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Societal Polyphony In Burney And Austen: Using Digital Tools To Invite Students Into The Conversation, Bethany Williamson

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

How can we invite our students to experience the social wit and wisdom of the eighteenth-century novel, on an interactive level? Addressing challenges faced by those who teach eighteenth-century novels in General Education surveys or seminar classes, this essay offers two lesson plans--easily adapted for different texts and courses--that use digital technology to engage students' imaginations and cultivate skills of reading comprehension and interpretation. The first, "Evelina Tweet Fest," invites students to participate in a collaborative conversation on a simulated Twitter platform, translating the literary polyphony of Frances Burney's epistolary novel into the language of our own, status-conscious milieu. …

Knowledge Networks: Contested Geographies In The History Of Mary Prince, Leah M. Thomas

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

The History of Mary Prince, a West-Indian Slave, Related by Herself (1831) is the first published woman’s slave narrative. In her History, Prince describes horrendous physical violence to which she and other enslaved peoples of African descent are subjected as well as the corresponding psychological and sexual abuse they endure. While Prince “speaks” the sexual abuse to some extent, how she knows what she knows goes unspoken. She expresses her knowledge of reading and writing and, at times, of the law, but she does not explain how she obtains this knowledge or knows what she knows. Her optimism to …

Learn Model Of Career Trajectories: Application To The Stem Postdoctoral Scholar, Audrey J. Jaeger, Karen J. Haley, Tara D. Hudson

Journal of Global Education and Research

Postdoctoral scholars constitute a sizeable population within the academic workforce. Given the intended role of a postdoc position as a time of advanced training and professional development for a future academic career, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, it is important to understand whether and how well the career-related needs of postdocs are being met. The purpose of this research was to understand STEM postdoctoral scholars’ career trajectories, with particular attention to the influences on their career-related decision making, by applying the Life Experiences and Role Negotiations (LEARN) model to qualitative data from interviews with 19 STEM …

Influences Of Reasoning And Achievement Motivation On Complex Problem Solving In A New Microworld Operationalization, Stephan Bartholdy, Ulrike Kipman

Journal of Global Education and Research

Complex Problem Solving (CPS) can be defined as those psychological processes that enable a person to achieve goals under complex conditions, which are characterized by their complexity, connectivity, dynamics, lack of transparency, and polytely. Although many hypothesized influences have previously been tested concerning their relevance for the process of solving complex problems (e.g., general intelligence), results were often found to be rather heterogeneous. As this was found to be partially caused by fundamental differences between measurements of CPS, a new operationalization was used in the present study: Following the Microworld approach, CPS was assessed in the simulation game Cities: Skylines …

Ethics In Academic Research And Scholarship: An Elucidation Of The Principles And Applications, Olajide O. Agunloye

Journal of Global Education and Research

Responsible, respectable, and successful engagement in research and scholarship in academia requires adherence to certain basic professional ethical principles to sustain the fidelity of academic work and the integrity of the researcher-scholar. This is more so for works which are intended for dissemination, information, attention, and consumption of audiences beyond the researcher-scholar’s proximal academic habitat. Ethical principles in research and scholarship apply whether the intended work, to be made public, is a conceptual scholarly narrative of ideas and thoughts or a narration of actual scientific-process-based research. This paper explores some of the key ethical principles in research and scholarship, their …

Responding To Racial Incivility In Classrooms: Hospitality And Responsibility, Nathalie Piquemal, Dave Misir, Rebeca Heringer

Journal of Global Education and Research

This paper considers the relationship between education and hospitality in the specific context of moments of incivility in classrooms, with special attention to racial/white resentment. The authors reflect on the extent to which nurturing intellectual candor with interpretive charity (Callan, 2011) can be extended to incivility shaped by white resentment. They contend there is a need to approach hospitality as responsibility (Levinas, 1969, thereby suggesting conditions for student agency. The relationship between the educator as host and giver of hospitality and the students as guests and respondents is discussed (Ruitenberg, 2011b). The paper argues the role of the teacher is …

Influence Of Alumni Affinity Groups On Alumni Engagement And Alumni Giving, Gary R. Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A student’s college experience lasts only a finite amount of time, but their role as alumni lasts for a lifetime. Alumni play an important role in higher education. The future financial success of a college or university is largely based on involvement and financial support by the school’s alumni. The purpose of this research was to learn about the role alumni affinity groups play in engaging alumni with the school and if they have the ability to impact alumni giving.

The dissertation data was collected using a qualitative methods research approach. Alumni data was gathered from two public universities from …

Cancer-Related Risk Behaviors And Screening Intention Among Recreational Sport Athletes, Aldenise P. Ewing

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The recreational sports arena provides a venue for young adults to increase physical activity and engage in a socially supportive environment. These are both important ways to decrease the risk for chronic diseases. It is assumed that physically active individuals lead healthier lifestyles and are more attuned to their long-term health needs. Recreational sport athletes also engage in risks for adverse cancer outcomes through increased sun exposure, intake of unhealthy diets, and recreational tobacco and alcohol use. It was of interest to assess cancer-related risk factors, cancer knowledge, and theory of planned behavior constructs in this group.

This study involved …

Chemical Tools And Treatments For Neurological Disorders And Infectious Diseases, Andrea Lemus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neurological disorders have multiple etiologies such as genetics and age. Stress related disorders are becoming more common and diagnosed more often. Mental health disorders are no longer being treated as purely psychological. Mechanisms into the underlying factors of these disorders continue to bring this area to new frontiers. Chapter 2 of this dissertation focuses on the efforts made to prove the association of the protein FKBP51 to the stress response. We synthesized and used a molecular tool to discover and prove these interactions.

The study of neurodegenerative diseases is of continued importance as the world reaches record numbers of an …

Risky Times And Spaces: Settler Colonialism And Multiplying Genocide Prevention Through A Virtual Indian Residential School, Andrew Woolford, Adam Muller, Struan Sinclair

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

In this article, we examine how the logic of genocide prevention aligns with a settler colonial logic of elimination. We examine how the exclusion of cultural techniques of destruction from consideration contributes to the logic of elimination, and we suggest this is, in part, a structural problem built into the logic of genocide prevention. Along these lines, we interrogate linear and molar approaches to genocide prevention and propose, in addition to existing macro-level strategies, a molecular, everyday ethos of genocide prevention that is attuned to genocidal intimacies and seeks to foster anti-genocide habits and practices. In so doing, we argue …

A Method To Analyze Similarities Of Eye Movements: A Giscience Based Spatiotemporal Approach, Mehrdad Vaziri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Similarity analysis is the subject of several studies that primarily collect, process, and analyze movement data of various types, including animals, humans, vehicles, hurricanes, and eye tracking. The movement studies often focus on characteristics of a mobile entity (moving object) over time and space. Such studies usually are interested in tracking the changes to the moving object. Therefore, the size of the object becomes irrelevant. Each mobile object is considered a moving point through time and space. The points have all two attributes in common which are locations and timestamp of those locations. Despite the similarities between the movement datasets, …

Identifying Employees Who Fit With Electronic Communication Styles, Britany Telford Mills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electronic communication is no longer solely used by globally dispersed work teams. It is an integral part of today’s organizations whether they include remote workers or not. Therefore, it is important to understand how employees perceive electronic communication from their supervisor and the impact that perception has on the worker. Researchers have been adamant in the assertion that relationship-oriented communicated is better conducted face-to-face. The current study seeks to add to the existing body of research by (1) examining how the proportion of relationship-oriented communication that is electronic affects both subordinate perceptions of communication openness and subordinate job satisfaction, and …

Game-Based Science Education: Effect Of Aesthetics On Learning And Motivational Outcomes, Lucille Moon-Michel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of how aesthetic qualities of games affect student learning and motivational outcomes is an area in need of research in the instructional design field. Existing research in this realm is either lacking or does not provide comprehensive criteria for assessing its effectiveness on student outcomes. The purpose of this dissertation was to address this gap in literature by producing two articles based on a systematic literature review and a game-based learning quasi-experiment.

In Chapter Two, the systematic literature review gathered 44 studies published within the last decade to find trends in game design, visual game attributes, and research …

Teachers And Administrators Explain How And Why Teachers Change Instructional Methods In A Pre-K Through Eight Catholic School, Judith A. Deeley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative exploratory study explored how and why teachers at four small Catholic schools in the state of Florida transformed by changing instructional methods to offer full integration of science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and mathematics (STREAM) approaches into learning experiences for grades pre-k through eight. There was a time up until the early 2000s that Catholic school enrollment was at capacity and did not require differentiation based upon unique student learning needs. However, students of current times reflect a higher need for educational approaches that are both differentiated and engaging.

“Teachers are required to teach more content and subjects …

Perceived Discrimination And Cardiovascular Outcomes In Blacks: A Secondary Data Analysis Of The Heart Score Study, Marilyn Aluoch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the consistent reduction in morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the last four decades, CVD remains the leading cause of death globally. In the United States, Blacks are disproportionately affected by CVD compared to Whites. Blacks are also more likely to report incidence of perceived discrimination. Perceived discrimination has been linked to cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, hypertension (HTN), hyperlipidemia, and obesity. However, the relationship between perceived discrimination and cardiovascular outcomes such as stroke, myocardial infarction, acute ischemic syndrome, coronary revascularization, and cardiac death remains unclear. The primary goal of this study was to examine …

Relationship Between Membership In Honors College And Participation In High-Impact Activities And Perceived Gains, Clara H. Ohannes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigated the relationship between membership in the Honors College and senior-level students’ self-reported involvement in high-impact educational activities and their perceived gains from their college experience. This quantitative study analyzed secondary data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) collected from senior-level students in Spring 2017 at a large, four-year, public research institution in the southeast United States.

A logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationships between the involvement in high-impact educational activities and Honors College membership. The relationship between Honors College membership and several high-impact activities were found to be significant (p<.05), which included participation in a leadership role, study abroad, research with faculty and a senior capstone experience. Since membership in Honors was found to significantly contribute to participation in four out of the six high-impact practices listed in NSSE, it could be said that generally, at the particular institution in this study, Honors students are more likely than Non-Honors students to participate in high-impact learning activities.

Then, …

Student Attitudes And Behaviors Regarding Academic Dishonesty, Kelly A. Pearson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigated the relationship between students’ attitudes toward academic dishonesty and their self-reported cheating behaviors. Additionally, the study investigated the potential differences between gender and the academic variables class level and cumulative GPA and both students’ attitudes toward academic dishonesty and their self-reported cheating behaviors. This quantitative study analyzed secondary data from a Spring 2014 administration of the Academic Integrity Student Survey (AISS) to examine the attitudes and behaviors of undergraduate level students (N = 574) at a large, four-year, public, research intensive institution in West-Central Florida.

Results indicated a statistically significant correlation between students’ attitudes toward academic …

Promoting Healthy Sleep Practices Among Parents Of Young Children: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial, Kristin Lynn Edwards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the most significant and underrecognized public health concerns in young children is related to the consequences of inadequate sleep. Inadequate sleep may result in problems related to behavioral regulation, executive functioning, and academic performance. ‘Sleep hygiene’, a term that describes consistent daytime and nighttime practices that promote healthy sleep, has been found to significantly increase sleep duration and improve sleep quality in the pediatric population. Researchers have found that many parents have a poor understanding of sleep hygiene. The purpose of this study was to determine if an educational intervention increased parental knowledge and practices of sleep hygiene …

Educators' Perceptions Of Students' Academic And Social Growth In A Collegiate High School Program., John Matthew Legg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine educators’ perceptions of high school students’ academic and social growth in a collegiate college program. Collegiate high school programs afford opportunities to minorities and the economically disadvantaged, as well as first-generation college students (Aviles-Reyes, 2007). This research used a qualitative case study framework to collect information about educators’ perceptions of the academic and social integration of students in a collegiate college program. Data were collected in phases—educator focus group interviews and individual interviews—and subsequently coded and reviewed using thematic comparative analysis. The guiding question was as follows: What are educators’ perceptions of …

Understanding Employee Engagement: An Examination Of Millennial Employees And Perceived Human Resource Management Practices, Danielle J. Clark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Actively disengaged employees cost the United States an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity per year. When employees are engaged, organizations experience less turnover, fewer safety incidents, and increased profitability. An important employee segment is Millennials, who are predicted to comprise as much as 75% of the workforce by 2025.

This three-article dissertation examines employee engagement, focusing on how Millennials experience employee engagement and the impact of perceived human resource management (HRM) practices on employee engagement. The first article is a generational workplace engagement paper focused on Millennials. It introduces a variety of academic and practitioner information …

Book-Sharing As A Context For Fathers And Mothers To Enhance Language Development Of Their Preschool Children, Yagmur Seven

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poor reading levels is a pervasive problem in the US. For example, two of every three eigth grade students in the US are estimated to demonstrate insufficient reading comprehension skills. Early use of decontextualized language, in which the language expressed is removed from the here and now, serves as a precursor of academic language proficiency. Starting as early as the third year of life, decontextualized language is less likely to be practiced in lower socio-economic status (SES) households. Although storybooks offer a rich context for practicing the language with young children, reading storybooks alone is not adequate to promote conversational …

Life After Graduation: Current Seniors' Perceptions Of Alumni Engagement And Their Expectations Of The Institution Once They Graduate, Jessica Burns Fugate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alumni participation in the life of an institution is more important now than ever before as state and federal funding continue to shrink and alumni are called on for financial support and to serve as resources for current students. Institutional leaders are hard-pressed to bring in external revenue to bridge the gap as budgets shrink to successfully balance operational costs (Barr & McClellan, 2011), which is done mostly through fundraising efforts targeted toward parents of students, alumni and often current students before they graduate to establish a culture of philanthropy. This need for external revenue increases the necessity for engaged …

Health-Promoting Behaviors And Subjective Well-Being Among High School Students, Nicholas David W. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In positive psychology, a greater emphasis is placed on the presence of indicators of both physical and mental health. This study examined the relationship between 12 health-promoting behaviors and subjective well-being (SWB; e.g., happiness) in a sample of 450 high school aged youth from five high schools in two states. Participants reported on their dietary habits, physical activity, abstinence from tobacco products, abstinence from alcohol, and sleep hygiene (i.e., 8 unique components) as well as a multidimensional assessment of SWB (i.e., life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). It was hypothesized that increased engagement in each of the health-promoting behaviors …

Playing Darts In The Dark: How Are Chamber Of Commerce Leaders Aligned For Greater Effectiveness?, Robert J. Rohrlack Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper researched what the United States chamber of commerce paid Executives and the volunteer Chairpersons identified as the factors influencing their chamber for effectiveness. There has been little research on chambers of commerce in the U.S. This study adds to the small amount of research available, working to establish baseline information for research to continue this ubiquitous industry. We conducted 24 interviews, 12 paid Executives, and 12 volunteer Chairpersons at chambers of commerce in 11 states. They were asked to identify factors that make their chamber more effective or inhibit their chamber from being effective. The interviews were coded, …

A Comparison Of Different Modeling Techniques To Establish Token Reinforcers In Classroom Settings, Spencer B. Gauert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has supported the use of reinforcer-based methods in school settings. Video based modeling methods for establishing conditioned reinforcers without the need for explicit pairing with primary reinforcers can help to extend the use of these resources into new contexts. The use of video based conditioning has potential applications in school settings to increase academic skills without the use of more costly-to-implement reinforcer systems. However, conditioning of this kind might be restricted by the need to individually condition stimuli with different participants. The current study evaluated effects of video based conditioning on relative rate of sight word reading across …

Least Of My Worries: Food Security, Diet Quality, And Antiretroviral Adherence Among People Living With Hiv, Charlotte Ann Noble

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More than forty years into the epidemic, HIV continues to impact the health and well-being of millions of people – nearly 37 million across the globe and in excess of 1 million in the U.S. – more than 44% of which live in the Southern United States. HIV continues to disproportionally affect marginalized populations, and vast amounts of money, time, and effort have been spent to understand how to slow the rate of new infections and improve health outcomes for People Living with HIV (PLWH). This study aims to understand the experience of living with and managing HIV while on …

Using Critical Race Theory To Examine Race And Racism In Social Work Education, Ebony Nicole Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Race and racism have proven to be a core concept of U.S. society that impacts People of Color through a set of challenges which have created and maintained enduring racial disparities and inequities. The social work profession has a time-honored commitment to working with and advocating historically marginalized populations. Social workers work with individuals, groups, and communities to help assess needs, strengths, support networks, respond to crisis situations, and advocate for social justice. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the experiences of undergraduate social work educators (BSWEs) who teach to encourage the development of students’ knowledge, …

“We Can Learn Some Things From Them, But They Can Learn Some Things From Us Too”: Intergenerational Perceptions Of Shared Infant Feeding Information, Alexis L. Woods Barr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breastfeeding is associated with unparalleled benefits for infants, mothers, families and society. In light of the breastfeeding disparities and health disparities experienced by the African American community, their women and children stand to gain the most from breastfeeding practices compared to other first-food feeding methods. Moreover, African American mothers are constantly exposed to messages, images, and stereotypes about motherhood (from multiple channels of communication) which influences their infant feeding practices. Many of these exposures send mixed messages and tend to be cultural contradictions of Black motherhood. What complicates this issue is the shortage of research that investigates the intergenerational infant …

Exploration Of Gratitude In Cardiovascular Health: Mediators, Medication Adherence And Psychometrics, Lakeshia A. Cousin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the effect of gratitude on cardiovascular health outcomes using mediators, medication adherence, and psychometrics. The specific aims were to (1) establish the state of the science for gratitude and cardiovascular health outcomes via a state-of-the-science literature review, (2) explore mediators affecting gratitude and medication adherence using a structural equation model in patients with cardiovascular disease, and (3) analyze the psychometric properties of the Gratitude Questionnaire-6, a self-report questionnaire designed to assess individual differences to express dispositional gratitude, to provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the instrument in African Americans at …

Taking An “Ecological Turn” In The Evaluation Of Rhetorical Interventions, Peter Cannon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to develop a new method for the evaluation and assessment of therapeutic libraries in a health ecology. To do so, I employ a modified version of Lloyd Bitzer’s rhetorical situation as a methodological tool for the investigation of health ecologies by applying an ecological analysis to an alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment center in Tampa, Florida. By modifying Bitzer’s rhetorical situation schema and expanding the concept of health ecologies, I develop several innovations useful for tracing the impact of actants and rhetorical events specific to health and medicine. A major focus of this dissertation is a …