Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Surrounding Positive And Negative Experiences On Risk Taking, Sandra L. Schneider, Sandra Kauffman, Andrea Ranieri

Psychology Faculty Publications

Two experiments explored how the context of recently experiencing an abundance of positive or negative outcomes within a series of choices influences risk preferences. In each experiment, choices were made between a series of pairs of hypothetical 50/50 two-outcome gambles. Participants experienced a control set of mixed outcome gamble pairs intermingled with a randomly assigned set of (a) all-gain, (b) all-loss, or (c) a mixture of all-gain and all-loss gamble pairs. In both experiments, a positive experience led to reduced risk taking in the control set and a negative experience led to increased risk taking. These patterns persisted even after …

Emotional Self-Regulation: Voices And Perspectives Of Teachers Within Diverse Socio-Cultural Contexts, Anna Paula Peixoto Da Silva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given the importance of emotional self-regulation to a child’s ability to develop social competence and prosocial behavior, and the significant role early childhood teachers play in supporting young children’s emotional self-regulation, it is important to explore the concept from the perspective of teachers, or from the socio-cultural context through which they (i.e., teachers) make sense of the world.

This study used an exploratory case study methodology to explore the understandings of emotional self-regulation among three Head Start teachers working with varying socio-cultural contexts and to identify the socio-cultural perspectives that influenced their ability to effectively apply their understandings.

Findings indicate …

Teaching Students With Down Syndrome: Mothers' Perspectives On The Most Appropriate Educational Environments For Their Children, Stacey Mulrenin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the perspectives that mothers of children with Down syndrome (Ds) hold regarding the most appropriate educational environments for their children. Environments for students with Ds may be classified as inclusive (fully included within a general education classroom with complete access to the general curriculum and typical peers), integrated (self-contained within a general education school, with some interaction with typical peers), or segregated (separate school for students with intellectual disabilities, or InD). A qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews and a follow-up focus group was used to gather thick, rich descriptions of mothers’ perspectives of these different types …

Influence Of Language Arts Instructional Practices On Early Adolescents’ Motivation To Read: Measuring Student And Teacher Perceptions, Sarah E. Pennington

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Early adolescence is a critical time for examining academic motivation, specifically motivation to read (Hervey, 2013). In order to support self-determined motivation to read, students’ needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness must be met within the classroom context (Miller & Faircloth, 2014). Since classroom instructional practices are a key component of adolescents’ daily experiences in the classroom, research which investigates the influence of these practices on students’ self-determined motivation to read is needed. In addition, the perceptions of students and teachers regarding the degree to which classroom instructional practices meet students’ needs as well as the influence of classroom instructional …

Examining Student And Teacher Perceptions Of The Classroom Social Environment Across School Context: Effects Of Individual Factors, Keri Stewart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although teachers and students are the primary actors in the classroom environment, they often have different perceptions of the instructional and relational aspects of the classroom. Despite these differences, research indicates perceptions of the quality of the classroom social environment have implications for both student and teacher outcomes. Additionally, research has indicated the differences in perceptions occur not only between students and teachers, but also among individual students within classrooms. The extent and the manner in which these perceptions converge may vary across different class and school contexts. School and class context, as well as individual characteristics and beliefs have …

Teacher Child Interaction Therapy: An Ecological Approach To Intervening With Young Children Who Display Disruptive Behaviors, Sara Marie Hinojosa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A model of Teacher Child Interaction Therapy (TCIT) was implemented in two kindergarten classrooms of students (n = 2) who successfully completed Parent Child Interaction Therapy, but continued to demonstrate disruptive behaviors in the classroom. The current study first indicated that TCIT was implemented with integrity by both the therapists and teacher participants. Next, the effects of this intervention on the teacher’s skills, students’ disruptive behaviors, teacher’s stress, and teacher-child relationships were investigated. The treatment acceptability was also examined. Both visual and statistical analyses found a treatment effect in both cases was seen for both teachers’ increased use of positive …

Exploring The Transition Experiences Of Successful International Undergraduate Students At A Public Research University In The Usa: The Impact On International Student Success And Retention, Laurie-Ann M. Spencer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study utilized surveys, interviews and document review to explore the transition experiences of international students at a large, public research university, specifically as it relates to their persistence and success. Within the context of challenges that they face, the study examined factors that the students perceived as jeopardizing their success and further explored both institutional and personal factors these students perceived as enhancing their success and persistence.

Findings revealed that academic challenges tended to occur during the first year and included teaching styles, course-load/assignments, language issues, time management and understanding the US academic system. Social and cultural challenges …

Writing Groups In Eighth-Grade Honors Language Arts: Student And Teacher Perceptions, Jennifer Sara Meister Denmon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative case study, I investigated eighth-grade honors students’ and their language arts teacher’s perceptions of the support provided in writing groups, the climate in writing groups, and student and teacher support that enhanced students’ motivation to write in writing groups. Eleven study participants engaged in the inquiry, 10 middle school students and one language arts teacher. I collected data during the fall semester of 2014. Data were individual interviews, classroom observations of participants in writing groups, and program-related documents. The main aim in this investigation is to discover middle school students’ and their teacher’s perceptions of the support, …

Parts Of The Whole: Teaching Quantitative Reasoning In An Exponential Decay Model, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

The simple calculus example of exponential decay can be an excellent vehicle for teaching quantitative reasoning in calculus or differential equations. Insect maturation provides a rich context for thinking about the meaning of the rate constant for exponential decay, which is derived in the context of a system at equilibrium but is generally measured using a single cohort of individuals.

The Problems Of Contemporariness And Voice: Review Of Literacy & Mathematics: A Contemporary Approach To Quantitative Literacy By Jay P. Abramson And Matthew A. Isom (2005), Gizem Karaali

Numeracy

Jay P. Abramson and Matthew A. Isom. Literacy & Mathematics: A Contemporary Approach to Quantitative Literacy. (Dubuque IA: Kendell Hunt Publishing Co., 2005). 297 pp. ISBN 0-7575-2165-7.

The book under review covers the traditional content of a typical mathematical literacy text. After a brief overview of the book contents, the review then focuses on two specific challenges that QL textbooks have to meet: the timeliness of the contexts used and the subjective author voice that inevitably colors any contextualized discussion. Both issues noticeably arise in the text reviewed. Nonetheless instructors may find it a helpful resource.

Review Of Sustainable Energy -- Without The Hot Air By David Mackay (2009), Kira Hamman

Numeracy

David MacKay. Sustainable Energy: Without the hot air. (Cambridge, England: UIT Cambridge Ltd., 2009). 384 pp. ISBN 978-0954452933 (also available as a free e-book).

Physicist David MacKay transforms what has historically been a debate fraught with skepticism and hysteria into an informed conversation. He does this by providing clear, accurate quantitative information on energy production and consumption in a form that allows comparison and invites thoughtful analysis. By recalibrating power into kilowatt-hours per day per person, he makes the numbers meaningful on an individual level. He then meticulously estimates the productive capacity of various renewable energy sources, explores alternative …

On A Desert Island With Unit Sticks, Continued Fractions And Lagrange, Victor J. Ricchezza, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

GLY 4866, Computational Geology, provides an opportunity, welcomed by our faculty, to teach quantitative literacy to geology majors at USF. The course continues to evolve although the second author has been teaching it for some 20 years. This paper describes our experiences with a new lab activity that we are developing on the core issue of measurement and units. The activity is inspired by a passage in the 2008 publication of lectures that Joseph Louis Lagrange delivered at the Ecole Normale in 1795. The activity envisions that young scientists are faced with the need to determine the dimensions of a …

Attitudes Toward Statistics Studies Among Students With Learning Disabilities, Orly Lipka, Itay Hess

Numeracy

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a support course to change attitudes toward statistics studies of post-secondary students who were diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD) and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The participants were 22 students in a support course that was provided over a single academic term on a weekly basis. The design of the study was according to 'Pre-Post' comparison. The effects on attitudes toward statistics were examined quantitatively and qualitatively to provide a comprehensive methodology for the research purposes. Results suggest that the weekly support course model that was taught simultaneously to the on-line course …

Quantitative Literacy At Michigan State University, 3: Designing General Education Mathematics Courses, Samuel L. Tunstall, Vincent Melfi, Jeffrey Craig, Richard Edwards, Andrew Krause, Bronlyn Wassink, Victor Piercey

Numeracy

In this paper, we describe the process at Michigan State University whereby we have created two courses, Math 101 and 102, designed to foster numeracy and alleviate mathematics anxiety. The courses--which are not sequential--provide a means of satisfying the University's general education requirement without taking college algebra or calculus, among other options. They are context-driven and broken into modules such as "The World and Its People" and "Health and Risk." They have been highly successful thus far, with students providing positive feedback on their interest in the material and the utility they see of it in their daily lives. We …

Words Matter: Discourse And Numeracy, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

Here I discuss elements of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and their importance in relation to quantitative literacy (QL). Through an overview of theory, synthesis of research, and examples, I argue that the discursive nature of textbooks has a nontrivial impact on students' mathematical dispositions - an important component of QL. In particular, texts are a means of disseminating the culture of mathematics, one which has a tendency to paint mathematics as esoteric and male-dominated. Such a characterization has profound implications for the numeracy community, one of which is that we cannot assume that changes in curriculum are sufficient for effecting …

Rethinking The Numerate Citizen: Quantitative Literacy And Public Issues, Ander W. Erickson

Numeracy

Does a citizen need to possess quantitative literacy in order to make responsible decisions on behalf of the public good? If so, how much is enough? This paper presents an analysis of the quantitative claims made on behalf of ballot measures in order to better delineate the role of quantitative literacy for the citizen. I argue that this role is surprisingly limited due to the contextualized nature of quantitative claims that are encountered outside of a school setting. Instead, rational dependence, or the reasoned dependence on the knowledge of others, is proposed as an educational goal that can supplement quantitative …

Grassroots Numeracy, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

The readers and authors of papers in Numeracy compose a multidisciplinary grassroots interest group that is defining and illustrating the meaning, content, and scope of quantitative literacy (QL) and how it intersects with educational goals and practice. The 161 Numeracy papers that have been produced by this QL community were downloaded 42, 085 times in a total of 178 countries, including all 34 OECD countries, during 2015 and the first quarter of 2016. A scatterplot of normalized downloads per month vs. normalized total downloads for the eight years of Numeracy’s life allows identification of the 24 “most popular” of …

Representation Of Adolescent Identity Status Through Facebook Use: A Qualitative Multicase Study Of Adolescent Digital Behaviors, David Valdez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The expanding landscape of social media offers users several platforms to introduce into their lifestyle choices. Facebook continues to be one of the most ubiquitous social media platforms in the United States (Pew Research Center, 2015), and its use in educational contexts has become an area of inquiry. This study examines how a sample of high school seniors in an IB psychology class use social media, specifically, Facebook by inquiring into the interrelationship between social media use, identity formation, and personal teacher pedagogy as part of instruction. The research questions for this study were: Question 1- How are students using …

Influence Of Musical Engagement On Symptoms Of Tourette’S Disorder, William Christopher Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tourette’s is currently considered a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder. Georges Gilles de la Tourette is given primary credit for the diagnoses of the disorder in the late 1800s. Clear answers have been elusive although modern research and improvements to neuroimaging have enabled the causal factors of Tourette’s Disorder (TD) to be examined with greater scrutiny. Currently, there is no known cure or pharmaceutical treatment that has been proven 100% effective for all patients and symptoms of Tourette’s. Anecdotally, there have been recent media and self-reports of people diagnosed with Tourette’s finding relief from their symptoms through involvement in focus-based activities such …

Examinees' Perceptions Of The Physical Aspects Of The Testing Environment During The National Physical Therapy Examination, Ellen Kroog Donald

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the increasing number of individuals taking computer-based tests, little is known about how examinees perceive computer-based testing environments and the extent to which these testing environments are perceived to affect test performance. The purpose of the present study was to assess the testing environment as perceived by individuals taking the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), a high-stakes licensure examination. Perceptions of the testing environments were assessed using an examinee self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire included items that measured individuals’ preference and perception of specific characteristics of the environment, along with demographic information and one open-ended item. Questionnaires were distributed by …

Analyzing Spelling Errors By Linguistic Features Among Children With Learning Disabilities, Christine Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to spell fluently and accurately, phonology, orthography, and morphology must be integrated and stored into long term memory (Berninger & Richards, in press; Berninger, Nagy, Tanimoto, Thompson, Abbott, 2015). Children with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL-LD have specific deficits in linguistic processing that impede the cross-mapping of these linguistic elements. This study analyzes the frequency and nature of spelling errors produced by children with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL-LD during an academic writing task in order to determine if known deficits in linguistic processing affect the type and severity of spelling errors made by these children.

The present study analyzed …

When Language Arts Meets The Spectrum: English Teachers' Perspectives Of Students With Autism, Laura De Armond Sabella

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current accountability measures require English language arts (ELA) teachers to teach literacy skills to all students. However, the population of mainstreamed students is becomingly increasingly diverse and includes students on the autism spectrum for whom literacy skills may lie in opposition to population characteristics. Further, educators are encouraged to respond to students in culturally responsive ways, and current teacher evaluation systems often require teachers to demonstrate cultural competence. However, a dearth of research provides insight into the ways secondary ELA teachers perceive their students on the autism spectrum, or how they interact with those students or support them in culturally …

White Teachers’ Experiences Of Working With Black Students Within A Response To Intervention Framework: The Role Of Racialized Deficit Thinking, Sujay Sabnis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a data-based decision-making framework of service delivery that has the potential to improve educational outcomes for all students. Preliminary data appear to bolster this claim. However, it is as yet unclear whether RTI will be able to close the gap in educational outcomes that exists between students of different racial groups. Drawing on theories such as culture of policy (Stein, 2004) and deficit thinking (Valencia, 2010), this study explored the experiences of six White elementary teachers using RTI while working with Black students receiving Tier 2 or Tier 3 instructional supports. Using theoretically driven constant-comparative …

Making A Place For People At A Wildlife Corridor On Chicago's South Side, Alexis Winter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

What role do environmental conservation projects play in the transformation of American cities? How do these projects affect city residents? In this study, I ask these questions at the Burnham Wildlife Corridor, where the Chicago Park District worked with institutional and community-based partner organizations to engage city residents in the creation of a lakefront wildlife habitat and public nature area. Through ethnographic interviews and participant observation I explored how actors at various levels understand this changing landscape and their roles in shaping it. I situate the Burnham Wildlife Corridor project in the broader context of a state-level plan, the Millennium …

Multilevel Analysis Of A Scale Measuring Educators’ Perceptions Of Multi-Tiered Systems Of Supports Practices, Leslie Marie Marshall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to provide evidence of reliability and validity for the 42-item Perceptions of Practices Survey. The scale was designed to assess educators’ perceptions of the extent to which their schools were implementing multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) practices. The survey was initially given as part of a larger evaluation project of a 3-year, statewide initiative designed to evaluate MTSS implementation. Elementary educators (Level-1 n = 2,109, Level-2 n = 62) completed the survey in September/October of 2007, September/October of 2008 (Level-1 n = 1,940, Level-2 n = 61), and January/February of 2010 (Level-1 n = 2,058, Level-2 …

Relationship Between Teacher Characteristics And Accuracy In Identifying Middle School Students With Symptoms Of Anxiety And Depression, Elizabeth Storey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a universal screening method, teacher nominations have been found to both miss and misidentify a substantial proportion of students with internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression (Cunningham & Suldo, 2014; Gelley, 2014; Moor et al., 2007). Although some research has explored the accuracy of teacher nominations when used to identify students with anxiety and depression, no research examined the teacher characteristics that are potentially related to accuracy. The current study conducted a secondary analysis of an archival dataset (Gelley, 2014) to determine which characteristics of teachers (N= 19) are more closely related to accuracy in identifying …

Analysis Of Patterns In Handwritten Spelling Errors Among Students With Various Specific Learning Disabilities, Laura Ann Winkler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities struggle with spelling accuracy, but they do so for different reasons. For instance, students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral-written language learning disability (OWL-LD) have distinct areas of weakness in cognitive processing and unique difficulties with the linguistic features necessary for accurate spelling (Silliman & Berninger, 2011). This project considered the spelling errors made by such students to determine if their unique learning profiles lead to distinct misspelling patterns.

Academic summaries handwritten by 33 students diagnosed with dysgraphia (n=13), dyslexia (n=15), and OWL-LD (n=5) were analyzed for type/complexity and …

Self-Determination During School-To-Adulthood Transition In Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder From The United States And Hong Kong, Gary Yu Hin Lam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing population of students with ASD graduating from schools and entering adulthood. Post-school transition is particularly challenging for these young adults and they tend to exhibit unfavorable outcomes in various domains in life. The concept of self-determination has been identified to promote successful transition and adult outcomes. With its root stemming from Western ideologies, the conceptualizations and manifestations of self-determination have rarely been examined across cultures. The present study aims to examine the experiences of self-determination in young adults with ASD during their school-to-adulthood transition and directly compare their experiences across American and Chinese contexts. Individual interviews …

Faculty Perceptions Of Online Student Disruptive Behavior, Kenneth J. Posner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Limited research and literature address online student disruptive behavior and the effectiveness of conflict management strategies to address these inappropriate behaviors. Through expanded offerings of online education, higher education institutions need to prepare strategically and intentionally for increased instances of online student disruptive behavior. This research study developed and administered an online survey to obtain quantitative and qualitative data. Utilizing the Qualtrics Research Suite and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for quantitative data analysis and MAXQDA for coding the qualitative data this research study examined five research questions identifying online student disruptive behaviors, observed frequencies, and effective …

Blue-Collar Scholars: Bridging Academic And Working-Class Worlds, Nathan Lee Hodges

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores one white working-class family’s hopes, fears, illusions, and tensions related to social mobility. I tell stories from my experiences as a first-generation college student, including: ethnographic fieldwork; interviews with my family, community members, and former teachers; and narratives from other working-class academics to provide an in-depth, evocative, and relational look at mobility. I explore the roots of vulnerability in my family and how I was socialized into understanding belonging and worthiness in particular ways, and how this socialization influences my feelings of belonging and worthiness in the academy. The goal of this research is bridging – past …