Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Autism Education: Exploring Interactive Videos And Ai Integration For Effective Teaching, Fatima Ahmed Alraeesi

Theses

This research focuses on enhancing autism education by integrating interactive videos and AI solutions to improve teacher training. As the number of autistic students rises, it becomes crucial for special education teachers to employ effective teaching strategies tailored to individual needs. The most effective teaching methods for autistic students involve understanding the condition and incorporating customized instruction strategies, such as adapting assignments to suit the student's needs, assisting those with difficulty speaking, and employing visual aids for better organization. The proposed solution involves utilizing interactive video technology to train teachers, bridging the gap between research and practical implementation of educational …

Human Error Assessment In Software Engineering, Benjamin S. Meyers

Theses

Software engineers work under strict constraints, balancing a complex, multi-phase development process on top of user support and professional development. Despite their best efforts, software engineers experience human errors, which manifest as software defects. While some defects are simple bugs, others can be costly security vulnerabilities. Practices such as defect tracking and vulnerability disclosure help software engineers reflect on the outcomes of their human errors (i.e. software failures), and even the faults that led to those failures, but not the underlying human behaviors. While human error theory from psychology research has been studied and applied to medical, industrial, and aviation …

What Is The Best Way To Develop A Website?, Nahomy Julieta Calderon Lopez

Theses

This project is centered around empowering individuals with the knowledge and resources necessary for effective website development. The culmination of Thesis/Directed Project II is a user-friendly website designed to distill and present the insights gathered during Thesis/Directed Project I. This website features an engaging interactive quiz, aimed to help the users identify what is the best way, for them, to develop a website. The quiz has multiple questions, each with three distinct response options, the quiz guides users towards one of three key approaches for website development: Website Builders, Content Management System platforms, or Coding. Upon receiving their quiz results, …

Graph-Based Learning Networks For Automatic Pigment Mapping Of Historical Artifacts, Bei Cao

Theses

Hyperspectral image classification can be a difficult task due to a lack of ground-truth labels and spectral variability. For hyperspectral images (HSIs) of historical artifacts, which are generally man-made objects, this is generally a significant challenge. Aiming to differentiate subtle spectral differences between varied pigments, we introduce graph- based learning networks and a powerful learning pipeline for realizing automatic pigment mapping on the maps. First, we develop a Graph Modularity clustering method for pro- ducing trustworthy ground-truth map for pigment classification task. We analyze the influence of graph structure on the Graph Neural Networks and propose Spatial-Spectral Graph Convolutional Network …

Analyzing The Impact Of Process-Oriented Technology In Programming Education, Kate Arendes

Theses

Currently, there exist several factors in programming education that deter novice programmers. Computer science students are often significantly penalized for programs that do not compile, reflecting how current teaching standards are focused on the product of the student’s efforts, rather than the independent pieces of code that would otherwise execute properly. Novice programmers struggle with interpreting error messages that identify where and why a program failed, but are written with the assumption that the author already has mastered the fundamental concepts that they are trying to implement. In the classroom, educators may show presentations with pre-written code or perform live …

Optimized Generative Pre-Training Eeg To Sentiment Classification (Ogptsc), Amira Hassan

Theses

This research aims to revolutionize electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis by proposing and developing an innovative method for sentiment classification, introducing the groundbreaking "Optimized Chat Generative Pre-training EEG to Sentiment Classification (OGPTSC)." This novel approach harnesses the power of Generative Pre-training (GPT2) as the vocabulary language model while utilizing an intelligent hyper-parameter selection method to fine-tune and optimize the model's performance. Extensive testing is conducted on a widely recognized dataset to evaluate the OGPTSC's prowess, demonstrating its exceptional capabilities in sentiment classification. Notably, this research extends its scrutiny beyond the OGPTSC by applying the same hyper-parameter selection technique to well-established models such …

Text Restoration In Palimpsested Historical Manuscripts Using Deep Learning Methods, Anna Starynska

Theses

Historical palimpsests are manuscripts that have more than one layer of text, where the original text was erased, and subsequent layers overwritten. For many centuries, palimpsested text of ancient manuscripts was considered impossible to recover. Nowadays, with new technology, such as multispectral imaging, under some portion of electromagnetic spectrum illumination, the overwritten text can become visible again. This peculiar property of faded ink and some traditional signal processing methods had already helped recover text from numerous manuscripts. Nevertheless, even showing the best performance, existing methods can only enhance the visibility of the text but not eliminate the effects of occlusion …

Towards A Reliable Machine Learning-Based Model Designed For Translating Sign Language Videos To Text, Maitha Essa Mohammad Ahli

Theses

Communication serves key roles in building relationships through sharing feelings, passing information, and connecting with others. Communication among the hearing impaired remains a significant stumbling block in today’s society since their communication means demands for an interpreter each moment. Various researchers agree that successful communication calls for the involvement of all individuals in a conversation and thus, deaf and hearing-impaired people require precise and welcoming communication to promote their working and learning relationships. Sign Language Recognition (SLR) is a critical and auspicious approach to promoting communication among hearing-impaired people. Sign languages greatly benefit from Machine Learning based translation techniques since …

Efficiently Annotating Source Code Identifiers Using A Scalable Part Of Speech Tagger, Gavin Burris

Theses

This thesis details the process in which a part-of-speech tagger is developed in order to determine grammar patterns in source code identifiers. These grammar patterns are used to aid in the proper naming of identifiers in order to improve reader comprehension. This tagger is a continuation of an effort of a previous Ensemble Tagger [62], but with a focus on increasing the tagging rate while maintaining the accuracy, in order to make the tagger scalable. The Scalable Tagger will be trained on open source data sets, with a machine learning model and training features that are chosen to best suit …

Legacy, Joseph Jackson

Theses

What will A.I. look like in the near future, and how will we incorporate it? In the past decade, I have seen personal assistants like Siri and Alexa become common. I believe that the next leap in personal assistants will not be a new personality entirely but one our own choosing. Legacy is a short fiction film that offers a glimpse into the life of a programmer named Wright, who works at an A.I. company called Legacy. Legacy is a subscription-based A.I. personal assistant developer that creates a likeness of historical persons and celebrities. Following the recent death of Wright’s …

High School Curriculum Outline And Unit Plan For Unit 3: Researching And Referencing For The Comparative Study, Kendra Bomar

Theses

Before beginning the International Baccalaureate Art program, most high school students will have already spent a significant amount of time studying a variety of art genres and will have a solid understanding of art terminology and methods. This is because the program is designed to build upon prior knowledge and experience. This is true for the majority of schools that participate in the IB program. It is common practice for educational institutions that provide tough programs to insist that students complete prerequisite coursework before they are allowed to enroll in the challenging programs that the institution provides. This is done …

Using A Forward Chain To Teach Intruder Training To Children With Autism, Megan Clark, Robbie Hanson

Theses

Safety drills, such as tornado, fire and intruder drills are mandated in schools across the United States. These drills require prolonged compliance by students and are commonly taught using verbal instructions. However, individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may struggle with complex routines, attending to verbal stimuli, or complying for long durations. Thus, when children with ASD transition to school these drills may be difficult for them to complete and little to no research has been conducted on this topic. Thus, the current study utilized a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants to examine the use of a forward chain …

Appearances Are Deceiving: Long-Distance Subject Anaphors And Phasal Binding Domains, Fahad A. Almalki

Theses

An unusual behavior of anaphors is to occur in embedded subject positions and bebound across a finite clause boundary by a matrix subject. This thesis, however, demonstrates that such constructions exist in Malki Arabic, besides other languages. First, this thesis shows that the clause size of the embedded clause in which subject anaphors are allowed is CP and not always a TP. Second, in light of current reductionist approaches to binding domains of the classical binding theory to phase theory, a cross-clausal binding relation bears issues to those approaches, as a long-distance antecedence relation crosses a phase boundary. Taking long-distance …

Comparing Knowledge About Differential Diagnosis Of Childhood Apraxia Speech And Phonological Development Between Communication Disorders And Sciences Graduate Students, Bayley Eubanks

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OFBayley Eubanks, for the Master of Science degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences presented on March 30, 2023, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: COMPARING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CHILDHOOD APRAXIA SPEECH AND PHONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN COMMUNICATION DISORDERS AND SCIENCES GRADUATE STUDENTSMAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Valerie Boyer The purpose of the study was to gather information from current graduate students by a brief in-service on the differential diagnosis of CAS and PD in speech-language pathology pre-professionals. The distinctions between CAS and other speech sound disorders, such as PD, must be made clear to pre-professional SLPs …

Beyond The Page: Multimodal Lab-Based Research And Development In Creative Writing, Matthew Jacob Gordon

Theses

This collection acts as the supporting evidence of the hypothesis that, while acting as Graduate Director of SIU’s Digital Xpressions Lab, Matthew Gordon was able to successfully provide effective support for the digital expression of collaborator’s and client's domains of knowledge while forming innovative research partnerships with academics within the SIU system and beyond. A unique form for a MFA in Creative Writing’s thesis, this collection represents the multimodal creative work a contemporary narrative designer can undertake in a single academic year when given the ability to lead a facility like Southern Illinois University’s Digital Xpressions Lab. Qualitative evidence in …

Exploring Search-By-Video Technology For Searching Structured Human Movements: Insights From Sign Language Look-Up Systems, Saad Hassan

Theses

Identifying unfamiliar human movements is crucial across several tasks and fields, including skill acquisition and human movement analysis research. With the advancements in computer vision technology, search systems can be developed that allow users to search for human movements by submitting a video sample. A clear example of such systems is search-by-video sign-language look-up systems. The advances in sign-language recognition technology have made it feasible to design these systems, which allow users to generate queries by either submitting a video of themselves performing the word or by submitting a video segment containing the unknown sign. These systems can be particularly …

The Automation Of Translation Between Sign Language Variants Through Artificial Intelligence, Mohammad Sultan Buafra

Theses

Language is the method of communication between individuals and communities through either sounds, written symbols, or visual gestures. There is a variety of languages around the world. One significant language that is made up of hand gestures is sign language and it is the main method of communication between and with deaf people. Translation between languages is a practice that has been automated with the advancement of artificial intelligence, this has also allowed for the translation of sign language into written language. However, there remains a certain gap in translating between regional variants of sign language. The purpose of this …

A Graph-Based Approach To Studying The Spread Of Radical Online Sentiment, Le Nguyen

Theses

The spread of radicalization and extremism through the Internet is a growing problem. We are witnessing a rise in online hate groups, inspiring the impressionable and vulnerable population towards extreme actions in the real world. Though the body of research to address these issues is growing in kind, they lack a key understanding of the structure and behavior of online extremist com- munities. In this thesis, we study the structure and behavior of extremist online communities and the spread of hateful sentiments through them to address this gap in the research. We propose a novel Graph-Based Approach to Studying the …

Intentional Passing And Closeted Agency, Logan Bohlinger

Theses

It is characteristic of closeted queer agents that they behave so as to pass as heterosexual, cisgender, or otherwise as non-queer. Thus, I take it that an action-theoretic account of the phenomenon of straight-passing is essential to developing an action-theoretic account of the practical disposition of being “in the closet.” To progress towards a broader account of closeted queer agency, I endeavor in this thesis to clarify the patterns of practical reasoning involved in straight-passing with an aim to demonstrate that straight-passing, in all its forms, is something that a queer agent can intentionally do. However, a queer agent often …

Automatic Text Simplification Tools To Provide Reading Assistance For Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Individuals, Oliver Alonzo

Theses

Automatic Text Simplification (ATS) consists of computing techniques to rewrite text to make it simpler to read and understand, and prior research has explored its use to provide reading assistance to various user groups who may benefit from reading support. Prior literacy research has identified great diversity in literacy skills among DHH adults, and prior computing accessibility research has identified benefits from providing ATS-based reading assistance to other user groups. Thus, while ATS holds promise to benefit DHH adults, little research has investigated the benefits from, interests in and preferences for such technologies among DHH adults. Thus, this work aims …

Empirical Investigations And Dataset Collection For American Sign Language-Aware Personal Assistants, Abraham Trout Glasser

Theses

Proliferation of voice-controlled personal-assistant devices poses accessibility barriers for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) users. It is estimated that 128 million people use a voice assistant in the United States, and 4.2 billion digital voice assistants being used around the world, e.g. through over 60,000 different smart home devices that support Amazon's Alexa, which is one instance of virtual assistants [97,134]. The ongoing (at the time of this dissertation) coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the uptake of home-based, voice-controlled devices. As artificial intelligence researchers and developers are working on American Sign Language (ASL) recognition technologies, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research is …

Deep Learning Methods To Automate Students’ Writing Evaluation For Improved Writing Outcomes, Temesgen Mikael

Theses

Writing is an essential skill for students to master. Nevertheless, it remains the most challenging of the four language skills for many due to various factors, including infrequent writing assignments and inadequate feedback tools. Consequently, there is a pressing need to develop more effective methods for supporting students' writing skill development. In this thesis, the aim is to apply deep learning techniques to automated essay scoring and improve the feedback provided by existing tools. To achieve this aim, this study’s main objective is to compare the predictions made by different deep learning models to identify the most effective approach for …

Affordability Culture In Organizations, Taylor Yeazitzis

Theses

Affordability has been a growing interest in organizations over the years. Though affordability is an ever-present issue within organizations, there is a lack of research surrounding affordability culture as an organizational subculture. The current study aims to close this research gap by identifying organizational aspects associated with affordability in which current organizational practices can be evaluated by organization members. To accomplish this goal, 346 participants from NASA, industry, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville were surveyed to understand the organizational aspects associated with affordability. Results indicated that students tended to evaluate affordability in terms of budgets and funding, whereas …

Connecting Bridges : A Critical Disability Reading Of A Silent Voice, Tyler Dickey

Theses

Disability scholars have read stories in the form of manga to see how their depictions of disabilities can be harmful or helpful to those possessing disabilities. Most manga examined in this way usually consists of a story where either only one character is present with a disability, or the story falls within the ‘supercrip’ narrative. Yoshitoki Ōima’s A Silent Voice differs from this trend as it displays multiple characters with different types of disabilities and falls into the slice-of-life genre. This thesis exists to do a critical disability reading of A Silent Voice as a piece of disability literature. I …

The Survival Of Punic Identity In The Imperial Roman Age, Ryan Alcanio

Theses

After the Roman conquest of Carthage in 146 BC, North Africa began the process of becoming a Roman Province. From the 1st century AD onward, the surviving culture of the Carthaginian and Punic peoples underwent significant changes that better incorporated it into the Roman world. The Punic religion became adopted into the Roman Pantheon and took on Roman attributes while the Punic language survived mostly intact thanks to the written form adopting the Latin alphabet by the 2nd century AD.

Caring For Individuals Who Have Used Methamphetamine: A Study Exploring The Experiences Of West Australian Nurses Working In An Authorised Mental Health Institute, John Kriticos

Theses

Background: Methamphetamine (MA) use in Australia has stabilized over the last 22 years, however changing routes of administration and increased purity of the drug has led to greater rates of physical dependency and higher rates of cardiovascular, neurological, and mental health complications. Challenges managing MA related presentations have been reported in Australian Emergency Departments (ED’s), with limited research considering nurses’ experience treating individual(s) who use MA (IWUM) and require prolonged mental health care. Purpose: The aim of this study was to understand nurses’ experiences who care for IWUM in a West Australian hospital’s inpatient mental health service. Methods: Interpretive phenomenological …

The Age Of De Fer: Maps, Knowledge, And The Western World View, 1680-1720, Fiona Keating

Theses

This thesis determines the degree to which cartographic tools and maps such as Nicolas de Fer’s Carte de la Mer du Sud et de la Mer du Nord (Paris, 1713) might be considered ‘weapons’ of empire and examples of eighteenth-century ‘plundering’ of the Pacific. It analyses the connection between knowledge, power, empire and identity in the so-called ‘Age of Discovery’ by examining the map created by de Fer in the early years of the Scientific Revolution and the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. Carte de la Mer du Sud et de la Mer du Nord is an encyclopaedic, visual representation of western …

Is Knowledge Enough? Exploring Mental Health Literacy And Other Factors Of Help-Seeking In Rural And Urban Emerging-Adult Males, Chris Haydock

Theses

Background and Aim: There is strong evidence to support that mental health concerns become most prevalent among emerging adult males (18-25 years) due to their reluctance to seek-help. Mental Health Literacy (MHL) comprises knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards mental health with some evidence suggesting it also enhances help-seeking. However, research has reported that rural residents are less likely to seek help compared to their urban counterparts, despite similarities in MHL. Other factors that impact help-seeking include self-stigma towards mental illness, masculine norms, wellbeing, and access to care. Despite this, there is limited research investigating the influence of MHL in unison …

Outlier State: Elite Rhetoric As A Window To Western Australian Regionalism, David Jones

Theses

Western Australia was the last of the Australian self-governing British colonies to agree to join the Australian Federation in 1900 and voted to secede, by a significant electoral margin, in a referendum held in 1933. Some have even argued the State has been a reluctant member of the Federation since this momentous vote. If this is the case, what evidence is there that can justify this perception, and possibly point to enduring underlying factors supporting this Western Australian regionalism sentiment and identity? Many of the drivers which led to the successful secession referendum in 1933 still exist today. The State …

The Perceptions Of Year 5 And 6 Students, Their Teachers And The School Principal Of Their Australian Identity And The School's Role In Developing Students' Australian Identity., Renae Nahajski

Theses

The aim of this qualitative research was to investigate the perceptions of Year 5 and 6 students, their teachers and the school principal of their Australian identity and the school’s role in the development of Australian identity. The study explores participants’ perceptions of their own identity and investigates where and when students feel they are taught about Australian identity.

The research also investigates where and when the principal and teachers feel the school develops students’ Australian identity. The review of the literature highlighted three areas that formed the conceptual framework for the study. The three areas were national identity; curriculum; …