance in minority classes. This paper investigates and compares the performance of transformer-based models, such as Multi-head Attention with the data levels and algorithmic levels approaches and BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) with LLM-based data augmentation. The research utilized the approaches, such as Random Over Sampler, Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE), SMOTEENN, data augmentation at word level, class …

The Role Of Intersectionality In Research On Teachers Of Color And Indigenous Teachers, Saili S. Kulkarni, Tanja Burkhard, David J. Johns

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This paper emphasizes the complexity and criticality of intersectionality in understanding the research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (TOCIT). Cho and colleagues (2013) identified three dimensions of intersectional dialogues: how intersectionality has been used in research and teaching, how it has been used as a theory and methodology, and how it has been used in community organizations. As Cho and colleagues noted, what intersectionality does in theory is equally as important as what it does in practice. Therefore, we drew from the recently published Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers to highlight how intersectionality …

Youth Experiences In Gender–Sexuality Alliances Predict Academic Engagement But Not Disaffection Through Social–Emotional Wellbeing, V. Paul Poteat, Jerel P. Calzo, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Daniel Kellogg, Robert A. Marx, Abigail Richburg, Arthur Lipkin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Experiences in gender–sexuality alliances (GSAs) could predict youth's academic engagement through improved social–emotional wellbeing (indicated by school belonging, hope, and positive and negative affect). This study utilized three waves of data, each spaced 2–3 months apart, among 627 youth (87% LGBQ+, 45% trans/nonbinary, 48% youth of color) ages 11–22 (Mage = 15.13) in 51 GSAs in the United States in 2021–2022. Greater peer responsiveness in the GSA predicted increased academic engagement through increased wellbeing overall and specifically through hope and decreased negative affect. Advisor responsiveness and GSA leadership correlated with wellbeing and academic engagement in bivariate analyses but were not …

Erratum To: Reconfigurations In Brain Networks Upon Awakening From Slow Wave Sleep: Interventions And Implications In Neural Communication (Network Neuroscience), Cassie J. Hilditch, Kanika Bansal, Ravi Chachad, Lily R. Wong, Nicholas G. Bathurst, Nathan H. Feick, Amanda Santamaria, Nita L. Shattuck, Javier O. Garcia, Erin E. Flynn-Evans

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

After publication of our paper Reconfigurations in brain networks upon awakening from slow wave sleep: Interventions and implications in neural communication, we noticed an error in our condition labels that required some revision of figures and text and some new interpretations throughout the manuscript. The error was a consequence of the double-blind nature of the original experimentation which contained two interventions: (1) a blue-enriched light intervention, as originally mentioned; and (2) an olfactory odorant condition. In review of previous analyses and presentations of the data, there was a time when non-descriptive labels (e.g., “A”, “B”) were accidentally swapped, indicating the …

Fpdclustering: A Comprehensive R Package For Probabilistic Distance Clustering Based Methods, Cristina Tortora, Francesco Palumbo

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Data clustering has a long history and refers to a vast range of models and methods that exploit the ever-more-performing numerical optimization algorithms and are designed to find homogeneous groups of observations in data. In this framework, the probability distance clustering (PDC) family methods offer a numerically effective alternative to model-based clustering methods and a more flexible opportunity in the framework of geometric data clustering. Given nJ-dimensional data vectors arranged in a data matrix and the number K of clusters, PDC maximizes the joint density function that is defined as the sum of the products between the distance and the …

Algorithmic Embeddedness And The ‘Gig’ Characteristics Model: Examining The Interplay Between Technology And Work Design In Crowdwork, Francesca Bellesia, Elisa Mattarelli, Fabiola Bertolotti, Maurizio Sobrero

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This article systematically reviews the literature on online task crowdwork to investigate the complex relationship between technology and work design on crowdwork platforms. We highlight the diverse interpretations and uses of technology, specifically platform features and algorithms, in relation to work design. Our review reveals that platform features serve as antecedents to work design characteristics, while algorithms are so intertwined with job execution that a new work characteristic is needed to model this interplay. We introduce this new work characteristic as algorithmic embeddedness and show that it varies in degree. When high, algorithmic embeddedness can be perceived as either an …

Anti-Trafficking And Humanitarian Operations: Transferring Learnings For A Better World, Kezban Yagci Sokat, Maria Besiou

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Purpose: The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to draw insights from the rich literature on humanitarian operations efforts to combat human trafficking; second, to inspire humanitarian operations researchers to work more on human anti-trafficking. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper inspired by recent relevant reports, the academic literature and the authors’ years of involvement in both humanitarian operations and anti-trafficking. Findings: Humanitarian supply chains and human trafficking supply chains very often operate in the same environments and hence face similar challenges. The paper highlights the overlaps between the two domains and demonstrates how two decades of learnings from …

Covid-19 Vaccination-Related Tinnitus Is Associated With Pre-Vaccination Metabolic Disorders, Weihua Wang, Anusha Yellamsetty, Robert M. Edmonds, Shaun R. Barcavage, Shaowen Bao

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Cases of tinnitus have been reported following administration of COVID-19 vaccines. The aim of this study was to characterize COVID-19 vaccination-related tinnitus to assess whether there is a causal relationship, and to examine potential risk factors for COVID-19 vaccination-related tinnitus. We analyzed a survey on 398 cases of COVID-19 vaccination-related tinnitus, and 699,839 COVID-19 vaccine-related reports in the Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System (VAERS) database that was retrieved on 4 December 2021. We found that following COVID-19 vaccination, 1) tinnitus report frequencies for Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines in VAERS are 47, 51 and 70 cases per million full vaccination; …

Graduate Public Health Student Learning Experiences, Social Connectedness, And Mental Health During Covid-19: Pedagogical Implications For Public Health Academic Departments, Harit Agroia, Rachel Berkowitz, Andrew Carter, Vicky Gomez, Monica Allen

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted college student learning both globally and nationally. Current literature points to decreases in social connectedness, adverse mental health outcomes, and decreased overall learning outcomes; however, there are limited findings from higher education institutions within the Bay Area, California. There are also limited studies that examine the COVID-19 impact among public health graduate students, especially to understand how the pandemic renewed their interest in the field. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on graduate student learning experiences, social connectedness and mental health within the Master of Public Health program at …