Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Career and Technology Education/Technology

As the need for educating traditional and non-traditional students increases and budgets decrease, the demand for higher education institutions to implement creative ways to provide effective customer service to students has never been more critical. This research studied the potential implementation of an Agent for Interactive Student Assistance (AISA) application in Bowling Green State University's (BGSU's) College of Technology and its impact on student engagement and recruitment. AISA is defined as an interactive, human-like, avatar-based online student assistance application with voice and text recognition that provides answers to students' administrative-related most frequently asked questions. The avatar-based application would provide cognitive responses using voice and non-verbal communication with a 90% accuracy rate. BGSU College of Technology undergraduate and graduate students during the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 academic years were the population of this study consisting of 940 students. The approach of this study was quantitative, post positivist with an expected outcome in the form of an alternate hypothesis tested against a null hypothesis. One survey was administered to the population with a response rate of 9%. Favorable results were found with 91% of students indicating they would or may use an AISA application if provided the opportunity. One proportion z tests showed that, overall, students would not experience a negative impact on engagement and BGSU's College of Technology would not experience a decrease in new students.

Committee: Terry Herman PhD (Committee Chair); Gary Benjamin PhD (Committee Member); Anthony Fontana (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Technology

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

The Printing Press. Electricity. The Telephone. Television. The Internet. Although seemingly unrelated, these aforementioned items are all technologies. Technologies that have changed us in unimaginable ways, not just individually but on a global scale. Now so engrained in everyday life that one can only try to imagine what life was like before their invention and widespread adoption. Utilizing the power of a technology that is now readily available, the collegial education system will be pushed to the brink of a technology-based transformation. That technology is Virtual Reality. The covid-19 pandemic greatly increased the rate of acceptance and usage of online services in lieu of traditional in-person attendance models. The world may have physically distanced but with existing technologies such as the internet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom; education was able to continue. The shift towards completing tasks online resulted in an increased reliance on products and systems that catered to these alternative arrangements exposing flaws and displaying a need for the creation of a new system entirely. Many of the currently available products inadvertently aid students and professors in completing less work while appearing to be active, contradictory of a physical workplace where students and professors actions, attentiveness, and output are visible. In this paper I will discuss and propose a new type of Immersive Virtual Reality (I-VR) platform that can be a suitable environment for the industrial design studio to educate, retain productivity, communication, and build relationships between students and faculty while enabling a collaborative and accountable remote environment. This thesis shares a brief history and benefits of virtual reality from its emergence in the field of education, its use in design education, and its recent appearance in industrial design education through 2023. This thesis also shares an analysis of existing VR technology, its ap (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ming Tang M.Arch. (Committee Member); Steven Doehler M.A. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Design

Bachelor of Arts, Walsh University, 2023, Honors

Film is a useful way for the entertainment industry to communicate with its audience. It can be utilized to bring awareness to many issues and share important messages with audiences around the world. As film continues to become more popular, it is essential that we understand how to interpret what we are seeing, so we can explore the relationship between film and society really is. Films released during a specific decade can express a lot about what was going on in society at the time. To gain a better understanding of this relationship this project will be making an argument that shows how American popular films from the early 2000s (2000-2010) relate to social issues that were relevant to Americans 15-30 years of age during this decade. Based on research that determined what Americans considered to be the significant events of the decade, this project focuses on how social issues like terrorism, racism, and the financial crisis were depicted in three of the decade's biggest box office hits: Spider-Man (2002), Cars (2006), and Avatar (2009). As we examine how film and society relate to each, we can begin to understand how codependent they truly are.

Committee: Michael Modarelli (Other); Mark Rogers (Advisor) Subjects: Communication; Film Studies

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2018, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

With video game usage--and criticism on its activity--on the rise, it may be helpful for the psychological community to understand what it actually means to play video games, and what the lived experience entails. This qualitative, phenomenological study specifically explores user behaviors and decisions in the simulated life video game, The Sims. Ten participants completed one- to two-hour long semi-structured interviews, and the data was transcribed, organized into 1,988 codes, which were clustered into 30 categories, and from which six themes ultimately emerged. These resulting themes are: self-representation; past, present, and future; purpose for play; self-reflection; co-creation; and familiarity. The essence of playing The Sims includes a degree of self-representation through gameplay choices, projecting one's own past, present or future into the game, and play that is motivated by distinct reasons or benefits. Gameplay in The Sims also involves a sense of familiarity, the interaction of inspirations coming from both the user and the game, and the users' reflections on the connection between themselves and the game. Relationships between the six resulting themes and the current literature on video game psychology are reviewed, and future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Committee: Jude Bergkamp Psy.D. (Committee Chair); Kirk Honda Psy.D. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Fanning Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Psychology

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, 2015, Psychology

This study investigated massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) players' avatar identification and its relationship to hours spent per week playing MMORPGs and MMORPG addiction scores. An international sample of 233 adult participants, all of whom currently played at least one MMORPG regularly, was recruited via online message boards and Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. Three distinct avatar identification groups were formed based on the differences between ratings of the avatar's Big Five Inventory-44 (BFI-44) personality factors and those of the participant: Positive Self Attributes, Similar Avatar-Self Attributes, and Positive Avatar Attributes. While no statistically significant differences were found between these groups on MMORPG addiction scale scores or the hours spent playing per week, statistically significant differences were found between the three avatar identification groups on the personality characteristic of Extraversion of the BFI-44. Further research into the potential role avatar identification and personality characteristics of the gamer may have in determining MMORPG game play is needed.

Committee: Kathleen Hart Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Chair); Morell Mullins Ph.D. (Committee Member); Christian End Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology