Education Commons^™

Florida's Adolescent Literacy Policy: An Alternative Reading And Response, Diane Kroeger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative case study, I constructed interpretations of the meanings conveyed by state-level discourse communities as they were manifested in the primary and secondary speech genres of Florida’s adolescent literacy policy. Meanings (or values, beliefs and feelings) are highly tacit understandings embedded in the language, actions and objects of policy (Yanow, 2000), and are conveyed through informal and formal speech (Bakhtin, 1986). Results revealed (a) state policy meanings convey multiple versions of literacy with a heavy focus on receptive aspects of literate practice; (b) a typology of students and their fit within the institutional system; and (c) an emphasis …

Problematic Conceptualizations: Allies In Teacher Education For Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

This review of the literature on the concept ally and ally identity development was inspired by a qualitative study exploring the identities and social justice values of prospective teachers of color. Although the participants in the original study never used the term ally, their narratives inspired me to characterize them as allies in the struggle for social justice education. However, a review of the literature on allies, as analyzed through critical race theory and critical discourse analysis, revealed emerging conceptualizations of ally as incongruent with minority identities as they position people of color at the periphery of this social justice …

Factors That Influence Faculty Intentions To Support The Community College Baccalaureate, Lori Kielty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of community colleges in the United States are becoming baccalaureate-granting institutions. Proponents of the community college baccalaureate (CCB) argue that the CCB provides students with access to higher education, while others argue the CCB will compromise the community college's core values.

The purpose of this study is to explore faculty members' intention to support the CCB transition. Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior provides the theoretical framework for the study. The theory assumes that changes in behavior are intentional and, therefore, can be planned. This theory posits that attitudes, subjective (social) norms, and perceived behavioral control predict intentions …

Blogs & Glogs: Revitalizing Class Projects, Krista Bittenbender Royal

Krista Bittenbender Royal

This workshop looks at two technologies that can be used to energize traditional poster and writing assignments to bring them beyond text: Glogster and Blogger. Both are free, easy to use websites with which students can create web pages with images, text, and audio to share with their classmates and the world. In the workshop, intended for instructors and curriculum coordinators, we will look at each of these platforms, discuss examples of project assignment guides using each of the sites, and talk about other ways they could be integrated into courses. I will also share some student feedback and some …

Blogs & Glogs: Revitalizing Class Projects, Krista Bittenbender Royal

INTO Faculty and Staff Publications

This workshop looks at two technologies that can be used to energize traditional poster and writing assignments to bring them beyond text: Glogster and Blogger. Both are free, easy to use websites with which students can create web pages with images, text, and audio to share with their classmates and the world. In the workshop, intended for instructors and curriculum coordinators, we will look at each of these platforms, discuss examples of project assignment guides using each of the sites, and talk about other ways they could be integrated into courses. I will also share some student feedback and some …

Identifying And Addressing Health Disparities In Black Older Adults With Osteoarthritis, Chivon A. Mingo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis in older adults, often results in pain, disability and poor psychological well-being. Compared to White adults, Black adults consistently report more pain, more activity limitations, and have different perceptions about OA. Racial disparities also exist in treatments, and prevalence of arthritis. It is imperative to have effective interventions and treatment options for older Blacks. Yet, few arthritis interventions have included Black participants in their samples, and nearly all of those have failed to report separate analyses indicating the effectiveness for Black adults, thus leaving a gap in the literature. The purpose of …

Using Ning For Conversation Partner Networks, Krista Bittenbender Royal

INTO Faculty and Staff Publications

Providing opportunities for conversation practice is one way that an IEP can help students improve their English as well as enhance their engagement in the language learning process. However, matching individual language learners to fluent English speakers can be difficult and time consuming. This workshop will introduce participants involved in setting up such interactions to Ning, a free online social networking platform which can facilitate the creation of individualized networks. Participants will gain insights into how one IEP used Ning to connect ELLs to university students interested in having conversation partners.

La Vida En La Ficción Como Forma De Reescritura De La Historia Oficial En La Novela Caballeros De Fortuna De Luis Landero, Maria Elena Arroyo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we will study Luis Landero's Novel, Caballeros de fortuna, specifically the creation by the characters of an alternate life that they create through fiction. As a result of a failed life that resembles the effect of the years that Spain experienced Francisco Franco's dictatorial regime, these characters, unable to fight insecurity and rootlessness produced by the society of this era, become victims of utopian desires that result in the creation of an alternative life lived in fiction. At the same time, we can observe how this life style leads to the emergence of a critical study …

Systematic Development And Validation Of A Course Of Instruction In Prior Learning Assessment, John D. Mcnally

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many post-secondary schools across the country offer adult working students an opportunity to obtain at least partial credit for work and life experiences in their curriculum through portfolios. The primary goal of this project was to design, develop and evaluate a portfolio course for adult students at a small independent university. Design emphasized adult learning theory and incorporated instructional design best practices throughout. Also significant to the design was the implementation of the Quality Matters ™ Rubric. The project focus was to intertwine the six assumptions of adult learning theory while implementing best practices and effective instructional strategies, and to …

The Dynamic Graphic Organizer And Its Influence On Making Factual, Comparative, And Inferential Determinations Within Comparative Content, Cameron Spears

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

By augmenting an existing static medium (a graphic organizer) with attributes such that learners were able to sort or rearrange information in multiple ways, two new types of “dynamic” graphic organizers were created. An experiment was performed to investigate the effectiveness of these dynamic graphic organizers as instructional tools. One-hundred-sixty-one students were recruited for participation in the study from a two-year community college and a four-year public university in the southeast United States. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three graphic organizer treatment groups: static, sortable, and shuffle-sortable. Response accuracy and response latency measurements for three types of mental …

Shamanism, Spiritual Transformation And The Ethical Obligations Of The Dying Person: A Narrative Approach, Ellen W. Klein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The person experiencing chronic or protracted illness is confronted with a complex array of physical, emotional and spiritual trials. This thesis explores how chronic illness can be viewed through the lens of the shamanic experience of dismemberment and re-memberment and shows how clinical, narrative, and relational models on their own are insufficient to speak meaningfully to illness experiences, but the integration of aspects of each of these models when coupled with shamanic initiation experience creates an innovative model for patients and those with whom they are in relationship.

Organizational Information Markets: Conceptual Foundation And An Approach For Software Project Risk Management, Areej M. Yassin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation employs both design science and behavioral science research paradigms to investigate an emerging form of technology-enabled human collective intelligence known as information markets. This work establishes a conceptual foundation for the study of organizational information markets and the design and use processes of information markets inside organizations.

This research conceptualizes markets from an information systems perspective and presents an information systems research framework for organizational information markets. This work develops a systems theory of information markets to facilitate investigation of the relationships and interactions between markets as systems and their context of use. It proposes a structuration model …

Experiences Of Foreign Language Teachers And Students Using A Technology-Mediated Oral Assessment, Jeannie Ducher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of the speaking skill at the lower levels of proficiency is seldom assessed as a matter-of-fact in the foreign language classroom, for reasons of impracticality and difficulty of implementation. Although the practice of the speaking skill is an important part of current approaches to the teaching of foreign languages, issues of time and logistics often prohibit the direct evaluation of the skill in a manner consistent with best practices, which purport that practice and assessment must be closely aligned, and that students benefit from self-evaluation and teacher feedback. Classroom research has shown that a skill that is not …

Understanding Organizational Adoption Theories Through The Adoption Of A Disruptive Innovation: Five Cases Of Open Source Software, Delmer Nagy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to understand how organizations adopt a disruptive technology, open source software. Five cross-sectional case studies at municipal governments were performed using a theoretical model based off of eight organizational adoption theories. Results of the case studies highlight how each construct from each theory was present at the organizations. However each construct was of variable influence based upon organizational characteristics and the time or stage of adoption.

Spelling Errors In Children With Autism, Khalyn I. Wiggins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to examine the spelling errors of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when asked to spell morphologically complex words. Specifically, this study sought to determine if percent accuracy across morphological areas would be similar to patterns noted in typical developing children, correlate with participant age, and correlate to performance on standardized measures of achievement. Additionally, the study wanted to highlight the types of errors made by children with ASD on homonyms and the specific linguistic patterns noted when spelling derivational and inflectional word types.

Participants included 29 children diagnosed with Autism, PDD-NOS, and Asperger’s …

Problematic Conceptualizations: Allies In Teacher Education For Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto

Vonzell Agosto

This review of the literature on the concept ally and ally identity development was inspired by a qualitative study exploring the identities and social justice values of prospective teachers of color. Although the participants in the original study never used the term ally, their narratives inspired me to characterize them as allies in the struggle for social justice education. However, a review of the literature on allies, as analyzed through critical race theory and critical discourse analysis, revealed emerging conceptualizations of ally as incongruent with minority identities as they position people of color at the periphery of this social justice …

Using Ning For Conversation Partner Networks, Krista Bittenbender

Krista Bittenbender Royal

Providing opportunities for conversation practice is one way that an IEP can help students improve their English as well as enhance their engagement in the language learning process. However, matching individual language learners to fluent English speakers can be difficult and time consuming. This workshop will introduce participants involved in setting up such interactions to Ning, a free online social networking platform which can facilitate the creation of individualized networks. Participants will gain insights into how one IEP used Ning to connect ELLs to university students interested in having conversation partners.