Seeing Reading In First-Year Composition, Matthew Felumlee

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on a study of reading-into-writing strategies employed by students in two sections of first-year-composition (FYC) that were paired with a support course as part of an accelerated learning program (ALP) at a community college. Each FYC course was comprised of 11 students whom the college had deemed college-ready without the ALP course, and 11 students who were deemed at remedial levels in reading and / or writing and who were subsequently required to enroll in the ALP course. The study employs grounded theory methodology to identify and consider the many factors that influenced how reading was portrayed, …

Examining The Training Transfer Practice Of A Financial Institution: An Action Research Study, Maria Lourdes Lourdes Gutierrez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many organizations rely on training to improve the skills and knowledge of its human resources. The underlying assumption is that employees will use what they learned when they return to the workplace. Although there is evidence that learning occurred it does not always result in transfer (Mosel, 1957). Transfer is an issue of concern for training practitioners. If despite the significant investment no return is realized, then the training is not effective and the investment is wasted. This action research study was conducted in a financial institution in the Southwestern United States. The purpose of this study was to (1) …

Fundraising Managers’ Perceptions Of Online Education’S Influence On Fundraising Practices And Giving, Peter J. Szucs

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The influence of online education on higher education fundraising practices and giving patterns is not well understood. This qualitative case study explored how fundraising managers perceived the impact of online education on higher education fundraising. To explore this phenomenon, the researcher interviewed fundraising managers at private, nonprofit colleges and universities in the western United States, and reviewed publicly available documents on the participant schools fundraising and financial information. The interviews demonstrated that study participants were concerned about connecting with graduates of online programs, and perceived that online students may have less affinity for their alma mater than on-ground alumni. The …

Community College Students’ Perceived Value Of High School Career And Technical Education Program Experiences, Martin Douglass

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The goal of this qualitative, narrative inquiry study was to explore the voices of community college students who have taken Career and Technical Education (CTE) while in high school, investigate if they perceived value from their high school CTE classes, and determine how those experiences impacted their high school and college educations (cf. Association for Career and Technical Education, 2016; American Institutes for Research, 2013; Southern Regional Education Board, 2008). The central research question for the dissertation was: What value do local community college students believe their high school Career and Technical Education program participation provided? The screening survey had …

On Education And Family: Testimonios Of Latina Immigrant Daughters, Monica Chavez

Master's Theses

Latina college students must balance the needs of family while navigating pursuit of a college degree. Using testimonio, I explore how family and self-identity influenced the educational journeys of four Latinas who attended and graduated college in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Utilizing the frameworks of mestiza consciousness and subject formation, I uncover the ways their status as first-generation college student, second-generation immigrant daughter, and Latina manifested expectations (from family and self) and feelings of apprehension and loneliness that came to define their college experience. Through the process of testimonio and critical selfreflection, solidarity can be established and the process …

Afterschool Educators' Teaching Practices Through Tinkering: Nurturing Student Collaboration, Engagement, And Development Of Self-Confidence, Lianna Kali

Master's Theses

Since the early 2000s constructionist pedagogy has become an increasingly popular trend in both formal and informal science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) learning environments to support transformative educational outcomes through the making of personally meaningful objects and artifacts. But with this rise in popularity comes a challenge for educators: understanding what are the teaching practices that are most effective in a maker-centered learning environment to support student learning. Through an ethnographic case study of the teaching practices in a tinkering afterschool program, this study examines the core pedagogical facilitation moves of tinkering educators and investigates how those moves …

High Expectations And Teacher Implicit Biases In A Culture Of Care, Jacqueline K. Haynes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This graduate project was part of a group project completed by five school and district administrators in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for teachers who are able to establish a culture of care in their classrooms that support students academically but transform their learning through experiences that enable them to be more highly engaged and productive students, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, perceived academic abilities, and backgrounds.

My project component looked at research on teacher expectations and their effects on student success. Why does the color of a child's skin tone trigger lower expectations by …

A Case Study: The Effects Of Restorative Justice Course On African-American Students In An Urban School., Troy D. Washington

Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic critical case study investigated the usefulness of a restorative justice course as an alternative to punitive discipline in a high school setting, the goal of which was to holistically address ways to effectively deal with conflict, safety and wellness issues of African-American students in an urban high school. The researcher has worked closely with the school and identified the strengths of an under-utilized approach that has the potential to completely eradicate excessive suspensions and expulsions. Given the research purpose of studying a model of discipline with possible replication at other sites, the research approach was that of a …

Student Voices: African American High School Seniors' Perception Of Culturally Responsive Teaching., Whitney M. Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined African-American high school seniors’ perceptions of culturally responsive teaching in one public high school within a large urban public-school district in the southeastern region of the United States. It begins with a brief historical overview on the plight of African-Americans in the US public education system and how public school educators have failed to leverage Afrocultural learning orientations as an asset to educate and increase the academic achievement of African-American students in classrooms. The Philosophical Aspects of Cultural Difference Framework (Nichols, 1986, 1995) will guide this dissertation study. The latter part of the dissertation reveals that a …

The Effect Of Per-Pupil Expenditures On Sol Pass Rates, Meghan Flynn

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Interprofessional Education: How Curriculum Influences And Develops Future Healthcare Professionals, Karen Keune

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The value of higher education is a topic of great consideration and discussion, not only for current and future students, but also for legislators, educators, and employers. A college degree is more than a pathway toward advanced knowledge in a given subject; it is a component of a larger outcome beyond a diploma, it's a job. While the scale of employment opportunities appears to rise for those with a college degree, it is not enough to guarantee security for new graduates, no matter their topic of study. More than a competency in the field of study is required to prove …

Understanding Why Students Take Industry-Based Credentialing Examinations: Instrument Development And Pilot Study, Jennifer H. Lawrence

Doctoral Dissertations

Educational credentialing is complicated for students with the addition of industry-based credentialing (IBC) in traditional academic and career and technical fields (Bahr, 2015; Lumina Foundation, 2015; Xu & Ran, 2015). Human Capital Theory and Cognitive Engagement Theory framed this study which looked at IBC training from the student point of view (Grisham, 2013; Saldana, 2016; Walters, 2004). The body of literature on credential training is sparse and largely focused on institutional policy rather than student perception and participation (Bahr, 2015; Xu & Ran, 2015). There is evidence that salaries are positively correlated with IBCs and studies show that employers pay …

Variations In Experience And Meaning: Accounts Of Leadership Involvement And Identities With Special Education And Disability, Roderick James Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study focused on retired school principals’ involvement in special education. More specifically, it explored various ways former principals conceived of their leadership identity and accounted for their level of involvement in special education and with students identified or identifying as disabled. The following research question guided this study: How do former principals account for their involvement with special education and/or disability? The study’s subquestions were: What are principals’ accounts of being, becoming, and remaining involved with special education and/or with disability?; In what ways do principals attend to special education and/or disability?; and How do principals conceive of …

Exploring The ‘Spaces Between’: Teachers’ Perceptions Of Teacher Leadership Within Professional Networks, Cynthia B. Bauman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The enactment of teacher leadership can be challenged by both policy initiatives and school contexts (Anderson & Cohen, 2015; Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012). However, teachers can have a positive influence on each other and their broader school community by building capacity for leadership, innovation, and student achievement through the relationships, or networks, they develop and maintain (Baker-Doyle, 2015; Hovardas, 2016; Hunzicker, 2012; Moolenaar, Sleegers, & Daly, 2012). This single exploratory case study takes place in a Title I elementary school and uses a combination of Social Network Analysis and content analysis to uncover patterns in teacher professional networks, the context …

Behavioral Thermoregulation And Thermal Mismatches Influence Disease Dynamics In Amphibians, Erin Louise Sauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Amphibians are currently the most threatened vertebra taxa on the planet. Hundreds of species are thought to have gone extinct while thousands more have been listed as threatened or endangered over the past few decades. Habitat loss, invasive species, climate change, and disease are all thought to have partially contributed to these declines. Two pathogens in particular, infectious viruses in the genus Ranavirus (simply referred to as ranavirus) and the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), have been associated with global mass mortality events of amphibians. Virulent pathogens such as these tend to impose strong selective pressures on their hosts driving the …

Unmasking Whiteness: Progressing Toward Cultural Responsiveness Within A Rti Framework, Melinda F. Scheetz

Dissertations

Response to Intervention (RTI) developed out of educational policies and practices that comprise NCLB and IDEA. RTI is a system to ensure all students receive high-quality instruction that meets their needs, increases opportunities to learn, and prevents reading failure. A culturally relevant RTI framework offers the most promising pedagogical approach to quality instruction and educational equity. The purpose of this study was to understand, describe, and explore the intersection of culturally relevant practices and RTI. The research questions that guided this study were: What can be learned about a culturally responsive approach to RTI by listening to teachers’ perspectives and …

Differences In Leadership Behaviors Of Principals And Success In The School Turnaround Processes, Annette Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine leadership behaviors of principals associated with public elementary schools that were either in the school turnaround process or had already transitioned out of school academic turnaround from 2011 through 2016. Transformational leadership guided the study to determine whether leadership behaviors differed among leaders of schools associated with academic failure. School accountability data were initially gathered through the Louisiana Department of Education website. Academically unsuccessful schools (AUS) were identified. Schools that were deemed failing at least one time during the 2012-2016 timeframe were grouped as follows: (a) Group A consisted of two schools …

Negotiating My Rainbow: A Self-Study Exploring The Relationship Between Beliefs About Identity And Classroom Practice, Amanda Colborne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teachers bring parts of themselves, among them, gender, age, and race into the classroom. In addition to the routine stress of teaching, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have the added stress of managing the expression of their sexual orientation in the classroom. This study explores the ways in which my own identity as a lesbian influenced my beliefs about teaching, my “pre-active” curricular-instructional decision-making, and my “interactive” curricular-instructional decision-making (Jackson, 1966). A self-study methodology is used to explore these relationships. Data sources include journaling, lesson plan artifacts, student work samples, photographs of my classroom, an observation and critical …

Heart Rate Variability Analysis As A Means Of Real-Time Hypercapnia Detection, Joseph Dituri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The motivation for this research is the high prevalence experienced by divers of carbon dioxide (CO₂) issues and concerns throughout their lives. Additionally, CO₂ is naturally occurring, the product of oxidative metabolism, and is undetectable to human senses. Current CO₂ sensor or detection technology is limited to high-cost machines such as arterial blood gas monitors and end tidal CO₂ monitors, or more modern technology relying upon bright lights which measure blood flow. The light technology is notoriously unreliable and does not produce a very effective heart beat allowing a user to detect minimal changes. Heart …

Testing The Validity And Utility Of A Career And Technical Education Programs Of Study Evaluation Instrument, Alisha D. Hyslop

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to build on the research already completed by the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) in the development of ACTE’s quality Program of Study Framework and accompanying evaluation instrument to examine the validity of the instrument’s results and its utility when used independently by local educators in a pilot test. The study used a two-phase mixed-methods design. In the first phase, 39 participating programs were evaluated using the instrument, consisting of 102 items organized into 12 elements. Representatives of participating programs, either teachers or administrators, then provided quantitative and qualitative feedback about the …

Une Analyse De La Vertu Dans Trois Tragédies Historiques De Pierre Corneille, Mariela Saad-Delgado

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Theologians, philosophers, moralists, artists, men and women of letters of the seventeenth century were interested in the notion of "virtue" and the place it should occupy in the education of children and in the life of adults. Because of this interest, literary genres of this period, and more specifically plays, provide us with many references of the word "virtue".

This concept is presented as one of the essential characteristics to be found in a hero and a heroine. However, "virtue" is not a constant concept, for its meaning is determined by the socio-political context, the author's philosophy, and the gender …

Evaluating The Efficiency And Correspondence Of Trial-Based And Session-Based Functional Analyses In Controlled Settings, Sarah M. Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Functional analyses (FAs) are used to identify the maintaining contingencies of problem behavior. However, FAs present some limitations. Functional analyses can be time consuming. In this study we evaluated the efficiency and correspondence of a modified trial-based FA versus a session-based FA, in a controlled setting. We conducted both the trial-based and session-based FAs with five subjects that engaged in problem behavior. On average, the trial-based FAs were completed in 32.8% less time than the session-based FAs, and took 40% less meeting and calendar days than the session-based FAs. Based on the analyses of four Board Certified Behavior Analysts (Doctoral), …

Applying Stakeholder Analysis To Lay The Groundwork For Conflict-Sensitive Education In The Somali Education Sector, Nina Aristea Papadopoulos

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report, Derek L. Silva

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

The Galt High School Agriculture Department is committed and dedicated to promoting and developing personal growth, career technical skills and rigorous/ relevant instruction for all students. Offering several pathways in the Agri-Science, Ornamental Horticulture and Ag Mechanics personalized to student’s career and technical skills interest areas through engaging hands on laboratories and industry insight and certification.

In order to accomplish the skills and abilities listed above, the Galt High School Agriculture Department currently overs the following courses for the 2017-2018 school year: Introduction to Agriculture Mechanics 1, Agriculture Mechanics 2, Agriculture Power Mechanics 1, Advanced Agriculture Mechanics, Agricultural Construction BITA …

The Kiwi Way: Marketing In New Zealand, A Program Design For Johnson & Wales University, Rachael L. Peters

Capstone Collection

The proposal for a study abroad program to be implemented at Johnson & Wales University [JWU] results from a five-month internship in the JWU Abroad office and multiple interviews with full-time colleagues in the department. It is designed to not only expand the current JWU portfolio in subject matter and program location, but to strengthen a newly built partnership with American Universities International Programs Limited [AUIP] through the addition of a second collaborative program in the provider’s catalogue.

The Kiwi Way: Marketing in New Zealand is a twelve-day faculty-led study abroad [FLSA] program that splits time between the cities of …

Organizational Induction: A Qualitative Study On Institutional Induction Programs For New Faculty In Independent School Communities, Jamie Nicole Segraves

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

As job dissatisfaction continues to be a lead cause of teacher turnover (Brill & McCartney, 2008; Moore, 2012; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004) in both the public and private sectors of education, a deeper understanding of what contributes to the dissatisfaction of the profession is warranted. While several factors influence overall job satisfaction or a lack thereof, the implementation of induction and mentoring programs in education has shown, in particular, an increase in overall teacher retention, especially of teachers new to the profession (Brill & McCartney, 2008; Humphrey, Wechsler, Bosetti, Park, & Tiffany-Morales, 2008; Kelley, 2004; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004; Tak …

Development, Validation, And Testing Of A Self-Determination Theory Instrument Called The Motivation To Prepare Healthy Foods Questionnaire, Ariana Delong Bailey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objectives of these studies were to validate and confirm the structure of a previously developed questionnaire that measures the psychosocial constructs defined by the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and then test this questionnaire in a nutrition education setting. The instrument, titled the Motivation to Prepare Healthy Foods Questionnaire (MPHFQ), included items that measured intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, relatedness, autonomy, and autonomy support. These studies evaluated the questionnaire’s validity and ability to measure changes in the SDT construct scores.

The MPHFQ is a previously developed and reliable instrument intended to measure adults’ intrinsic motivation and perceived competence to prepare healthy foods, …

A Study Of Diversity And Social Capital In The Field Of Child Life, Madalyn L. Marshall

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Certified Child Life Specialists are professionals with a background in child development who traditionally provide psychosocial support to children and families in a pediatric healthcare environment (Pearson, 2005). According to the last job analysis done in 2013, 92% of child life specialists identify as White and Non-Hispanic (438 out of 476 respondents). Compared to an ever-diversifying patient population, the field of child life can be considered homogenous in terms of racial representation. Considering the racial homogeneity of the field and the potential impact of implicit biases, increasing the diversity of child life specialists would be beneficial to the development of …

School Shouldn’T End When The Bell Rings: An Exploratory Homeschooling Study, Mackenzie Dukelow

MA Research Paper

Homeschooling has experienced significant growth over the last several decades, yet little to no research has explored the relationship between homeschoolers and the public education system. Being the first to explore this relationship, the current study collected and examined data from 3 semi-structured interviews and 15 online homeschooling blogs in order to understand the growth of homeschooling in Ontario and the relationship between homeschooling and the public education system. The results of this study reveal the relationship between homeschoolers and the public education system varies significantly over time and locale, the challenges within each system and the difficulty of transitioning …

Developing Teacher Efficacy In High Poverty Schools, Dawn Stites

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by three principals in elementary schools in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion to understand effective teachers. Our collective goal was to have more engaged teachers which would create more engaged students resulting in greater student and teacher success.

Our overall group project purpose was to discover the behavior and characteristics an engaged teacher demonstrates and how these behaviors affect the learning environment and the students that are in that environment. The project was guided by the question, how does a culture of engaged teachers develop …