Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating An Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math/Computational Thinking Professional Development Program For Elementary Level Paraprofessional Educators, Aubrey A. Rogowski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

For my dissertation, I looked at a training program one Utah school district used to teach paraprofessional educators science, technology, engineering, math, and computational thinking. Specifically, the program taught them about what computational thinking is and how they could use it when teaching science, technology, engineering, and math to students from kindergarten to sixth grade. While reviewing this program, I evaluated 1) The experiences the paraprofessionals had with the program, 2) Whether the paraprofessionals understood computational thinking, and 3) Whether the program prepared them to teach computational thinking to K-6 students.

I worked with eight paraprofessionals who participated in this …

Developing A Methodology For Evaluating The Sensitivity Of Rock Imagery Sites To Vandalism In Washington County, Ut, Erin C. Haycock

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This study uses statistical analysis to examine the relationship between the characteristics of rock imagery (also known as rock art) sites and intentionally caused damages in Washington County, Utah. This project aims to create an index for public land managers to respond proactively to vandalism at rock imagery sites. Included here is an analysis of the severity and frequency of damage to the sites and an inventory of the types of site damage to determine the most common and destructive types of vandalism. Site attributes such as the number of figures in a panel, the type of images, and panel …

Quantifying The Effectiveness Of Night Vision Detection: A Comparative Study Of Visible Light, Night Vision, And Thermal Images, Feng Yeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research presents a comprehensive assessment of night vision goggles and thermal imagers, with a particular emphasis on their performance under a wide range of environmental and temporal conditions. Field testing of these devices was carried out across diverse settings, including daytime, nighttime, and different environmental temperatures. Key evaluation metrics, such as contrast, recognition distance, and image clarity, were employed to assess device performance.The findings reveal that while night vision goggles maintain consistent performance across various conditions, their image clarity and contrast are influenced by the recognition distance. Conversely, thermal imagers excel in cooler environments, successfully highlighting target objects, yet …

Advocating For Social Change: How A Human Service Nonprofit Organization Makes Sense Of Its Advocacy Successes And Failures, Megan Pontes

Dissertations

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are uniquely positioned to play a vital role in social change, and many integrate advocacy in their efforts. This dissertation examined how one human service nonprofit organization working to help the unhoused engaged in advocacy and advocacy evaluation using formal and informal methods. Through an in-depth case study of Think Dignity, a San Diego-based NPO engaged in the day-to-day work of social change, this research revealed how it developed its advocacy efforts, collaborated with partners, and assessed its successes and failures. Informed by the framework of social change leadership, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with Think Dignity. …

Investigation Of The Philosophical Foundations And Use Of Culturally Responsive Evaluation, Ouen Hunter

Dissertations

This three-study dissertation investigated the various aspects of culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) from the perspectives of scholars and practitioners.

The first study investigated CRE scholars’ philosophical stance on CRE through one-on-one interviews. The 14 scholars shared how their lived experiences motivated them to write about CRE. They noted the flexibility of CRE as a complement to other evaluation approaches. The interviewees reported several essential qualities of CRE practitioners. This study highlights the scholars’ commitment to serving marginalized communities as their ontological superordinate theme.

The second study investigated how practitioners applied the CRE lens in their practice. This study confirmed the …

Witnessing Academic Dishonesty And Student’S Satisfaction With Learning, Motivation For Studying And Evaluation Of Faculty, Dawoon Lee

Student Theses

Academic dishonesty has been a long-term problem in secondary and higher education. Previous studies reported that an average of two-thirds of students reported that they have engaged in academic dishonesty in high school or college. This study explored witnessing academic dishonesty and its influence on students' experiences in the learning environment. The hypothesis is that witnessing academic dishonesty will negatively impact the student’s satisfaction with learning, motivation for studying, and evaluation of faculty. In conducting the study, participants (N = 250) completed an online survey assessing their satisfaction with learning, motivation for studying, and evaluation of faculty. Participants also reported …

Evaluative Thinking Amid Disaster, Phung Khanh Pham

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Evaluation and emergency medicine have appreciable parallels and are likely to intertwine as they each evolve, especially in response to disasters or other pervasive problems that can worsen into the future. Evaluative thinking—which largely involves critical thinking, valuing, and other dynamic processes—may be ubiquitously useful to practitioners, scholars, and others from both these fields of practice. In this dissertation, I referenced the dual systems theory of the human mind to conceptualize evaluative thinking as paradoxically fast (automatic) and slow (deliberate), and I characterized the COVID-19 pandemic as a disaster laden with societal games. Derived from game theory, societal games range …

Culturally Responsive Evaluation Methods In Philanthropy: Striving For Community Inclusion Amidst Power Hoarding Practices, Cristina Elena-Tangonan Whyte

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The importance of culture in the field of evaluation can be observed through the advancements that culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) and culturally responsive equitable evaluation (CREE) scholars have made in this arena over the past few decades. The literature, however, still lacks close examination of how CRE approaches are applied in institutions where cultural bias exists, such as philanthropy. Few researchers have examined the biases present in partnering with funders, white dominant norms, and the extent to which these elements facilitate or inhibit community inclusion in CRE. To address this gap, the present study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed methods …

Utilization-Focused Evaluation On The Impact Of A Sports-Based Youth Development On Unaccompanied Youth Students, Eric Cortez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Unaccompanied immigrant youth (UIY) face obstacles that can hinder their education in their host countries. Given that educational attainment can help interrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty, the examination of support systems for UIY is critical. This study examined the role of sports-based youth development (SBYD) programs in supporting UIY students using a utilization-focused evaluation. To do this, two groups’ high school graduation rates were compared: (a) UIY participating in an SBYD program and (b) UIY not participating in a SYBD program. In addition to this quantitative analysis, UIY were surveyed and interviewed to contextualize the results of the graduation rate …

Review Of Conceptualizations, Peer Interventions, And Principles And Standards In Approaches To Intimate Partner Violence (Ipv), Sara Fister

Counselor Education Capstones

Intimate partner violence (IPV), a type of domestic violence, is a human rights issue that is considered a global health concern. The daunting statistics outline the immense need for principles and standards for approaches to IPV. The overarching goal of this review is to explore peer support and peer mentorship as a potential adjunct service to a comprehensive service program for IPV victim-survivors. Conceptualization, theory, and frameworks; social support and peer support; the self-identity of IPV victims; single versus integrative services; service enhancement; evaluation; and advocacy and interventions are investigated in relation to IPV services, in general, and peer support, …

Towards More Task-Generalized And Explainable Ai Through Psychometrics, Alec Braynen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this work, we propose that adopting the methods, principles, and guidelines of the field of psychometrics can help the Artificial Intelligence (AI) community to build more task-generalizable and explainable AI. Three arguments are presented and explored. These arguments are that psychometrics can help by providing 1) a framework for formulating better datasets, 2) psychometric AI data that can lead to models of generalization in AI, and 3) explainable AI through more informative evaluations.

A review of psychometrics and psychological generalization is performed, along with an overview of evaluation, generalization, and explainability in AI. Various ideas are presented throughout for …

The Impacts Of Problematic Social Media Use On Youths: Evaluation And Treatment Recommendations, Carianne Archer

Dissertations

Youths’ frequency and time spent on social media continues to increase over the years parallel to the growing concern of the status of the mental health of youth. This critical literature review project focuses on the impacts that social media use has on youth (ages 8 to 18 years) and what methods of evaluation and treatment are being used clinically, with recommendations provided to clinicians based on the available literature. The questions that guided this review included: What are the impacts of social media on the self-concept and interpersonal functioning of youths?; What clinical presentations are associated with youths who …

Exploring The Impact Of An Online Leadership Course On Japanese Undergraduates' Conceptions Of Leadership, Ryosuke Watanabe

Dissertations

Today’s complex problems transcend borders and require a collective and adaptive learning response. Literature suggests that, because the traditional hierarchical or positional style of leadership cannot effectively address problems we face today, leadership should take a more collaborative and systemic form. Rost (1991) characterized this new approach as the postindustrial paradigm of leadership. Unfortunately, changing the existing conception of leadership is not easy. Furthermore, assessing people’s leadership perceptions is challenging because leadership is often a tacit and latent construct. Because formal leadership education is still in its infancy in Japan, little is known about the impact of leadership education in …

Evaluability Of Community Dispute Resolution Programs: Effecting Change Or Maintaining The Status Quo?, Rebecca Gourde

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Between the 1960s and the 1990s, dozens of programs and organizations arose throughout the United States designed to bring peaceful resolutions to emerging community disputes, following in the conceptual footsteps of the federal Community Relations Service. Many of these community dispute resolution programs have encountered calls for reduced funding in recent years, as economic hardships force public administrators to parcel out limited public monies to those services that can demonstrate the most benefit. This study is a content analysis that examines the public-facing web content of 20 representative community dispute resolution programs in the United States. The researcher found that …

The Changing Evaluations Of Black Skin, White Masks Throughout History, Paul Gonzalez

Theses

Black Skin, White Masks, produced in 1952 by Frantz Fanon is an iconic piece of decolonization literature in which he speaks out against the physical, psychological, social, and economic effects of colonialism in Africa and evaluations of his work have continually evolved throughout the last 70 years. From 1952 to 1960, evaluations of his book was mostly confined in France, then in 1960 to 1968 his work was actively used in America as a guide on achieving political freedom for African Americans and analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and by 1990 onward, his book has been used to analyze …

Expanding The Network Evaluation Toolkit: Combining Social Network Analysis & Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Debbie Gowensmith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collective action networks are complex systems of interrelated individuals or groups that come together for a common social change purpose (Ernstson, 2011). Researchers have used social network analysis (SNA) to examine the relationship structures and characteristics of collective action networks. However, determining whether collective action networking produces outcomes has been challenging because networks are complex, affected by context, and produce interdependent data. I addressed these challenges by pairing SNA with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), a configurational comparative method. Using QCA, researchers can tease out which conditions are necessary or sufficient to produce an outcome. I analyzed a collective action network …

An Evaluation Of A Drug Policy At A Federal University In Southeastern Nigeria, Linus N. Okahia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Drug abuse among university students has become a public health problem. The prevalence of drug abuse has negatively impacted the students, causing serious health outcomes. Finding a solution has the potential to benefit both students and society. Various intervention strategies have been adopted but the results have varied. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to evaluate the administrators’ and students’ perceptions of anti-drug-use policy at a federal university in Southeastern Nigeria to determine its effectiveness on drug abuse prevention among students. The policy feedback theory (PFT), which helps to understand and analyze the policy process, was the explanatory …

Literacy And Covid-19 : Elementary Students' Reading Performance Through A Global Pandemic, Emmett Mcgregor Schweiger

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The critical area of literacy instruction has long relied on the use of measurement tools and the resulting data to identify at-risk readers and deliver needed supports. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to education, measurement practices were altered and there was limited existing research available to predict the potential impact of the pandemic on literacy development. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the reading performance of students in a Southern Tier New York elementary school before and during the pandemic, utilizing existing data from fall 2019 to spring 2021. Additionally, this study sought to evaluate the …

A Program Evaluation Of The Town Of Woodside, Plumas County Fire Safe Council, And Mountain Communities’ Fire Safe Council Defensible Space Projects, Mandeep Gill

Master's Projects

California is one of the most fire-prone regions in the world, with every passing year becoming more hazardous. With a tremendous amount of loss and damage occurring every year due to wildfires, property owners must prepare their homes and structures to withstand fires as much as possible. The best way to achieve this is by building and retrofitting homes with fire-resistant materials and creating defensible space around the property (Cal Fire, n.d.). Although it is the best way to protect one’s property, it is often times difficult for property owners to do so because of financial or physical limitations, or …

A Discipline In Search Of A Voice: A Corpus Linguistic Study Of Evaluation Scholarly Literature, Aaron Wilson Kates

Dissertations

Linguists use the concept of discourse community (DC) to describe the speech of groups of people associated by some extrinsic purpose or interest (Swales, 1990). One defining feature of a DC is a shared lexicon. Scriven (1994), in his discussion of evaluation as a discipline, addresses the need for evaluation to have a “core subject” which would then allow, among other things, the development of “concepts and language to deal with core problems,” while noting that there exists a definite lack of clarity of language among evaluators (p. 147). Christie and Rose (2003) suggest that the lack of clarification around …

Development And Validation Of A Basic Ground Skills Assessment For Equine-Assisted Services, Sarah J. Andersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The equine-assisted services program at Utah State University produced and validated an assessment process used to test equines for suitability for equine-assisted services. Equine-assisted services incorporate the interaction of humans who face mental, physical, emotional, and/or social challenges and equines for therapeutic purposes. Recreational, physical, mental, social, and/or emotional goals are met through various equine-assisted services such as therapies, equine-assisted learning, and horsemanship.

Due to the potential for human injury while interacting with equines, it is important to ensure equines are assessed for safe behavior prior to participation in equine-assisted services. This is why our group developed and tested the …

Using Generalizability And Rasch Measurement Theory To Ensure Rigorous Measurement In An International Development Education Evaluation, Louise Bahry

Doctoral Dissertations

Between the United States and Great Britain, over 30 billion USD was spent in 2018 on international aid, over a billion of which is dedicated to education programs alone. Recently, there has been increased attention on the rigorous evaluation of aid-funded programs, moving beyond counting outputs to the measurement of educational impact. The current study uses two methodological approaches (Generalizability (Brennan, 1992, 2001) and Rasch Measurement Theory (Andrich, 1978; Rasch, 1980; Wright & Masters, 1982) to analyze data from math and literacy assessments, and self-report surveys used in an international evaluation of an educational initiative in the Democratic Republic of …

Principals’ Perception On Teacher Evaluations During The 2020-2021 School Year, Luke Mosiman

Leadership Education Capstones

The reason for this qualitative study was to understand principal’s perspective of their teacher evaluation tool effectiveness during the 2020-2021 school year. Schools in this study were all from the same upper Midwestern state. The districts these schools were in had learning models range from full in person to full distance learning for most of the 2020-2021 school year. The participants were asked through surveys and an interview how they felt their evaluation tool was able to measure teacher performance in the areas of class atmosphere, classroom management, content delivery, and student engagement. Results indicate the evaluation tool was able …

Predictors Of Psychosocial Functioning Following Pediatric Neuropsychological Assessment, Benjamin D. Eschler

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric neuropsychological evaluations are often used to help with diagnostic clarification, aid with treatment planning, and propose recommendations. Yet, little is known about the effects that a neuropsychological evaluation may have on psychosocial outcome and functioning. The present study sought to replicate customer satisfaction results and recommendation adherence results from previous studies while including a longitudinal measure of psychosocial functioning to determine change over time in a pre-test post-test design. Parents of children who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation between May 2016 and December 2020 were invited to complete a survey including the consumer satisfaction questionnaire and treatment adherence questions. They …

Success And Sustainability Of Sponsored International Development Programs In Education: A Narrative Inquiry, Sara Beth Leikin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a 2008 working paper published by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the authors lamented that, despite billions of dollars in investment in global education initiatives, access to education had been improved in targeted areas, but the return on investment with regards to learning outcomes was “much less impressive” (Gillies & Jester Quijada, 2008). From 2012-2017, USAID engaged in the Egypt STEM Schools Project (ESSP) along with four partner organizations with the goal of building model science and mathematics public schools that would challenge the educational status quo by providing students with hands-on, constructivist learning and providing an alternative …

Evaluating The Social Impact Of The Roundtable On The Crown Of The Continent, Travis D. Anklam

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

For over a decade the Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent – a landscape-scale collaborative conservation network– has convened and connected people together to enhance conservation, culture, and community in the Crown of the Continent region. After years of conferences, workshops, and projects, participants have expressed a need to take stock of the difference that the network has made. This paper shares the results of an evaluation that used both qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the social impacts the Roundtable has generated for active participants. Study results reveal that the Roundtable has generated measurable and meaningful impacts for …

Evaluating Between The Lines: Problematizing Voice, Power, And Politics In Goal Based And Goal Free Evaluation Methods, Buba Dicko

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Voice, power, organizational politics, and evaluators’ worldview are in constant flux in social program evaluation. Every social program rolls out based on assumptions on a theory of change (TOC) while every evaluation is also guided by request for evaluation proposal (RFP) operationalized through an evaluation scope of work (SOW). The TOC and evaluation RFPs are likely to carry strong undercurrents of power and politics likely to limit the choice of evaluation methods, tools, and processes due to the prescriptive and compliance-inducing tone. Social program evaluator is in constant dilemma of negotiating rigor amidst pressure of compliance and evaluator subjective worldviews. …

Understanding The Influence Of Interdisciplinary Research: An Examination Of Carol Hirschon Weiss’S Scholarship, Gregory Dee Greenman Ii

Dissertations

Research evaluation is the subfield of evaluation that examines the processes and products of scientific and technological research. This dissertation explores the case of interdisciplinary research evaluation by reviewing the publications of one of the most influential and highly cited scholars in evaluation, public administration, and knowledge utilization: Carol Hirschon Weiss. As one of the foundational theorists of evaluation, the evaluation perspective of Weiss's work typically pervades discussions. That approach ignores her influence in other fields, particularly her centrality to the knowledge utilization field. Prior research indicates that the influence of interdisciplinary research is challenging to ascertain because research evaluation …

Feasting On Words: What University Students Learn When They Study Food Writing And Food Media, Janet K. Keeler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of food in college curriculum is unique in its ability to create lasting impact because of the keen interest millennial and Generation Z students have in what they eat and drink. Studying media with food at its core is an underutilized mechanism to show how food intersects with the lives of all people thus encouraging students to look beyond their own experiences to consider the wider society. A program evaluation of 10 semesters of food writing and food media courses at a Florida public university reveals the ways in which students make deeper connections to culture and current …

Doing Discipline Different: Evaluating The Implementation Of Restorative Justice As An Alternative To Punitive Discipline In New York City Public Schools, Virginia Diaz-Mendoza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Given that punitive discipline practices have disproportionately impacted its poor students of color, New York City is committed to transforming school discipline and improving school climate by implementing restorative justice as an alternative. This study is an evaluation of the restorative justice pilot program funded by the New York City Council and managed by the New York City Department of Education where key stakeholders including officials at the Department of Education, school administrators, educators, school staff, and community organizations are involved in the implementation of restorative justice in schools with high suspension rates. Data was collected through interviews, observations of …