Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Central Florida

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 1381 - 1410 of 7696

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Viral Stories In Spanish And English: A Qualitative Analysis Of Narrative Perceptions Regarding Infant Immunizations Across Major Ethno-Linguistic Communities, Zeynep H. Elshaer Jan 2020

Viral Stories In Spanish And English: A Qualitative Analysis Of Narrative Perceptions Regarding Infant Immunizations Across Major Ethno-Linguistic Communities, Zeynep H. Elshaer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to analyze the varying perceptions among Hispanic (Spanish-speaking) and Anglophone communities regarding vaccines and more specifically infant immunization practices, in order to identify common or diverging patterns of communication, information dissemination, and narrative discourse. Currently, medical messaging and health policy is largely formulated without thorough attention to the different ways diverse or minority ethno-linguistic communities may interpret the information, thereby leading to deficiencies in effective communication practices between individuals and healthcare providers or policymakers, and outright opposition between informal and formal public health messaging. This evaluation was conducted in order to broaden the current …


Co-Designing "Teenovate": An Intergenerational Online Safety Design Team, Arianna J. Davis Jan 2020

Co-Designing "Teenovate": An Intergenerational Online Safety Design Team, Arianna J. Davis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Socio-Technical Interaction Research (STIR) Lab at UCF intends to create a new participatory design program, called "Teenovate," where teenagers and adults work together to design technologies that keep teens safe online. Previous participatory design projects, however, commonly focus on younger children under the age of 13. Teens differ significantly from young children in how they develop, socialize, and perceive the world. To inform the design of Teenovate, so that their unique needs are appropriately met, we conducted a participatory design study with 21 teens using polls, open-ended response questions, and subsequent group discussions. The teens were intrigued by the …


An Analysis Of The Relationships Between State Mandates For Financial Education And Young Adults' Financial Literacy And Financial Capability, Elise Carlson Jan 2020

An Analysis Of The Relationships Between State Mandates For Financial Education And Young Adults' Financial Literacy And Financial Capability, Elise Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The study sought to understand the relationship between the type of state mandate for financial education and 18-24-year-olds' financial literacy and financial capability. Using extant data from national surveys about financial literacy and financial capability in 2015 and 2018, this study determined there was rarely a significant difference in young adults' financial literacy and financial capability as related to the level of financial education they received in high school. For 2015 literacy, the education mandate as a main effect within ethnicity was p = .025. Within certain demographic main effects, there were significant results. In 2015, ethnicity and educational attainment …


Equivariance And Invariance For Robust Unsupervised And Semi-Supervised Learning, Liheng Zhang Jan 2020

Equivariance And Invariance For Robust Unsupervised And Semi-Supervised Learning, Liheng Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Although there is a great success of applying deep learning on a wide variety of tasks, it heavily relies on a large amount of labeled training data, which could be hard to obtain in many real scenarios. To address this problem, unsupervised and semi-supervised learning emerge to take advantage of the plenty of cheap unlabeled data to improve the model generalization. In this dissertation, we claim that equivariant and invariance are two critical criteria to approach robust unsupervised and semi-supervised learning. The idea is as follows: the features of a robust model ought to be sufficiently informative and equivariant to …


The Relationship Between Student Self-Efficacy And Close Reading In A Ninth Grade Ela Classroom, Karishma Assudani Jan 2020

The Relationship Between Student Self-Efficacy And Close Reading In A Ninth Grade Ela Classroom, Karishma Assudani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This qualitative exploratory study aims to investigate the relationship between student self-efficacy and close reading strategies implemented in the researcher's classroom. The purpose of this qualitative study is to determine whether close reading strategies are informing 9th self-grader's efficacy in a 9th grade ELA (English Language Arts) classroom, and to determine the relationship between close reading and student self-efficacy in a classroom with CRM's (curriculum resource materials). Students' self-efficacy levels were determined on Robert Stavin's exploratory research; an altered exploratory survey was provided to determine results. This thesis explores the following research questions (RQ): (RQ1) How do students' responses of …


Passive Scene Reconstruction In Non-Line-Of-Sight Scenarios, Andre Beckus Jan 2020

Passive Scene Reconstruction In Non-Line-Of-Sight Scenarios, Andre Beckus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Locating and identifying hidden objects can prove critical in applications ranging from military reconnaissance to emergency rescue. Although non-line-of-sight (NLOS) reconstruction and imaging have received much attention recently, state-of-the-art methods often use coherent sources (lasers) or require control of the scene. This dissertation focuses on passive NLOS scene reconstruction using the light reflected off a diffusive wall. No control over the light illuminating the scene is assumed, and the method is compatible with the partially coherent fields ubiquitous in both indoor and outdoor environments. In order to counteract the detrimental effects of the wall, rather than measuring the 2-dimensional intensity …


Reconsidering Student Attitudes Towards School Achievement: A Mixed Method Approach To Explore Gifted Middle School Underachievers' Attitudes About School, Allison Berner Jan 2020

Reconsidering Student Attitudes Towards School Achievement: A Mixed Method Approach To Explore Gifted Middle School Underachievers' Attitudes About School, Allison Berner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study aimed to examine the attitudes and lived experiences of individuals identified as 'gifted underachievers'. A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate the concept 'gifted underachievement' using a survey regarding student attitudes towards school and individual interviews. This study used a sequential explanatory design: the first phase compared gifted achievers and gifted underachievers to determine school-related attitude differences; the second phase used a transcendental phenomenological design to describe the lived experiences of those identified as gifted underachievers. A mixed methods approach allowed for the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative research methods to be utilized with evidence from survey …


Stochastic Sampling And Machine Learning Techniques For Social Media State Production, Neda Hajiakhoond Bidoki Jan 2020

Stochastic Sampling And Machine Learning Techniques For Social Media State Production, Neda Hajiakhoond Bidoki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The rise in the importance of social media platforms as communication tools has been both a blessing and a curse. For scientists, they offer an unparalleled opportunity to study human social networks. However, these platforms have also been used to propagate misinformation and hate speech with alarming velocity and frequency. The overarching aim of our research is to leverage the data from social media platforms to create and evaluate a high-fidelity, at-scale computational simulation of online social behavior which can provide a deep quantitative understanding of adversaries' use of the global information environment. Our hope is that this type of …


Shared Responsibility Of Highly Effective Co-Teachers In Middle School Mathematics Classrooms, Ann Hembrook Jan 2020

Shared Responsibility Of Highly Effective Co-Teachers In Middle School Mathematics Classrooms, Ann Hembrook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Currently, most students with disabilities (SWDs) receive a majority of their education in the general education classroom (U.S. Department of Education, 2019). This inclusive practice reflects educational and accountability requirements described in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015). To address these requirements, schools seek service delivery models that support SWDs and close achievement gaps (Murawski & Goodwin, 2014). In this study, the researcher investigated the lived experiences of highly effective middle school teachers using co-teaching as a service delivery model to support SWDs in the general education classroom. The researcher used …


Disability- And Mathematics-Related Outcomes Of Adolescents Born Late-Preterm: An Examination Of Eighth-Grade Ecls-K Participants, Annette Romualdo Jan 2020

Disability- And Mathematics-Related Outcomes Of Adolescents Born Late-Preterm: An Examination Of Eighth-Grade Ecls-K Participants, Annette Romualdo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

To capture a snapshot of the late-preterm academic phenotype in adolescence, and to address a research gap in empirical investigation, the researcher in the present study compared disability- and mathematics-related eighth-grade age outcomes of those born late-preterm (n = 330), to full-term (n = 5434) peers. Through an analysis of Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) the researcher in the present study examined the impact of late-preterm birth on disability-related school outcomes in adolescent-age, as measured by (1) presence of special education services; (2) presence of learning disability or other disability; (3) and presence of increased behavioral …


Structural Equation Modeling (Sem) Analyses Of Perceived Contextual Factors With Departmental Climate For Teaching Quality Improvement In Stem, Eman Saqr Jan 2020

Structural Equation Modeling (Sem) Analyses Of Perceived Contextual Factors With Departmental Climate For Teaching Quality Improvement In Stem, Eman Saqr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study explored the correlation between perceived contextual factors (leadership, collegiality, resources, professional development, autonomy, and respect) and departmental climate for teaching quality improvement in STEM settings across institutional types and faculty's institutional roles. Institutional types include associate's colleges, doctoral-granting universities, master's colleges and universities, and baccalaureate colleges. Faculty's institutional roles included full professor, associate professor, assistant professor, lecturer, and instructor. Gappa et al.'s (2007) framework regarding faculty work was used to explain the explored correlation. Two hundred and seventy-eight faculty members in STEM settings across institutional types participated in the web survey. A partial least squares structural equation modeling …


The Influence Of Ideas, Experiences, And Perceptions On Civics Teachers' Pedagogical Approaches: A Phenomenological Study, Allison Sheridan Jan 2020

The Influence Of Ideas, Experiences, And Perceptions On Civics Teachers' Pedagogical Approaches: A Phenomenological Study, Allison Sheridan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In order for democracies to survive, citizens need to be knowledgeable, active members of society. Schools in the United States, more importantly teachers, are often tasked with the responsibility to pass on the knowledge and skills to future generations. The purpose of this research study was to examine and describe how civics teachers' personal experiences, perceptions and ideas influence their pedagogical approaches. While past research has examined the attitudes and dispositions of students, as well as self-report measures of what teachers indicate they are doing in their classroom, no studies have actually observed civics teachers' pedagogical approaches. Five participants were …


An Analysis Of One Medical School's Student Mentoring Practices, Soraya Smith Jan 2020

An Analysis Of One Medical School's Student Mentoring Practices, Soraya Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Mentoring for medical students has been shown to be beneficial for mentees and mentors, aiding in career development, improved academics, and personal benefits like reducing burnout. The provision of mentoring is also an accreditation standard for all allopathic medical schools in the United States. This study examined a mentoring program in one urban medical school during the 2019-2020 academic year. The purpose of this study was to determine participant perceptions of their mentoring experiences and alignment with the qualities of the career and academic advising and mentoring standards identified by the literature, looking specifically at programmatic structure, oversight, integration into …


Evaluation Of Convective Heat Transfer Numerical Methods On Rough Surfaces From Additive Manufacturing, Jose Urcia Jan 2020

Evaluation Of Convective Heat Transfer Numerical Methods On Rough Surfaces From Additive Manufacturing, Jose Urcia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The high versatility of additive manufacturing has led to an increase in use in a number of different fields. Surface roughness then comes as a natural consequence of additive manufacturing which interferes with a smooth wall assumption such as those found in gas turbine blades. The Discrete Element Roughness Method (DERM) has been used to improve convective heat transfer predictions on surface roughness. This work aims to validate the core momentum and heat transfer correlation of DERM through an evaluation of Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based solution of the flow around individual roughness elements with the goal of improving the correlations. …


Modeling Site Specific Urban Propagation Using A Variable Terrain Radiowave Parabolic Equation - Vertical Plane Launch (Vtrpe-Vpl) Hybrid Technique, Pierre Cadette Jan 2020

Modeling Site Specific Urban Propagation Using A Variable Terrain Radiowave Parabolic Equation - Vertical Plane Launch (Vtrpe-Vpl) Hybrid Technique, Pierre Cadette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The development of efficient algorithms for calculating propagation loss in site specific urban environments has been an active area of research for many years. This dissertation demonstrates that, for particular scenarios, a hybrid approach that combines the Variable Terrain Radiowave Parabolic Equation (VTRPE) and Vertical Plane Launch (VPL) models can be used to produce accurate results for a downrange region of interest. The hybrid approach consists of leveraging the 2-D parabolic equation method in the initial propagation region, where backscatter and out of plane energy can be neglected, then transitioning to the more computationally intensive 3-D ray launching method for …


Examining Graduate Student Perspectives And Use Of Web Resources And Tools For Academic Support, Kelly Grieneisen Tillotson Jan 2020

Examining Graduate Student Perspectives And Use Of Web Resources And Tools For Academic Support, Kelly Grieneisen Tillotson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This mixed methods study was conducted to examine University of Central Florida (UCF) graduate student use and perceptions of usefulness of Web resources and tools that may support academic work, research, and academic goals. The frameworks of Connectivism and Personal Learning Networks (PLN) were used as a foundation to support the importance of Web resources and tools in relation to student learning, academic support, and progression. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected from active UCF graduate students using an electronic survey, with 998 participants completing the survey. Data analysis was conducted using an ANOVA one-way test to compare program mode …


Econometric Frameworks For Multivariate Models: Application To Crash Frequency Analysis, Tanmoy Bhowmik Jan 2020

Econometric Frameworks For Multivariate Models: Application To Crash Frequency Analysis, Tanmoy Bhowmik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Econometric crash frequency models are a major analytical tool employed for examining the critical factors influencing crash occurrence. However, there are several methodological challenges associated with existing models suggesting a continual need to develop advanced econometric framework to address these gaps. The current dissertation contributes towards addressing the methodological challenges in crash frequency analysis for analyzing multiple crash frequency variables for the same study unit by proposing advanced econometric approaches. The first part of the dissertation contributes to safety literature by conducting a comparison exercise between the two major streams of multivariate approaches - (1) simulation-based approach and (2) analytical …


High Performance And Secure Execution Environments For Emerging Architectures, Mazen Alwadi Jan 2020

High Performance And Secure Execution Environments For Emerging Architectures, Mazen Alwadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Energy-efficiency and performance have been the driving forces of system architectures and designers in the last century. Given the diversity of workloads and the significant performance and power improvements when running workloads on customized processing elements, system vendors are drifting towards new system architectures (e.g., FAM or HMM). Such architectures are being developed with the purpose of improving the system's performance, allow easier data sharing, and reduce the overall power consumption. Additionally, current computing systems suffer from a very wide attack surface, mainly due to the fact that such systems comprise of tens to hundreds of sub-systems that could be …


A Solid-Solution Approach To Multivariate Metal-Organic Frameworks And Their Interactions With Light, Wesley Newsome Jan 2020

A Solid-Solution Approach To Multivariate Metal-Organic Frameworks And Their Interactions With Light, Wesley Newsome

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis studies the application of a substitutional solid solution (SSS) approach to multivariate metal organic frameworks (MTV MOFs) with a focus on preparing functional organic-inorganic materials. MOFs are a class of crystalline coordination polymers that form 3-dimensional structures with pores. The empty space in the unit cell of these materials allows for the incorporation of functionalized links and leads to a sub-class known as MTV MOFs, where multiple links of varied functionality are incorporated into the same material. MTV MOFs function similarly to the inorganic concept of SSS were a solute atom is dissolved inside a matrix, allowing for …


Endpoints And Interdependencies In Internet Of Things Residual Artifacts: Measurements, Analyses, And Insights Into Defenses, Jinchun Choi Jan 2020

Endpoints And Interdependencies In Internet Of Things Residual Artifacts: Measurements, Analyses, And Insights Into Defenses, Jinchun Choi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The usage of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is growing fast. Moreover, the lack of security measures among the IoT devices and their persistent online connection give adversaries an opportunity to exploit them for multiple types of attacks, such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS). To understand the risks of IoT devices, we analyze IoT malware from an endpoint standpoint. We investigate the relationship between endpoints infected and attacked by IoT malware, and gain insights into the underlying dynamics in the malware ecosystem. We observe the affinities and different patterns among endpoints. Towards this, we reverse-engineer 2,423 IoT malware samples and extract …


Improving Security Of Crypto Wallets In Blockchain Technologies, Hossein Rezaeighaleh Jan 2020

Improving Security Of Crypto Wallets In Blockchain Technologies, Hossein Rezaeighaleh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A big challenge in blockchain and cryptocurrency is securing the private key from potential hackers. Nobody can rollback a transaction made with a stolen key once the network confirms it. The technical solution to protect private keys is the cryptocurrency wallet, software, hardware, or a combination to manage the keys. In this dissertation, we try to investigate the significant challenges in existing cryptocurrency wallets and propose innovative solutions. Firstly, almost all cryptocurrency wallets suffer from the lack of a secure and convenient backup and recovery process. We offer a new cryptographic scheme to securely back up a hardware wallet relying …


Subsurface Characterization Of Internally Eroded Soils In Karst Using The Cone Penetration Test, Ryan Shamet Jan 2020

Subsurface Characterization Of Internally Eroded Soils In Karst Using The Cone Penetration Test, Ryan Shamet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Sinkholes are a major geohazard with life-threatening consequences when not properly detected and mitigated. Geologic conditions comprised of soluble bedrock (e.g., limestone or other carbonate-based lithologies) overlain by fine-grained sandy and clayey soils, are known internationally as "karst topography" and is generally characterized by such sinkholes, caves, sinking streams, and highly variable groundwater flow conditions. Karst sinkholes, however, are complex geohazards and are difficult to precisely characterize through geotechnical considerations alone. Deterministic methods (e.g., analytical and numerical solutions) may provide for a more robust analysis of internal soil erosion (known as soil raveling) but have limitations for the practical use …


Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning For Defensive Escort Teams, Hassam Sheikh Jan 2020

Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning For Defensive Escort Teams, Hassam Sheikh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Reinforcement learning has been applied to solve several real world challenging problems, from robotics to data center cooling. Similarly, adaption of reinforcement learning for multi-agent systems facilitated applications such as optimal multi-robot control and analysis of social-dilemmas. In this dissertation, we show that multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithms suffer from several stability issues such as multi-scenario learning, unstable training in dual-reward setting, overestimation bias and value function collapse, and provide solutions to each of these problems respectively. Several contributions of this dissertation have been formalized within the framework of a defensive escort team problems, a scenario where a team of learning …


Playing Disability, Daniel Romano Jan 2020

Playing Disability, Daniel Romano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Disability in performance has a long history, starting with fictional characters such as Shakespeare's Gloucester/Richard, progressing through the freak shows of the early twentieth century, and finally with artists such as Neil Marcus, Mat Fraser and Deaf West Theatre in the past twenty years. Looking to the work of disabled artists, activists, and theorists such as Petra Kuppers and Carrie Sandahl, I will examine the history of both disability in performance and the performance of disability. I will discuss my performance of Garret, a man with muscular dystrophy, in my original play, The Sick Parents Club. Through analysis of what …


Quantum Biology? From Dna Point Mutations To Fibril Formation In Alzheimer Disease, Eduardo Romero Camacho Jan 2020

Quantum Biology? From Dna Point Mutations To Fibril Formation In Alzheimer Disease, Eduardo Romero Camacho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In the '60s, Löwdin explored the realm of Quantum Biology. Löwdin defined Quantum Biology as the use of quantum mechanics to study the activity and molecular properties of biologically active molecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins. This dissertation aims to describe molecules of biological interest such as DNA base pairs and amyloid-beta peptides and treat them using a quantum mechanical approach. We used electronic structure methods to achieve the quantum biological nature of these molecules under our computational power, tools, and techniques. In chapter 2, we present the quantum mechanical description of the spontaneous mutations in DNA base pairs …


Fluorescence Microscopy With Tailored Illumination Light, Jialei Tang Jan 2020

Fluorescence Microscopy With Tailored Illumination Light, Jialei Tang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Fluorescence microscopy has long been a valuable tool for biological and medical imaging. Control of optical parameters such as the amplitude, phase, polarization and propagation angle of light gives fluorescence imaging great capabilities ranging from single molecule imaging to long-term observation of living organisms. While numerous fluorescence imaging techniques have been developed over the past decades, there is always an inevitable tradeoff among the spatial resolution, imaging speed, contrast, photodamage and the total cost when it comes to choose the appropriate microscope. A main goal of my dissertation research is to develop state-of-the-art microscope systems that exhibit unprecedented performance in …


Transplant Center Criteria And Inequalities Within Transplant Wait Listing Process, Melanie Bergeron Jan 2020

Transplant Center Criteria And Inequalities Within Transplant Wait Listing Process, Melanie Bergeron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

More than 650,000 people per year in the United States are affected by End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) (US Renal Data System, 2013). This diagnosis affects many areas of the patient's life and patients have limited options for treatment. Kidney transplantation for patients with ESRD continues to be noted as the most optimal treatment (Rubin & Weir, 2015; Maggiore, et al., 2014; Patzer, Platinga, Krisher, & Pastan, 2014). However, despite this information, utilization of transplantation remains inconsistent and variable in the population. There are many areas of disparities regarding the kidney transplant waitlist including wait times, gaining access to the …


Exploring Preservice Teachers' Affective Response To Disruptive Student Behavior In An Immersive Simulation Classroom, Eileen Glavey Jan 2020

Exploring Preservice Teachers' Affective Response To Disruptive Student Behavior In An Immersive Simulation Classroom, Eileen Glavey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This mixed methods study investigated changes in preservice teachers' affective response to disruptive student behavior within the TeachLivE, immersive simulation classroom. Preservice teachers completed two simulation teaching sessions, during which they were exposed to five different disruptive student behavior events in each. All teaching sessions were recorded and post-processed using iMotions Affectiva Affdex software to collect data on preservice teachers' emotion expression and valence during their teaching experiences. At the end of each teaching session, participants completed a self-report survey on their level of stress. Simulated teaching sessions were followed-up with video stimulated recall sessions where participants reflected on their …


High Performance Micro-Scale Light Emitting Diode Display, Fangwang Gou Jan 2020

High Performance Micro-Scale Light Emitting Diode Display, Fangwang Gou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Micro-scale light emitting diode (micro-LED) is a potentially disruptive display technology because of its outstanding features such as high dynamic range, good sunlight readability, long lifetime, low power consumption, and wide color gamut. To achieve full-color displays, three approaches are commonly used: 1) to assemble individual RGB micro-LED pixels from semiconductor wafers to the same driving backplane through pick-and-place approach, which is referred to as mass transfer process; 2) to utilize monochromatic blue micro-LED with a color conversion film to obtain a white source first, and then employ color filters to form RGB pixels, and 3) to use blue or …


Using Project-Based Learning As A Tool For Teaching Mathematics In Urban Elementary Schools, Bernadette Jaster Jan 2020

Using Project-Based Learning As A Tool For Teaching Mathematics In Urban Elementary Schools, Bernadette Jaster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the lived experiences and views of fourth- and fifth-grade math teachers who implemented project-based learning (PBL) addressed the needs of their at-risk students in urban schools. The researcher examined the use of PBL in mathematics-impacted instruction, seeking to understand teacher beliefs related to the influence of exposure to PBL experiences on students' academic outcomes. When deliberately planned and embedded into teaching, the implementation of PBL helps students retain content, improve attitudes about learning, and improve their ability to collaborate with others (Cervantes et al., 2015). A literature review was conducted to …