Middle Tennessee State University
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The Power of Play: A Correlative Study of Engagement
No full textQuantifying learning potential that occurs in informal learning environments, using the Visitor Engagement Framework, can replace the need for clear learning objectives and assessments. Engagement can be the catalyst for learning to occur. The qualitative observational research, for this study, was conducted in a children’s museum and focused on the level of engagement at three exhibits. Data from this research identified learners engaging at different levels with different exhibits. Engagement levels alone do not account for the learner’s characteristics: learner’s gender, learner’s age, size of group the learner is in, and any scaffolding from parents or educators. Creating opportunities the induce motivation, belonging, and feedback by parents and or educators allow for increased learner engagement. The benefits of understanding the impact of educators and parents at exhibits in a children’s museum extend beyond a learner’s engagement levels. This information can prove to be pivotal in exhibit design, museum inclusiveness, and training of museum educators.Ed.D
Characterization and Gender Norms of Thematic Apperception Test Narratives
No full textThis thesis investigates the representation of gender norms within Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) narratives through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The TAT, developed by Christiana D. Morgan and Henry A. Murray in the 1940s prompts respondents to create stories based on ambiguous images, to reveal their supposed subconscious motives and desires. Utilizing an archival corpus of 1,340 narratives from the 1940s to the 1960s, this study applies CDA to analyze how language and narrative structures reflect societal gender norms. The methodology integrates both qualitative and quantitative approaches, providing insights into how respondents’ stories construct and perpetuate gender normativity. By focusing on narrative discourse, this research sheds light on the ways historical contexts and cultural practices influences the constitution of gender. In addition to the archival study of gender constitution, the research discusses how ChatGPT constructs gendered characters using our current discourse.M.A
Road Warriors: DIY Artists and Touring as Independent Promotion
No full textThis thesis explores the creation and execution of a DIY artist career plan for Aslin, a
singer-songwriter releasing her third EP Inflight. The project focuses on promoting Inflight
through a regional tour of the Pacific Northwest while examining how business planning, goal
setting, and the live performance ecosystem contribute to the success of independent musicians.
Drawing from industry literature, the research highlights the vital importance of diversifying
revenue streams—such as live performances, merchandise sales, and streaming royalties—for
DIY musicians in today’s digital landscape. The methodology includes establishing an Artist
Career Plan based on the framework from Paul Allen’s Artist Management for the Music
Business, with an emphasis on tour booking, venue research, and digital promotion. By
analyzing data from Aslin’s six-date Inflight tour, the thesis demonstrates how live performances
can drive both financial success and digital engagement, offering a replicable model for other
independent artists. Additionally, the thesis addresses the challenges DIY musicians face,
particularly in balancing artistic goals with financial sustainability in a rapidly changing music
industry
Air Race Classic Ground Crew Manual
No full textThis project details the need, development, and application of the Middle Tennessee State University Air Race Classic Ground Crew Manual. The history of the Air Race Classic is explained, along with the rules and procedures of the race. The need for the Ground Crew Manual is stated, along with a description of how the manual was developed. It assesses the application of the manual from the perspective of a flight crew member through a leg-by-leg description during the 2024 Air Race Classic, as well as the perspective of a ground crew member based on the use of the manual during the 2024 Air Race Classic
Assessment of MorphoPASSE Software for Undergraduate Forensic Anthropology Education: Integrating Sex Estimation Technology into the Classroom
No full textThis research would not have been possible without the many parties that supported me
through this process. Thank you to MTSU’s Sociology and Anthropology Department
and the Forensic Institute for Research and Education for providing scholarships
supporting this research. Thank you to the Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropology &
Applied Science at the University of South Florida for providing me access to the USF
Skeletal Collection. I would also like to thank the donors and their families for
contributing to the USF Skeletal Collection. I am also grateful to Dr. Holland and Dean
Vile for their commitment to my thesis. Above all, I thank Dr. Hodge for her continued
support and guidance throughout this process
Integrating Vision-Language Models with Knowledge Graphs for Advancing AI-Driven Robotics and Precision Agriculture
No full textPrecision agriculture is at the forefront of modern innovations in farming, using ad-
vanced technologies to optimize resource use, increase crop yields, and promote sustainable
agricultural practices. This thesis, therefore, addresses some of the critical challenges in
precision agriculture, including accurate weed detection, efficient resource allocation, and
integration of multimodal data from diverse sources such as drones and IoT devices. In
order to address these challenges, a novel strategy is suggested that combines MiniGPT-4, a
multimodal vision-language model, with a systematic Knowledge Graph (KG) derived from
credible datasets, specifically FAOSTAT and USDA PLANTS.
This KG, integrated in the inference pipeline of MiniGPT-4, further expands the model’s
contextual understanding and increases its reasoning capabilities; hence, more accurate
results are generated in tasks like weed detection and crop monitoring.
Empirical evaluations demonstrate that the KG-enhanced MiniGPT-4 significantly out-
performs the baseline model on various performance metrics, including BLEU scores,
METEOR, ROUGE, and CIDEr, in addition to lowering hallucination rates and improving
object and relation coverage. While the quantized model exhibits a slight trade-off with
respect to some performance measures, it still retains good functionality, which is acceptable
for real-time agricultural applications. This work not only contributes to the technical
integration of vision-language models with structured knowledge bases but also provides
practical solutions to enhance precision agriculture robotics. The proposed system fosters
more sustainable and productive farming practices by enabling smarter decision-making
and automating complex agricultural tasks. Future research will look into dynamic Knowl-
edge Graph updates, mechanisms for continual learning, and further applications in both
agricultural and non-agricultural domains to further solidify the role of AI-driven solutions
in modern agriculture.M.S
Office Housework, Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, and Work Ethic: A Correlational Study
No full textThis research focused on the relationship between individual work ethic and how that impacts employee contextual job performance, including both organizational citizenship behaviors and office housework. The office housework literature has grown over the past few years, but there is much research still needed to understand this contextual job behavior. Correlations between work ethic, organizational citizenship behaviors, and office housework were tested. A relationship was found between office housework and organizational citizenship behaviors aimed at the individual (OCB-Is), but not organizational citizenship behaviors focused on the organization (OCB-Os). Additionally, work ethic did not significantly relate to organizational citizenship behaviors focused on the organization (OCB-Os). Office housework and OCB-Is were both related to four work ethic dimensions: centrality of work, hard work, wasted time, and delay of gratification. Findings of this study help demonstrate the similarities and differences in the relationship between office housework and organizational citizenship behaviors, using work ethic. Further studies should attempt to help define the different types of contextual job performance behaviors, and what drives employees to complete them.M.A
The Spectrum of the Human Condition: A Character Analysis of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series
No full textThis thesis focuses on the morally gray nature of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series. Using secondary scholarship, the literary theories of Edward Forster and Vladimir Propp, and my own definitions and thoughts, this paper examines the choices and motivations of Dumbledore and Snape. Based on those, I analyze how the two of them fit or do not fit the idea of literary heroes and villains. The research within this thesis is important because this representation of humans as non-perfect beings ensures that we accept ourselves and others as who we are rather than the sum of our parts
Towards Better Recommendation Explainability Evaluation for Conversational Recommender Systems
No full textThis study focuses on Conversational Recommender Systems (CRS) and proposes a method for classifying recommendations as good or bad. Traditional conversational recommendation metrics like BLEU, ROGUE, and METEOR are not sophisticated enough to assess recommendation quality. A shift towards different metrics is needed to assess recommendation quality. Eight quality factors, length, readability, repetition, word importance, polarity, subjectivity, grammar, and feature appearance are proposed to be more relevant, explainable, and impactful metrics to assess conversational recommendation quality. Towards that end, three different neural networks are created using GPT2, GPT-NEO, and t5 as base models that embed a conversational recommendation and factor in the eight aforementioned quality factors as inputs to a linear residual network architecture to classify recommendations. The GPT-NEO model achieves the highest average prediction accuracy at 83\%, GPT2 has an average accuracy of 78\%, and t5 74\%. Individual Conditional Expectation analysis shows that grammar, feature appearance, and repetition are the most impactful quality factors. A Shapley value analysis shows each factor can push model predictions toward bad or good classes for all three models. The 8 quality factors assess recommendation quality more meaningfully, accurately, and contextually than current standard methods.M.S
Independent Political Podcasts: The Band-Aid for the U.S. News Media Industry's Bullet Wound
No full textIndependently produced political podcasts can be an effective tool to inform and engage audiences. Unfortunately, the mass consolidation of the means by which podcasts are shared limits the ability of such podcasts to gain much of a following, with the exception of a few. With a news media industry that dwindles, the main solution to this crisis lies in policy reforms, Until those arrive, however, an examination and articulation of what makes a political podcast independent and what makes them effective can illuminate how podcasters can responsibly and effectively work, in a small way, to provide a temporary solution to the catastrophe until the federal government decides to take action