Digital Commons Network^™

Career Readiness Competencies Among First-Generation Undecided Students And Their Parents In The United States, Nicole M. Kotlan, Evan W. Faidley

Journal of Global Education and Research

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between first-generation status and the value of career readiness competencies of first-generation undecided students (n = 106) and their parents (n = 178), explored through social cognitive career theory and Bourdieu’s theory of habitus and social and cultural capital. A non-experimental design using a non-random sample revealed, through an independent t-test, statistically significant differences in global/intercultural competency among students based on their first-generation status. The results of a multiple linear regression analysis suggest that parents’ values are associated with students’ values and professionalism/work ethic; however, no relationship was …

A Secret Society Of Readers: College-Age Mentors’ Literacy Experiences With Young Adolescent Mentees, Lindsay Persohn, Dulcey B. Hunter, Chelsea Rivera, Karyn Z. Mendez, Cheryl R. Ellerbrock, Lucy Monette

Journal of Global Education and Research

This study occurred within Year One and Year Two of an ongoing literacy initiative designed to build reader identities among underserved middle school students. Using a near-peer mentoring model, mentees were paired with college-student mentors to interact weekly around books and reading. Reader interests and identities are influenced by affective and relational approaches through mentored reading experiences and a variety of texts. This qualitative case study (n = 11 of 24 Year One and n = 13 of 37 Year Two mentors) aimed to identify the ways mentor/mentee relationships affect reader interests, attitudes, and skills, and to evaluate the …

Shepherding In France: The Ambiguities Of Caring For Nonhuman Animals In The Roya Valley, France, Daina Pupkevičiūtė

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

F

For over half a century, wolves in France were extinct. In the absence of predators, the shepherds became accustomed to leaving the sheep roaming freely in the mountains in relative safety. However, at the end of the 1980s, wolves returned, resulting in many victims, conflicts, and a stark division between those either for or against the wolf or otherwise sometimes framed as those against or for the survival of the mountain pastoralism tradition. This text looks at the caring relationships humans, such as shepherds, villagers, and others, have towards sheep, wolves, and the landscape in the Roya Valley in …

Crow's Nest, November 16, 2025, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The November 16, 2025 issue of Crow's Nest.

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 …

“For Haitian Culture, Being Older [Is] A Blessing”: Perceptions Of Aging, Elderhood, And Dementia In A Haitian Born Sample, Melissa K. Eustache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how first-generation Haitian immigrants in the United States understand and interpret dementia within the intersecting contexts of culture, migration, and biomedicine. While dementia is constructed as a pathological “loss of self” and a public health epidemic, in American biomedical and popular discourse, this study examines how Haitian-born individuals—socialized within a non-Western cultural and spiritual framework—make sense of cognitive decline and impairment in ways that diverge from Western biomedical narratives. Guided by theoretical orientations from medical anthropology, including Mark Nichter’s idioms of distress, Margaret Lock’s local biologies, and neuroanthropology, this research explores how cultural models of illness, aging, …

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 …

Ontario Bird Records Committee Report For 2023, N. Anthony Kaduck, Nicole M. Richardson, Alvan D. Buckley, Amanda C. Guercio, Kiah R. Jasper, Dan J. Macneal, Michelle A. Martin, David E. Szmyr

Ontario Birds

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Ontario Field Ornithologists

Ontario Birds

No abstract provided.

Distinguished Ornithologist 2023: Bruce Di Labio, Tom Hince

Ontario Birds

No abstract provided.

Is The Double-Crested Cormorant A Likely Disperser Of The Japanese Chaff-Flower To The Lake Erie Islands, Ontario?, Ronald I. Orenstein

Ontario Birds

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Harry G. Lumsden, Kenneth F. Abraham

Ontario Birds

No abstract provided.

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 …

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, …

Breeding Ecology And Incubation Behaviours Of Little Tern Sternula Albifrons In The Sabkhat Al-Fasl Lagoons, Saudi Arabia, Monif Alrashidi

Marine Ornithology

Aspects of the breeding ecology and behaviour of the Little Tern Sternula albifrons were studied in the Sabkhat Al-Fasl Lagoons, Saudi Arabia, a region characterized by extreme temperature fluctuations. Ground temperatures in the area can range from 50 °C during the day to 25 °C at night. Observations of 147 nests revealed that Little Terns prefer to nest in exposed sites with no vegetation cover. The distance from nests to the nearest bushes ranged from 11-17 m (median = 13 m), while the distance to water ranged from 2-10 m (median = 4 m). Using a small trail camera, adult …

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 …

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 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 …

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 …

Middle School Counselors' Perceptions Of Meeting Career Counseling Needs Of Middle School Students, Mario Oscar Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined middle school counselors' perceptions of their effectiveness in delivering career counseling to students. Middle school is a pivotal time for career exploration and planning, yet disparities in guidance persist, particularly for students not on a traditional college pathway. Guided by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model, this study employed a survey method. An online survey developed by the researcher assessed counselors' time allocation across academic, career, social-emotional, and duties unrelated to their essential school counseling roles. Additionally, the survey inquired about counselors’ perceived effectiveness in meeting the career needs of diverse student populations (advanced academic, …

Literacies Of Resistance: How Florida Teachers Story Policy Navigation And Response, Katharine E. Hull

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are inundated with education legislation and the policy texts and discourses that surround them. Over nine months beginning in March 2024, I collaborated with three Florida P-12 teachers to explore their literacy practices and stories as they engaged with policy in a state that has recently passed an astounding amount of education legislation. This study explored how (1) teachers story the current policy context and their roles within it; (2) teachers use literacy practices to understand and respond to P/policies that impact their labor/working lives; and (3) teachers’ literate identities, agency, and collectivity intersect and shape one another. Guided …

A Multi-Faceted Study Of Antibiotic-Resistant, Opportunistic Pathogens In Wastewater And Environmental Water, Jeanette Calarco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More than 2.8 million infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria occur annually in the United States, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. Domestic wastewater (sewage), which contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes, is collected at treatment plants for removal of contaminants, e.g. pathogenic microorganisms and nutrients. While wastewater treatment is designed to remove antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other microorganisms through treatment and disinfection, some bacteria may escape treatment. Treated wastewater effluent is generally discharged into surface waters; however, some fraction of the effluent may be used as recycled water. Compromised wastewater collection infrastructure and sewage spills can disseminate …

The Barriers And Facilitators Of Maternal Influenza Vaccination, Rashida Karida Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Influenza remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, with Black individuals disproportionately affected. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable due to their modulated immune state, placing them at increased risk of complications, hospitalization, and intensive care admission. Despite strong evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of maternal seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV), uptake remains suboptimal. This study employed a multi-method design to identify barriers and facilitators of maternal SIV uptake, with a particular focus on racial disparities.

Quantitative analyses utilized the Florida Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (FL PRAMS) dataset from the years 2018–2022. In the fully …

Enhancing Nitrogen Removal In High Permeability Bioretention Media: The Combined Role Of Biochar, Wood Chips And Hydraulic Design, Joshelyn Guimaray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urban stormwater runoff can transport high nutrient loads to receiving waters, leading toeutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and the formation of hypoxic zones. Bioretention systems are a form of green infrastructure designed to mitigate these impacts, but their application in dense, ultra-urban environments is often limited by large land area requirements. This has led to the adoption of high permeability media (HPM) to accommodate higher hydraulic loading rates (HLRs) and reduce the system footprint. However, conventional HPM systems often show inconsistent removal of dissolved nitrogen species due to short hydraulic retention times (HRTs), a lack of organic carbon, and insufficient anoxic …

Crow's Nest, November 3, 2025, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The November 3, 2025 issue of Crow's Nest.

The American Friends Of Irish Neutrality And The American Irish Defense Association: The Last Irish American Committees, Patrick J. Horan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the complex narratives surrounding Irish neutrality during World War II within the Irish American community. It focuses on two key organizations, the American Friends of Irish Neutrality (AFIN) and the American Irish Defense Association (AIDA), arguing that the conflict over neutrality was a pivotal moment in the assimilation of Irish American identity. The study explores how Irish Americans balanced their connection to their ancestral homeland with their desire for full acceptance in the United States.

The research reveals a fervent propaganda war between the AFIN, a grassroots organization defending Ireland’s right to remain neutral, and the AIDA, …

Proceedings Of The Global Conference On Business And Economics, Bhuvan Unhelkar, Valentina Della Corte, Cihan Cobanoglu, Mehmet Erdem

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This is the third volume of the Global Conference on Business and Economics Proceedings Series. This volume also includes papers presented at the Global Conference on Technology & AI in Hospitality and Tourism.

Exploring The Experiences Of Three Saudi Mothers Returning To Saudi With Their Bilingual Children, Fatimah H. Almuthibi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative interview study explored the experiences of three Saudi mothers who returned to Saudi Arabia with their bilingual children after living with their children in English-speaking countries for educational and academic purposes. Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory is the theory that served as the guiding framework for the study, shaping the direction of the study and informing both the analysis and discussion of the data. The purpose of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of this unique phenomenon and to address a gap in the existing literature since there are very few studies that focus on the post-return experience …

Disrupting Latina/X Media Representations: A Performance Art Installation Informed By Autoethnographic And Embodied Explorations, Sandra Cristina Roa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I use autoethnography and performance methods to create a performance art installation that examines and re-imagines the role of media representations in shaping how I as a Latina actively negotiates belonging and identifies this concept as always in a processes requiring negotiation. I argue belonging is influenced by how I see myself or don’t see myself in media representation and offer the counter-narrative as a way of asserting agency and disrupting marginalization. In this project, I tend to the tensions felt between being a community member, media maker, and qualitative researcher in order to disrupt media messages. …