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Listening, Looking, and Learning: An Exploration of Musical Influence on the Narratives and Characters of Call The Midwife
Full text linkCall the Midwife has distinguished itself among British period dramas through its commitment to telling women’s stories with emotional depth, historical and medical accuracy, and nuanced character development. Unlike many period dramas based in the United Kingdom that center on the aristocracy, Call the Midwife connects the audience with ordinary people, particularly women, navigating life post-World War II and the early days of government healthcare by portraying their struggles, triumphs, and evolving identities. One of the most compelling ways the series achieves this is through its use of music, particularly recurring motifs that signify personal growth and transformation. This thesis explores how musical themes serve as storytelling devices that accompany character developments and extended narratives
As the series has progressed, the once nuanced use of music has given way to more surface-level emotional cues, diminishing the depth that once set Call the Midwife apart. The shift from carefully chosen musical moments to more generic scoring reflects a broader decline in the show’s narrative complexity. This has led to the most recent series feeling more predictable and less relatable. This thesis explores Call the Midwife’s earlier series, and the music used to deepen character arcs and enrich storytelling. Through analysis of key scenes, themes, and musical choices, this research highlights the critical role of sound in shaping audience perception, the evolving identity of the series itself, and the importance of factual historical and medical dramas of the shared past
Analysis of Technology Skill Requirements for Entry-Level Accountants
No full textThis study examines the evolving impact of emerging technologies on skill requirements for entry-level accountants. Using a mixed-method approach that combines literature review and quantitative analysis of 2,257,082 job postings from 2021 to 2024 provided by the Butler Center for Research and Economic Development, the study evaluates trends in employer expectations across firm sizes and time. Chi-square tests revealed significant changes in the proportion of postings requiring technological skills (χ² = 117,672, df = 3, p \u3c .001), indicating a shift in how technology-related competencies are presented in job ads. Specifically, while previous job postings often included general technical skills alongside traditional accounting tasks, recent job postings increasingly emphasize advanced or specialized technologies—such as ERP systems, cloud accounting platforms, and automation tools. This shift suggests that employers are moving away from broad technical expectations toward more targeted skill sets, reflecting the evolving technological demands of the profession. A separate chi-square test found a significant relationship between technological skill requirements and job ad duration (χ² = 2,309.57, df = 4, p \u3c .001). However, no consistent pattern of longer posting duration was observed for technology-oriented roles. Literature-based synthesis further showed that large accounting firms continue to demand more advanced technological competencies than smaller firms. Overall, while traditional accounting skills remain predominant, the findings indicate a transition toward more specialized technological expectations in the entry-level accounting role
A Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM) Analysis of the Relationship Between Five School Climate Dimensions and Retention of Core Subject Secondary Teachers in Georgia
No full textThis study examines the relationship between school climate and core subject secondary teacher retention in Georgia public schools serving traditional grade bands (grades 6-8 and grades 9-12) from 2016 to 2019. Descriptive statistics cover 6 years (2015 – 2020), and a univariate quadratic latent growth curve model was used to estimate school-level teacher retention trajectories and assess the predictive value of school climate over 4 years (2016 – 2019). Grounded in Wang and Degol’s (2016) conceptual framework, five school-level dimensions (connectedness, quality of relationships, order and discipline, physical safety, and environmental adequacy) were assessed using retrospective data collected annually by the Georgia Department of Education from both school personnel and students. Time-invariant covariates included school type (middle vs. high school), school location (city-suburb vs. town-rural), and the percentage of directly certified students as a proxy for school poverty. By utilizing a theoretical framework for school climate and advanced longitudinal modeling to study a 2015 cohort of teachers over time, this study contributes to the literature on school climate and teacher retention. It offers insights for schools, districts, and state agencies seeking to leverage large-scale school climate data to address concerns early on and mitigate the risk of teacher attrition. Findings highlight specific school climate dimensions and contextual factors that can inform strategic planning to improve teacher retention
The Analysis of the Shonen Protagonist and Aragoto Warrior: The Eternal Strength of Boyhood
No full textThis paper is a breakdown of various visual and narrative elements of Kabuki and Anime, using the example of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, and One Piece. There is a broad overview of both Kabuki and Anime discussing their various tropes and styles. Following this introduction is a three-part breakdown of One Piece and its similarities to Kabuki theatre, with Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura as the reference point for specific examples.
The three-part comparison is structured by first discussing surface level similarities and potential coincidences unique to these two stories in conversation with each other, by looking at a few specific character and location names and specific moments. The second section of analysis looks at when One Piece makes direct homage and references the style of Kabuki in its character design and the narrative structure of the Wano Country Island Arc of the story. The final section is dedicated to visual styles that are less direct, and a breakdown of specific narrative events and character archetypes represented in both pieces. This analysis not only shows the interesting overlap between the two styles but also explains and validates the many qualities of anime that may seem strange to western viewers and allow for a deeper understanding of another culture’s vision and storytelling
Innovative Teaching Strategies and Lesson Plans to Support Students with ADHD
Full text linkThis thesis explores how creativity, imagination, and problem-solving can be harnessed to improve student outcomes – specifically engagement, motivation, and academic achievement – for students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in elementary classrooms. Rather than conducting a data-driven study, this project draws upon interdisciplinary research from educational psychology, cognitive science, and pedagogy to design inclusive research-informed teaching strategies. The cognitive processes underpinning creativity and imagination – such as divergent thinking, mind-wandering, and creative incubation – are examined as potential strengths often underutilized in traditional classrooms. A comprehensive literature review establishes how these variables interact and influence the learning experiences of students with ADHD. A comprehensive literature review provides the foundation for the development of interdisciplinary lesson plans targeted at second-grade students. These lessons are informed by and include ADHD-specific supports, differentiation strategies, and opportunities for imaginative and creative thinking. This project concludes with implications for educators, emphasizing the importance of creative pedagogy in fostering success among neurodiverse learners and outlining future directions for piloting and evaluating these classroom strategies
The Role of Organizational Routines in Perpetuating Disparities Among African American Students in Secondary Advanced Academic Programs: A Mixed Methods Study
Full text linkThe academic excellence gap, which refers to the disproportionalities of minority groups in advanced academic programs, presents challenges for educational leaders striving to provide access to equitable educational opportunities for all students. This study, guided by Charles Tilly’s opportunity hoarding, examines the systematic underrepresentation of African American students in advanced academic programs. Using a transformative mixed methods design, the researcher analyzes enrollment patterns, the intersectionality of race and gifted identification in K-5, and teacher and leader perceptions of how organizational routines influence student enrollment in advanced academic courses, grades 9-12, in a school district in West Central Georgia. Redacted student demographic and enrollment data were utilized for quantitative analysis. Concurrently, district and high school personnel participated in semi-structured interviews and two focus groups, which were the means of qualitative data collection. While the quantitative findings reveal a significant underrepresentation of gifted African American students and overrepresentation of gifted White students in advanced programs, with a noted enrollment disparity for nongifted African American students compared to White peers, the qualitative findings emphasize the lack of systematic routines and persistent organizational barriers contributing to gaps in gifted identification and course access. These findings underscore the need for educational leaders to implement transparent, equitable organizational routines to address opportunity hoarding and disrupt systemic disproportionalities in advanced academic programs
QLoRaX: Heuristic-Guided Fine-Tuning of LLaMA-2 for Domain Adaptation in Entrepreneurship
Full text linkThis thesis presents a study on the fine-tuning of large language models (LLMs) for domain-specific applications using limited data. We fine-tuned the LLaMA-2 (7B) model on a curated entrepreneurial dataset containing 3,545 human-written question-answer pairs, of which 3,095 were used for training and 450 were reserved for evaluation. A complete fine-tuning and evaluation pipeline was developed, which included clustering human-written answers, generating centroid-based summaries for each cluster, and evaluating the model\u27s generated responses through cosine similarity.
Training was carried out over five epochs, with model performance evaluated after each epoch. The fine-tuned model demonstrated strong semantic alignment with human-written content, producing coherent, detailed, and contextually appropriate answers tailored to entrepreneurial questions. Through structured clustering and summary-based evaluation, we established a reliable framework for assessing model quality in specialized domains. We evaluated model performance based on training loss and time. In the first experiment (LoRA parameters only), the fastest epoch took 402.7 seconds with a loss of 1.7690; the lowest loss was 1.7513 in 407 seconds. In the second experiment (LoRA + LLaMA-2), the shortest epoch was 399.8 seconds with a loss of 1.9587; the lowest loss was 1.7576 in 404 seconds. After fine-tuning, the model achieved a cosine similarity of 0.4744 on the original 25 questions. For five paraphrased questions, scores ranged from 0.4949 to 0.6606. For three general questions, the scores were 0.3409, 0.5294, and 0.401.
This work successfully demonstrates that large language models can be effectively adapted to niche areas even when working with modest-sized datasets. The results highlight the potential of structured fine-tuning techniques combined with efficient evaluation strategies to achieve high-quality domain adaptation, contributing to the broader goal of making large models more accessible and specialized for practical real-world application
Event-Related Potentials Correlated with State/Trait Anxiety Using Auditory Stimuli
No full textThis study aimed to discover a biomarker for anxiety with the use of event-related potentials (ERPs) and auditory stimuli. Prior research has focused on anxiety, visual stimuli, experimental tasks, and how ERP components relate to them. Few of the studies used auditory stimuli. This study proposes that the P2, P3, and late positive potential (LPP) ERP components will have greater amplitude when unpleasant auditory stimuli are presented, especially in higher anxiety participants. P2 is studied for its relationship with attention and perceptual reasoning, P3 to memory and attention, and LPP to emotional material (Brown et al., 2012; Ishida et al., 2018; Luck, 2014; Polic, 2007). The State Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to assess participants\u27 current and persistent anxiety. Then, participants passively listened to two blocks of mixed emotional auditory stimuli (neutral and unpleasant) that were chosen from expanded version of the International Affective Digitized Sound Database. After both blocks were presented, the Anxiety Measure was administered to assess current anxiety. This Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved this study. It is hoped that this research will contribute to better understanding of anxiety, its relationship with ERPs, and how auditory stimuli might influence the relationship
Exploring Career Advancement Experiences of Black Women in the National Used Car Industry
No full textBlack women’s workplace experiences in the national used car industry affect their career advancement opportunities. How can we account for these experiences and outcomes? Using intersectionality as a theoretical framework, this thesis examines how overlapping identities, such as race and gender, intersect to create unique experiences of oppression or privilege. Intersectionality as a theoretical framework can also explain the double marginalization that Black women often experience in specific industries, as the stereotypes associated with their race and gender combine and contribute to fewer opportunities for career advancement. As a result, Black women must be diligent when confronted with the stereotypes associated with the interconnected nature of their identity. This study examines the strategies employed by Black women in their efforts to advance their careers. It will explore how intersectionality can help explain the effects of stereotypes and glass ceilings, as well as propose how networking and strategic communication can aid in advancing their careers in the national used car industry
The Comparative Effects of a Thermal Gradient on the Age and Growth Characteristics of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Nigricans), and Atlantic Cod (Gadus Morhua)
Full text linkThermal gradients impact fishes differently, due to variations in ecological niches and physiological adaptations. I assessed the effects of temperature on Largemouth Bass (Micropterus nigricans) and Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) using data from peer-reviewed journals, state records, and fisheries agencies. For Largemouth Bass, I analyzed the relationships between air temperature (MATmin°C, MAT24hr°C, and MATmax°C), and growth parameters including maximum length and weight, growth rate (K), longevity, and total length-at-ages 3, 5, and 8 years (TLAge3,5,8), using least squares regression. Significant correlations were found between all temperature and growth metrics. Positive correlations were found between the thermal indices and TLAge3,5,8, growth rate, and maximum size but negative relationships were found between the thermal indices and longevity. In Atlantic Cod, analyses were limited by insufficient data on older age classes, geographic coverage, and environmental variables. These limitations prevented analyses and highlighted the need for management strategies that protect older individuals