Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of School Culture And Autonomous Motivation In Supporting Academic Achievement And Teacher Retention In A Public Charter School: An Ethnographic Case Study, Amanda W. Reschke

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

U.S. public schools are in crisis amid declining student achievement and widespread teacher shortages, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, putting students at risk for poor academic outcomes. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows 4^th and 8^th grade students’ average reading and math scores have decreased by 5 points and 7 points respectively since 2019. Furthermore, NCES data showed that 53% of public schools reported being understaffed for the upcoming school year in August 2022, and by October 2022, 45% of public schools reported at least one vacant teaching position. While many …

Developing A Multi-Level Model Of Integrated-Organizational Resilience, Reza Bahari

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Most contemporary organizations work in unsteady environments and are impacted by various types of disruptions that have profound impacts on performance such as natural disasters, globalization, and financial recessions. Due to this, the concept of integrated organizational resilience (IOR) has become an important issue for both academic researchers and practitioners in recent years. A review of the literature shows that much of the research has focused on identifying and measuring the factors that affect OR in an effort to improve organizations' capacity for resilience. While significant research has been conducted in this area, much of the evidence focuses on a …

Machine Learning Algorithms To Study Multi-Modal Data For Computational Biology, Khandakar Tanvir Ahmed

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Advancements in high-throughput technologies have led to an exponential increase in the generation of multi-modal data in computational biology. These datasets, comprising diverse biological measurements such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and imaging data, offer a comprehensive view of biological systems at various levels of complexity. However, integrating and analyzing such heterogeneous data present significant challenges due to differences in data modalities, scales, and noise levels. Another challenge for multi-modal analysis is the complex interaction network that the modalities share. Understanding the intricate interplay between different biological modalities is essential for unraveling the underlying mechanisms of complex biological processes, including …

A Multimodal Framework For Automated Content Moderation Of Children's Videos, Syed Hammad Ahmed

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Online video platforms receive hundreds of hours of uploads every minute, making manual moderation of inappropriate content impossible. The most vulnerable consumers of malicious video content are children from ages 1-5 whose attention is easily captured by bursts of color and sound. Prominent video hosting platforms like YouTube have taken measures to mitigate malicious content, but these videos often go undetected by current automated content moderation tools that are focused on removing explicit or copyrighted content. Scammers attempting to monetize their content may craft malicious children's videos that are superficially similar to educational videos, but include scary and disgusting characters, …

Film As Ritual: Healing From Complex Trauma And Transmuting Pain Through Film, Lorraine I. Sovern

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Forward Fast, Always/Never (Together Forever) and Shotgun Baby are three short experimental documentary films as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Feature Film Production from the University of Central Florida. These films focus on the unique power of cinema and its ability to assist in healing from complex trauma. Three films were produced on an artisanal, micro-budget scale.

This body of work confronts and examines the significant traumas from an abusive childhood upbringing (Shotgun Baby), the effects of misogyny in Western media on my developing filmic sensibilities (Forward Fast), and …

Spotting The Signs: An Investigation Of The Effectiveness Of A Peer Training Program In Increasing Students' Ability To Detect And Report The Warning Signs Of A Peer School Shooting Plot, Ashley T. Winch

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

To date, there are no evidence-based peer bystander intervention trainings (BIT) aimed at educating peers in school shooting warning behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine an interactive BIT where peers were taught warning behaviors related to someone planning a school shooting and how to report this information. This training was evaluated against a currently available training method (i.e., PowerPoint presentation based) and a control group to determine the best training approach. College students between 18 and 19 years old (N = 57) completed pre, post, and one-month follow-up assessments. At each timepoint accuracy in detection of …

Adaptation To Hypoxia And Nitrate/Nitrite Assimilation Require Species-Specific Regulation By Dosr And Nnar In Mycobacterium Abscessus, Breven S. Simcox

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) is an opportunistic pathogen afflicting immunocompromised patients and individuals with underlying comordibities such as Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Treatment strategies are limited due to inherent antibiotic resistance and restricted accessibility of Mab to antibiotics within macrophage phagosomes, granuloma lesions, and the mucus laden CF airways. Transcriptional adaptation to stresses encountered in these niches such as hypoxia, reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI) and elevated nitrate and nitrite are not well-understood. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) hypoxia adaptation and nitrate metabolism are linked via induction of the two-component system (TCS) DosRS and nitrate metabolism genes. DosRS_Mtb induces …

Is This The Real Life, Or Is This Just Fantasy? Assessing Species Distribution Model Realism And Applicability With Virtual And Empirical Species, Hannah R. Bevan

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Species distribution models (SDMs) can be important tools for proactive conservation management if they are realistic. Unfortunately, achieving and assessing SDM realism is challenging given the general limitations of scientific models and empirical species data. We addressed the issue of achieving realism with high model quality and reproducibility by reviewing 200 SDMs and cataloguing methods for data availability, response and predictor variables, model fitting, and model performance. We addressed the issue of assessing SDM realism by comparing known and predicted distributions of habitat suitability with simulated data for various model fitting choices. Finally, we applied and compared subsequent lessons to …

Modeling Health Insurance Premium Using Bayesian Hierarchical Models, Bennedict Kongyir, Emil Agbemade

Data Science and Data Mining

Insurance pricing requires pragmatism and creativity due to the unpredictable nature of risk [3]. This paper explores Bayesian hierarchical models to model health insurance premiums using individual and group predictors like demographics, health status, and geography. Data from Kaggle on health insurance policyholders was utilized, with prior distributions enhanc­ing model interpretability and credibility. Bayesian models improve predictive accuracy and provide valuable insights for actuaries and policymakers, highlighting the signifcant impact of factors such as age and BMI on premium pricing.

Predicting Telecommunication Customer Attrition Using The Hopfeld Neural Network Model., Benedict Kongyir, Emil Agbemade, Kelvin Njuki

Data Science and Data Mining

Customer churn prediction has become one of the crucial steps for customer retention. Telecommunication companies rely on loyal customers to make their proft. It is often very easy for customers to switch from one service provider to the other. To prevent or reduce the rate of customer attrition, there needs to be a model that can identify customers who are at risk of churning in the future in advance. Previous literature has shown that predictive models are efective in predicting customer churn. In this work, four tentative machine-learning models are built using data obtained from Kaggle on telecommunication customer attrition …

Exploring The Removal Potential Of Multi-Pollutants From Water Matrices With Innovative Speciality Adsorbents In A Field-Scale Filtration System, Jinxiang Cheng

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Driven by excess nutrients in water bodies, eutrophication has long been an issue in water resources management. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in a highly eutrophic water body lead to hypoxia, creating a “dead zone,” which renders the oxygen levels inadequate for the survival of marine life. This study examined the field-scale filtration performance of two specialty absorbents to improve watershed remediation within a Total Maximum Daily Load program. The goal was to simultaneously remove nutrients and biological pollutants along Canal 23 (C-23) in the St. Lucie River Basin, Florida. The filtration system installed in the C-23 river corridor was equipped …

Investigating Emerging Technologies In Civil Structural Health Monitoring: Generative Artificial Intelligence And Virtual Reality, Furkan Luleci

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Condition assessment of civil engineering infrastructure systems is of growing importance as they face aging and degradation due to both human-made activities and environmental factors. Nevertheless, challenges persist in data collection, leading to "data scarcity", and the need for frequent site visits in inspections, presenting significant obstacles in the assessment of the civil infrastructure systems. This dissertation aims to overcome these challenges by exploring the potential of two emerging technologies: Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR). In tackling the issue of data scarcity, the research question revolves around how Generative AI can be utilized to mitigate data collection-related …

Psychometric Evaluation Of A Brief Measure For Body Image Concerns Related To Breast Appearance, Sivanne Mendelson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The complexity of breast-specific body image concerns among women considering cosmetic breast surgery (CBS) underscores the need for a nuanced assessment tool. Despite numerous existing body image measures, there remains a need for a concise, validated instrument focusing on satisfaction with breast appearance. The development of the Breast Appearance Concerns Scale (BACS) aimed at assessing the multifaceted nature of breast-specific concerns through a patient centered lens within a population of otherwise healthy young adult women. The BACS was developed through a comprehensive review of existing literature and refined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, in addition to Rasch measurement analysis. …

A Handheld, Biomimetic, Phase Change Microsystem For Breath Condensate Based Point-Of-Use (Pou) Diagnostics Assays, Pablo Morales-Cruz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

A variety of biomimetic [Stenocara gracilipes (Namib desert beetle), Dendrocalamus brandissii (Velvet Leaf Bamboo), and Opuntia microdasys (Bunny Ear Cactus)]-based microsystems, were developed to collect exhaled breath for use in point-of-use (POU) settings. The overall platform consists of a 50 x 50 mm 3D printed micro-chamber which is decorated with a PDMS micromolded Breath Condensate Collection Chip (BCCC) emulating the morphology of the biomimetic architectures. The micro-chamber and BCCC are further treated with a nanoscale superhydrophobic coating and infused with oil for enhancement in condensate collection. Different designs and setups were tested for optimum breath collection along with different …

Industrial Safety: How Complacency At Industrial Facilities Has Evolved As A Result Of Widespread Corporate Leadership Induced Reductions In Force Of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers, Christina Kniffin-Downs

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

With the renewal of interest in nuclear energy as a green energy source, battery plant manufacturing for electric vehicles, and semiconductor fabrication plant construction, it is necessary to address the evolution of complacency as it relates to industrial facility leadership and the widespread reduction in force of essential critical infrastructure workers. As a skilled craft person in the piping trades, with almost two decades of experience in mechanical construction, ten of those years as a nuclear worker, and as a traveling pipefitter working at chemical, refinery, and gasification plants, I am intimately aware of the behaviors, practices, and procedures inherent …

Acquiring, Appraising, And Applying Evidence To Facilitate Evidence-Based Medical Education, Meredith Ratliff

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study explored evidence-based education in health professions education through three interrelated manuscripts. First, a scoping review of evidence-based medical education examined the use of the term “evidence-based” in the literature and the presence of evidence-based practices. The review analyzed numerous studies to understand how evidence-based education is defined and applied within the medical education community, highlighting key trends, gaps, and inconsistencies in the application of evidence-based principles. Next, a study employed an agile evidence-based instructional design (AVIDesign) model to create an evidence-based course in palliative care for medical students. This model integrated iterative development processes with evidence-based educational strategies, …

Capable Rhetoric: Embodied Rhetorical Listening And Midwives' Arguments For The Maternal Body On Instagram, Aminta C. Quintero-Jackson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

When women find out they are pregnant, they encounter discourse about their bodies they may not have consciously considered before. Frequently, the information is based on ideologies that consider maternal bodies to be inherently problematic. The discourse in this information informs and shapes women’s choices about the role of medical oversight in their pregnancies and impacts the perceptions they have of themselves.

Midwives argue that mothers and their bodies are not inherently problematic but are powerful and capable of childbirth. They argue that medical oversight has been too aggressive in birth management, interrupting the natural process of birth and causing …

The Cypress Dome 2024, Issue 35, The Cypress Dome Society

The Cypress Dome

The Cypress Dome Society (CDS) offers an outlet for artists at UCF. We chose to name ourselves after the beautiful cypress dome ecosystem that exists on the UCF campus. In the same way that cypress domes create an environment based in biodiversity and rich land, we hope to foster a space that promotes diversity and rich creative work for students. We set our roots in the deepest parts of the literary community and surround ourselves with students eager to participate in the arts. Every year, we engage with our community by encouraging students to submit to our literary magazine, The …

Navigating And Thriving In Leadership: Practical Advice For Elected And Appointed Association Leaders, Tiffany R. Wang

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Elected and appointed association leaders face circumstances that can make professional service challenging. This essay offers practical advice for how association leaders can navigate and thrive in leadership roles as they fulfill their duties and responsibilities. Current and past association leaders offer observations and recommendations for success.

Characterizing The Material Response Of The Passive Myocardium, Mehlil Ahmed

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Cardiovascular diseases remain a major public health concern worldwide, with heart failure emerging as a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality. Among heart failure cases, Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) presents a substantial clinical challenge due to its poor understanding and diagnostic complexity. Despite its prevalence, HFpEF lacks accurate diagnostic tools, hindering effective prognosis and therapy planning. This study addresses the knowledge gap surrounding HFpEF and diastolic dysfunction by focusing on the passive myocardial response during atrial systole, a critical yet understudied aspect of cardiac function. Current clinical measures, such as left ventricular ejection fraction, have limitations in …

A Study Of The Effects Of Microgravity Through Porous Media In Microfluidic Devices, Taylor A. Peterson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

In recent years, space exploration has been driving studies that enable sustained human presence in space. In such studies, fluidics relating to biology have become important. Fluids in biological systems span from large-scale flows relevant to circulatory, digestion, and pulmonary systems, but also involve many micro-scale porous flows. Hence, space exploration is driving a novel need to characterize fluidics in microscales in microgravity conditions. In this work, we study the porous flow network within bones that stimulates cellular growth and has the potential to relate to osteoporosis (including driving osteoporosis in astronauts). To study this effect, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) …

A Cfd Framework To Study Complex Effects Relating To Airborne Viral-Pathogen Transmission, Rajendra Shrestha Mr.

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This research used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to examine the behavior of airborne droplets released during respiratory events. The CFD model utilizes an Eulerian-Lagrangian approach, with turbulence resolved using the Spalart-Allmaras detached eddy simulation. The first part investigates airborne transmission and how modifying saliva during a sneeze impacts this process. The study employs CFD to simulate these respiratory events in a ventilated room. It finds that larger droplets alone are insufficient for droplet settling due to secondary breakdown processes. Modifiers that increase the Ohnesorge number show resistance to aerosolization from secondary breakup, resulting in more droplets with high settling rates, …

Wikipedia Readability Study Data Set, Terri Gotschall, Emily Hannum, Laith A. Ayasa, Amin Azzam, Yazan Alhabil, Nadine Dexter

Research Data and Datasets

This study analyzed articles edited in courses at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of Central Florida (UCF). UCSF students received instruction on the Hemingway Editor, while UCF students did not. Readability was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Coleman-Liau Index (CLI) scores.

Analyzing The Use Of Plain Language In Brief Summaries On Clinicaltrials.Gov, Megan J. Eddington

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

ClinicalTrials.gov is a database designed to help clinical researchers make their research publicly available. The clinical trials registered on the database each include a brief summary, which is meant to be a short description that the public can easily understand. In September 2022, ClinicalTrials.gov published a "Plain Language Checklist for Lay Brief Summaries" on their website, which identifies plain language best practices intended to help investigators craft summaries that can be readily understood by the public. This thesis assesses the impact of the checklist on the language use in the brief summaries in the year following the checklist's publication. The …

Human Performance In Context: Exploring The Effect Of Social Support On Vigilance, Allison E. Garibaldi

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Over many decades, vigilance research has consistently found that performance on vigilance tasks decline over time (i.e., the vigilance decrement; Davies & Parasuraman, 1982), and that performing a vigilance task is both mentally demanding and stressful (Warm et al., 2008). Researchers have subsequently implemented a wide range of interventions to both understand and attempt to attenuate the vigilance decrement and its associated affective effects. Among these efforts, little attention has been devoted to understanding the effects of the social environment on vigilance. Nonetheless, a handful of studies have indeed suggested that the presence of others can affect performance, workload, and …

Exploring The Physiology Of Clostridioides Difficile: Selenium-Dependent Catabolism Of Host-Derived Nutrients, Michael A. Johnstone

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Clostridioides difficile is a bacterial pathogen that causes pseudomembranous colitis and the majority of antibiotic-associated diarrheal cases. Broad-spectrum antibiotic usage disrupts the normal gut microbiota and thereby compromises colonization resistance, the main defense against C. difficile infection. Treatment options are limited to vancomycin, fidaxomicin, and the fecal microbiota transplant. Addressing the scarcity of these therapeutics, we documented two explorations in C. difficile drug discovery: (i) evaluation of antibacterial and toxin-suppressing activity of (+)-puupehenone and similar derivatives, and (ii) clarification of a discrepancy in the hypothesized mechanism of auranofin against C. difficile. A better understanding of how C. difficile colonizes …

Measuring Elementary Students' Level Of Acquisition Of Historical Habits Of Mind, Natalia E. Cruz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Providing elementary-aged students with opportunities to engage in authentic historical analysis is crucial to building their historical thinking skills. Teaching with primary and secondary sources allows students the opportunity to engage in authentic inquiry-based learning experiences where the acquisition of a historical concept is in their hands. This differs from the traditional social studies learning experience, as these inquiry-based learning experiences are student-centered, and the teacher is present as a guide. Developing social studies instruction utilizing the SOURCES Framework for Teaching with Primary and Secondary Sources (Waring, 2021) is an effective way to scaffold authentic historical inquiry at the upper …

Enhancing Student Graduation Rates By Mitigating Failure, Dropout, And Withdrawal In Introduction To Statistical Courses Using Statistical And Machine Learning, Shahabeddin Abbaspour Tazehkand

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The elevated rates of failure, dropout, and withdrawal (FDW) in introductory statistics courses pose a significant barrier to students' timely graduation from college. Identifying actionable strategies to support instructors in facilitating student success by reducing FDW rates is paramount. This thesis undertakes a comprehensive approach, leveraging various machine learning algorithms to address this pressing issue. Drawing from three years of data from an introductory statistics course at one of the largest universities in the USA, this study examines the problem in depth. Numerous predictive classification models have been developed, showcasing the efficacy of machine learning techniques in this context. Actionable …

School Experiences Of Young Adults Since The Passing Of "Don't Say Gay", Heather M. Summers

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

As of 2020, the US is home to an estimated over nine percent of youth 13-17 who identify as LGBTQ+ (Conron, 2020). There are hundreds of bills that have been passed into laws that restrict rights for LGBTQ+ individuals (Union, Mapping attacks on LGBTQ rights in US state legislatures in 2024, 2024). With risk factors specific to youth and with legislation altering the operation of schools, there is concern regarding the effect of such laws on students (Day, 2019). This dissertation provides an overview of how LGBTQ+ youth in schools have experienced the implementation of laws that emerged between 2022 …

Academic Resilience And Wellness As Predictors Of Imposter Syndrome In First-Generation Graduate Students, Timothy Eng

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study is a two-part manuscript dissertation that examined the relationships between academic resilience (perseverance, negative affect and emotional response, reflecting and adaptive help-seeking), wellness (spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, physical, and psychological wellness), and imposter syndrome among first-generation graduate counseling students (FGGCS). Survey data from 172 FGGCS’s was analyzed using bivariate correlational and regression analyses to answer four primary research questions: (1) Is there a statistically significant correlation between FGGCS’s level of imposter syndrome and academic resilience, (2) Is there a statistically significant correlation between FGGCS’s level of imposter syndrome and perceived wellness, (3) Are FGGCS’s level of academic resilience …