Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating Student Proficiency In Quantitative Reasoning, Gabriel Chavez, Jennifer Clinkenbeard, Tolga Tezcan, Celine Pinet, Jennifer Duggan, George Beckham, Sumadhur Shakya, Christina Zhang

Numeracy

Quantitative Reasoning (QR) competencies are increasingly vital for academic and professional success across disciplines. This study examines the QR proficiency of over 400 undergraduates through a mixed-methods approach, integrating survey-based self-assessments (n = 469) with direct evaluations of final exams (n = 80). This study took place at a public, primarily undergraduate, four-year state university in Northern California with approximate enrollment of 7,500 students. Although students reported frequent engagement in foundational QR tasks— such as calculation and interpretation—rubric-based scoring revealed inconsistent levels of mastery, particularly on higher-order skills like evaluation and coherence. Regression analyses linked confidence to calculation …

Does The National Benchmark Quantitative Literacy Test Predict Performance In Stem Programmes In Commerce, Engineering And Science?, Robert N. Prince

Numeracy

In South Africa, university completion rates remain low, with only 23% of students finishing within the regulation time (three or four years). These completion rates continue to reflect racial inequalities, with ‘White’ students significantly more likely to complete degrees in professional fields such as engineering and commerce compared to their ‘African’ counterparts. To address these challenges, the South African higher education institutions, through their umbrella body, introduced the National Benchmark (NB) tests to assess students’ academic literacy skills—including quantitative literacy, academic literacy, and mathematics—to identify those most at risk of struggling with the curriculum. The NB tests aim to evaluate …

Joint Action (In)Action: A Communicatively Constituted Examination Of Shared Governance, Organizational Sustainability, And The Future Of Liberal Arts In Institutions Of Higher Education, Rebecca R. Todd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are at least two versions of higher education today. One is that universities and curriculum need to be reformed to suit contemporary exigencies, particularly market-driven logics and direct paths to desirable job and career outcomes. The other is the story in this dissertation, namely, that the liberal arts hold value for the creation of new knowledge, critical thinking, and empowerment. With this admittedly one-sided corrective to the dominant narrative of higher education, this abstract and dissertation begin.

In the contemporary landscape of American higher education, the liberal arts are under siege. Once heralded as the cornerstone of democratic citizenship …

Predator Exclusion Grids Protect Common Terns From Avian Nest Predators At Presqu’Ile Provincial Park, Lake Ontario, Jennifer M. Arnold, Stephen A. Oswald, Donald J. Tyerman, Michael J. Barker

Ontario Birds

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) breeding populations in inland areas of North America have experienced significant declines, particularly in the Canadian waters of the lower Great Lakes. Once home to two-thirds of the Great Lakes population, Presqu’ile Provincial Park maintained only a small breeding colony of Common Terns from the 1970s to the early 2010s. In 2008, a research program was started to understand the population status of this colony. This involved close collaboration between faculty at Penn State University and Ontario Parks staff, and identified poor reproductive success at this site. Although many factors contributed to this poor reproductive success …

Loafing And Sleeping Behaviour Of Trumpeter Swans, Harry G. Lumsden, Gerry Markhoff, Gary Lane, Allan Scott

Ontario Birds

An observational study of loafing and sleeping behaviour of Trumpeter Swans was conducted in southern Ontario throughout the year in 2018 and 2019. Like other birds, these swans have the ability to close down one brain hemisphere at a time during rest, which is indicated by eye closure. We quantified rates of closure of eyes during sleeping bouts for both breeding and non-breeding swans. Single eye closure varied in frequency, duration and in terms of which hemisphere was shut down. Increasing duration of eye closure over time indicated an increased sense of security with surrounding in one mated pair. Proportion …

Evaluation Of Functional Communication Training With Sign Mands For Non-Vocal Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hayley Margaret Mcmanus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often experience difficulties in both vocal and non-vocal communication, which can lead to problem behavior as a means of expressing needs and wants. Functional communication training (FCT) has been shown to be effective in teaching functional communicative responses (FCRs) and decreasing problem behavior. However, studies on the use of sign language as a communicative response or modality in FCT have been limited, despite its benefits, including feasibility and low response effort, compared to other modalities, such as picture cards and augmentative and alternative communication devices. This study evaluated FCT using sign language mands for …

New Evidence Of Mid-Pleistocene Glaciations In The French Jura Mountains Using Debris Flow Deposits And U/Th Dating Of Speleothems (Verneau Karst Network), Margot Vivier, Stéphane Jaillet, Eglantine Husson, Edwige Pons Branchu, Jean-Baptiste Charlier

International Journal of Speleology

We redefine the extent of former glaciers in the northern Jura Mountains through the study of endokarst deposits. Sedimentary deposits (pebbly debris flows, laminated clays, and allochthonous limestone blocks) and chemical deposits (speleothems) were identified and studied using three complementary approaches: (i) detailed geomorphological mapping, (ii) petrographic analysis, and (iii) U/Th-dating. In addition, a surface geomorphological analysis made it possible to calculate the minimum erosion time required for the formation of the sinkhole linked to the underground study site. The study site is the Dolois Chamber, an underground site upstream of the Verneau karst network (Doubs Department, France). The combined …

Evidence Of Red-Billed Tropicbird Phaethon Aethereus Breeding In The Gulf Of Guinea, Gustavo Marino, Gabriel Oquiongo, Isadora L. Hahn, Pedro Pereira, Joana Pereira, Ricardo F. De Lima

Marine Ornithology

Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus has been considered vagrant in the Gulf of Guinea, although with suggestions of sporadic breeding at Tinhosas Islets, south of Príncipe Island. Here, we report repeated visits of birds to potential nesting sites, aggressive territorial behavior, and pair interactions on the coastal cliffs in the southern portion of São Tomé Island and nearby islets of Rolas and Sete Pedras. These observations strongly suggest that the species breeds at these locations, which would expand the known breeding range in the eastern Atlantic. Future work is needed to clarify the status of the species in the region.

Status Of The Least Storm Petrel Hydrobates Microsoma In Peru, Mauricio Ugarte

Marine Ornithology

The occurrence of the Least Storm Petrel Hydrobates microsoma in Peru has been considered somewhat hypothetical by some authors, as its presence was previously supported only by sight records dating back to 1982. In this note, I confirm the presence of the species in Peru based on the re-examination of three specimens deposited in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. I also provide a summary of the historical records of its occurrences in Peru. Least Storm Petrel should be considered an uncommon boreal migrant in Peruvian marine waters.

Wind-Blown Pelagic Birds: First Record Of Short-Tailed Shearwater Ardenna Tenuirostris, Wedge-Tailed Shearwater Ardenna Pacifica, White-Tailed Tropicbird Phaethon Lepturus, And Lesser Noddy Anous Tenuirostris For Goa, India, Rupali Pandit, Aniket P. Naik Gaonkar, Ankit Kumar, Omkar Damle, Mangirish Dharwadkar

Marine Ornithology

We report four new records of seabirds for the state of Goa, India: Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris, Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica, White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus, and Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris. Due to storms with torrential rains during June and July 2024, these pelagic birds were wind-blown and found stranded along the coastline. They were subsequently rescued and taken to ReefWatch Marine Conservation, a rehabilitation centre in Benaulim, Goa. However, the majority of these birds did not survive due to various causes.

Population Survey Of Southern Buller’S Albatross Thalassarche Bulleri Bulleri On The Solander Islands / Hautere, March 2024, Peter G. H. Frost, Barry G. Baker, Johannes H. Fischer, Paul M. Sagar

Marine Ornithology

An aerial photographic survey of the Southern Buller's Albatross Thalassarche bulleri bulleri population breeding on the Solander Islands / Hautere was undertaken on 09 March 2024, mid-way through the birds' incubation period. Overall, 6,761 individuals were counted: 6,215 (92%) on Great Solander and 546 (8%) on Little Solander. Of these, 4,213 were sitting on nests, 368 were partners to sitting birds, 573 were standing near empty nests, and 145 were apparently loafing. The status of the remaining 1,462 individuals (22% of the total) was uncertain. Assuming that their status was in the same proportions to those of the clearly observed …

Quantifying The Effect Of Time On Geolocation Accuracy In Seabirds, Sophie Bennett, Richard A. Phillips, Jonathan A. Green

Marine Ornithology

Light-based geolocation can be an effective tool for understanding movements and distributions of free-ranging seabirds, particularly during migrations and long-distance foraging trips. The light levels recorded by geolocators (global location sensors; GLS loggers) are used to infer latitude and longitude of individuals from day length and time of local midday relative to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), respectively. However, there is an associated inaccuracy in these location estimates, associated with both systematic and random error. Previous studies have quantified this error by calculating distances to locations over the same time period derived from more accurate devices such as satellite transmitters (platform …

From Tropical Shores To High-Altitude Lakes: Preliminary Assessment Of Trans-Himalayan Migration Of Brown-Headed Gulls Chroicocephalus Brunnicephalus Between Sri Lanka And The Tibetan Plateau, Gayomini Panagoda, Iromi K. Wijethunge, Beixi Zhang, Fanjuan Meng, Yiwen Chen, Sarath Kotagama, Taej Mundkur, Sivananinthaperumal Balachandran, Lei Cao, Sampath S. Seneviratne

Marine Ornithology

The Brown-headed Gull (BHGU) Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus is a common non-breeding migrant to Sri Lanka's coasts. However, its migration across the Central Asian Flyway—traversing numerous geographic barriers such as the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to reach the southern Indian peninsula and Sri Lanka—has not been studied. We GPS-tracked two BHGUs between Sri Lanka and their breeding grounds on the Tibetan Plateau from 2021 to 2023, documenting four migrations in total—three northward and one southward. During northward migration (25 April-20 May), the gulls covered 2,786.7 ± 168.0 km in 6.8 ± 1.05 d without any stopovers, although they made several rest …

California Brown Pelican Pelecanus Occidentalis Community Science Project: Potential For Population Monitoring, Deborah L. Jaques, Tamara M. Russell, Joseph R. Liebezeit, Anna Weinstein, Richard R. Veit, Daniel Orr, Michael W. Parker, Jim A. Howard, David M. Mazurkiewicz, Daniel W. Anderson, Yuliana Bedolla-Guzmán

Marine Ornithology

From 2016 to 2019, we monitored the distribution, abundance, and age structure of California Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis californicus at nearshore communal roosts along the U.S. West Coast. This effort used “snapshot” surveys during spring and fall, simultaneously engaging up to 111 “community science” participants, i.e., volunteers, on single dates. Volunteers surveyed up to 89 sites and found as many as 22,000 Brown Pelicans. We derived abundance and population structure indices from these data and sought relationships to annual breeding season metrics and large-scale oceanographic indices in the California Current System (CCS). The proportion of immature birds increased during the …

Behavioral Response Of Atlantic Puffins Fratercula Arctica To Marine Heatwaves In The Gulf Of Maine, Usa: A Webcam Study, Julie Wallace, Keenan Yakola, Stephen W. Kress, Donald E. Lyons

Marine Ornithology

We observed a family of Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica in a burrow on Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in the Gulf of Maine, USA, during the 2017-2020 and 2022 breeding seasons. The burrow was equipped with a high-resolution web camera, which allowed 24-hour daily observations. We investigated the impacts of elevated sea surface temperature (SST) and marine heatwaves (MHWs), which are linked to low food availability, on chick provisioning and burrow attendance. In 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2022, the female was the primary provisioner, providing twice as many feedings as the male, and the male was the primary burrow guardian, …

Differing Sex-Related Arrival Of Red Phalaropes Phalaropus Fulicarius At Wintering Grounds In Chile, Yerko A. Vilina, Valeria Sabaj, Paola Sáez, Daniela Leiva-Calderón, Franco Cruz-Jofré

Marine Ornithology

Information is often sparse about whether sex affects arrival of long-distance migratory species at wintering grounds. In this paper we analyze the Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius, a species exhibiting sex-role reversal in its nesting patterns. Between September and December 2005, 166 individuals were found dead along the northern Chile coast, which borders the Humboldt Current. Each individual was tagged, and the date of finding was recorded. Nuclear DNA samples were obtained from 46 individuals and analyzed using a molecular sexing method. Results indicate that females arrived between September and early October, with males appearing in late October. On average, females …

Early Records Of Stones (Gastroliths) In Stomachs Of Antarctic Penguins, Peter D. Shaughnessy

Marine Ornithology

During 1915/16, A. H. Ninnis, on board S/Y Aurora of Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917, collected penguins and seals to augment food supplies while the ship drifted in pack ice. Ninnis found stones (gastroliths) in 86 of 166 Adelie Penguin Pygoscelis adeliae stomachs (52%); numbers varied from 0 to 38 and averaged 2.1 per bird. He also examined eight Emperor Penguin Aptenodytes forsteri stomachs. Two birds had about a dozen stones each, three had some, and three had none. The function of stones in penguins' stomachs remains unknown, but Ninnis did not consider them essential for digestion.

Seabird Abundance Patterns Along A Sydney–Los Angeles Transect, Christopher D. Mcquaid

Marine Ornithology

Our understanding of seabird occurrence patterns is influenced by the fact that some parts of the ocean are less travelled than others, particularly in the centres of oceanic gyres. During the Transglobe Expedition, the M/V Benjamin Bowring undertook a 34-day crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Sydney to Los Angeles. During the crossing, three one-hour watches were conducted daily (morning, noon, and evening), during which all birds visible from the ship were counted and identified (when possible). Bird counts were extremely low in the central regions of the South and North Pacific gyres, in stark contrast to the elevated counts—by …

First Record Of Lesser Frigatebird Fregata Ariel From Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Matthias D. Dehling

Marine Ornithology

The Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel is widespread in the western and central tropical Pacific, where it breeds from Raine Island, Australia, in the west to the Tuamotu Archipelago in the east (Marchant & Higgins, 1990). The non-breeding range is larger, extending northwest to Japan and rarely Russia (Sibley & Clapp, 1967) and northeast, rarely, to the northwest Hawaiian Islands, USA (Pratt et al., 1987), and exceptionally as a vagrant to the continental United States (Howell et al., 2014).

Movements By An Adult Male Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata Magnificens Connect Protected Areas In Waters Off Northeastern South America, Lucas Penna Soares Santos, Cecília Licarião, Heideger Lima Do Nascimento, Ricardo Krul, Juliana Kleinsorge, Larissa Schmauder Teixeira Cunha, Patricia Pereira Serafini, Fábio Olmos

Marine Ornithology

No abstract provided.

First Record Of Franklin’S Gull Leucophaeus Pipixcan In Saudi Arabia, Silvia Arossa, Lotfi Jilani Rabaoui, Fran Trabalon, David Darrell-Lambert, Foued Hamza, Ridha Ouni, Mohamed Shobrak, Abdulnasser Al Qutub, Mohammed Ali Qurban

Marine Ornithology

We report here the first confirmed sighting of Franklin's Gull Leucophaeus pipixcan in Saudi Arabia, the third record for the larger Arabian Peninsula. The bird was sighted during an ornithological survey conducted in October 2024. The findings highlight the region's importance as a migratory stopover, emphasizing the need for enhanced research and conservation efforts to protect critical habitats for migratory birds.

Bonavista Bay Murre Hunters In Newfoundland And Labrador Propose Further Interaction With Biologists And Managers, C. Wayne Humphries, Grant R. W. Humphries, Alexandra M. C. Robbins, Gail S. Fraser

Marine Ornithology

Thick-billed Murres Uria lomvia and Common Murres U. aalge, seabirds with low reproductive rates, delayed reproduction, and high adult survivorship, are hunted in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) by non-Indigenous residents. The traditional hunt has a complex regulatory history as a result of NL joining Canada in 1949 and the protection of non-game species under the Migratory Bird Convention Act. Thirty hunters from the northeastern region of the island of Newfoundland were interviewed about their knowledge of murres, their hunting practices, and their opinions on current hunting regulations. While the hunters had detailed local species knowledge from the region they hunted, …

Development And Initial Validation Of An Instrument To Measure Teachers’ Socioscientific Issues Instruction Perceptions, Michael Edward Mitchell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about how high school science teachers perceive Socioscientific Issues (SSI) on a broad scale, including what factors shape their views of a pedagogical shift to adopt SSI. To address this critical gap, I constructed the Teachers’ Socioscientific Issues (SSI) Perceptions Survey (TSPS), the first instrument specifically designed and initially validated to measure teacher perceptions of SSI integration. This study presents the development and validation of the TSPS, offering robust evidence for its reliability, fairness, and construct validity.

Survey development adhered to gold-standard psychometric protocols (Bandalos, 2018; Crocker & Algina, 1986; DeVellis, 2012; McCoach et al., 2013) and …

Saudi Early Childhood Teacher Educators’ And Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives Of Early Field Experiences, Amani M. Alodwani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative descriptive study explores how teacher educators perceive the integration of field experiences within the curriculum and their perspectives on the preservice early childhood education (ECE) teachers they supervise. It also examines preservice teachers’ views regarding their field experiences and how these experiences contribute to their professional preparation. The Ministry of Education (MOE) emphasizes that teacher preparation programs should provide extended field experiences that connect theoretical coursework with practical application. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three Saudi teacher educators and four preservice teachers from Kingdom University. Thematic analysis using inductive coding was employed to identify recurring themes and differences …

Sound Practices In Human Resources: A Critical Analysis Of How Ai Applicant Screening Tools Are Used With Deaf Individuals In The Hospitality And Tourism Sector, Sherry L. Gaynor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the intersection of Career and Workforce Education, Deaf Education, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies used in hiring practices. The purpose of this research is to identify potential barriers to equitable employment for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) individuals and to propose effective methods for evaluating and assessing AI and machine learning applications utilized in recruitment and selection processes. Although AI is increasingly embedded in human resource management (HRM), there remains a significant lack of research addressing its use with special populations. In particular, no prior studies have examined how voice recognition software, facial analysis, psychometric testing, and virtual …

Exploring Employee Profiles’ Adaptation To A Return-To-Office Policy: An Eadr Study In Higher Education Administrative Departments, Laura Cecilia Ferraz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) became a central feature of the post-pandemic workplace, offering autonomy and balance. In higher education administrative departments, hybrid models were widely adopted; however, managers struggled with accountability, equity, and effective communication. At the University of South Florida (USF), a mid-study return-to-office mandate required all employees to resume full-time on-site work, creating an opportunity to examine how employees adapted to the loss of flexibility and whether previously developed employee profiles remained relevant.

This qualitative study employed the Elaborated Action Design Research (eADR) methodology to investigate the experiences of employees and managers across three diagnostic phases. Cycle 1, …

Exploring Teachers’ Perspectives On Digital Storytelling As A Tool In Saudi Kindergarten Classrooms: A Qualitative Multicase Study, Ouhuud Alahmdi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 emphasizes the importance of integrating digital technologies into early childhood education, with the goal of developing children’s skills for the 21st century from an early age and preparing them for the future. Digital storytelling is an effective and interactive multimodal strategy to enhance young children’s skills in the classroom. However, there is limited research examining how kindergarten teachers design and utilize digital storytelling in their classrooms. This qualitative multicase study aimed to explore how Saudi kindergarten teachers perceived and implemented digital storytelling as a tool to promote engagement and comprehension among young children. The study focused …

Surveying Secondary Ela Teachers’ Engagement With Ai-Powered Tools For Classroom Assessment, Mona Alrashidi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents profound challenges andpossibilities for educational assessment, particularly in English Language Arts (ELA), where AI- powered tools can generate the very linguistic products traditionally used as evidence of student learning. While scholarship has primarily explored theoretical frameworks and broad perceptions, a critical gap remains in understanding how secondary ELA teachers navigate and report AI integration within formative assessment workflows. This understanding is essential: formative assessment has been recommended as a strategy to mitigate AI-related challenges by prioritizing learning processes over products. Yet empirical evidence of teachers’ practices remains limited.

This exploratory study surveyed 102 …

Thermal Properties Of Novel Materials, Wilarachchige D.C. Bhagya Gunatilleke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thermal properties play an important role in various aspects of applications of technology startingfrom the materials property determinations to device performance improvements and their safety and stability. Measurements of the thermal properties of such materials of interest pose challenges due to the demands of these measurements for determination of intrinsic materials properties. The research included in this dissertation involved both synthesis of novel materials and their measurement of thermal properties. Solid-state materials synthesis involves various synthesis and processing techniques, while specific technological applications demand synthesis of defect-free single crystals. Such synthesis techniques were explored for the research included in this …

Communicating The Truth-Telling And Space-Making Of Black Women In Higher Education: A Trap Feminist Study, Chazman Deira Mckoy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation adopts a “for Black women, by Black women” approach to examine how Black women’s lived experiences and performances of racialized gender become communicative acts of agency as they navigate the intersecting challenges of race and gender within pedagogical contexts.

Grounded in Black Feminist Pedagogy and expanded through Trap Feminism, this study celebrates the complexity of racialized gender performances and theorizes them as intentional communicative acts of resistance. These acts not only confront dominant ideologies but also create ongoing spaces for truth-telling, spaces where Black women can reframe how their stories, labor, and brilliance are recognized in academic contexts …