Digital Commons Network^™

Empowering Chinese Students To Regain The “Voice” Via Vygotsky’S Zpd Integrated With The Socratic Seminar, Zhengjie Li Dr.

Journal of English Learner Education

Many Chinese students studying in the United States (U.S.) today report that they do not have a “voice.” They feel marginalized because of a lack of communicative competence in English and their inability to understand Western cultures, especially during their first year in the U.S. (Ching et al.). Some Chinese students are unable to adapt to the academic environment in American high schools, which leads to feelings of exclusion. To smooth this transitional period, this study suggests that the scaffolding (see Bruner, 1978, 1985) from ESL teachers in both verbal and written forms be implemented before students are placed into …

Effectiveness Of English Learners Computer-Based Testing Accommodations: A Meta-Analysis, Tuba Gezer Dr., Claudia Flowers, Richard Lambert

Journal of English Learner Education

With the increased number of English learners (ELs) participating in large-scale state testing, there has been an increased focus on fairness in testing for these students. Test accommodations have shown promise in eliminating barriers and improving accessibility, and computer-based testing (CBT) allows individual customization of tests with built-in accessibility features. Most research on testing accommodations focuses on paper-based tests, but CBT is the most predominant mode of delivering large-scale state assessments. This study aims to synthesize research on the validity and effectiveness of CBT accommodations for EL students. Meta-analysis methodology was used to summarize the findings from previous CBT studies. …

Linear Regression With Regularization On The Genetic Architecture Of Maize Flowering Time, Roland Fiagbe

Data Science and Data Mining

Over a century, the maize crop has been one of the most important crop species that is targeted for genetic investigations and experiments. One of the major experiments that have been a topic of interest is crossing inbred lines to produce better offspring through a process called heterosis. Crossing the inbred lines create numerous SNP markers that determine the time to male flowering. This project seeks to explore the SNP markers to select the most relevant ones for predicting time to male flowering using linear regression with regularization methods due to the fact that p > n in our dataset. Various …

A Recommender System For Movie Ratings With Matrix Factorization Algorithm, Amir Alipour Yengejeh

Data Science and Data Mining

Nowadays, a Recommender System is a technology
that aims to predict preferences based on the user’s selections.
These systems are applied in numerous fields, such as movies,
music, news, books, research articles, search queries, social tags,
and various products. In this study, we use this potential tool to
predict the ratings of users’ preferences in MovieLens datasets. To
do so, we applied the matrix factorization algorithm and calculate
the RMSE as our evaluation metric. The results represent that
RMSE estimated for the train and test set are 0.83 and 0.93 that
are very close one another. This results indicates that …

Genome-Wide Association Study Of The Maize Crop By The Lasso Regression Analysis, Amir Alipour Yengejeh

Data Science and Data Mining

The accurate estimation of the male flowering period in Maize crops is key for the prediction crop fertility. The recent scientific investigations has shown that the genetic single nucleotic polymorphism (SNP) can contribute in this regard. The genomewide association study (GWAS) is employed to generate these attributes (SNP). But it caused a high-dimensional data in which 4,981 observations with 7,389 SNP attributes. Hence, in this study, we used the penalized regression approach with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) to reduce the dataset. In this regard, we set the regularization parameter to 0.21. It resulted in a set …

Analysis Of Credit Approval By Decision Tree, Amir Alipour Yengejeh

Data Science and Data Mining

Nowadays, machine learning algorithms are com-
monly used by the financial institutions or bankers to evaluate
the applications’ requires for credit card. In this study, we used
the decision tree algorithm to predict credit card approval based
on the other associated features applicants like age, employment
status, Education Level, etc. Our results shows that the applicants’
Prior Default and Debt, and Employed have more contribution
in the credit card approval.

Movie Recommender System Using Matrix Factorization, Roland Fiagbe

Data Science and Data Mining

Recommendation systems are a popular and beneficial field that can help people make informed decisions automatically. This technique assists users in selecting relevant information from an overwhelming amount of available data. When it comes to movie recommendations, two common methods are collaborative filtering, which compares similarities between users, and content-based filtering, which takes a user’s specific preferences into account. However, our study focuses on the collaborative filtering approach, specifically matrix factorization. Various similarity metrics are used to identify user similarities for recommendation purposes. Our project aims to predict movie ratings for unwatched movies using the MovieLens rating dataset. We developed …

Data Set: Themes In Health Sciences Librarianship Literature, 2016-2020: A Keyword And Subject Analysis, Shalu Gillum, Terri Gotschall, Pamela Herring, Deedra Walton, Natasha Williams, Nadine Dexter

Research Data and Datasets

Data set for Themes in Health Sciences Librarianship Literature, 2016-2020: A Keyword and Subject Analysis.

Twisted Tongues: Finnegans Wake In Translation, José Vergara

James Joyce Literary Supplement

No abstract provided.

Political Pressures And Modernist Musicology, Zan Cammack

James Joyce Literary Supplement

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Particle Bed Stratigraphy As A Function Of Particle Size In An Airless, Microgravity Environment, Gillian Gomer, Michael Fraser, Anthony Meola, Raquel Guzman

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Asteroids and other small planetary bodies are covered in a loose, dynamic layer of multi-sized dusty particles. We are focused on developing methods to further understand this surface regolith behavior to inform future landing missions on these small bodies for resource collection. The Strata-1 experiment was designed to study granular behavior in a passive, microgravity, airless environment. These conditions, simulating that of an asteroid’s surface, were attained by installing Strata-1 aboard the International Space Station for 347 days. In this experiment, we took images of red, green, and blue multi-sized glass shards within a tube to better understand their stratigraphy. …

Saving Faculty Time, Saving Students Money, Lily Dubach, James Paradiso

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This presentation was for Teaching & Learning Day, hosted by the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning at the University of Central Florida. The session shared how the UCF Libraries and Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) can help faculty connect to free (open or library-sourced) resources and tools to find, adapt, or author course materials and reduce student out-of-pocket cost to zero ($0). Session activities included constructing queries to find quality, relevant free/open materials and using AI technology to automate the course assessment creation process.

Complete Issue, Volume 39, Issue 1

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete issue for Volume 39, Issue 1 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Coping Mechanisms In Graduate School: A Discipline Comparison, Sandra P. Montenegro

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The current study aimed to provide an overview of graduate students’ stress and coping mechanisms. Per self-reported questionnaires, participants (N=95) rated their experiences with academic-related stressors, common coping mechanisms, and strain outcomes (somatic symptoms, insomnia, and burnout). This study found that task-related stressors were the most prevalent for graduate schoolwork. More specifically, graduate students in STEM, Arts & Humanities, and Social Sciences rated the amount and difficulty of the tasks (quantitative and qualitative properties of tasks) as the highest stressors in graduate school. The preferred coping strategies across all fields were planning and emotional coping. Additionally, students in STEM reported …

How Hurricanes Impact Florida's Tourism Industry, Arthur Huang

Rosen Research Review

Almost every year, hurricanes bear down upon the state of Florida. The storms appear to be growing in occurrence and severity. While the media cover the damage and death toll, the impacts on the state's critical tourism sector remain largely anecdotal. The full story lies buried in data. Dr. Arthur Huang from UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management has investigated different data sets to understand the impact of hurricanes on the tourism industry. What has been uncovered has significance not only for Florida but for tourism sectors elsewhere affected by these giant storms.

Asymptotic Regularity Estimates For Diffusion Processes, David Hernandez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A fundamental result in the theory of elliptic PDEs shows that the hessian of solutions of uniformly elliptic PDEs belong to the Sobolev space ��^2,ε. New results show that for the right choice of c, the optimal hessain integrability exponent ε* is given by

ε* = ������ ����(1−������) / ����(1−��), �� ∈ (0,1)

Through the techniques of asymptotic analysis, the behavior and properties of this function are better understood to establish improved quantitative estimates for the optimal integrability exponent in the ��^2,ε-regularity theory.

Development Of A Screening Methodology For The Analysis Of Rhodamine B In Foodstuffs, George T. Knecht

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Synthetic dyes that are used as color additives in foodstuffs are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C). The use of synthetic dyes not approved by the FDA, or the addition of dyes approved by the FDA above their maximum concentration limits in foodstuffs necessarily constitutes illegal food adulteration. Recently, rhodamine B (RhB), a bright-pink synthetic dye not approved for use in foodstuffs, has become an adulterant of interest due to its discovery in a large variety of food samples, and its identity as a potential carcinogen. Numerous chromatographic and spectroscopic …

Variable Selection And Regression Analysis, Emil Agbemade

Data Science and Data Mining

One of the most valuable crop species, maize, has been the subject of genetic study and experimentation for more than a century. However, species that share similarities and differences across a wide spectrum have developed astonishing adaptations as a result of small changes throughout time. Because it is usual practice to determine the genotypes of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for thousands of patients, the data set we are dealing with has an issue with small n and large p. The result of this is that there are noticeably more predictor factors than responder variables. The original data …

Towards Explainable Ai Using Attribution Methods And Image Segmentation, Garrett J. Rocks

Honors Undergraduate Theses

With artificial intelligence (AI) becoming ubiquitous in a broad range of application domains, the opacity of deep learning models remains an obstacle to adaptation within safety-critical systems. Explainable AI (XAI) aims to build trust in AI systems by revealing important inner mechanisms of what has been treated as a black box by human users. This thesis specifically aims to improve the transparency and trustworthiness of deep learning algorithms by combining attribution methods with image segmentation methods. This thesis has the potential to improve the trust and acceptance of AI systems, leading to more responsible and ethical AI applications. An exploratory …

Learning Disabilities And The Impact Of Accommodation Programs In Post-Secondary Education, Jacqueline Persaud

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As enrollment rates for students with learning disabilities steadily increase, post-secondary institutions must become more inclusive. Current literature reveals a gap in studies between post-secondary education and student views on access programs. Our endeavor focused on this community. The survey was distributed using SONA and by the Student Accessibility Services Office via Qualtrics. Our study looked at 312 participants, aged from 18 - over 30 years old and who varied in sex. More satisfaction with accommodations equated to more academic competence towards goals. However, the results showed less satisfaction with personal lives and self-acceptance. This is possibly due to participants …

Observation Of Gapless Nodal-Lines In A Rare-Earth-Based Compound, Robert Smith

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of quantum materials by employing a combination of experimental techniques, such as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and magnetic and transport measurements. Further collaborative support in the form of first-principles calculations is included and discussed in tandem. In this thesis, a lanthanide-based semimetal of the ZrSiS type, is investigated. Multiple nodal lines which remain gapless are observed along the X-R direction of the Brillouin zone. We also present a nodal line that is observed further below the Fermi level and aligned in the G-M direction; this nodal line appears to be sensitive to light …

Soft Skills In Stem, Mariana Sorroza Aguilar

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Those working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are delivering world-changing solutions to the problems we face and are saving lives every day. Some of them do surgeries, some design airplanes and cars, others study the wildlife around us, and others create processes to facilitate the manufacturing of devices we use often. In order to do this, the engineers, scientists, doctors, and other professionals in STEM disciplines need to possess hard skills. Hard skills are often called technical skills and are measurable abilities and skills that are needed to perform tasks effectively. The tasks done share something in …

Refining The Use Of Stable Isotope Analysis In Detecting Wildlife Laundering, Kevin Guilfoyle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The international wildlife trade has caused significant declines in wild populations. Captive breeding can reduce the pressure on wild populations caused by overcollection, but if not properly monitored, wildlife laundering can lead to further population declines. Improving the forensic ability to detect wildlife laundering will assist in monitoring the wildlife trade and enforcing regulations, thereby aiding recovery of wild populations. Stable isotope analysis has grown in importance as a forensic tool, but improvements are needed. Here, stable isotope analysis (δ13C) on eggshells of captive bred and wild sourced island apple snails (Pomacea maculata) distinguished between the two; eggshells of captive …

Probing The Structure-Activity Relationships Of Electrocatalytic Nanomaterials Using Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy, Zackary Parsons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Electrocatalysis plays a central role in the development of renewable energy technologies as it enables direct conversion between renewable electricity and chemical energy. To design efficient electrocatalysts, it is essential to understand the relationship between the structure and the activity of electrocatalytic materials. Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is a scanning probe technique capable of imaging local electrocatalytic activity under operating conditions, of which the spatial resolution depends on the size and shape of the probe. Compared to commercial SECM probes which have limited resolution capabilities, I have developed novel nanoelectrode probes by etching sharp platinum tips followed by electropolymerization coating …

Comparing Hydrogen Peroxide And Sodium Perborate Ultraviolet Advanced Oxidation Processes For 1,4-Dioxane Removal From Wastewater Effluent, Tulsi Shukla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Ultraviolet advanced oxidation processes were compared using sodium perborate (UV/NaBO3 AOP) or hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2 AOP) for 1,4-dioxane removal from tertiary wastewater effluent. Both UV/H2O2 and UV/NaBO3 AOPs were also tested with the addition of acetic acid. Results revealed that sodium perborate performed similarly to hydrogen peroxide – the UV/NaBO3 AOP with 6 milligrams per liter (mg/L) as H2O2 resulted in 43.9 percent 1,4-dioxane removal, while an equivalent UV/H2O2 AOP showed 42.8 percent removal. Although the oxidants performed similarly, NaBO3 is an average of 3.3 times more expensive than H2O2. However, the solid form of NaBO3 can provide a major …

Preservice Teacher Intersectional Awareness: A Qualitative Inquiry, Lindsey Pike

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the intersectional awareness of preservice general education teachers as experienced through an internship in an urban, Title 1 funded school. Intersectionality Theory (Boveda, 2016; Crenshaw, 1990; Dill & Zambrana, 2009; Jones & Wijeyesinghe, 2011) was used as a theoretical framework to inform this study. A descriptive phenomenological design (Creswell, 2013; Moustakas, 1994) was used to examine preservice teachers' (PSTs)lived experiences within their teacher preparation program courses and internship. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with preservice general education teachers. Data analysis was completed using Colaizzi's (1978) seven-step process as outlined by …

Probing Endothelial Cell Mechanics Under Disturbed Fluid Flow, Jingwen Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Endothelial cells, which form the inner layer of the vasculature, interact with the extracellular matrix (ECM) by exerting mechanical contractile cell-substrate stress called tractions and cell-cell stresses called intercellular stresses. This cellular mechanical behavior involves many fundamental biological processes, including cell migration, differentiation, angiogenesis, and wound healing. Also, the inner surface of the vasculature, where endothelial cells reside, is constantly exposed to various fluid flows. The most variable fluid flow regimes occur primarily within branching regions of the vasculature. Endothelial cells residing within these regions experience disturbed flow, which consists of irregular flow patterns and extreme wall shear stress gradients. …

Design And Simulation Analysis Of A Bipv (Building Integrated With Pv) Air-Duct System For Residential High-Performance Development, Arash Zarmehr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A growing number of buildings are integrating building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) devices to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy costs. A building's heating and cooling loads are impacted by the thermal resistance of the air duct BIPV because of the change in thermal resistance. Therefore, augmenting the efficiency of (BIPV) devices will benefit many building architectures and mechanical engineering applications. This work introduces a low-cost and low- maintenance air duct system design augmenting BIPV systems. This novel approach increases airflow velocity and decreases air temperature for BIPV, resulting in improved performance for the PV system electricity output, increased PV lifespan due …

Low Energy Photon Detection, Tianyi Guo

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Detecting long wave infrared (LWIR) light at room temperature has posed a persistent challenge due to the low energy of photons. The pursuit of an affordable, high-performance LWIR camera capable of room temperature detection has spanned several decades. In the realm of contemporary LWIR detectors, they can be broadly classified into two categories: cooled and uncooled detectors. Cooled detectors, such as MCT detectors, excel in terms of high detectivity and fast response times. However, their reliance on cryogenic cooling significantly escalates their cost and restricts their practical applications. In contrast, uncooled detectors, exemplified by microbolometers, are capable of functioning at …

Optimizing Deep Neural Networks Performance: Efficient Techniques For Training And Inference, Ankit Sharma

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Recent advances in computer vision tasks are mainly due to the success of large deep neural networks. The current state-of-the-art models have high computational costs during inference and suffer from a high memory footprint. Therefore, deploying these large networks on edge devices remains a serious concern. Furthermore, training these over-parameterized networks is computationally expensive and requires a longer training time. Thus, there is a demand to develop techniques that can efficiently reduce training costs and also be able to deploy neural networks on mobile and embedded devices. This dissertation presents practices like designing a lightweight network architecture and increasing network …