Other Education Commons^™

Nature's Classroom: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Environmental Education, Dorothea Jody Owens

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

NATURE'S CLASSROOM: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

DOROTHEA JODY OWENS

ABSTRACT

This ethnographic case study examines the dynamic relationship between culture and environmental education within the context of a specific Florida-based public education program. The School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC) offers the program through a three-day field trip to the study site, Nature's Classroom, and accompanying classroom curriculum. The site is located in Thonotosassa on the Hillsborough River, and serves approximately 13,500 to 15,000 sixth grade students annually. The key purpose of the research was to explore public education in a local setting as a vehicle for …

Four English Language Learners' Experiences And Strategy Use In Learning Environments Of Multiliteracies, Ho Ryong Park

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

English language learners (ELLs) develop their reading by engaging in diverse literacy activities in the learning contexts of multiliteracies. I investigated ELLs' experiences and their use of strategies when they read computer-based texts at home and in school. In addition, I identified a variety of influential factors that affected the ELLs' use of reading strategies when they read computer-based texts in both research contexts.

This research was conducted at homes and at three public elementary schools. Participants were two fourth-grade and two fifth-grade ELLs, four parents, and five classroom teachers. The study included observations, interviews, verbal reports, documents, field notes, …

The Biomechanics Of Tongue Projection In The Frog _Rana Pipiens_: Dynamics And Temperature Effects, Paula Sandusky

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ectotherms such as frogs must either function within environments with temperatures amenable to their physiological needs, or find means to reduce the impact of temperature on their activities. Recent studies on reptile and amphibian feeding have shown convergent use of elastic recoil to drive feeding movements, thereby decoupling temperature's effects on muscle from movement and allowing the animals to feed over broader temperature ranges. Rana pipiens specimens (n=5) were exposed to three ambient temperatures (10°, 15°, and 25° C) at which feeding behavior was imaged at 6000 Hz. The image sequences yielded detailed kinematic and dynamic information for jaw, tongue, …

Resisting Criminalization Through Moses House: An Engaged Ethnography, Lance Arney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neoliberal restructuring of the state has had destructive effects on families and children living in urban poverty, compelling them to adapt to the loss of social welfare and demolition of the public sphere by submitting to new forms of surveillance and disciplining of their individual behavior. A carceral-welfare state apparatus now confines and controls the bodies of expendable laborers in urban spaces, containing their threat to the neoliberal socioeconomic order through criminalization and workfare assistance, resulting in a new symbiosis of prison and ghetto. The resulting structures of punishment, police surveillance, and criminalization primarily surround African Americans living in high …

Perceptions Of Hispanic Female Esl Students Toward First-Year College Writing Courses: A Phenomenological Examination Of Cultural Influences, Barbara B. Booker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The role of culture as a phenomenon guided this qualitative study, which examined the influence of diverse Hispanic cultures on the attitudes and perceptions towards college writing courses of female Hispanic students who are non-native speakers of English. With the increasing number of Hispanic immigrants coming to the U.S., the minority student population at our nation's colleges and universities has also risen. Community colleges have become the means through which many of these Hispanic immigrants obtain a college education.

The eight women who participated in this study self-identified as Hispanic. All were first generation college students who had been born …

The Effects Of Food Insecurity On Mental Wellbeing In Monteverde Costa Rica, Robert Eugene Cowherd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The rapid expansion of ecotourism in the Monteverde zone of Costa Rica has increased the incidence in food insecurity in the area. Changes in food preferences and availability have led to a more homogenized diet that is increasingly delocalized and reliant on processed foods. Additionally, there has been a rapid economic shift away from agricultural and dairy farming to an economy more reliant on tourism. This NSF supported study builds upon data from a longitudinal investigation (#BNS 0753017) examining the nutritional effects of this rapid economic transition. Using a mixed methods approach, a culturally appropriate scale of stress was developed …

Academic Affairs Officers: An Application Of The American Association Of Community Colleges Competencies For Community College Leaders, Misty Renee Price

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two decades, several studies have confirmed that there is a leadership crisis among the nation's community colleges. In response to this leadership crisis, the American Association of Community Colleges [AACC] commissioned the development of a leadership competency framework consisting of six leadership competency areas deemed "either `very' or `extremely' essential to the effective performance of community college leaders." Since the release of this framework, limited research has been conducted on the importance of and the preparation in the identified competencies. The majority of research that has been conducted has focused on the position of president, even though …

Listening In Action: Students' Mobile Music Experiences In The Digital Age, Rebecca Marie Rinsema

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the introduction of the iPod in 2001, portable music listening devices that play or stream compressed music files have steadily become the standard devices used to listen to music. Despite this, few music education researchers have investigated the role that such devices have in shaping students' music listening experiences. This dissertation is meant to fill that gap in the literature and contribute to the existing sociological and psychological literature on music listening in everyday life.

Phenomenology served as the theoretical framework for the design of the study. 10 college students from three institutions underwent iterative interviews and were asked …

A Comparison Of The Perceptions Of School Work Culture By Administrators And Faculty In The Public Charter And Non-Charter Elementary Schools Of A Central Florida County, Wayne Anthony Quin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This study investigated perceptions of school work culture of instructional staff members (administrators and faculty) in public charter and public non-charter elementary schools in a large urban metropolitan county of Central Florida by assessing differences in perceptions of administrators and faculty related to school work culture, perceptions between school administrators and faculty, and the interaction between type of school.

The School Work Culture Profile (SWCP), a paper-and-pencil survey, was designed in 1988 by Snyder to obtain a measure of a school's work culture. The SWCP uses a Likert scale to assess the overall perception and four sub-domains of planning, …

Perceived Barriers For Implementing Primary Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention, Rachel Monique Stewart-Campbell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents continue to be at increased risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI's). This research study describes the perception of barriers that providers in the Tampa Bay area encounter when implementing primary STI prevention programs for adolescents within the community context. This study used semi structured interviews to explore perceived barriers for implementing primary such programs for adolescents in the Tampa Bay area programs. Participants reported faith based institutions/churches and schools as common sectors for presenting a variety of barriers for implementing their program. Perceptions of barriers were described as, the need to tailor program messages and presentations based on …

Changes In Attitudes And Behaviors Toward Physical Activity, Nutrition, And Social Support For Middle School Students Using The Afit App As A Suppliment To Instruction In A Physical Education Class, Thomas Andrew Watterson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Finding ways to improve nutritional and physical activity components with today's adolescents is a significant problem. The obesity epidemic is over 10 years old and little research has been done on successful interventions that motivate today's students using the latest technology. A total of 140 middle school students and four physical education teachers participated in a 4-week study using a newly created application (AFIT app) for supplemental teaching in and out of the classroom. Combining a theoretical framework of Self-Determination and motivating strategies implored in today's mobile technology, significance was found using the PACE (2001) instrument in fruits and …

The Impact Of Socioscientific Issues Based Curriculum Involving Environmental Outdoor Education For Fourth Grade Students, Karey Burek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a divide between what students are being taught within the science classroom and what they experience out in the real world. This study sought to explore possible relationships between a socioscientific issues embedded curriculum and outcome variables addressing environmental attitude and knowledge, oral and written argumentation and critical thinking skills. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine both within and between class differences as well as individual differences between the beginning and end of a semester of elementary school. Results indicated that socioscientific issues assist students in developing their critical thinking skills while also providing students …

Gender Divide: Re-Examining The Feminization Of Teaching In The Nineteenth Century With Emphasis On The Displaced Male Teacher, Matthew Fegan

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis explores the intersection of the formalization of schools and the feminization of teaching in the nineteenth century. Specifically, it shares the perspective of the displaced male teacher who often re-located into newly formed administrative positions in the field of education.

Developing Knowledge For Real World Problem Scenarios : Using 3d Gaming Technology Within A Problem-Based Learning Framework, Michael Garrett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Problem-based learning is an instructional strategy that emphasises active and experiential learning through problem-solving activity. Using gaming technologies to embed this approach in a three-dimensional (3D) simulation environment provides users with a dynamic, responsive, visually engaging, and cost effective learning experience. Representing real world problems in 3D simulation environments develops knowledge and skills that are applicable to their resolution.

The Simulation, User, and Problem-based Learning (SUPL) Design Framework was developed to inform the design of learning environments which develop problem-solving knowledge for real world application. This framework identifies design factors relative to the user, the problem-solving task, and the 3D …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Small Business Owner-Managers' Participation And Learning In An Online Discussion Forum : Not Quite Paradise Found, Tara Laureen Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Small business owner-managers (SBOMs) are a difficult group to engage in formal face-to-face training and learning activities. Research to encourage SBOMs' participation has focused on two main themes: first, trying to ascertain why they do not attend training and, second, determining their learning preferences. They are reluctant to attend formal training because they prioritise business operations (no time to attend training), perceive training as a poor return on investment, have negative perceptions of training and education, and believe the training provision often does not meet their needs. In terms of their learning preferences, it is clear that SBOMs prefer informal, …

A Content Analysis Of Teacher Perceptions Of The Implementation Of Small Learning Communities At A High School, Christen Tonry Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Educational reform is vital to meet the educational, social, and personal needs of an ever-changing student population. Many attempts at educational reform have been made over the past century. A number of reforms were originated and directed by policy at the Federal, State and regional levels, and others were developed at the district or school level. Demands for educational change are ever-present, and the acceptance of or resistance to change continues to be a topic of discussion and focus of research.

The purpose of this study was to understand change in the implementation of small learning communities (SLCs) at a …

Horizontal Violence In The Nursing Work Environment: Beyond Oppressed Group Behavior, Therese M. Mendez

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The United States has been experiencing a nursing shortage since the mid-1990s. The shortage is expected to deepen as the provisions of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are enacted. Horizontal violence is a negative phenomenon in the nursing workplace that contributes to difficulty in recruiting and retaining nurses in hospitals. Horizontal violence has been described as a form of mistreatment, spoken or unspoken, that is threatening, humiliating, disrespectful or accusatory towards a peer. The effects of this nurse on nurse aggression can be devastating for the nurse involved and also for the patients under the nurse's care. …

Learning By Gaming: Supply Chain Management, Amr Arisha, Ayman Tobail, John Crowe

Conference papers

Today's third level students are of a virtual generation, where online interactive multi-player games, virtual reality and simulations are a part of everyday life, making gaming and simulation a very important catalyst in the learning process. Teaching methods have to be more innovative to help students understand the complexity of decisions within dynamic supply chain environment. Interactive simulation games have the potential to be an efficient and enjoyable means of learning. A serious interactive business game, Automobile Supply Chain Management Game (AUSUM), has been introduced in this paper. Using theories learnt in class as a knowledge base, participants have to …

Multisensory Integration In Shark Feeding Behavior, Jayne M. Gardiner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multimodal sensory input directs simple and complex behaviors in animals. Most research to date has been limited to studies of individual senses rather than multiple senses working together, leading to important advances in our comprehension of the sensory systems in isolation, but not their complementary and alternative roles in difficult behavioral tasks, such as feeding. In the marine environment, a prey item might emit an odor, create a hydrodynamic disturbance, such as from gill movements or swimming, be visible to the predator, produce a sound, and/or produce a weak electrical field. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate …

Experiencing The Creative Problem Solving Thinking Skills Model In Virtual Worlds, Juliana Sanchez

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Creativity is an ability that can be taught and learned. This project intends to encourage the teaching of creativity through the use of technology. It was designed to build a space in the virtual world OpenQwaq, where creativity classes can be delivered to students all over the world. The creation of the space was inspired by the affective skills of dreaming, playfulness, sensitivity to environment, and tolerance for risk included in the Creative Problem Solving Thinking Skills Model. These skills are essential to promote change. It is also a reflection of the factors that might help or hinder the learning …