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METAMORPHIC TESTING PRIORITIZATION FOR FAIRNESS EVALUATION IN LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS
No full textABSTRACT
Large language models (LLMs) face challenges in detecting fairness related faults due
to the oracle problem, where it is difficult to define correct outputs for all scenarios. This
research applies metamorphic testing (MT) as a solution, focusing on the prioritization of
metamorphic relations (MRs) based on their diversity scores to maximize fault detection
efficiency.
The study hypothesizes that MRs with high diversity scores, indicating significant dif-
ferences between source and follow-up test cases, are more likely to reveal faults related to
fairness and bias in LLMs. To test this, several diversity metrics, including cosine similarity,
sentiment analysis, and named entity recognition, are used to quantify differences between
test cases. The proposed approach is evaluated on two popular LLMs, GPT and LLaMA,
comparing it against random, fault-based, and distance-based MR ordering strategies.
The results indicate that prioritizing high-diversity MRs significantly improves fault de-
tection speed and effectiveness, particularly for identifying biases across sensitive attributes.
Specifically, our proposed Total Diversity Score-based approach shows a 91.6% improvement
in fault detection over the Random-Based approach at the first MR, gradually reducing to
21.05% by the fifth MR. Additionally, compared to the Distance-Based method, our ap-
proach achieves an initial 130% improvement in fault detection rate, decreasing to 1.61%
by the ninth MR before performance levels stabilize. Notably, our approach also performs
closely to the Fault-Based prioritization, offering a balanced and effective method for uncov-
ering faults efficiently
EXPLORATION OF TRAUMA-INFORMED NURSING INTERVENTIONS FOR ADULTS WHO ARE SURVIVORS OF ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES: A SCOPING REVIEW
No full textThe sentinel 1998 ACEs study found a strong connection between childhood trauma and negative long-term health outcomes in adulthood. Nurses should implement a trauma-informed care approach which recognizes the need to understand trauma that a patient has endured in their life in order to care for them effectively. The aim of this study was to explore nursing interventions that can be used by nurses to support adults who have experienced ACEs, specifically physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse. A scoping review of the literature was conducted. Out of the 14 articles found, five (n=5) were selected for inclusion. The review showed three models that can be used in clinical practice to guide trauma-informed interventions. Three (n=3) articles discussed the Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Care which include Safety, Trust and Transparency, Peer Support, Collaboration and Mutuality, Empowerment, Voice, and Choice, and Culture, History, and Gender. One article (n=1) discussed the 4 E's Model of Trauma-Informed Care which are Educate, Empathize, Explain, and Empower. One (n=1) article suggests use of the 4 R’s of Trauma-Informed Care which include Realize, Recognize, Respond, and Resist. The models revolve around understanding the effect that trauma has on a person, ensuring patient safety in the clinical setting, and gaining trust with the patient. They also placed a focus on collaborating with the interdisciplinary team to achieve patient outcomes and resisting re-traumatization
"Even God Seemed to Hate North Carolina.": The Tuscarora as Middlemen During the Tuscarora War.
No full textLong before Europeans stepped foot on North American soil, the indigenous societies had extensive trade networks. As European settlements spread across the continent new opportunities for trade arose. Indigenous societies began to incorporate and adapt European trade goods into their trade networks. In North Carolina, for example, oral histories, ethno-historical accounts, and other studies indicates the Occaneechi and the Tuscarora functioned as middlemen. In the 1990s the excavated artifacts from the Fredricks site, near present day Hillsborough, were used by R. P. Stephen Davis Jr. and H. Trawick Ward to conclude the Occaneechi were in fact middlemen for the neighboring Sara people. Despite the extensive historical research available on the Tuscarora no archeological research to date has examined their role as middlemen similar to what was performed by Davis and Ward on the Occaneechi.
This thesis compares the artifact assemblage from Fort Neoheroka, located near present day Snow Hill, with the assemblages from the Fredricks site and Upper Saratown. The assemblage from Fort Neoheroka was recategorized using Davis and Ward’s methodology. Using their “middleman pattern” on the Fort Neoheroka assemblage demonstrated strong parallels with the Fredricks site. That is to say, Fort Neoheroka, like the Fredricks site, had more European weapons than ornaments. The results of this study suggest that the Tuscarora were likely middlemen during the early eighteenth century
IMPROVING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF UNDERPERFORMING GIFTED STUDENTS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Full text linkTeachers are responsible for growing students academically, intellectually and socially in North Carolina. Teachers receive various levels of AIG training during their time spent pursuing their education degrees. Not all teachers are prepared to meet the unique needs of gifted students. Most gifted students at Eastern North Carolina (ENC) School are excelling, but some of them are not reaching their full potential. Research suggests that the underperformance of gifted students may be counteracted when students are ability grouped and provided with differentiated instruction. According to the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS), gifted students at ENC School achieved -2.89 points below the growth they were supposed to achieve overall in the 2021-2022 school year. The 2021-2022 school year was not an outlier year because a portion of gifted students have historically underachieved on benchmark assessments and End of Grade assessments. The goal of my study was to increase overall academic success of gifted students in math and reading at ENC School. This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data to provide a comprehensive analysis of instructional impacts. Using EVAAS data, focus group responses, teacher surveys and student surveys were collected and analyzed to determine if ability grouping and differentiated instruction positively impacted students’ achievement and goal valuation. This study utilized goal valuation, a key component of the Achievement Orientation Model, which examines the extent to which students perceive academic tasks as meaningful and valuable. The Plan Do Study Act design was also followed. Nineteen Grade 4, 18 Grade 5 and 21 Grade 6 students at ENC School participated in my study. Findings indicate that differentiation and ability grouping had a positive effect on goal valuation and achievement outcomes. As a result of this study, previously underperforming gifted students valued tasks in reading and math. The majority of gifted students also demonstrated better results academically. These findings have important implications for educators and administrators who want to enhance learning for gifted students. Schools may benefit from implementing differentiated instruction and flexible ability grouping
Under God, Quite Divisible: Rhetoric, Race, and Multicultural Belonging in Non-Denominational Christian Churches
Full text linkThis dissertation examines the rhetoric of multicultural belonging in non-denominational Christian churches, analyzing how race, faith, and institutional discourse intersect to shape inclusion and exclusion within these spaces. While many churches position themselves as racially diverse and welcoming, their rhetorical and structural frameworks often center Whiteness, reinforcing systemic barriers to full inclusion. Through qualitative interviews and rhetorical analysis, this study interrogates how congregants—particularly people of color and their marital allies—experience, navigate, and contest these dynamics within faith communities. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, Biblical Critical Theory, religious rhetorical studies, and scholarship on multiculturalism, this research explores how language, power, and ideology operate in shaping churchgoers' sense of belonging. It highlights the tensions between performative diversity and substantive inclusion, illustrating how multicultural rhetoric can simultaneously invite and marginalize. This study also considers the ways congregants work to create spaces of belonging through counter storytelling, advocacy, and community-building efforts, pushing churches toward deeper racial and cultural inclusivity. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that true multicultural belonging requires more than racial representation; it necessitates a fundamental reimagining of leadership structures, theological interpretations, and institutional practices. By bridging scholarship on race, rhetoric, and religion, this work contributes to broader conversations about faith-based racial reconciliation and the ongoing struggle for equity within Christian communitie
FROM SURVIVING TO THRIVING: A FRAMEWORK TO MITIGATE THE EMOTIONAL CHALLENGES FACED BY INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS IN THE US.
Full text linkThe United States of America has been relying for the last couple of decades on international teachers to fill instructional vacancies caused by an increasing teacher shortage. North Carolina is one of the states that attracts the highest number of international teachers due to the existing teacher shortage and an uptick in the number of dual language immersion programs. Researchers agree that upon arrival teachers face numerous barriers and challenges caused by the intricate uprooting process, cultural differences and limited support received throughout the initial stages of the transitional period. No previous studies explored the effects of improvement-based interventions to assist international teachers emotionally to successfully navigate the relocation process.
This inquiry employed an explanatory sequential mixed method design and revolved around the experiences of 13 international teachers. It identified the challenges faced by international teachers and measured the impact of two improvement-based interventions: the question of the day and restaurant outings. It unveiled that international teachers experience logistical challenges during the relocation process but are receiving no support as they navigate these challenges; a lack of emotional support from either the recruiting agencies or school districts is detrimental for international teachers during the transition period; and that there is a lack of personal and professional development support related to cultural, interpersonal, or soft skills that make the transition to the U.S. classroom challenging. The results also revealed that participants in the present inquiry benefitted from the exposure to both interventions. Finally, planning and leading the implementation of an emotional support program for transitioning international teachers impacted the scholarly practitioners’ leadership development since he found that interventions do not need to be large in scale to have a meaningful effect. All these findings should inform future human resources and onboarding protocols for international teachers to ensure that they successfully adjust to the new setting in a timely manner. Additional longitudinal studies are recommended to better identify other interventions to ease international teachers’ transitions and to find the correlation between teacher support systems and their impact on self-efficacy, success, and retention rates
SEGREGATION, SEX, AND LIFE EXPECTANCY: SURVIVAL GAPS ACROSS TIME IN A SOUTHERN COMMUNITY FROM 1915 – 2015
Full text linkWhile global life expectancy dramatically increased across the 20th century, these gains were not uniformly experienced across individuals and populations. Public health researchers, who have sought to better understand these life expectancy gaps, have demonstrated a clear relationship between chronic stress and a heightened risk of premature death due to health conditions tied to inflammation, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Broadly speaking, chronic stress accelerates the biological clock, wearing down bodily systems such as immune and heart function. Therefore, individuals who experience a disproportionately high burden of social stress are expected to suffer from both poorer health outcomes across the life course and a lowered life expectancy. Consequently, health is increasingly recognized as being, in part, socially constructed. That is, adverse social conditions result in distinct lived experiences and resultant divergent health outcomes across individuals and groups. However, as social conditions improve, life expectancy gaps are expected to narrow in response. To examine this predicted relationship, I target demographic data sourced from death certificates (n=8,484) from a small southern town across a 100-year time period (1915-2015). During the first half of this dataset, Jim Crow laws (1877-1965) resulted in policies that limited access to medical care, education, and employment for African Americans. However, following civil rights legislation, segregation ended, allowing for more equal access to resources and opportunities tied to increasing quality of life. Nonetheless, there is very little primary research on life expectancy gaps in the early 20th century, with most research in the southern U.S. targeting the post-Jim Crow period. Therefore, this work seeks to fill this knowledge gap through a longitudinal analysis of the survival probability of individuals during and after segregation. Results from Cox Regression modeling in R reveal statistically significant associations between an individual’s sex, race, and year of death with their age at death. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a clear race-based rather than gender-based gap in life expectancy, with White individuals (during Jim Crow n=1438, post Jim Crow n=3094) living, on average, 10 years longer than Black individuals (during Jim Crow n=1693, post Jim Crow n=2259). However, following desegregation, while life expectancy increases for all groups, the race-based gap in life expectancy narrows with Black women, in particular, experiencing the most dramatic increase in age at death, surpassing that of White men (~69 to 67 years respectively). What is clear from our findings is that survival probability is malleable and influenced by social pressures present in a given time and place. Ultimately, this research highlights how the social environment, here shaped by legislative change, can positively, or negatively, impact a person’s health and resultant life expectancy
Assessing Perceptions of Nurse Educator Co-Facilitation in Simulation Sessions for Medical Students and Resident Physicians: A Novel Approach to Interprofessional Education
Full text linkD.N.P
Executive Summary: Utilizing Motivational Interviewing to Increase Pediatric Influenza Vaccine Uptake
Full text linkDNP Executive Summary: Use for the paper required to fulfill the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.D.N.P
SENIOR THAW: CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN APPLICATION AND MATRICULATION AMONG STUDENTS IN A RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE SETTING
Full text linkThe study of Senior Thaw expands on the phenomenon of "summer melt" among high school seniors, where students accepted to college experience doubts or lack motivation, often resulting in failure to matriculate. Rather than just the summer, it begins at the time of application during the fall of a student's senior year of high school and is referred to in this study as Senior Thaw. This mixed methods study aimed to understand the factors influencing college matriculation at Lenoir Community College (LCC) and develop a communication plan to support students between acceptance and enrollment. The goal was to close the gap between students who apply and those who matriculate.
The study utilized Schlossberg’s transition theory, which focuses on four elements: situation, self, support, and strategies. These factors helped with identifying resources and barriers that influence students' transitions from high school to college. The study sought to improve communication and support to increase matriculation.
The first research question examined aspects of the admissions process that affect matriculation. Financial factors, such as affordability and proximity to home, were key motivators, along with a straightforward application process. Survey results showed that most students found LCC’s admissions clear, though some needed more help with applications and deadlines.
The second question explored how interactions with LCC impacted students’ matriculation decisions. Support from high school counselors and LCC staff was vital, especially for first-generation students. Students preferred text messages over emails, finding them timelier and engaging, especially when linked to deadlines.
The third question assessed the effect of a yearlong communication plan on matriculation. A series of text messages offering reminders and support was effective in fostering a sense of belonging, prompting actions on incomplete tasks, and encouraging follow-ups. These messages helped students feel more prepared for enrollment.
The findings underscore the importance of personalized, interactive communication in increasing matriculation. Ongoing support improved students' preparedness and retention, emphasizing the need for proactive communication in the admissions process to address obstacles and support smooth transitions