Training and Development Commons^™

Garbage In ≠ Garbage Out: Exploring Gan Resilience To Image Training Set Degradations, Nicholas M. Crino

Theses and Dissertations

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have received increasing attention in recent years due to their ability to capture complex, high-dimensional data distributions without the need for extensive labeling. Since their conception in 2014, a wide array of GAN variants have been proposed featuring alternative architectures, optimizers, and loss functions with the goal of improving performance and training stability. While this research has yielded GAN variants robust to training set shrinkage and corruption, our research focuses on quantifying the resilience of a GAN architecture to specific modes of image degradation. We conduct systematic experimentation to determine empirically the effects of 10 fundamental …

The Application Of Virtual Reality In Firefighting Training, Dylan A. Gagnon

Theses and Dissertations

Immersive simulations such as virtual reality is becoming more prevalent for use in training environments for many professions. United States Air Force firefighters may benefit from incorporating VR technology into their training program to increase organizational commitment, job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and job performance. With implementing a new training platform, it is also important to understand the relationship between these variables and the perceived benefits and efficacy of the VR training, which has not yet been studied in previous research. This study addresses this issue by gathering data from fire departments currently fielding a VR fire training platform.

Applying Data Organizational Techniques To Enhance Air Force Learning, Jacob A. Orner

Theses and Dissertations

The USAF and the DoD use traditional schoolhouses to educate and train personnel. The physical aspects of these schoolhouses limit throughput. A method to increase throughput is to shift towards an asynchronous learning environment where students move through content at individually. This research introduces a methodology for transforming a set of unstructured documents into an organized TM students can use to orient themselves in a domain. The research identifies learning paths within the TM to create a directed KSAT. We apply this methodology in four case studies, each an education or training course. Using a graph comparison metric and the …

Conceptualization And Application Of Deep Learning And Applied Statistics For Flight Plan Recommendation, Nicholas C. Forrest

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Forces Pilot Training Next (PTN) program seeks a more efficient pilot training environment emphasizing the use of virtual reality flight simulators alongside periodic real aircraft experience. The PTN program wants to accelerate the training pace and progress in undergraduate pilot training compared to traditional undergraduate pilot training. Currently, instructor pilots spend excessive time planning and scheduling flights. This research focuses on methods to auto-generate the planning of in-flight events using hybrid filtering and deep learning techniques. The resulting approach captures temporal trends of user-specific and program-wide student performance to recommend a feasible set of graded flight events for …

Breaking Down The Barriers To Operator Workload Estimation: Advancing Algorithmic Handling Of Temporal Non-Stationarity And Cross-Participant Differences For Eeg Analysis Using Deep Learning, Ryan G. Hefron

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on two barriers to using EEG data for workload assessment: day-to-day variability, and cross- participant applicability. Several signal processing techniques and deep learning approaches are evaluated in multi-task environments. These methods account for temporal, spatial, and frequential data dependencies. Variance of frequency- domain power distributions for cross-day workload classification is statistically significant. Skewness and kurtosis are not significant in an environment absent workload transitions, but are salient with transitions present. LSTMs improve day- to-day feature stationarity, decreasing error by 59% compared to previous best results. A multi-path convolutional recurrent model using bi-directional, residual recurrent layers significantly increases …

Initial Evidence Of Construct Validity Of Data From A Self-Assessment Instrument Of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Tpack) In 2-Year Public College Faculty In Texas, Kristin C. Scott

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) has been studied in K-12 faculty in the U.S. and around the world using survey methodology. Very few studies of TPACK in post-secondary faculty have been conducted and no peer-reviewed studies in U.S. post-secondary faculty have been published to date. The present study is the first reliability and validity of data from a TPACK survey to be conducted with a large sample of U.S. post-secondary faculty. The professorate of 2-year public college faculty in Texas will help their institutions meet the goals of the state’s higher education strategic plan, 60x30TX. In order to do …

Understanding Millennial, Generation X, And Baby Boomer Preferred Leadership Characteristics: Informing Today’S Leaders And Followers, Lee-Volker Cox

Dissertations

Purpose. This quantitative study’s purpose was to describe and determine the degree of difference and importance of leadership characteristics as perceived by Baby Boom, Generation X, and Millennial generational cohort followers in STEM-related U.S.-based or headquartered aerospace and computer organizations as measured by the Multigenerational Leadership Characteristics Questionnaire (MLCQ).

Methodology. This was a cross-sectional, nonexperimental, comparative and correlational quantitative, ex post facto study. A web-based MLCQ was developed after conducting an academic literature review. Participants used a 6-point Likert scale identifying the importance of 30 characteristics with 2 aggregation questions identifying the most and least important characteristics; 408 members of …

In Pursuit Of An Aptitude Test For Potential Cyberspace Warriors, Tiffiny S. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has officially assumed the cyberspace mission. To perform this mission well, it is important to employ personnel who have the necessary skill sets and motivation to work in a cyberspace environment. The first step in employing the right people is to screen all possible candidates and select those with an aptitude for acquiring the skill sets and with the motivation to perform this work. This thesis attempts to determine the necessary skills and motivations to perform the cyberspace mission and recommends a screening process to select the candidates with the highest probability for success. Since this mission …

An Evaluation Of Organizational And Experience Factors Affecting The Perceived Transfer Of U.S. Air Force Basic Combat Skills Training, Shirley D. Crow

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force is in a state of transformation. Due to ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the focus of Basic Military Training is shifting to basic combat skills, or the skills needed to survive and operate in a hostile environment. In this study, basic combat skills training was evaluated using a number of training factors that potentially affect trainees’ perception of training transfer, or their ability to apply the skills they learned in training on the job or in a hostile environment. The analysis used structural equation modeling to evaluate the paths between each of the factors …

Imagining The Performance Zone: Overcoming Ambiguity In Consumer Based Electronic Performance Support Systems, Jason Simons

Theses : Honours

The locus of performance support implementation was once the domain of large corporations where its principles offered an attractive alternative to traditional methods of training within the scope of contemporary business practices. Due to economies of scale the large corporations were able to build effective performance support through the precise identification of the PERFORMANCE ZONE. This zone is created through the defining of the three attributes of performance, 1) the nature of the worker, 2) the nature of the task, and 3) the type and amount of support needed. lncreasingly the principles of performance-centred design have been adopted within diverse …

The Effect Of Interactivity And Instructional Exposure On Learning Effectiveness And Knowledge Retention: A Comparative Study Of Two U.S. Air Force Computer-Based Training (Cbt) Courses For Network User Licensing, Matthew J. Imperial

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) currently employs the use of computer-based training (CET) across a host of requirements. One such requirement is in the Information Assurance (IA) arena and involves the training/licensing of over one-million computer network end-users. USAF use of CETs has been shown to possess a potential for substantial fiscal savings. However, studies investigating the learning outcomes of learning effectiveness (initial learning) and knowledge retention (sustained learning) associated with USAF CETs are lacking.

The Nursing Process And Its Relationship To The Quality Of Nursing Care, Arlene H. Johnson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the systematic use of the nursing process on the quality of nursing care. Quality nursing care was defined as being achieved when the patient's nursing care needs are identified and plans made to assist the patient with these needs.

It was hypothesized that the quality of nursing care would be improved by the participation of the team leaders in a series of classes on the nursing process. This improvement in quality nursing care would be evidenced by a higher correlation between the patient's needs perceived by the nurse and …

Assisting Mothers To Successfully Breast Feed Their Babies, Annabelle Moore

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This experimental study tested the effect of a teaching program on success of a group of mothers desiring to breast feed their babies. It was hypothesized that mothers receiving specific instructions on the physiology of lactation and the proper sucking technique would have greater success than mothers not so instructed.

To be categorized as successful the mothers had to have an adequate supply of milk and had to express satisfaction with breast feeding. Criteria for adequacy of milk supply consisted of weight gain of the infant within accepted norms without use of supplementary formula.

Twenty breast feeding mothers who delivered …

The Post-Basic Preparation Received By Administrative, Supervisory And Head Nurses In Six Hospitals, Margaret Josephine Patry

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

It was the purpose of this survey to find out what post-basic preparation the administrative, supervisory and head nurses had received for their positions in six Seventh-day Adventist hospitals. The descriptive survey was chosen as the method of approach in the study. An information card was devised to gather the data. A total of 190 or 81 percent of the 235 anticipated responses were returned. The recommended preparation for nurses in nursing service positions, as set forth by the American Nurses' Association in the Functions, Standards and Qualifications for Practice, was selected as the criteria by which this preparation was …

A Follow-Up Study Of Paradise Valley School Of Nursing Graduates From 1950-1957, Charlotte D. Ross

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was conducted to find out if Paradise Valley School of Nursing is meeting certain specified objectives and to gather information which could help in future curriculum planning to better meet the needs of the students.

The normative-survey was the method used to gather data from graduates of the 1950-1957 classes. This group comprised those graduating from the three-year diploma program. A questionnaire was mailed to 149 graduates of which 124 responded.

The study shows that:

The graduates are residing in 22 states and 4 foreign countries.

Sixty-six per cent are married with over half being married within 3 …

A Pilot Study Of The Nature Of Learning Experiences In The Operating Room, Lucile Lewis

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

It was the purpose of this study to consider four phases of the nature of the learning experiences of students of nursing in the operating room. The phases of the problem studied were: (1) Are the learning experiences "new" or "an expansion and/or clarification of previous learnings?" (2) Do new learning experiences continue throughout the clinical assignment to the operating room? (3) Are the learning experiences concentrated in some areas of learning more than in others? (4) Is there a relationship between the area of learning and the type of duty performed by the student in the operating room?

Literature …