Digital Commons Network^™

Embedding Information Literacy Practices In An Upper Division Chemistry Lab Class At A University In The United States Of America, Christopher Randles, Matilynn Lamm, Katy A. Miller

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This poster discusses the implementation of information literacy into an upper division inorganic chemistry lab and the strategies employed to develop students’ information literacy in the laboratory course.

Anton Alaminos, Juan Ponce De Leon And A 1513-1514 European Discovery Of Mexico, Sam Turner

Florida Historical Quarterly

On October 12, 1519, during the early days of the Spanish conquest of what is today Mexico, an irate Diego Velazquez, Governor of Cuba, wrote to the young Charles V of Spain from the port of Santiago de Cuba. In his letter he complained that a vessel had arrived August 23rd of that year, secretly and illegally from Mexico, with a substantial cargo of gold and jewels. The vessel carried Captain Francisco de Montejo, who would one day be the Governor of Yucatan and Honduras, and Captain Alonso Hernandez Puerto Carrero. The vessel sailed under the expert guidance of the …

Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol 99, No. 1/2, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

No abstract provided.

"The Women Of Florida Are Wide Awake": The National Association Of Colored Women's Clubs In Florida, 1897-1930, Cynthia Patterson

Florida Historical Quarterly

The March-April 1915 issue of the National Association Notes--the publication of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC)--included a five-line update submitted from the Florida Association that proudly proclaimed, "The women of Florida are all wide awake." The note explained that the Daytona and Jacksonville clubs had been blessed recently by a visit from the national President of the NACW: Margaret Murray Washington, wife of Tuskegee Institute President, Booker T. Washington. Clearly, Washington's visit energized the Florida federated clubs. Although the NACW had been in existence since the merger in 1896 of two earlier groups-the Colored Women's League and …

Open Pedagogy Drop-In Session, Denise Lowe, Keven Corcoran

Open Ed Live

Join this session on Open Pedagogy and bring your questions! In this safe and informal space, facilitators are ready to receive your questions regarding open pedagogy benefits and practical implementation practices. This session does not include a formal presentation; instead, attendees will ask questions and facilitators will guide discussion on topics related to open pedagogy.

Is Opt-In The Future Of "Inclusive Access"?, Nicole Allen, Wendy Howard

Open Ed Live

"Inclusive Access" is a model that has been adopted by many institutions to provide students with course materials. Recent developments at the federal level have raised questions about the transparency and equity of these programs. This presentation will discuss the current state of Inclusive Access, including how regulatory changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Education may change the default model from "opt-out" to "opt-in." It will also share the University of Central Florida’s experience implementing a successful opt-in Inclusive Access program.

Solving Word Problems With Rads: Read, Ask Questions, Draw And Solve, Tolulope Sulaimon, Sheila Alber-Morgan, Moira Konrad

Constellations: Online STEM Teacher Education Journal

Addressing the inherent complexity of word problem solving (WPS) in mathematics education requires a multifaceted approach. While recent research has predominantly emphasized problem representation, the often-overlooked process of problem comprehension is equally crucial. One promising strategy is the integration of self-questioning from a schema perspective, which empowers students to activate their prior knowledge, enhance comprehension, and construct meaningful problem representations. Additionally, the RADS (Read, Ask Questions, Draw, and Solve) framework provides a structured and systematic approach to WPS, combining schema-based instruction and self-questioning to equip students with a comprehensive problem-solving toolkit. By integrating self-questioning into RADS, educators can guide students …

Melding Mindsets: Isolated Content, Same Destination, Hidden Opportunity, Kenneth Holman M.Ed., Shalece Kohnke Ph.D.

Constellations: Online STEM Teacher Education Journal

The authors emphasize the underutilized opportunities that exist in overlapping and integrating these two disciplines, advocating for a cross-curricular approach to enhance student learning and understanding. The paper highlights the connections between mathematics and science standards, particularly focusing on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Process Standards and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Science and Engineering Practices. These standards not only demonstrate the interconnection between the two subjects but also highlight their importance in shaping informed citizens.

Building Connections: The Power Of Embedding Literacy And Math Content Into Science And Social Studies Contexts, Rachel Hallett-Njuguna Edd

Constellations: Online STEM Teacher Education Journal

Nationally, the lack of improvement in literacy scores continues to baffle experts. Instructional leaders from math, science, and social studies in one district knew the value of leveraging their subject areas to support literacy achievement in secondary students. Starting with an engaging STEM-related novel, the group of curriculum experts developed meaningful literacy connected tasks for their teacher and teacher leader participants. Working through the activities as their students would, the group found a new appreciation for the importance of leveraging the relevance of science and social studies content and the usefulness of math content when creating literacy lessons. The group’s …

Issue 1 Editorial, Lisa Dieker Phd

Constellations: Online STEM Teacher Education Journal

No abstract provided.

Xgboost Hyperberd Model Using Steam Platform, Yuh-Haur Chen

Data Science and Data Mining

This project investigates game pricing strategies in the Steam market using an XGBoost model, drawing motivation from Professor Xie's lecture, and presenting findings through a density plot that delineates two primary pricing strategies. A free-to-play approach, indicated by a significant hot spot, is adopted by developers focusing on post-purchase revenues through DLC, aesthetic purchases, and in-game transactions. This sailing strategy includes community-centric developers aiming to distribute their games for player engagement rather than profit.

The project illustrates the effectiveness of advanced modeling techniques in handling complex datasets, with significant predictive accuracy reflected by a reduced MSE from 0.3472 to 0.1397. …

A Limit Order Book Model For High Frequency Trading With Rough Volatility, Yun S. Chen-Shue

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

We introduce a financial model for limit order book with two main features: First, the limit orders and market orders for the given asset both appear and interact with each other. Second, the high frequency trading (HFT, for short) activities are allowed and described by the scaling limit of nearly-unstable multi-dimensional Hawkes processes with power law decay. The model eventually becomes a stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE, for short) with the diffusion coefficient determined by a Volterra integral equation governed by a Hawkes process, whose Hurst exponent is less than 1/2, which makes the volatility path of the stochastic PDE …

Github Uncovered: Revealing The Social Fabric Of Software Development Communities, Abduljaleel Al Rubaye

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The proliferation of open-source software development platforms has given rise to various online social communities where developers can seamlessly collaborate, showcase their projects, and exchange knowledge and ideas. GitHub stands out as a preeminent platform within this ecosystem. It offers developers a space to host and disseminate their code, participate in collaborative ventures, and engage in meaningful dialogues with fellow community members. This dissertation embarks on a comprehensive exploration of various facets of software development communities on GitHub, with a specific focus on innovation diffusion, repository popularity dynamics, code quality enhancement, and user commenting behaviors. This dissertation introduces a popularity-based …

Data-Centric Ai: Taming Ai-Ready Feature Space From Decision-Making To Generative-Ai Perspectives, Dongjie Wang

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Unlike humans, AI systems are brittle and not robust. They often struggle when faced with novel situations, and are highly sensitive to small perturbations, which can lead to catastrophically poor performance. These systems comprise two main components: the model and the data. In recent decades, research has primarily focused on models, emphasizing advanced structures or algorithms to enhance AI performance. However, the data-centric aspect consumes most of the time and resources of human experts and greatly influences AI systems. Furthermore, the gains from the model-centric part are reaching a plateau. Thus, I shifted my research focus toward data-centric AI in …

A Comprehensive And Comparative Examination Of Healthcare Data Breaches: Assessing Security, Privacy, And Performance, Mohammed Al Kinoon

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The healthcare sector is pivotal, offering life-saving services and enhancing well-being and community life quality, especially with the transition from paper-based to digital electronic health records (EHR). While improving efficiency and patient safety, this digital shift has also made healthcare a prime target for cybercriminals. The sector's sensitive data, including personal identification information, treatment records, and SSNs, are valuable for illegal financial gains. The resultant data breaches, increased by interconnected systems, cyber threats, and insider vulnerabilities, present ongoing and complex challenges. In this dissertation, we tackle a multi-faceted examination of these challenges. We conducted a detailed analysis of healthcare data …

Doubly Rotating Coordinates: Wave Functions In Magnetic Resonance Problems, Sunghyun Kim

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The nuclear spin response to a rotating field H has been theoretically investigated from the 1930s to the 1950s. Building upon Majorana's probability theory, the behavior of spin 1/2 is well-illustrated in the joint review by Rabi, Ramsey, andSchwinger, and their spin wave function ψ is succinctly restated by Gottfried: ψ(t) = e^-iI_zωt/ℏe^{-i[I_z(ω₀-ω)+I_xω₁]t/ℏ}ψ(0).

However, the complexity involved in evaluating the wave function ψ in terms of probability amplitudes C_m attributed to the noncommutative nature of spin operators [I_x, I …

An Exploration Of Administrative Implementation Of Academically Challenging Curriculum To Enhance Learning (Accel- Fl Statute 1002.3105) In Florida Elementary Schools, Patricia L. Cummings

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study investigated the content of 14 Florida district's Student Progression Plans and supportive district documentation to gain a better understanding of each district's implementation of Florida statute 1002.3105, ACCEL; explored the knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of principals of K-5 schools in two large counties in Florida in enacting ACCEL; and utilized the study's findings to create a guide for administrators. The first phase of the study analyzed the 14 largest Florida public school districts utilizing a content analysis and checklists on best practice in acceleration policy from Lupkowski-Shoplik et al. (2018) to examine each district's implementation. The second phase …

A Stress Perspective Of Leader-Follower Relationship Ambivalence, Ghada Baz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Ambivalence is the experience of both positive and negative evaluations regarding an object such as a person or an event. Although interest in leadership ambivalence has been growing among researchers, there is still little understanding of what distinguishes it from poor leadership. The goal of this dissertation was to contribute to the leadership ambivalence literature by examining ambivalence in the leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship through the lens of occupational stress. Specifically, I used the job demands-resources model as a theoretical foundation and presented leadership ambivalence as a unique job demand that is associated with emotional exhaustion as a symptom of …

The Crash Consistency, Performance, And Security Of Persistent Memory Objects, Derrick Alex Greenspan

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Persistent memory (PM) is expected to augment or replace DRAM as main memory. PM combines byte-addressability with non-volatility, providing an opportunity to host byte-addressable data persistently. There are two main approaches for utilizing PM: either as memory mapped files or as persistent memory objects (PMOs). Memory mapped files require that programmers reconcile two different semantics (file system and virtual memory) for the same underlying data, and require the programmer use complicated transaction semantics to keep data crash consistent.

To solve this problem, the first part of this dissertation designs, implements, and evaluates a new PMO abstraction that addresses …

The Use Of Graphic Organizers On The Reading Comprehension Of High School Students, Beckylee Ramos Lorenzo

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study seeks to identify correlation in the use of graphic organizers in reading comprehension of twelfth grade English language arts students. Specifically, this study seeks to determine if the use of graphic organizers in the teaching of reading has impacts on the reading comprehension of 12th grade English language arts students. The study intends to contribute to closing an information gap surrounding the effects of using instructional strategies such as graphic organizers in reading comprehension in a twelfth-grade English class. The research questions helped to guide this study in identifying descriptive statistics within PSAT reading comprehension scores during the …

A Narrative Inquiry On Lived Experiences That Support Recruitment And Retention Of Black Male Mathematics Teachers, Shane Wiggan

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

There is a shortage of Black male teachers in the United States and an even smaller proportion of Black male mathematics teachers. With the population of students in the United States becoming increasingly more diverse, we would greatly benefit from a teaching workforce that aligns with the rich diversity of the student population they serve. This narrative inquiry explored the lived experiences that attracted Black men to the mathematics teaching career and what may have inspired them to continue teaching. The goal was for the data collected through the narratives of four Black male teachers, two former teachers, and two …

Exploring Mathematics Teachers’ Understanding And Implementation Of Effective Questioning As A Pedagogical Tool, Joslyn M. Vilabrera

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This dissertation explores elementary mathematics teachers' understanding and implementation of effective questioning techniques within the instructional context. A qualitative, multiple case study design was employed for this dissertation in practice. This study was conducted in a K-5 school in Florida, focusing on four elementary school teachers in grades 3-5. Data collected included semi-structured interviews and live observations. Analysis of transcripts from interviews and observational notes provided an insider look into teachers’ planning and implementation of questioning.

The research was driven by two research questions: How do teachers implement questioning in mathematics instruction? and What factors influence teachers' planning and implementation …

A Content Analysis Of The Mathematics Curriculum Progression For Students Taking Algebra I And Geometry Honors Before High School, Yeidi Diaz Reyes

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

ABSTRACT

This qualitative content analysis study examined different middle school mathematics pathways from a large urban district in Florida to determine possible gaps in the accelerated pathways and differences between the district’s learning targets and Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards. Additionally, the accelerated pathways were compared to the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB) 12 Indicators to identify possible missing content necessary to succeed in Algebra I Honors and Geometry Honors. The study aimed to answer three research questions: (1) In what ways do Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards included in the non-accelerated and accelerated pathways for middle school mathematics …

The Role Of Mathematics Anxiety On The Cognition And Metacognition Of Middle School Algebra 1 Students During Cognitively Demanding Tasks, Julia Keith

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This dissertation examines how mathematics anxiety influences the cognitive and metacognitive processes of middle school Algebra 1 students during cognitively demanding tasks. Individuals who experience mathematics anxiety may feel lifelong consequences and avoid mathematics courses at the secondary and college levels, which limits access to careers in STEM fields. Research suggests that a variety of factors may impact an individual’s mathematics anxiety. With an increase in the number of students enrolled in Algebra 1 at the middle school level, this explanatory sequential mixed-method study examines how mathematics anxiety influences students’ cognitive and metacognitive processes as they complete cognitively demanding Algebra …

An Ethnographic Study On How Mandated Curriculum Influences Mathematics Instruction At A State-Supervised School, Laura T. Pimentel

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This ethnographic study focused on understanding the culture and describing the experiences of elementary mathematics teachers as they used a mandated curriculum and scope and sequence at a state-supervised school. The scope and sequence was created and provided by the school district with the expectation of implementation with high fidelity by the Bureau of School Improvement within the state of Florida. This study used key informant interviews, Professional Learning Community observations, and classroom observations of mathematics teachers in grades three through five to analyze and describe how the school culture of planning and instruction influenced mathematics teaching. Findings suggest that …

A Case Study On The Impact Of Intermediate Elementary Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge And Expectancy Beliefs Of Students On Scaffolding Practices In Mathematics Intervention, Deborah Blakeslee

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study investigated the impact expectancy beliefs had on third through fifth-grade teachers’ instructional teaching practices. These instructional teaching practices included how teachers used their pedagogical content knowledge, specifically their content knowledge for teaching mathematics and formative assessment, to make scaffolding decisions while supporting students in mathematics intervention. The investigation included the analysis of stratified sampling procedures, expectancy beliefs, observations, and self-reported scaffolding ratings. A multiple case study was conducted to understand how four participants, the teachers in the study, expected students to perform in mathematics intervention along with the participants’ pedagogical content knowledge and the impact those beliefs and …

Comprehensive Analysis Of The Intersection Between Cryptocurrency And Infrastructure Security, Ayodeji Adeniran

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Cryptocurrencies are experiencing a significant surge, with the total valuation surpassing two trillion US dollars at specific points. This remarkable growth is underscored by the existence of over 23,000 different cryptocurrencies as of 2024, according to CoinMarketCap. These digital assets aim to break down borders and enhance access to financial services, fostering a more inclusive global economy.

However, the swift ascent and widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies come with considerable risks. The growing popularity and promise of these digital assets have opened up new avenues for malicious actors. Cybercriminals are exploiting public infrastructures, the cloud, the metaverse, and various websites to …

A Scaffolded Corequisite Curriculum For College Algebra Students: Effects On Achievement And Motivation, Patrick R. Sandefur

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study chronicles the implementation of a scaffolded corequisite College Algebra curriculum at a Southeast community college and the corresponding effects on student motivation and achievement. The scaffolded curriculum incorporates academic-related skills, academic support, and student motivation to promote success in the gateway college math course. The corequisite model allows students to bypass a prerequisite course and enroll directly in the college-level coursework, with remedial content from the prerequisite course delivered concurrently through supplemental learning sessions or labs. In fall 2023, data were collected from five College Algebra courses, including student demographic data, from two evaluative instruments administered at the …

Design And Perception Of Diverse Virtual Avatars In Immersive Environments, Tiffany D. Do

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Virtual humans and avatars have become integral components of immersive technologies, shaping various aspects of virtual worlds. This dissertation investigates the nuanced interactions between user demographics and virtual avatars, exploring their impact on perception, embodiment, and persuasive communication. The first study investigates the effectiveness of different speech fidelity levels in virtual humans, revealing gender-dependent perceptions of trustworthiness. Building on this, this dissertation introduces the \textit{Virtual Avatar Library for Inclusion and Diversity} (\textit{VALID}), offering a comprehensive resource for advancing racial diversity and inclusion in virtual environments. Through rigorous validation studies, we shed light on the perception of avatar characteristics worldwide, emphasizing …

An Analysis Of Factor Affecting Graduation Rates In A Large Suburban Florida School District During The Pandemic, Brittany Campbell

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The purpose of this study was to analyze factors affecting graduation rates during the pandemic for a large suburban Florida school district. The study analyzed if there were statistically significant effects of certain factors, such as Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS), Multi-Tiered Support Systems (MTSS) in mathematics, out-of-school suspensions, and attendance in the summer transition program on graduation during the pandemic for the school years of 2019-2021. The results of the study showed different means across all analyses, resulting in impacts for some factors, including MTSS Tiering, PBIS Tiering, Summer Transition Program for on-time graduation, and Out-of-School Suspensions (OSS) for …