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Exploring Engagement And Persistence Through The Lens Of Student Experiences In A Sonography Program, Josephine Elizabeth Peck

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The juxtaposition of the increased current and future demand for Diagnostic Medical Sonographers and high attrition rates in many sonography programs emphasizes the need for colleges to do more to educate and train sonography practitioners who are prepared to enter the healthcare workforce. Additionally, a gap exists in understanding student engagement and persistence in Sonography programs. By filling this gap, pertinent answers about student success or lack thereof in these Sonography programs can be addressed.

This basic qualitative study aims to explore student engagement and persistence through the prism of their experiences in AS(DMS) programs at four-year state colleges in …

Statistical Models Of Traffic Injury Severities: The Effects Of Driver Nationality And The Time-Of-Day On Pedestrian Injuries, Asim Alogaili

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Roadway accidents have long been a major cause of casualties among all roadway users including drivers and pedestrians. Researchers have used various advanced methodologies to precisely identify affecting factors to help policy makers implement safety measures that effectively mitigate such losses. For a variety of reasons such factors, especially those related to roadway users, are subject to constant changes over time. This work investigates, in depth, the effect of multiple variables on the injury severity levels of both drivers and pedestrians using the most recent and advanced methodological approaches.

First, the dissertation starts by investigating factors that significantly contribute to …

Minecraft In Language Teacher Education: Acceptance And Integration In Practice, Kristen E. Fung

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today’s technological era, understanding if and how teachers’ acceptance and integration of technology evolves is critical to understanding their needs. Technology creates complicated demands on educators and research shows various factors may contribute to their limited success at integrating it (Bustos & Nussbaum, 2009). Research also shows that teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards pedagogical innovations and information and communication technologies are prominent factors that impact adoption and integration (Tejedor & Muñoz-Repiso, 2006), and the perceptions teachers develop as pre-service teachers influence their classroom performance as in-service teachers (Moon et al., 2016). While research shows plentiful evidence of the educational …

Towards More Task-Generalized And Explainable Ai Through Psychometrics, Alec Braynen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this work, we propose that adopting the methods, principles, and guidelines of the field of psychometrics can help the Artificial Intelligence (AI) community to build more task-generalizable and explainable AI. Three arguments are presented and explored. These arguments are that psychometrics can help by providing 1) a framework for formulating better datasets, 2) psychometric AI data that can lead to models of generalization in AI, and 3) explainable AI through more informative evaluations.

A review of psychometrics and psychological generalization is performed, along with an overview of evaluation, generalization, and explainability in AI. Various ideas are presented throughout for …

Generative Spatio-Temporal And Multimodal Analysis Of Neonatal Pain, Md Sirajus Salekin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neonates can not express their pain like an adult person. Due to the lacking of proper muscle growth and inability to express non-verbally, it is difficult to understand their emotional status. In addition, if the neonates are under any treatment or left monitored after any major surgeries (post-operative), it is more difficult to understand their pain due to the side effect of medications and the caring system (i.e. intubated, masked face, covered body with blanket, etc.). In a clinical environment, usually, bedside nurses routinely observe the neonate and measure the pain status following any standard clinical pain scale. But current …

Integrating Psychopathy Into Prominent Developmental/Life-Course Theories, Eva M. Fontaine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite empirical research identifying psychopathy as one of the most robust predictors of criminal behavior, calls to integrate psychopathy into criminological theory have largely been unrequited. Within criminological theory, the construct of psychopathy has been proposed to best fit in the developmental/life-course (DLC) paradigm. As such, the purpose of this dissertation was to explore the theoretical integration of into psychopathy into three DLC theories: (1) Moffitt’s (1993) Dual Taxonomy, (2) Gottfredson & Hirschi’s (1990) General Theory of Crime, and (3) DeLisi’s (2009) Unified Theory of Crime. In doing so, the three studies in this dissertation employed the Pathways to Desistance …

Beyond Health And Animal Rights: A Study In Black Veganism, Wendy J. Rib

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Veganism, or the avoidance of animal products, has been recognized by nutritionists and food scientists as a lifestyle choice associated with good health and lower prevalence of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and heart disease. However, the choice to eschew all animal products is frequently more than just a diet. Many people practice veganism as part of a larger reformative social movement, seeking permanent change in food structures, advancing policies in animal welfare and transforming their everyday lives in the quest for cultural acceptance. Although the number of people who identify as vegans appears to be growing, it is often assumed that …

Sexual Dysfunction And Sexual Distress In Lymphoma Patients: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study, Dorothie S. Durosier Mertilus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lymphoma, especially non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is among the most common categories of cancer in the United States (National Cancer Institute [NCI], 2019). The survival rate for lymphoma has significantly improved over the last few decades due to advances in therapy. However, despite these advances, lymphoma patients experience many negative consequences of cancer treatment, including sexual dysfunction (NCI, 2021b). The purpose of this mixed methods pilot study was to explore the presence and experiences of sexual dysfunction and related sexual distress in both male and female lymphoma patients during cancer treatment. A concurrent triangulated design was used to: 1) evaluate the …

Longitudinal Associations Among Life Values, Alcohol Use, And Alcohol Abuse Symptoms From Adolescence To Adulthood, Connor Habecker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Investigating life value trends, the pro-social and anti-social characteristics that play a role in decision making, is an understudied field in adolescents. In addressing adolescent alcohol consumption as a public health concern, life values may provide needed background in understanding and influencing adolescent behavior toward pro-social values and away from known risk factors, such as alcohol consumption. By modeling life value trends of adolescents and the associations between each life value and the outcomes of alcohol use and alcohol abuse, there may be primordial level intervention opportunities as opposed to the current, largely ineffective, tertiary level interventions. This thesis utilizes …

Farmers’ Organizations And Development Actors In A Pandemic: Responses To Covid-19 And The Food-Energy-Water Nexus, Atte Penttilä

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of millions, if not billions, in some shape or form. This global multi-sited dissertation documents responses and changes in the agricultural development context within the AgriCord Alliance and network as they had appeared during the pandemic, with a specific focus on co-production of resilience and the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. The research elucidates experiences representing the whole ‘food chain’ of a global agricultural development network. As the Covid-19 pandemic was a global event, it offered an opportunity for global disaster research. During the pandemic, the farmers’ organizations and their members faced economic stress as marketplaces closed …

Ay 2022/2023 Sec Meeting Minutes, 2022-11-02, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Health Effects Of Oil Spills And Dispersal Of Oil Droplets And Zooplankton By Langmuir Cells, Sanjib Gurung

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This Ph.D. dissertation deals with the study of the health effects of crude oil vapors from oil spills, the effect of Langmuir circulation on the dispersion of oil droplets during oil spill events, and the biological significance of Langmuir circulation. The introduction to areas of three major research projects undertaken during my Ph.D. is included in chapter 1 and the relevant literature review is included in chapter 2. The first research project described in chapter 3 involves the quantification of health effects on embryonic Gulf killifish due to exposure to crude oil vapors. The second research project described in chapter …

Community Scholars: A Diversity Pipeline Program To Promote Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion For People With Disabilities, Laura M. Rodríguez López

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation in practice documents the program evaluation of the Community Scholars (CS) program at the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities (FCIC), a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at the University of South Florida (USF). CS is part of a diversity pipeline program that recruits youth with disabilities to engage in paid on-the-job training (OJT) with FCIC. Scholars are community members (youth with disabilities) that are enrolled as FCIC trainees and receive mentoring, development of basic administrative competencies, individualized career coaching, college counseling, and disability policy and self-advocacy training. Through the OJT experience, scholars gain skills that …

Advancing Social Equity And Congestion Relief: Understanding The Travel Needs Of Underserved Populations That Rely On Transportation Network Companies In The San Francisco Bay Area, Susan Shaheen, Kate Gosselin, Jacquelyn Broader, Adam Cohen

Research Reports

Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) enable travelers to order and pay for rides on-demand using an online application that connects them with drivers using their personal vehicles. While these modes present opportunities to increase individual mobility and access, they also can worsen congestion and increase vehicle emissions. Researchers explored factors impacting the willingness to use pooled TNCs and identified strategies/policies that could be employed to reduce congestion from TNC use. Researchers conducted a literature review, interviews with TNC experts, semi-structured interviews with lower-income, non-White TNC users, and small group discussions with lower- income, non-White TNC users. This research resulted in several …

The Effect Of Covid- 19 Pandemic Process On Social Psychology And Nature-Based Therapeutic Activities, Aysun Yalvac, Esmahan Yalcin, Murad A. Kasalak

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Today, many scientists have stated that the use of nature-based products and activities at certain rates together with the healing effect of modern medical techniques during the epidemic that affects the whole world has health-supporting benefits. Based on these views, people's consumption of products obtained from natural resources has increased and the interest in outdoor activities in nature has increased. Due to the positive effects of these activities on mental health, socialization and rehabilitation processes, over time, it became necessary to consider these activities within the scope of therapeutic recreation applied to groups with health restrictions such as the disabled, …

Examining The Impact Of Work-Family Conflict On Organizational Commitment: Study Of Higher Education Sector In Northern Cyprus, Dilem Dana

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This study examined the impact of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) on two forms of organizational commitment, namely affective commitment and continuance commitment on full-time academic staff of two universities in Northern Cyprus. Two main theories have been tested in the current study; one for Organizational commitment and one for Work-Family Conflict Concept. The organizational commitment has been operationalized by the Three Component Model by Meyer and Allen (1991) and work-family conflict concept (WFCC) has been operationalized by the integrative model of Gutek et al. (1991). An addition to that, social identity theory has been used as an …

Predicting Intentions To Continue Using Travel Apps In The Post Covid-19 Crisis, Ahmed C. Bouarar, Smail Mouloudj, Asma Makhlouf, Kamel Mouloudj

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

In the era of information technology and the Internet, travel apps have become a significant element influencing modern travel behavior. However, research in this context remains limited in the tourism literature. This paper aimed to investigate the factors that influence intentions to continue using travel apps in the post-COVID-19 crisis in Algeria. A convenience sample of 380 Algerian tourists was surveyed, and a total of 244 questionnaires were collected over three months. The method used to test the proposed hypotheses empirically was the multiple regression analysis using SPSS 26. Results showed that attitude, perceived behavior control (PBC), degree of satisfaction, …

Possibilities Of Using Neuromarketing Tools In The Hospitality Industry, Serdar Bulbul

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Usage of neurosciences in social sciences has emerged new perspectives and methods for marketing and tourism marketing. Neuro-marketing and Neuro-tourism are some of those concepts. In the hospitality industry, marketing is in a complex state because the decision-making processes of the guests are unpredictable. For this reason, hotel managements are unable to satisfy guest’s requests and demands with traditional methods. Therefore, Neuro-marketing has importance because this new way of marketing has a high chance to replace currently used methods. Usage of Neuro-marketing in the hospitality industry could satisfy the guest requests while generating new marketing perspectives on hotel management. This …

Perceptions Of Workplace Discrimination: A Closer Look, Jeremiah Doaty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research operationalized perceptions of workplace discrimination (PWD) as a multidimensional construct and examined relationships between different types of PWD (subtle, interpersonal, and formal discrimination) and potential antecedent variables. Furthermore, this research investigated whether different types of PWD related to job attitude variables differently across different demographic groups (race, sex, and age). Participants of this study consisted of 1,610 employees from multiple southeastern public universities. Results from this study found that psychological diversity climate had the strongest relationship to the different dimensions of PWD, followed by hostile attribution bias and perceived group dissimilarity. Blacks and Black females reported the most …

African American Males' Perception Of Factors That Contribute To Success In Higher Education, Gary D. Oliver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decades, many studies have concluded that African American students' college completion rate and success lag far behind other students attending college in the United States (The JBHE Foundation, Inc., 2006). More specifically, these studies have confirmed that African American male students' success rates remain disproportionally low compared to other ethnic male groups. Unfortunately, few notable studies identifying African American males achieving higher education or completing their academic pursuits have been presented as part of the Black male student narrative.

This study aimed to understand better the resources and experiences that positively affect African American males who completed …

Assessment And Prevention Of Bacterial Regrowth In Stored Household Water In Eastern Coastal Madagascar, Lauren Judah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As of 2020, diarrheal diseases were the leading cause of death in Madagascar. A major cause of diarrheal illness is contaminated water, and one crucial aspect of preventing contaminated water is safe household storage. Bacterial regrowth between point-of-collection and household storage has been well established in literature. A frequently implicated source of regrowth is the storage container’s biofilm, which is a community of varying bacteria enclosed in a “slimy” extracellular polymeric substance that forms on surfaces in wet environments and anchors bacteria to those surfaces. The overall goal of this thesis was to quantify and control bacterial regrowth in household …

Reviving The Christian Left: A Thematic Analysis Of Progressive Christian Identity In American Politics, Adam Blake Arledge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While Christianity in American politics today is mostly dominated by the voice of the Religious Right, many are unaware that there also exists a significant number of progressive Christians throughout the country. This diverse group, often referred to as the Christian Left, is not as organized or outspoken as conservative Christians and tends to shy away from the restrictive influence of identity labels. However, members all share in common a passion for social justice issues. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the identity of Christian Left individuals through a thematic analysis of interviews. By interrogating participants’ identity …

Communicating Breast Cancer Awareness: Using The Health Belief Model To Develop Mass Communication Themes To Influence Early Detection Behaviors, Srisai Kamakshi Ramya Harika Pucha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer (BC) is the most fatal cancer in India and has affected more than 1.3 million people in the year 2020 alone, making it a national public health priority. The reason for this alarming increase in BC incidences and mortality rates stems from a severe lack of awareness and the absence of targeted interventions. Considering the absence of a national level breast cancer awareness program, the following study sought to understand Indian women’s preconceived notions about the disease and the available screening methods to contribute to future mass communication campaigns in India. The study used a pre-designed interview guide …

Breaking The Glass Ceiling In Higher Education: Latina Administrators Overcoming The Invisible Barriers To Succeed In Medical Schools, Ana J. Bonifacio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, one in four girls attending K-12 is a Latina (Gándara, 2015). However, Latinas only make up 2% of all higher education administrators (Pritchard et al., 2019). Although the Latina population and medical school enrollment have increased in the past three decades, graduation rates have declined while the percentage of Latina administrators has remained stagnant for the past fifteen years. Consequently, this study aimed to examine the experiences of eight successful Latina administrators from various medical schools. A qualitative research study design was used with a narrative inquiry approach to explore the experiences of Latina administrators in …

To Be Or Not To Be: A Tale Of Staphylococcal Gpsb, Lauren R. Hammond

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are two big drivers motivating studies into bacterial cell division. The first is a desire to understand life around us. One of the defining characteristics of life is the ability for a cell to grow and divide, and without in-depth knowledge of this process, we cannot truly understand the complexities that allow for life on this planet. The second motivator is to identify new drug targets in the ongoing fight against antimicrobial resistance. Many infectious organisms have become resistant to commonly used antibiotics, and the bacterial cell division machinery is a largely untapped essential process with many potential therapeutic …

Exploring The Vulnerability Of A Neural Tangent Generalization Attack (Ntga) - Generated Unlearnable Cifar-10 Dataset, Gitte Ost

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays, a massive amount of data is generated and stored on servers and cloudsfrom various applications daily. Preventing these data from unauthorized use often becomes necessary and critical in various real-world applications. Many researchers have studied this crucial problem and developed different methods for this purpose. Among them, Neural Tangent Generalization Attack (NTGA) is one of the most efficient methods to make a dataset unlearnable, which means that the dataset is not learnable by machine learning/deep learning methods. That is, the NTGA-generated dataset is protected against unauthorized use. In this thesis, we explore the vulnerability of an NTGA-generated unlearnable CIFAR-10 …

Utilizing Maternal Investment Strategies Of Sharks To Develop Management Tools To Aid In Shark Conservation, Dennis Deeken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Every generation, breeding females and males repopulate ecosystems with the next generation of offspring. Two models link maternal investments in offspring size and number to natural selection processes. In unstable resource environments, bet-hedging models predict a conservative tradeoff in maternal investments resulting in moderate egg size and clutch size within a given range of sizes for a given species. r/K selection models make predictions on maternal investments across species. In unstable resource environments, r-selected species invest in large broods of small offspring. In stable environments, K-selected species invest in small broods of large offspring. The maternal risk management model predicts …

The Weekly Challenger, October 27, 2022, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The October 27, 2022, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Sports And Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Building A Better Framework For Sustainable Sports Operations, Austin Anahory

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the approach to sustainability of American soccer leagues and provides a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Sustainability and climate change are rising concerns for most industries, especially the sports industry as it will face many immediate and long term impacts. To address these issues, a sustainability analysis was done of each USL Championship team to assess prominence of sustainability topics from their website. To conduct the GHG inventory, the GHG Protocol was followed and resulted in assessing Scope 1, 2, and 3 of the given soccer team. Assumptions were used to estimate missing …

Effect Of Hyperoxia On Cardiac Pathophysiology In Female Guinea Pig Hearts, Chayapatou Chayawatto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hyperoxia is widely implemented in critical care and ICU patients. The administration of a high concentration of inspired oxygen to the lung can unknowingly cause hyperoxia and thereby damaging the lungs and heart due to oxidative stress. Technically, hyperoxia occurs when the patient receives PaO2 > 200 mmHg. Major research focused on hyperoxia-induced lung injury, but nothing is known on its effect on heart. Our lab is the pioneer in understanding the effect of hyperoxia on cardiovascular remodeling using mice model. Previous results show that mice under 72 hours of hyperoxia present severe cardiac pathophysiology. This research uses Guinea pigs, which …