Digital Commons Network^™

Coding Connections: Exploring Relationships Between Computer Science Learning And Mathematics Achievement In Secondary Education, Bradley Hayes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation in practice explores the intersection of computer science education, specifically computational thinking and programming, with mathematics achievement among 15-year-old students in selected English-speaking countries. The research addresses a gap in understanding whether skills developed through computer science can positively influence mathematics performance by assessing the extent to which learning in computer science transfers to mathematics.

To achieve this, a quantitative methodology was employed, incorporating pilot study data from a single school and large-scale survey data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022. The analysis assessed the correlation between regular participation in programming activities and mathematics attainment, …

Efficient Smartphone Sensor Analysis For Behavioral Profiling In Transportation Research: A Case Study Of Driver And Passenger Classification, Wilson Lozano, Tempestt Neal

Research Reports

Our study investigates smartphone sensor data for classifying drivers and passengers, aligning with our original proposal to enhance multimodal transportation data collection via the OneBusAway app. We address challenges in balancing data quality with smartphone resource constraints and find that shorter data collection windows significantly improve classification performance. Additionally, feature standardization and selection enhance accuracy, particularly during extended data periods, supporting our goal of refining data quality from open-source platforms. These insights advance our objectives by optimizing data efficiency and supporting the real-world applicability of intelligent models in transportation safety and efficiency.

Implementing Acceptance And Commitment Therapy To Reduce Caregiver Stress And Enhance Procedural Fidelity For Families Affected By Autism Spectrum Disorder, Casey K. Marsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The rate of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing each year (CDC, 2022). Although the severity of symptoms is specific to individuals, the families of those diagnosed are often also affected in a variety of ways. Caregivers of children with ASD experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on caregiver stress and procedural fidelity. Three caregivers of children with ASD were trained using an ACT curriculum and caregiver stress was measured using two self-report scales, before and after six ACT …

Precursors To Student Burnout Through A Person-Environment Fit Lens, Kenny Le

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Burnout has been shown to be a pressing mental health outcome across populations, and this phenomenon has received more recent attention in young adult and student populations with increasing evidence mirroring what has previously been found in workplace research. However, the current research has not yet developed a theoretical model towards student burnout specifically, and the existing multidimensional theory of burnout does not capture precursors towards the first stages of the syndrome. The current study uses the person-environment (P-E) fit as a framework to identify relevant environmental and individual factors, as research has suggested perceived environmental fit is associated with …

Control Of Multiagent Networks With Misbehaving Nodes, Emre Yildirim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The overarching objective of this dissertation is to introduce system theoretical frameworks in control of misbehaving multiagent networks subject to limited resources (i.e., limited number of driver nodes), and the presence of disturbances and/or uncertainties (i.e., misbehaving nodes). Below, we briefly summarize each problem studied in this dissertation with their proposed solutions.

Specifically, we first consider multiagent networks subject to misbehaving nodes over fixed undirected graph topologies. To address this problem, we apply proportional-integral control signals to a subset of nodes (i.e., driver nodes) in the network to address the undesired effects arising from misbehaving nodes. Since multiagent networks with …

Examining Emergency Remote Teaching And Undergraduate Academic Outcomes During The Pandemic, Melissa S. Ramge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic represented an extraordinary public health emergency, leading to the most profound disruption to education systems in modern history. As higher education institutions expand their post-pandemic online course catalogs, it is necessary first to explore the student outcomes and student perceptions of learning related to the pandemic. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to assess the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and students’ perceptions of online learning. The purpose of the study was to examine what, if any, trends in undergraduate student course grades and student perceptions of the instruction occurred coincident with the …

Exploring Llm Integration And Its Influence On Agent Behavior And Productivity In Insurance Call Centers, Gerardo L. Wibmer Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the theoretical impacts of supportive AI tools, specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), on agent behavior and communication dynamics in call centers. While technological advancements have streamlined operations, limited research addresses the indirect ways these tools influence agent behavior. Using frameworks like context switching—the cognitive shift required when external stimuli prompt attention shifts—and the Hawthorne effect, where perceived observation modifies behavior, we examine how LLMs shape communication patterns. In call centers, this context switching occurs indirectly as agents adapt to AI note-taking features, whereas in industries like Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC), automation tools prompt more immediate changes …

Links, Fit, And Sacrifice: How Job Embeddedness Impacts Work Modality And Intention To Stay In Public Accounting, Maryalice C. Trussell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the public accounting profession has applied an in-person apprenticeship model to assimilate new professionals into the culture of the firm and client service profession. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly challenged this in-person apprenticeship model in early 2020 by forcing most professionals to work remotely. Initial post-pandemic research with public accountants highlighted issues related to remote work, including a lack of social bonds with coworkers, reduced organizational socialization as well as less commitment to the firm and profession. Notwithstanding the new obstacles with COVID-induced remote work, turnover and talent shortages have been persistent challenges in public accounting.

This study is the …

The Impact Of Hearing Aid User Speech On Environment Classification And Own Voice Listener Preferences, Robert Andrew Budinsky Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hearing aids (HA) have improved over the past few decades with advanced signal processing, such as environment classification and background noise reduction, but are still limited by challenges related to when the user is speaking. These challenges include the potential interference a HA user’s voice has on device environment classification and the potential influence a HA has on own voice (OV) sound quality. However, the effects of OV on HA environment classification and signal processing are not well established, nor are the desired HA program settings regarding OV listening preferences. In this study, a combination of electroacoustic and behavioral methods …

The Monsters In Twentieth And Twenty-First Century Illustrated Adaptation Of Beowulf For Children And Young Adults, Johanna Katharine Burton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examine how some authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult literature adapt the old English Beowulf, how critics receive their works, and the functions these adaptations serve. My focus is on how the interplay between the visual and verbal text modifies or amplifies the overall story as well as how theories of translation/adaptation, monster, gender, and post-colonialism provide insight and aid in analysis. My ultimate objective is to demonstrate the significance of children’s and young adult adaptations of Beowulf and how these texts contribute to a rich and varied corpus. I argue that the adapter’s social/cultural context affected …

Communication Resilience In Suicide Prevention (Crisp): An Institutional Ethnography Of Community-Based Suicide Prevention In Florida, Kelli R. Agrawal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The concept of Communication Resilience in Suicide Prevention (CRISP) offers a conceptual framework for exploring communication strategies in community-based suicide prevention. A constructivist paradigm informs this study and utilizes an approach heavily influenced by Dorothy Smith’s critical feminist sociological work of institutional ethnography (IE). The study intentionally interweaves critical research praxis with a dual etic/emic positionality through constructivist understandings of dialectical sensemaking. It uses the Communication Theory of Resilience (CTR) and Institutional Logics Theory (ILT) as analytic tools of inquiry. The study includes purposive sampling and multiple qualitative methods, including unstructured interviews, text analyses, and observational data. Fifteen unstructured interviews …

Ai-Enabled Methodological Frameworks To Enhance The Robustness Of Machine Learning Models In Various Domains And Dynamic Environments, Mohammad Noroozi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores novel approaches to address complex challenges in various domains, focusing on ensuring that machine learning (ML) models can reliably detect both the data they are trained on and unseen data. Reliable detection of unfamiliar inputs is critical for deploying models in real-world applications, where performance can degrade when faced with novel or unexpected information. Each domain addressed in this work introduces a set of contributions aimed at enhancing model performance, broadening generalization through diverse training data, and improving robustness against adversarial attacks. Three sets of contributions are presented, each encapsulated in a chapter.

One of the contributions …

Deep Reinforcement Learning For Adaptive Network Slicing In 5g For Intelligent Vehicular Systems And Smart Cities, Almuthanna Nassar, Yasin Yilmaz

USF Patents

Systems and methods for processing a service request within a network environment can include a first cluster of fog nodes that execute service tasks. The cluster can include a primary fog node and nearest neighbor fog nodes. The primary fog node can receive, from the network, a service request, determine service request resource data that includes a first time, quantity of resource blocks required to serve the request, and a hold time required to serve the request locally. An edge controller, connected to the network and the first cluster, can receive, from the primary fog node, the service request resource …

Satellite-Based Mapping Of Seagrass Habitats And Coastal Wetlands In The Us Gulf Of Mexico And Florida: A Remote Sensing Approach For Environmental Conservation And Management, Luis Lizcano-Sandoval

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coastal wetlands and seagrass meadows provide multiple services to nature and human society, but their spatial and temporal changes are often not well characterized. They are habitats that are threatened by natural and human causes such as changes in water quality, urban development, pollution, and climate change, among others. Coastal ecosystems rely on water quality and sea level variability for survival, and changes in those variables and their potential effects are of concern to many coastal communities. Satellite remote sensing is a powerful tool that has been used for mapping ecosystem distribution on land and in the ocean. Satellite sensors …

A Case Study Of A Large School District’S High School Principals’ Instructional Decision-Making For Students With Disabilities, Laura Meehan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of a large school district and it’s high school principals’ approach to instructional decision making for students with disabilities. This study explores how principals utilize teaching resources and make instructional decisions for students receiving special education services on their campus. Using district-wide quantitative data on special education students in high school, this study offers a comprehensive view of how these students are served. Additionally, five in-depth interviews with high school principals currently serving in the district provide qualitative insights into leadership practices. Findings from this study reveal variation in how students with disabilities are …

The Mediating Effect Of Self-Efficacy And Symptom Distress In The Relationship Between Symptom Occurrence And Quality Of Life Among Cancer Patients, Kailei Yan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer symptoms significantly impact the quality of life (QOL) among cancer patients. Self-efficacy plays a key role in managing symptoms and improving QOL. Also, as a suffering from symptom occurrence, symptom distress predicts QOL. However, it is not clear whether self-efficacy and/or symptom distress mediate the effects of symptoms on QOL. This dissertation seeks to explore if and how self-efficacy and symptom distress mediate the relationship between symptom occurrence and QOL among 534 cancer patients. The specific aims were to: 1) test the factor structure and the longitudinal invariance of the Cancer Behavioral Inventory in our sample of cancer patients …

Forgotten Partners: Mothers’ Perceptions Of Early Literacy Instruction For Students With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Andrew Payne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Families are often the forgotten partners in education and in educational research. It is important to consider input from families regarding their children’s education. Their voices are crucial ones that should be heard more often. The research is currently lacking information about families’ perceptions about the education of their children with significant disabilities. This qualitative study explored mothers’ perspectives on the literacy education of their children and the role they play in the process. Stories of five participants and their lived experiences of supporting their children with intellectual and development disabilities in acquiring early literacy skills are shared. Themes relating …

Evaluation Of Green Supercapacitor For Low Pass Rc Filter Implementation, Ramakrishna Kanneganti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The need for use of sustainable and eco-friendly methods and processes in electronics is the need of the hour. The demand for electronics is growing by the day, consequently the use of passive components such as capacitors, resistors, and inductors is ever growing. It is desirable to manufacture and utilize passive components that are easily disposable and are biodegradable. Our research focuses on evaluating PolyMaterials APP’s supercapacitor in RC filter circuits replacing the conventional capacitor. The evaluated supercapacitor is biodegradable and does not use any heavy or contaminating metals. In this work, we have successfully evaluated various green supercapacitor component …

Self-Doubt: Impostor Phenomenon And The Doctoral Seeking School-Based Leader, Rose Apollon-Simon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative narrative inquiry explores the experiences of school-based administrators in K-12 public school settings within the state of Florida who navigate the challenges of Impostor Phenomenon while concurrently pursuing a doctoral degree. The research draws on the personal stories of four participants—three women and one man—who are currently or previously employed as principals or assistant principals. The study focused on how participants manage the psychological tensions coming from their experiences with Impostor Phenomenon or the persistent self-doubt and the fear of being exposed as a fraud. While most Impostor Phenomenon research has concentrated on fields like business, medicine, and …

On The Role Of Prediction In Streaming Hierarchical Learning, Ramy Mounir

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today's world, AI systems need to make sense of large amounts of data as it unfolds in real-time, whether it's a video from surveillance and monitoring cameras, streams of egocentric footage, or sequences in other domains such as text or audio. The ability to break these continuous data streams into meaningful events, discover nested structures, and predict what might happen next at different levels of abstraction is crucial for applications ranging from passive surveillance systems to sensory-motor autonomous learning. However, most existing models rely heavily on large, annotated datasets with fixed data distributions and offline epoch-based training, which makes …

Zooplankton Abundance, Composition, And Diversity And Associated Environmental Factors Across The Gulf Of Mexico And Along The Northwestern Coast Of Cuba, Shaniqua J. Gladney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My research focused on characterizing the zooplankton community of two regions in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) along two transects, one across the middle of the GOM from Tuxpan, Mexico, to St. Petersburg, FL, and one along the northwestern coast of Cuba. Zooplankton bongo samples and associated environmental and physical processes were examined. These data were collected during two Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of Gulf Ecosystems (C-IMAGE) expeditions aboard the R/V Weatherbird II, during September 2015 (GOM) and May 2017 (Cuba). A Zooscan imaging system was used to identify and enumerate zooplankton taxa. Then zooplankton abundance, composition, and …

Metropolitan Planning Organization (Mpo) List Of Project Priorities (Lopp) Development Practices In Florida Final Report, Jeff Kramer, Taylor Dinehart, Tia Boyd

Transportation Planning, Policy, and Processes (TP3) Final Reports

This report examines the approaches and collaborative efforts of Florida's Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) districts in developing the List of Project Priorities (LOPP). Utilizing a literature review, surveys from all 27 MPOs and seven FDOT districts and case examples from four MPOs, the study seeks to improve LOPP practices. The survey findings reveal varied methodologies across MPOs in structuring LOPPs, with effective communication and coordination between MPOs, FDOT, and local governments identified as key factors for success. However, challenges such as funding constraints, political pressures, and procedural inefficiencies were also noted. Case studies highlighted …

Enhancing Post Silicon Visibility Using Language Modelling Techniques, Nathaniel Joseph Fender

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The debugging phase is a critical time in the development of a new system on chip product. Specifically, the post-silicon validation phase is one of the most important, as it allows engineers to test the behavior of a device in a real world setting. However, the issue of noisy or incomplete data is a frequent issue when attempting to debug an SoC design during this step. This thesis examines the utility of utilizing machine learning models for the purpose of repairing missing data in a system trace. We trained various models using the transformer architecture to identify missing data in …

Predicting Human Chess Moves With Large Language Models, Benjamin Kreiger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As artificial intelligence (AI) surpasses human performance in more tasks, the interest in leveraging and collaborating with this technology for greater productivity continues to grow. However, the black-box nature of current AI can make it difficult to interpret and unsuitable to perform tasks that are more complex and require human intuition. This has led to the pursuit of AI systems that can model individual behavior. Chess offers an ideal environment to explore this task due to its complexity, structure, and the abundance of data containing unique human decision-making examples. Given that a chess game can be fully represented with text, …

Patient Reported Outcomes Amidst Isolated And Concomitant Chronic Cardiopulmonary Illnesses, Walter B. Wills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the prevalence of many chronic cardiopulmonary illnesses are expected to rise within the United States through 2030, there is a growing emphasis on investigating the patient-reported outcomes relevant to the morbidity and social burden of these diseases. Thus, the overall aim of this dissertation is to examine these outcomes among those that live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular diseases (namely, heart failure). Specifically, the works in this dissertation aimed to compare how individuals report their health-related quality of life when living with and without cardiovascular disease across the spectrum of airflow limitation demonstrated within chronic obstructive pulmonary …

Side-Channel Analysis Platform For A Hardware Implementation Of Fips 203 (Crystals-Kyber), Mohamed Mossad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2024, NIST selected the Post-Quantum Cryptography algorithm CRYSTALS-Kyber for standardization as a public-key encryption, key establishment scheme. CRYSTALS-Kyber was standardized under the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), specifically FIPS 203. FIPS standards represent a set of guidelines, developed by NIST, for secure data handling in federal information systems, mandating cryptographic algorithms that protect sensitive information. This highlights the importance of identifying potential vulnerabilities in the algorithm and assessing how CRYSTALS-Kyber implementations react to hardware side channel attacks. Previous research identified several vulnerabilities in implementations of CRYSTALS-Kyber in software, which were addressed in subsequent releases. This thesis focuses on expanding …

The Collapse And Revival Of The Teacher Soul- A Study Of Resilience In Experienced Elementary Teachers, Joadie Durfee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sustaining talented teachers has become a challenging worldwide pursuit. Even the most successful teachers are exiting the profession at alarming rates (Clandinin et al., 2012; Mason & Matas, 2015). Although seemingly all teachers experience highly stressful factors in the workplace, some remain and continue to thrive as they inspire and help countless students through their educational pursuits. To better understand this contrast and promote quality teachers to remain in the profession to retirement, I conducted a qualitative study of three passionate, experienced, highly effective teachers who have considered leaving the profession but ultimately decided to stay. Using interview and artifact …

Vulnerability Discovery On Broadcom Devices With Qemu, Christian Shane Douglas Little

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

System-on-chip (SoC) devices in the form of routers, access points, and smart appliances have become an increasingly prevalent aspect of our infrastructure. Performing vulnerability research on these devices may be exceptionally difficult given the on-hardware limitations, inability to guarantee certain aspects of the system, and lack of information when the appliance’s source code is not available.In this thesis, we present Broadfeather, a QEMU-based emulation target, and framework for dynamic analysis and instrumentation. While Broadfeather supports data types shared across many chips under the Broadcom umbrella, it is primarily geared towards the BCM6755 Wi-Fi 6E capable chipset. Broadfeather also features the …

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Aggregate Formation In The Cystic Fibrosis Airway, Alexa D. Gannon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial aggregates are observed in both natural and artificial environments. In the context of disease, aggregates have been isolated from both chronic and acute infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) aggregates contribute significantly to chronic infections, particularly in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Unlike the large biofilm structures observed in vitro, Pa in CF sputum forms smaller aggregates (~10-1000 cells), and the mechanisms behind their formation remain underexplored. This study aims to identify genes essential and unique to Pa aggregate formation in a synthetic CF sputum media (SCFM2). We cultured Pa strain PAO1 in SCFM2 and LB, both with …

Chikungunya Pathogenesis In Cardiac Tissues And Its Evaluation In Stem Cell Derived Cardiac Models, Elizabeth M. Traverse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) is a single stranded RNA alphavirus primarily vectored by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos. CHIKV has circulated in tropical and sub-tropical regions of Africa and Asia, but outbreaks in the past two decades have seen the virus spread to Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. Disease from CHIKV infection typically results in fever, malaise, and sometimes debilitating arthralgia. However, there are concerning abnormal presentations that affect the human heart, including myocarditis, heart failure, and death. These symptoms are seen in all age groups and sexes and are not connected to particular strains or mutations in the …