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Automated Grading of UML Use Case Diagrams

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Creator (cre): Hosseinibaghdadabadi, Mohsen, Thesis advisor (ths): Alam, Omar, Degree committee member (dgc): Rahman, Quazi, Degree committee member (dgc): Alwidian, Sanaa, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
Abstract:

This thesis presents an approach for automated grading of UML Use Case diagrams. Many software engineering courses require students to learn how to model the behavioural features of a problem domain or an object-oriented design in the form of a use case diagram. Because assessing UML assignments is a time-consuming and labor-intensive operation, there is a need for an automated grading strategy that may help instructors by speeding up the grading process while also maintaining uniformity and fairness in large classrooms. The effectiveness of this automated grading approach was assessed by applying it to two real-world assignments. We demonstrate how the result is similar to manual grading, which was less than 7% on average; and when we applied some strategies, such as configuring settings and using multiple solutions, the average differences were even lower. Also, the grading methods and the tool are proposed and empirically validated.

Author Keywords: Automated Grading, Compare Models, Use Case

2023

Labour, Learning, and Leisure: The Technical Culture of Practice in Video Game Live Streaming

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Creator (cre): Holt, Tyler, Thesis advisor (ths): Hodges, Hugh, Degree committee member (dgc): Mitchell, Liam, Degree committee member (dgc): Synenko, Joshua, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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Games, and especially video games are fast becoming the most pervasive media form, and live streaming games is fast becoming the most pervasive way of experiencing those games. This thesis looks at the history of broadcast, the practices of technological hobbyists, the social and technological aspect of games, gaming communities that transform game narratives, and gaming communities that transform political narratives. It demonstrates how the study of video game live streaming can be used as a model to study and analyze the production, consumption, and reciprocal relationship between the producers and consumers of media.

Author Keywords: Bill Gates is the Devil, Broadcast, Gaming, Ham Radio, Live Streaming, Video Game Live Streaming

2023

Seeds: More than Food

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Creator (cre): Henderson, Catriona Mary, Thesis advisor (ths): Classens, Michael, Degree committee member (dgc): Rutherford, Stephanie, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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This study used literature from the social and ecological sciences to look at the practice of seed saving in the Global North for adaptation in the face of climate change. The hypothesis is that small-scale gardeners and farmers are adapting seeds to the changing climate as they grow them, which is not the case for growers who grow only food. However seed savers face obstacles and are dwindling in number – even though the practice is thousands of years old. Using survey and interviews of seed savers in two communities in Ontario Canada (one Indigenous and one settler), this mixed methods Participatory Action Research project explores the challenges and opportunities for seed saving in the context of climate change. The results indicate that both seed savers and their crops are adapting to climate change, but that the challenges and implications diverge for Indigenous vs settler communities. A framework of recommendations to advance seed saving in a beneficial, decolonizing way is proposed.

Author Keywords: climate change, Food security, food sovereignty, Seed Keeping, Seed Saving, Sustainable Food Systems

2023

Our 'Canada': National Narratives and the Dangers of Bourgeois Mythologies and Hegemonic Canadian Propaganda

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Creator (cre): Hansen, Eli, Thesis advisor (ths): Steffler, Margaret, Degree committee member (dgc): Bailey, Suzanne, Degree committee member (dgc): Winger, Rob, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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This thesis argues that Canada, as it is regarded by the Canadian citizenry, exists as a collection of public-facing narratives within a collectively imagined national mythos. This mythos, as it stands in 2022, is an accumulation of layers of narratives built on the foundation of former British imperial myths honed by bourgeois ideologies and ideals into a uniquely 'Canadian' nationalism through the propaganda of the Great War, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the 'War on Terror.' In attempting to deconstruct this collection of narratives, this thesis employs a historical materialist approach and uses the theories of Marx, Lenin, Gramsci, and Althusser to argue for the importance of an internationalist perspective which has been neglected in the insistence on an inward domestic approach to the identity of Canada as a nation.

Author Keywords: Canada, Capitalism, Marxism, Media, Neoimperialism, Propaganda

2023

Navigating Uncertainty: Exploring Parents Knowledge of Concussion Management and Neuropsychological Baseline Testing

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Creator (cre): Hagopian, Matthew Arthur, Thesis advisor (ths): O'Hagan, Fergal FO, Degree committee member (dgc): Lehmann, Hugo HL, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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Past research on parents' knowledge of concussion has shown that they understand the severity and consequences associated with the injury but have existing gaps in their knowledge for its management. This is a cause for concern due to the critical role parents play in their child's management process. This present study sought to address this area of concern with semi- structured focus groups to gain an insight on parents' perceptions and experiences with concussion management and an alternative method of care - neuropsychological baseline testing. What emerged from the focus groups was the core theme of navigating uncertainty. This theme encompassed the participants perceptions and experiences with having to take on the role of managing their child's concussion without a complete understanding of the management process. It incorporated aspects of injury diagnosis, methods of management, communication among stakeholders within the sporting community, the influence of concussion policy and parents' perceptions of neuropsychological baseline testing in the management process. A model was constructed to display the factors that influenced and guided parents' engagement with neuropsychological baseline testing.

Author Keywords: Communication, Concussion, Diagnosis, Management, Neuropsychological Baseline Testing, Uncertainty

2023

Camelids on the Coast? Investigating Trade and Early Camelid Herding through Stable Isotope Analysis of Formative to Late Intermediate Period Textiles from the Atacama Desert, Chile

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Creator (cre): Grogan, Tessa, Thesis advisor (ths): Szpak, Paul, Degree committee member (dgc): Williams, Jocelyn, Degree committee member (dgc): Valenzuela, Daniela, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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This research presents stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data of camelid fiber (n=238) from the coast of Arica, the Lluta Valley, and Azapa Valley – all located in the hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Samples included are attributed to the Formative (1000 BCE– 200 CE), Middle (200 CE – 1000CE), and Late Intermediate (1000 CE – 1450 CE) periods. The principal aim of this research was to determine whether camelid fiber uncovered at archaeological sites on the coast were likely obtained from locally managed camelid herds, or whether fiber was traded from the highlands. The majority of samples are consistent with a highland origin; however, a small group of samples is consistent with having come from animals herded outside the highlands, possibly locally in the coastal river valleys. There was also an increase in fiber δ13C between the Formative and Late Intermediate Periods, indicating an increased reliance on maize and agricultural intensification between these periods.

Author Keywords: Camelid, Carbon, Chile, Keratin, Nitrogen, Stable isotope analysis

2023

Contemporary Discourses About Trans Women: The Making of the "Transgender Predator"

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Creator (cre): Goktas, Hazal, Thesis advisor (ths): Bhanji, Nael, Thesis advisor (ths): Synenko, Joshua, Degree committee member (dgc): Pendleton Jimenez, Karleen, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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This dissertation traces the emergence of the "transgender predator" discourse on social media. Taking its cue from the 2019 British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal case Yaniv v. Various Waxing Salons, in which a white Canadian trans woman named Jessica Yaniv unsuccessfully filed a series of complaints against a number of racialized cisgender aestheticians claiming that they denied her body and Brazilian waxing services, I examine Canadian socio-legal discussions regarding trans women's access to spaces and services designed for cisgender women. Second, I focus on the realm of YouTube in which Yaniv v. Various Waxing Salons was marketed as the case of a transgender predator by another trans female YouTuber named Blaire White. I locate Yaniv-related content within a larger genre of "predator-hunting" in which self-proclaimed vigilantes lure and "hunt" putative child predators through sting operations and publish their expeditions as online shaming content on YouTube. By analyzing the visual and verbal discursive elements of the genre of predator catching/exposé, I suggest that "transgender predator" functions within the axis of surveillance regimes and monetized humiliation-entertainment, rather than merely being motivated by the goal of protecting cisgender women and children. Lastly, I turn my attention from "transgender predator" to another type of pejorative construction about trans people represented in the stand-up comedy of Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais. I argue that, as opposed to comedy's previous engagement with trans subjectivity in which the comedic element was revealed through the tropes of deception and bodily incongruity, in the works of Chappelle and Gervais, transgender subjectivity is used to make social commentary about the supposed decline of, what are deemed to be, Western values of reason, rationality, and freedom of speech.

Author Keywords: predator, stand-up comedy, surveillance, transgender, vigilantism, YouTube

2023

Assembling the Braid: Alderville First Nation , Learning from their Walk in the Educational System

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Creator (cre): Davis, Catherine Anne, Thesis advisor (ths): Bruce, Cathy, Degree committee member (dgc): Sherman, Paula, Degree committee member (dgc): Bell, Nicole, Degree committee member (dgc): Crowe, Melody, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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ABSTRACTASSEMBLING THE BRAID: ALDERVILLE FIRST NATION, LEARNING FROM THEIR WALK IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Catherine Davis Alderville First Nation is a small, dynamic Anishinaabe First Nation community in central Ontario with the distinction of having one of the first federal residential schools in Canada, established in 1838. Access to education, both on and off reserve, has been primarily through the provincial model. This study applies a weaving imagery of the Anishinaabe braided sweetgrass, and threads together three strands: (i) experiences in the education system, (ii) perspectives about learning, (iii) an exploration of future educational possibilities for Anishinaabe youth. Open-ended in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 members of varying ages, life experiences, geographical locations, spiritual beliefs, and backgrounds. Members shared experiences of racism and disengagement with the system. At times, classroom spaces were inhospitable spaces and relationships with teachers and peers proved difficult. As a member of Alderville First Nation, I draw on more than 20 years of experience as a community educator, and I am driven to understand why fundamental change has not happened. Though there have been surface changes, more profound transformation remains elusive. Consequently, the reconciliation project is a problematic endeavour for First Nations like Alderville. Our community, a microcosm of other First Nations and education systems, shares tensions between simultaneous, overlapping movements of reconciliation and resurgence. Nevertheless, it is our legacy to find a way forward for our youth.

Author Keywords: Alderville, Anishinaabe, Indigenous Education, Racism, Reconciliation, Resurgence

2023

Nurturing deviance: Exploring the association between attachment and criminal thinking patterns

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Creator (cre): Curran, Scottie Jean, Thesis advisor (ths): Scharfe, Elaine, Degree committee member (dgc): Smith, Rhonda, Degree committee member (dgc): Navara, Geoff, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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Background: Researchers who study both attachment and criminal thinking propose that perceptions of the self and others explain why individuals engage in illegal behaviour (e.g., Bowlby, 1944; Mitchell & Tafrate, 2012). The purpose of this study was to combine these areas of research and examine how attachment views of self and others are associated with self and other models of criminal thinking patterns. Method: The first study included 582 undergraduate students and the findings were partially replicated in a second sample of adults recruited through social media (n =142). Participants completed measures of attachment, criminal thinking, and reported their engagement in illegal behaviours. Results: Structural equation modelling was used to test associations between models of the self and other. The respective models of the self and other for attachment and criminal thinking were associated, however, the cross paths were also associated for some groups and indicated a relationship where views of the self and other are predictive of one another in the context of relationships and criminal thinking. The findings were somewhat stronger for participants who reported engaging in deviant behaviour. Impact: To date, this study is the first to study the connection between attachment representations and criminal thinking, highlighting how our views of the self and others within relationships impact the complex way of thinking associated with criminal behaviour.

Author Keywords: adult attachment, attachment, criminal thinking, deviance

2023

Urban Anishinaabekwewag: (Re)claiming Our Traditional Roles and Responsibilities in Urban Spaces

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Creator (cre): Christianson, Noodinong-Bemosed, Thesis advisor (ths): Argue, Joeann, Degree committee member (dgc): Wall, Barbara, Degree committee member (dgc): Miron, Janet, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
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This thesis focuses on how contemporary urban Anishinaabekwewag are understanding our traditional roles and responsibilities in urban spaces. Utilizing storytelling as a research methodology, three urban Anishinaabekwewag participated in individual guided discussions as they shared their life stories. Through their stories, they share how they have come to understand their roles and responsibilities, what has helped each of them on their life journeys, and what they hope to see for our future Anishinaabeg generations. Urban Anishinaabekwewag identity is not yet a widely researched area of Indigenous academia; this research might serve as groundwork to be further explored by other Indigenous researchers.

Author Keywords: Ancestors, Anishinaabekwe, community, Indigenous women, Settler colonialism, storytelling

2023