Digital Commons Network^™

Unlocking Affixes In The Esl Community College Classroom: The Language Of Law, Science, And Technology, Patricia George-Hunter Edd

Journal of English Learner Education

Since vocabulary plays a significant role in second language acquisition, expansive vocabulary targets should be set and pursued. This paper explores the results of introducing affixes to develop vocabulary and increase motivation for beginner to intermediate-level English language learners (ELLs) pursuing academic disciplines in law, science, and technology at a New York City community college. Participants included 23 ELLs with diverse linguistic, educational, and sociocultural backgrounds enrolled in an online synchronous Integrative Language Seminar (ILS) designed to develop all areas of English language proficiency. Pre‑, post‑, delayed tests, questionnaires, and post‑intervention interviews were conducted and analyzed to establish the language …

Making The Implicit Explicit For Multilingual Learners: A Language-Based Framework For Literacy Development, Luciana C. De Oliveira

Journal of English Learner Education

Literacy is fundamentally an act of meaning-making that requires bridging micro-level linguistic choices with macro-level text structures across genres. Current literacy policies dominated by Science of Reading (SoR) mandates often overemphasize isolated, word-level foundational skills. This narrow focus creates a one-size-fits-all model that reduces reading to the level of individual words, not appropriate for multilingual learners (MLs) who require access to dense, specialized disciplinary discourse. This article proposes an intentional, language-based literacy framework designed to build high-challenge, high-support classrooms for MLs without lowering academic expectations. Integrating genre-based pedagogy through the Teaching and Learning Cycle (TLC) with the mode continuum, the …

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2025-2026, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Analysis Of Cryptoprocta Ferox At The Central Florida Zoo And Botanical Gardens, Rita R. Albert

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The fossa, Cryptoprocta ferox, is the largest carnivorous mammal endemic to the island of Madagascar. C. ferox is currently listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List (2015) due to deforestation. Most fossas are now located in zoos for breeding and repopulation purposes, but research on captive mating has been limited due to the low numbers of successful breeding attempts in captivity. The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens is home to two fossas, one male and one newly introduced female. This study notes behavioral changes in captive mating fossas, with a focus on the male fossa …

The Question Is A Node: Online Quizzes As Interactive Non-Fiction, Michael Merriam

ELO (un)supervised 2026

The quiz is the most widely deployed form of interactive text in education. Even when it is not digitally administered, it presents a prompt, receives a response, and contains within it a formula determining the consequences of that response. A wrong answer is taken as a failure of learning (not mere recall) and, by virtue of their quasi-digital objectivity, a batch of low quiz scores might warn of difficulty in reaching benchmarks. Ergo, quizzes embody the automation of the supervisory function of the instructor, and the supervision of curricula. 

Quiz questions have something in common with nodes in digital interactive …

Compressed Cinema As A Study In Llm Latent Spaces, Mallen Clifton

ELO (un)supervised 2026

In his article “Spec Acts” (2021), Matthew Kirschenbaum analyzes the AI-generated novel 1 the Road to develop his titular concept of the spec act, “the future in its multitudes collapsing into an actionable present.” With the proliferation of texts produced by generative AI and subsequent critical analyses of them, one element in particular calls for further theorization: “the future in its multitudes,” or more directly, the latent space. This echoes arguments by critics such as Antonio Somaini, who offered his own “Theory of Latent Spaces” last year. However, where Somaini’s attention is towards visual culture, I turn mine to the …

Out Of This World: An Exoplanetary Workshop, Monica Storss, Bart Kuipers

ELO (un)supervised 2026

The workshop investigates how scientific constraints can productively defamiliarize human experience and create new frameworks for creativity and expression. Participants will produce original work while considering broader questions about environment, perception, and cultural formation in speculative contexts, and how the arts, sciences, and technology inform each other in relational multiplicities. This generative workshop explores how astronomical data from confirmed exoplanets can generate new poetic forms and linguistic constraints. Participants will examine how exoplanetary conditions can shape language, metaphor, and narrative structure. We'll develop from writing exercises that respond to non-terrestrial physical parameters: alternative light spectra, gravitational variations, and atmospheric compositions. …

Singulars: Performing The Reverse Turing Test, Halim Madi

ELO (un)supervised 2026

Singulars is an ongoing series of performance systems in which I co-create poetry with a language model trained on an anthology of English poetry alongside my own writing. Across three works—carnation.exe, versus.exe, and reinforcement.exe—I stage live reinforcement loops in which my poems and the model’s responses compete for audience votes. The audience functions as an embodied feedback mechanism, shaping the evolution of both the machine and the human poet in real time.

This paper examines what happens when a poet becomes both author and training data. Drawing from creativity research, metacognition, and social cognition, I reflect …

Supporting Lgbtq Youth Through A Cross-Cultural Lens Of Wellbeing, Correna Bartow

UN SDG Open Pedagogy Faculty Fellowship: Renewable Assignments

No abstract provided.

Fluency ≠ Literacy: Practical Strategies To Scaffold, Not Offload, Rachel Rupprecht, Heidi Keller, Vanessa Hörmann

Teaching & Learning with AI

This open-access resource kit helps faculty transition students from passive AI outsourcing to critical evaluation and essential skill cultivation. It includes 11 Assignment Templates & Rubrics, a Template Selector Gem, an AI Literacy Coach Gem, a Mindset Shifts & Expert Blind Spots visual guide, and student-facing resources.

Keratopigmentation: A Comparative Review Of Safety, Indications, And Clinical Outcomes, Emmy L. Colon Alamo

Undergraduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Throughout the years, there has been an upsurge in the quantity of cosmetic procedures aimed at changing eye color or appearance. This trend raises significant concerns about patient safety and visual health, as although many methods are promoted worldwide, their efficacy and, most importantly, safety varies greatly. This review looks at the safety of procedures that alter eye color or appearance, focusing mainly on cosmetic keratopigmentation, which is currently the only legally accepted method for changing eye color in the U.S.

A review of clinical studies was conducted to evaluate the outcomes and complications related to keratopigmentation. Then, these findings …

Arriving With The Five Senses: Resilient Whole Being In The Classroom, Mitra Emad

Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

Using a simple sensory arrival exercise to welcome and orient students to the learning environment encourages a whole being wellbeing approach to learning. Moving through each of the five senses as a way to fully arrive “in class” promotes self-regulation and engagement. In online environments, this exercise gives students an opportunity to settle into a familiar space, as well as to engage with that familiarity in ways that “render the familiar strange,” enhancing curiosity and opening up engagement with the course materials and learning experiences that follow.

Rethinking The Mindfulness And Mindlessness In Media Evocation Of Human-Machine Communication: A Case Study On The In-Car Robot “Nomi”, Bing Wang, Longxiang Luo, Weizi Liu

Human-Machine Communication

The commonly used Media Equation framework in human-machine communication research exhibits limitations when explaining human-machine relationships in the AI era, giving rise to the Media Evocation paradigm. Based on the Media Evocation framework, this study employs in-depth interviews to investigate whether interactions between humans and the in-car robot Nomi are mindful or mindless, while also examining whether these interactions prompt reflections on the machine’s ontology. The findings indicate that most participants perceive Nomi as a human-like actor and interact with it mindfully. Highquality social cues, such as voice and facial expressions, can trigger mindful anthropomorphic responses in human-machine interaction, eliciting …

Explain. Write. Edit. Summarise: An Exploratory Study On Agency Negotiations In Student-Chatbot Conversations, Árni Már Einarsson Mr, Ekaterina Pashevich

Human-Machine Communication

LLM-based chatbots such as ChatGPT have given technologies that traditionally operated on the back end a user-friendly, conversational interface. Their rapid adoption among students has prompted universities worldwide to issue guidelines and re-examine existing practices. Supplementing prior research based on discourse analysis and self-reported measures (e.g., surveys and interviews), we propose an approach for analyzing naturally occurring student–chatbot interactions, rooted in conversation analysis of chats (n = 503) donated by eight current Danish university students. The analysis identifies conversational patterns across three main types of activities and examines how agency is negotiated across the structural dimensions of signification, domination, and …

Two Years To Madness: A 30-Month Journal Of Human–Machine Communication And Second-Hand Reality, Andrew Prahl

Human-Machine Communication

Drawing on a 30-month analytic-autoethnography of the first author’s journal as an earlyaccess OpenAI user, this study examines how sustained communication with generative AI affects everyday lived experience and identity. Inductive content analysis of 166 entries by independent coders is followed by theory-driven coding with the extended-mind and sensemaking frameworks. Three interlocking themes emerge. Enabled and Degraded captures the tension between new capabilities and efficiency versus creeping skill atrophy. Scary New World charts rising anxiety as productivity gains erode competitive and relational distinctiveness. The findings also show a growing, pervasive doubt about the human authorship of texts, images, and other …

Whole Earth Machines: Human-Machine Communication For A Green Transition, Klaus Bruhn Jensen

Human-Machine Communication

The climate crisis of the 21st century represents an existential risk to humanity and biodiversity, posing essential questions of how communication may serve to coordinate mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. One recent response has been massive investments by governments and corporations in systems providing feedback on the state of Earth— Whole Earth Machines (WEMs). For human-machine communication (HMC) studies, WEMs invite sustained engagement with communication infrastructures as a key constituent of research agendas, beyond the interface encounters at the center of many HMC studies to date. The article presents a conceptualization and operationalization of WEMs as critical infrastructures …

The Cypress Dome 2026, Issue 37, The Cypress Dome Society

The Cypress Dome

Featuring the work of Stephanie Arrarte, Miranda Attales, Al Basbano, Sophia Camarena, Sophia Ferrara, Leo Hall, Sofia Infante Roca, Amelia Kimberling, Emma Kolmetz, Antonio Vincenzo Lanni, Erik Leon, Niko Martin, Mariana Martinez, Esha Modi, Lela Norman, Mariana Perozo, Elio Rotolo, Raiya Shaw, Daniela Torres, Gabriel Walters, and Skyelar Wiedrich.

Founded in 1989 and named after a natural feature of our campus, The Cypress Dome is the University of Central Florida’s undergraduate literary journal. It is edited, designed, and produced by a selected editorial team of students from our literary organization, The Cypress Dome Society, as part of a year-long internship. …

Parenting Stress And Its Association With Parental Technoference: An Integrative Literature Review, Emily S. Machuca

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Introduction: Today, digital devices are a part of daily life, but can serve as a distraction that interrupts important relationships, a process referred to as technoference. In the context of parenting, device use during child interactions may reduce parental attentiveness and engagement, with potential implications for child development and behavior. Parenting stress may influence how and why parents engage with digital devices in the presence of their children. However, the association between parenting stress and parental technoference remains unclear in the current literature. This integrative literature review aimed to synthesize existing evidence examining the relationship between parenting stress and parental …

Raining Plastics: Quantification Of Atmospheric Deposition Of Plastic And Anthropogenic Particles Into An Estuary Of National Significance With The Assistance Of Citizen Scientists, Linda Walters, Madison Serrate, Tara Blanchard, Paul Sacks, Fnu Joshua, Lei Zhai

Research Data and Datasets

Globally, little is known about the dispersal of microplastics (MP) and anthropogenic particles (AP) via atmospheric deposition (AD) into water bodies. Correlating AD to the large number of MP in estuaries is challenging but an important first step toward reducing this form of pollution. A previously published model of the surface waters of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL, east central coast of Florida, USA) estimated it contained 1.4 trillion microplastics. To determine if AD could produce this much plastic deposition, we deployed passive AD collectors throughout a 145 km2 area at three site types with assistance from citizen scientists. We …

University Of Central Florida Graduate Catalog, 2025-2026, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Trouble In Paradise: Tracking Tropicalization On Mosquito Lagoon Oyster Reefs, Gabriel T. Silva, Maya Kurian, Katherine Manzelli, Kye Pollard, Johanne Hunt, Avarey Johnson, Kiara Cuevas-Gutierrez, Giavanna Harrington, Giles Cherkaoui, Anya Spara, Tai Powell, Jacob Mclean, Ryan Chin, Kriztian Milanes, Nicholas Groves, Michael Theobald, Justin Moya, Melissa Vance, Logan Chapman, Jordyn Delikat

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Climate change has caused average temperatures across the globe to increase and the frequency of freezing events in temperate climates to decrease, leading to tropical species moving polewards. This process, known as tropicalization, has been documented on the eastern coast of Florida as the tropical red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) encroaches into temperate communities once defined by the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Mosquito Lagoon, located within the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) system, is one community that has experienced an increase of 198% in mangrove coverage on intertidal oyster reefs between 1984 and 2017. Although the frequency of freezes has decreased in …

Musculoskeletal Stress Markers Caused By Occupational Stress And Its Relation To Sex, Madison E. Torres, Sage Rohrer

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

The excavation of the site of San Pedro, Belize, uncovered the skeletal human remains of 46 individuals that were naturally preserved well enough in sand to be studied. These remains belonged to ancient Maya, dating back to the Terminal Postclassic to Historic period (c. 1450–1700 CE), who had been buried under what is now the Sands Hotel. This population was part of a small fishing village. These people likely led a labor-intensive lifestyle, which would lead to the skeletal remains showing signs of Musculoskeletal Stress Markers (MSM). This stems from the theory that the males of this village would carry …

Early-Life Stress And Skeletal Proportions In Egyptian Juveniles: A Comparative Analysis Of Upper And Lower Limb Growth, Bonnie Radican

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Childhood skeletal growth is sensitive to environmental stress, and different limb segments may respond to developmental disruption unequally. This study explained whether lower limb bones showed greater growth deficits than upper limb bones in juvenile skeletal remains from the Kellis 2 cemetery at the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, a Roman period site (approximately AD 50-450) where nutritional stress and disease have been previously documented. The delta 1mean method developed by Goode et al., (1993) was applied to six long bones – humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and fibula – in a combines sample of 98 individuals drawn from original measurements and …

Variations In Dissolved Oxygen Across Vegetation Zones In A Freshwater Marsh, Stephanie N. Lievano, Aliah Wales Miller, Marissa Pratt, Anya Spara

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations are critical indicators of aquatic ecosystem health, yet these levels fluctuate significantly based on the structural and physiological characteristics of dominant vegetation. This study investigated the extent to which DO levels differ among wetland zones dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), emergent plants, or floating plant cover. It was hypothesized that SAV-dominated areas would exhibit higher DO concentrations than emergent zones due to the direct release of photosynthetic oxygen into the water column. Data were collected across three diel blocks—morning, afternoon, and evening—in a UCF freshwater marsh using a YSI multiparameter sonde to measure DO, temperature, …

What Truly Drives Graduate Earnings?, Aiden Akbarov

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

The goal of my project, Predicting the Paycheck: What Factors Truly Influence Graduate Earnings?, was to see if we could actually predict a college graduate's starting salary using data instead of just guessing. I used a dataset of 172 majors from the American Community Survey to look at how a student's field of study, the gender balance of their major, and the current job market all impact their first paycheck. I wanted to create a tool that helps students understand the financial reality of their degree before they even graduate.

To get my results, I used a Multiple Linear Regression …

Kbootrepair: Automated Llm Guided Repair Of Linux Kernel Boot Failures, Ryan P. Garfinkel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Linux kernel is an actively developed, highly configurable system software that supports a diverse range of platforms. Kernel fuzzers, like Google’s syzkaller, have been embraced to find bugs, but they require bootable configurations that work in their environment. However, these tools rely on a set of configurations that exclude most code changes. Each option controls which code is included when the kernel compiles. Making modifications requires extensive knowledge, as there are over 15,000 interrelated configuration options. While prior work has used formal methods to guarantee configuration validity, this doesn’t guarantee bootability. In this paper, we introduce KBootRepair, an iterative …

Non-Invasive Detection Of Intracranial Pressure, Andrei V. Nesterenko

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Intracranial pressure is a critical metric used when managing tumors, strokes, TBIs, hydrocephalus, and other operative conditions. Traditional methods for continuous ICP monitoring, intraparenchymal catheters, epidural transducers etc., are invasive and carry a high risk of infection. Previous attempts to create accurate, easy to use, and non-invasive ICP monitoring techniques have been unsuccessful. In this study, we investigated the utility of supraorbital and posterior auricular photoplethysmography to monitor changes in ICP during orthostatic tilt and hyperventilation, which increase and decrease ICP respectively.

Through a continuous 5-minute recording on a tilt-table we characterized SOA and PAA waveforms in 12 participants (ages …

Laser Beam Shaping Using A Neural Network, Azeem A. Hakim

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Multiphoton lithography (MPL) is a method of laser-based 3D-printing for fabricating micron-scale structures point-by-point in a photopolymerizable medium. MPL’s high-resolution capabilities have made it a powerful method for the fabrication of many devices, such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and tissue scaffolds.  The throughput of MPL processes can be increased by using spatially shaped laser beams that expose large areas or volumes simultaneously. A laser beam can be reshaped by passing it through a spatial light modulator (SLM) displaying a pre-designed phase mask. One type of laser beam profile used for this purpose is the Bessel beam, a type of structured …

The Effects Of Stress-Related Hormones On Excitatory Synapse Formation, Autumn C. Garvey

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Stress profoundly influences brain function through neuromodulatory hormones that regulate synaptic plasticity, yet how temporal patterns of hormone exposure shape excitatory synapse formation remains poorly understood. This study investigates how exposure to stress hormones, norepinephrine and cortisol, affects excitatory synapse development. While existing research primarily compares concentration models, real-world stress occurs in variable patterns that may produce distinct neural outcomes. To address this gap, differentiated Neuro2A neuronal cells are exposed to norepinephrine or cortisol under a continuous treatment paradigm designed to model chronic stress conditions. Following treatment, immunofluorescence imaging is utilized to quantify excitatory synapse formation through analysis of presynaptic …

Comparative Analysis Of Serum-Free Culture Conditions On Cell Proliferation And Extracellular Vesicle Production By Adipose-Derived Stem Cells, Ayna Ghulldu

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are promising candidates in regenerative medicine due to their proliferative capacity, self-renewal, and secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that mediate intercellular communication. Serum-free media has been increasingly explored for MSC culture as it eliminates xenogeneic components, improving human therapeutic suitability. However, comparative evaluation of distinct serum-free formulations on ADSC proliferation and EV output simultaneously remains limited. This study compares a serum-containing medium to three proprietary serum-free media prototypes differing in composition, including the presence or absence of extracellular matrix proteins, to inform the optimization of culture conditions for clinical use. Proliferation, EV characteristics, and gene expression …