DCE Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/14557739
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Publication AP® STEM Student Assessment of ChatGPT Prompt Responses(2025-01-28) Friske, Zachary Michael; Gardner-Thomas, Carolyn; Engelward, Andrew J.This thesis explores the current accuracy of generative AI ChatGPT responses to Advanced Placement® (AP®) free response and multiple-choice questions found in high school courses covering AP® Physics 1 and AP® Calculus AB. Moreover, this thesis compares how high school students evaluate ChatGPT responses to algebra, precalculus, and calculus concepts found within these high school courses at participating high schools in the DFW area of Texas. In general, studies on generative AI use within STEM high school classrooms across the United States is limited. Current literature suggests that generative AI programs like ChatGPT have the potential to supplement classroom instruction by providing personalized assistance and immediate access to subject-specific information; however, there is a noticeable gap in understanding how high school AP® students perceive and interact with AI-generated responses, particularly in relation to accuracy and effectiveness as a study aid. Based on a literature review undertaken as a part of this thesis, a mixed-methods study was developed focusing on the perceptions of high school students interacting with ChatGPT written responses to AP®-style free response questions. The results of this thesis study show that while ChatGPT can offer detailed explanations and improve student understanding of complex topics, its generated responses can lack mathematical accuracy. Students generally viewed ChatGPT as a useful educational resource but often struggled to distinguish between AI-generated responses and official solutions provided by College Board®. Lower-performing students were more likely to overestimate the accuracy and completeness of ChatGPT’s outputs, potentially due to limited subject matter understanding. This study highlights the importance of developing high school students’ critical evaluation skills and suggests that integrating educational AI like ChatGPT into the classroom requires careful consideration of generative AI limitations and potential impact on learning outcomes.Publication Can resource depletion explain the differing effects of perspective-taking on racial bias?(2025-01-21) Weintraub, Levi; Noll, Nicole; Tierney, AdriennePerspective-taking has become a popular technique for mitigating racially biased behavior, yet some studies, like Vorauer, Martens, and Sasaki (2009) have found it can also backfire. One possible explanation for the results seen in Vorauer et al. (2009) is differing cognitive demands when participants are primed with a perspective-taking mindset from a previous task (indirect perspective-taking; IPT), or if they’re actively manipulated to do so in the interaction being measured (direct perspective-taking; DPT). This study recruited White American and Canadian adults using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) for a study ostensibly involving a video chat with another participant. Participants were randomly assigned a depletion condition (depletion or non-depletion) and a mindset manipulation (objective, DPT, or IPT). Intimacy-building behavior was measured in personal questionnaires participants filled out to ostensibly exchange with their video chat partner. It was hypothesized that depletion would explain differences in IPT and DPT interventions, however intimacy-building behavior did not vary significantly, and was uniformly low.Publication Zodiac Games(2025-01-13) Crawford, Kim; Kohn, Katie; Delaney, TalayaFormat: 10-part YA mini-series (50 minutes/ episode) Logline: A dystopian society where Virgos- girls with magical powers- must sacrifice themselves in order for the world to continue. Episode two of “Zodiac Games” follows protagonist Marlayna “Marlee” Kendra (18) on her journey to find Raya, her missing twin sister. Episode one introduces the world of the Zodiac, where everyone born under a celestial sign possesses a special ability. Marlee, a Virgo, has the gift of magic, which requires her to sacrifice herself, in order to power all of society. But a group of radical nomadic “Beaumen,” who live in the nearby woods, rejects this idea and makes it their life's mission to stop the sacrifices. Marlee, a specially trained, powerful House Defender (who protects Virgos with defensive magic), meets Fletch, the Beauman combat leader, who agrees to help her find her sister, if she helps him in return. Marlee, only taught to hate Beaumen, does not trust him and jumps over a waterfall to escape. The story picks up here, with Marlee running from Fletch and the Beaumen, who want to contain her powers, and Marlee’s personal struggle to find the one person she lost five years ago— her sister.Publication Autistic Play: Examining Theatrical Approaches to Building Self-Esteem & Practical Life Skills for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder(2025-01-13) Jace, Michelle Nichole; Crawford-Zakian, Candice; Martin, RichardThis research explores the intersection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and performing arts, focusing on how theatrical participation enhances self-esteem, social skills, and practical life competencies in autistic individuals from the autistic person’s perspective. By centering the voices of autistic performers, this work challenges traditional narratives dominated by non-disabled voices and highlights the critical need for authentic representation in the arts. Through a combination of case studies, personal testimonials, and an analysis of historical and modern theatrical practices, this research reveals the transformative impact of performance on autistic individuals. Metrics such as professional development (Metric I), personal growth (Metric II), and social gains (Metric III) frame the analysis, demonstrating how participation fosters inclusivity and breaks down societal barriers. This study advocates for universal design and inclusion within arts organizations to create equitable opportunities for all. The conclusions of this study help highlight the importance of elevating autistic voices in research and practice, contributing to more inclusive frameworks in both the arts and broader societal contexts.Publication Rumi and the Seven Cities of Love: The Path from a Divided Society to an Ever-advancing Civilization(2025-01-15) Mowzoon, Shahin Movafagh; Delaney, Talaya A; Wisniewski, Thomas PThe poet Rumi became transformed when he met the mystic Shams. The seven stages of the transformation are present in various works of the great mystical poets and mystical religious tracts. This work uses these seven stages, sometimes called seven valleys, sometimes seven cities, and attempts to build the unrecorded dialog that may have taken place between Rumi and Shams. The written works of Rumi as well as the memoir attributed to Shams are also used to form their potential dialogue in their own words when possible. Historical information is used as landmarks to guide the narrative. The poems presented from Rumi are original translations rendered into English from the Persian. The concept that resonates through the works of Rumi is perhaps the idea of love as a fire that purifies as a force of transformative action. The second section of this work similarly follows the seven stages used in the Rumi narrative but for an objective presentation that applies much of what Rumi and Shams share as applied to today’s challenges as a non-fiction narrative based on recent research referencing relevant works. Ideas such as empathy extend from the Rumi narrative into this section. Here, the scientific method is used when applicable. Mathematical principles including those used in the underpinnings of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other areas of science such as Quantum Computing are used to help create an objective narrative. Effort is made to present findings while allowing the reader to decide the conclusions themselves. The final section includes a peer-reviewed paper, in Appendix A, that has been accepted for presentation and publication at the AI Large Language Model conference on November of 2024. This paper and subsequent completed work provide a framework to simulate and practically apply the concepts from sections one and two. The methods presented in these papers provide a means to run simulations of various types of group dynamics using Large Language Models and evaluate their efficacy in overcoming group polarization and finding solutions to extremely challenging problems.Publication Scenic Route: A Collection of Essays and Short Stories(2025-01-08) Tomolonis, Jessica Regan; Delaney, Talaya; Pitzer, KurtIn these six intertwined short stories and essays, the narrators’ conflicts have ways of cropping up in unexpected places. In “Prank,” a teenage boy joins his friends in the woods for a joke that turns sour. His sister looks back on this same rural town and takes us on a tour of its dark side, ending at a place she wished she hadn’t found in “Tour of a Small Town.” In “Private Beach,” the narrator takes her two young children to a secluded oasis, and while trying to shield them from danger, brings them straight to it. This same mother reminisces about her days working shade tobacco in “Seasonal Work.” In “The Woman Who Lives by the Sun,” she struggles to find balance as she ponders the view from her window on her daily commute. And in the last story, “Beautiful Things,” the narrator re-examines a ghostly encounter in her rural hometown and realizes its significance to her own dealings with death. The off-the-beaten-path physical settings in each story, and the way the characters move through them, provide the backdrop for each protagonist to work through—or fall further into—their conflicts.Publication Women Who Cross Their Legs(2025-01-08) Hawkins, Keywanne; DeForest, Leah; Mooney, Chris; Delaney, Talaya Adrienne; Goldberg Pires, Trudi; Dourian, GailJade Porter knew her small-town life could be perfect, if absolutely everything about it was different. She didn’t want to have to lean on shopping carts to get through Walmart like her Nana and cousins. She wanted to be fit. She wanted to be fancy like the women on TV, like the women in fashion magazines - like women who crossed their legs. After a college hazing incident left her behind bars and covered in the blood of three volleyball teammates – Jade’s wish came true. Suddenly, she wasn’t a white co-ed in a Confederate-leaning family from Georgia. Jade became the oldest by minutes, of three sisters with her same face . . . but different skin tones. Who are you when everything you thought you knew about yourself was a lie? And why had so many hands spent millions to keep the sisters separated?Publication Ms. Kaekin - an Original Script(2025-01-08) Brodi, Faith L; Wilson, WayneDaniel Coppinger has been a prisoner at the Wilkes Correctional Facility for almost thirty years; he was incarcerated in 1978 for the murder of a teacher and a classmate in his freshman year of high school. He claims he was framed, and that it was a demented substitute tutor who killed them all: Ms. Kaekin, though no one has heard of this woman before. For the last three decades, Daniel has been pleading not guilty, and no one will believe him… until Attorney Afeen Wan steps in with a bizarre connection to the case that might be able to finally set Daniel free.Publication Prowess: Battling Cancer While Living(2025-01-08) Handy, Christine; Pires, Trudi; Dorian, GailProwess is novel about a woman's determination and survival in the face of adversity from both within and without. Willow Adair faces not just external trials-- infidelity, neglect, a family in disarray--but a second front as well in her rocky battle with cancer and recovery from other accidents and illnesses. Through Willow's story, the novel explores the resiliency and strength of the human spirit, offering a hopeful vision not only of survival but also renewal.Publication A Place for Dead Things(2025-01-08) Reves, Austin Tyler; Delaney, Talaya A.; Mooney, ChrisA Place For Dead Things is a crime drama with hints of noir that blurs the lines between good and bad people and works to show the more realistic grey area that lives between the two concepts. It follows a veteran struggling to avoid violence and a young woman embroiled in gang life. It poses the question of what people are willing to do for those they love. The story is stationed in the oft forgotten valley of California where deserts, agriculture, and oil fields reign supreme. A seemingly small act of violence cascades into a nationwide nefarious plot.