Digital Commons Network^™

Financial Incentives To Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled, Carlos A. Del Valle-González, Alberto M. Figueroa-Medina, Didier M. Valdés-Díaz, Daniel Rodríguez-Román, Juan Martínez

Research Reports

The willingness-to-accept monetary incentives to promote the use of transit and micromobility options was estimated for Puerto Rico. The analysis of a community survey showed that the decision to use an e-scooter as an alternative to an automobile for a commute trip depends on weather conditions, safety risks, and service cost, whereas for transit the decision highly depends on transit travel time, parking conditions, and service fare. The minimum incentives accepted went from $17.10 for the Tren Urbano heavy rail service to $18.90 for e-scooters as alternative modes to automobiles. The results show that the incentive value decreases as the …

Exploring New Frontiers In Hospitality And Tourism, Faizan Ali

Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism

As we embark on the second issue of Volume 3 of the Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism, we are presented with a rich and diverse collection of research that investigates contemporary challenges and innovations within our dynamic field. This issue features a diverse range of studies that illuminate emerging trends, address critical issues, and offer practical insights for both industry practitioners and academics.

Do Social Support, Supervisory Feedback, And Job Stress Matter To An Employee’S Sense Of Ownership? Context In The Lodging Sector, Aladin M. Ibrahim, Zyra R. Cabrera, Rodin S. Pescuela

Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism

In the face of intensified competition within the hospitality sector, exacerbated by the challenges of post-pandemic recovery, organizations are increasingly focused on re-engaging employees impacted by workforce reductions and retaining those who demonstrate a strong sense of attachment, care, and commitment to their workplace. These ownership behaviors are pivotal in fostering organizational stewardship and driving performance. However, the question arises: how can organizations cultivate and enhance these positive employee behaviors? This study investigates the influence of leader- and work-related factors, including social support, supervisory feedback, and job stress, on employees’ sense of ownership towards their organization. Employing a survey methodology, …

Managing Tourist Booking Intentions: A Study Of Hotel Marketing Strategies During The Covid-19 Crisis In Cyprus, Chrystalla Markou, Giannis Theofanous, Doros Michael

Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism

This study investigates the impact of specific marketing strategies on tourist booking intentions during the COVID-19 crisis in Cyprus, aiming to understand the effectiveness of these strategies in maintaining booking intentions. The study also investigates the challenge of maintaining tourists’ booking intentions during the financial impact of COVID-19. A quantitative, non-experimental correlational study examined the existence, strength, and direction of the relationship between all-inclusive holiday packages, room discounts, and special hotel amenities and hotel accommodations as measured by intentions to select a hotel in the Cyprus hotel industry. For the purpose of this study, 161 tourists who stayed in Cyprus …

Championing Retention In The Hospitality Industry – Leveraging The Strengths Of A Multigenerational Workforce, Laur-Ann Daley

Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism

The hospitality and tourism industry has a long history of high turnover rates and businesses are constantly scrambling to fill vacancies. With four generations occupying the industry’s workforce, leaders are further challenged with fostering harmony in an attempt to increase their retention rates. Despite the challenges in leading a generationally diverse team, given their unique values, businesses can realize strategic advantages. This opinion paper highlights the strengths of multigenerational teams and how they can be leveraged for competitive benefits.

Quantitative Reasoning: What’S Math Got To Do With It?, Pamela Burdman

Numeracy

This keynote address explores the history and role of college math requirements with a focus on ensuring math courses serve to expand students’ horizons, rather than serve as gatekeepers. It discusses the advent of general education math courses, which brought more students into math departments, which ultimately contributed to broadening the scope of the courses to align with more students’ interests and majors, since their purpose was to advance quantitative reasoning, not mathematics skill per se. It also examines several practices to address calculus’ gatekeeping role: revising placement practices and prerequisites, redesigning courses, and updating instruction and assessment practices. Lastly, …

A Shield-Bearer’S Tale: Elucidating The Roles Of Estradiol And Choline In Mitigating Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment, Robert W. Botelho Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairments (CRCIs) are significant consequences of chemotherapy that affect a substantial portion of breast cancer survivors, potentially persisting long after treatment cessation. This series of studies investigated the neuroprotective roles of estradiol and choline against CRCIs induced by cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin (CYP/DOX), commonly known as Adriamycin/Cytoxan (AC) chemotherapy. Utilizing the MMTV-PyVT mouse model of breast cancer, this body of work spans several experimental studies, the first of which evaluates the impact of dietary choline supplementation on spatial memory and cholinergic function in tumor-bearing mice undergoing chemotherapy. The subsequent study tests whether impaired ovarian function and resulting reductions in …

Development And Initial Validation Of The Musical Discrimination And Styles Task: Measuring Children And Adolescent Music Aptitude And Achievement, Dawn R. Mitchell White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation had two purposes: 1) to create and document the development of a new music achievement test entitled the Musical Discrimination and Styles Task (MDAST), and 2) to describe the strength of the evidence supporting the validity and reliability of this new developmentally appropriate music aptitude and achievement instrument. I created a theoretical framework based on 1) the cognitive theory of child development of Jean Piaget, 2) the phase model of artistic development by David Hargreaves, and 3) the theoretical models of music discrimination, audiation, and music achievement by Edwin Gordon. The MDAST’s design assessed students’ abilities to evaluate …

An Investigation Into Loneliness And Solitary Drinking In A University Sample, Daniel C. Faraci

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol consumption tends to occur in social contexts and has been shown to increase prosocial behaviors and facilitate social connection. Simultaneously, socially excluded drinkers tend to increase or continue problematic levels of alcohol consumption when alone, possibly consuming alcohol as a replacement for desired but unavailable social connection. This investigation attempted to examine the relationship between loneliness (i.e., lack of perceived social connection) and subsequent alcohol consumption in solitary versus social contexts using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) techniques. University students recruited through a research subject pool who drank at least once per week were asked to respond to 28 short …

Successful Feedback Literacy For Library And Information Science Professionals: A Literature Review, Jessica N. Szempruch, Leetta M. Schmidt

USF Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Providing and receiving feedback are crucial elements of any learning exchange and are an intrinsic part of cultivating disciplinary dialogic culture. While there is considerable scholarly conversation on the topic of cultivating constructive feedback in student work, there is less literature dedicated to addressing what successful feedback literacy and processes look like in relation to scholarly research writing by professionals. This literature review examines the development of feedback literacy concepts across disciplines to determine if and how these concepts manifest within academic librarianship literature. The goal of this paper is to gain insights to improve future feedback exchange within the …

Forum, Volume 48, No. 2, Summer 2024, Florida Humanities, Pam Daniel

FORUM: The Magazine of Florida Humanities

Contents: Letter from the Executive Director -- From the Secretary of State -- From the Editor -- Humanities Live -- Oral History -- Treasure -- Cover to Cover -- The Photographer as Storyteller -- Lewis Hine "Suffer the Little Children" -- E.G. Barnhill "In Living Color" -- Marion Post Wolcott "Their Place in the Sun" -- E.L. Weems "Black Pride" -- Gary Monroe "On the Edges" -- Loomis Dean "The Trip of a Lifetime" -- First Person -- Person of Interest -- A Taste of Florida -- The Quiz

An Exploratory Analysis Of The Association Between Coronavirus Anxiety And Teacher Burnout, Lester A. C. Archer

Journal of Global Education and Research

This study was an exploration of COVID-19 anxiety and its relationship with teacher burnout. The study was a cross-sectional survey research design with a convenience sample drawn from a population of K-12 public school teachers. A non-parametric statistical test, Kruskal-Wallis, showed a statistically significant difference in teacher burnout across the three grade levels: χ² (2, N = 61) = 6.20, p = .045. Teacher burnout was lowest amongst elementary school teachers (M = 47.00) when compared to middle school (M = 74.00) and high school teachers (M = 71.00). Implications include a need for increased administrative …

“In My Blood”: External Factors For International Stem Postdoctoral Scholars’ Career Decisions, Kathryn J. Watson, Sylvia L. Mendez

Journal of Global Education and Research

This instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) explores the external factors that influence international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) postdoctoral scholars in the United States to pursue a career in STEM. Interviews with 20 international STEM postdoctoral scholars were analyzed deductively to shed light on their unique backgrounds and experiences. Three themes emerged: (a) parents were highly encouraging, (b) a love of science was nurtured in school, and (c) they were eager to engage in and promote scientific innovation. These findings illustrate the ways in which family, schools, and community influence the STEM career trajectories of international postdoctoral scholars.

Meta-Narrative Review Of Gender Portrayal In Disney Movies For Young Children And Its Pedagogical Implications, Xuan Jiang, Linlin Zhang, Diana Rivero, Brittany Torres

Journal of Global Education and Research

Many of Disney movies have been criticized for perpetuating traditional gender stereotypes which constrain opportunities for children at large. Its recent characters have also incurred heated discussions on gender portrayal. Moreover, stereotypes of gender roles, developed early on, can exert an immediate impact on individuals’ behaviors and utterances and a long-term impact on individuals’ perceived options academically, professionally, personally, and socially. Recognizing the significance of this matter, this paper employed a meta-narrative review to collect and conceptually and empirically synthesize previous literature on the impact of Disney movies on young children’s gender awareness. Through an academic database search, 49 articles …

The Relationship Between Physical Activity Level, Digital Game Addiction, And Academic Success Levels Of University Students, Aydin Ilhan

Journal of Global Education and Research

This study examined the relationship between physical activity, digital game addiction, and academic success among university students. Participants were university 704 students from Turkiye who did physical activity and played digital games. The sample group consisted of 704 university students (342 women and 362 men), selected through random sampling. Data were collected using demographic information forms, a digital game addiction scale, and an international short-form questionnaire about physical activity. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and post-hoc tests. The findings revealed a significant negative relationship between academic success and both physical activity and digital game …

Making Us Security Cooperation In Fragile States Work: Organizational Capital In Aid Provision, Randell Yi, Edward J. O'Connell

Journal of Strategic Security

The article examine how materiel and non-materiel organizational capital, as conveyed by military aid, differ in their effects on recipient nations with respect to governance. The authors analyze the Varieties of Democracy (vDem) dataset’s Regime Corruption Index alongside Security Sector Assistance expenditures as reported by the US Aid to Security Sector Actors (USASSA) dataset. They find that non-materiel forms of investment toward building partner nation capacity create generally better governance outcomes than materiel ones that involve transfers of weapons systems or supplies. They further contend that investments toward social cohesion and norms transmission “build the capacity to have capacity built.” …

Video Games And Radical Movements: "Ein Prozent" And "Heimat Defender", Göksel Türker, Ali Gök

Journal of Strategic Security

The far-right, which poses a threat of escalating into terrorism or inciting violence, employs a variety of tactics to spread its ideologies among the general public. In this context, "Heimat Defender: Rebellion," a two-dimensional video game supported by the far-right Ein Prozent operating in Germany, draws attention. In the study, the game in question was examined on the far-right and especially Ein Prozent ideology and subjected to discourse analysis. The analysis revealed that the game plot was shaped according to the friend-enemy perception of Ein Prozent and the far-right. Accordingly, in the game in question, opposition to multiculturalism, immigration, globalism, …

Teachers' And School Directors' Perceptions Of The Benefits Of Arts-Integrated Instruction K-2: Before, During, And After Covid-19, Alison H. Mehler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences and perceptions of teachers who use arts-integrated instruction and their directors of K-2 students before, during, and after the unique period of online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March of 2020. Arts integration is a method of teaching in which students are taught comprehension of subject areas (i.e. – math, science, reading, social studies) through art forms. These art forms include music, theatre, dance, art, and writing. I collected he qualitative data for this research through virtual interviews with five female participants. I transcribed these interviews and …

An Evaluation Of The Premack Contingency To Increase Physical Activity In Teenagers With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Shreeya S. Deshmukh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (2018) recommends that teenagers engage in physical activity to improve their cardiovascular health and muscle and bone strength. Yet, most teenagers with and without autism spectrum disorder do not meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity. Research related to promoting physical activity has evaluated group contingencies, reinforcement-based interventions, and antecedent interventions; however, these interventions are time-intensive, require many resources, or are ineffective. The purpose of this study was to extend Allen and Iwata (1980) by reinforcing completion of a low-probability exercise to a specified criterion with access to a high-probability exercise. …

Performing Anti-Oppressive Education In A Private Dual-Language Immersion Elementary School, María Luisa Miguéliz Valcarlos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the U.S., dual-language immersion programs have played a fundamental role in reducing the opportunity (and achievement) gap for Latinx Spanish-speaker students by centering their cultural backgrounds, knowledge, and overall well-being. Nonetheless, scholars have expressed concern that dual language programs teaching in Spanish and English may reproduce unbalanced power relations between historically minoritized and privileged groups. Research in bilingual education has shown that curriculum and instruction in dual-language immersion programs often benefit English-dominant students and risk contributing to reproducing social inequities. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the role of curriculum in addressing or reproducing social inequities …

Evaluating Behavioral Skills Training For The Acquisition And Generalization Of Run Blocking Skills Of High School Football Players, Jason Caleb Wiley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral skills training has been used to increase football player’s performance in one prior study, but limited data were collected on how the skill generalized from the training environment to the natural environment. The purpose of this study is to further evaluate the effects of BST in enhancing football player’s performance while also evaluating the generalization of a skill taught in a training environment (i.e., practice) to the natural environment (i.e., game simulated scrimmage). This study included five high school offensive line football players and recorded their run blocking skills in the training context and a game context in baseline …

An Inference-Centric Approach To Natural Language Processing And Cognitive Modeling, Animesh Nighojkar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reasoning over natural text is highly nuanced, and interpretations can vary widely depending on cultural background, financial status, age, gender, or even mood. This doctoral dissertation seeks to not only mimic human reasoning behaviors but also improve the task used in natural language processing (NLP) to capture naturalistic reasoning, known as the Natural Language Inference (NLI) task. NLI involves determining whether a hypothesis is true (entailment), false (contradiction), or indeterminate (neutral) based on a given premise. Initially, we will investigate the extent to which NLP systems designed to capture semantic equivalence actually measure meaning equivalence. After establishing that they do …

Gone Smishing: An Integration Of Decision-Making And Protection Motivation In The Context Of Identity Theft Victimization, Taylor S. Fisher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Methods of obtaining sensitive information from Internet users have evolved consistently as technology has advanced and millions of mobile device users communicate through text (SMS) messaging daily, making them a target for smishing attacks. Smishing (short for SMS phishing) is a form of cybercrime where an offender will send fraudulent text messages attempting to gather sensitive information or convince the user to click on a malicious link. These messages often appear legitimate and rely on tactics like convincing users that immediate action needs to be taken. Smishing has become so widespread that in 2020, the Texas Attorney General issued a …

The Influence Of Childhood Trauma On Dna Methylation Patterns And Sex-Specific Cortisol Stress Reactivity: A Secondary Analysis, Isabella F. Correia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Childhood trauma has been shown to significantly impact physical and mental health outcomes, leading to conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, depression, and difficulties in decision-making and maintaining relationships. Exposure to such trauma has the potential to dysregulate an individual’s stress response system, resulting in abnormal cortisol levels. Many studies suggest a lasting impact of early-life stress on DNA methylation patterns and, separately, cortisol stress reactivity. In addition, there are known sex differences in exposure to childhood trauma and cortisol reactivity; yet studies to date have not investigated whether there is an association to DNA methylation. This study utilized a …

“Destiel Is Forever”: Negotiating Authenticity In The Cw’S Supernatural Family And Beyond, Hannah Lay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the communicative constitution of authenticity and queerness. Because queerness has been policed and censored, notions of authenticity, in particular authentic queer representations, are fraught and sustaining to many LGBTQ+ and allied media consumers. The project focuses on the television series Supernatural—specifically, the unfolding of interactions in fan conventions, Twitter/X, and Tumblr involving celebrities and viewers of the series following a social breach, or rupture in the narrative. The last three episodes of Supernatural brought issues of queerness and authenticity to the fore for many viewers, making discussions about these themes compelling sites for multimodal data in the …

A Critical Analysis Of Latine School Psychology Graduate Students’ Socialization Experiences, Chelsea Salvatore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to uplift and critically analyze the experiences and perspectives of Latine school psychology graduate students regarding their programs' socialization process. I sought to call out oppressive structures and to identify anti-racist practices described by participants. I intended for this to inform school psychology programs on oppressive structures they must dismantle and anti-racist practices that disrupt the status quo to support the well-being and success of Latine graduate students. Seven Latine school psychology graduate students participated in one or two semi-structured interviews. I employed thematic analysis to discover themes from participant interviews. Once themes were identified, I utilized …

Learning Resilience: Veterans Of Color Learning Positive Coping Strategies., William Carpenter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how veterans of color learned positive coping strategies to endure the challenges experienced during their transition from active duty. There has been limited research examining the veterans’ of color experiences during their transition from active duty military. The research questions focused on how veterans of color were learning to adjust and cope in response to the adverse experiences they encountered during their transition. The theoretical framework used for this investigation was a combination of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory and adult learning theory.

For this study, seven Black Post 9/11 veterans of African …

Soaked In Alcohol: Beyond The Female Archetype As Reflected In Djuna Barnes, Dorothy Parker, And Zelda Fitzgerald, Chondell C. Villines

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study surveys the use and abuse of alcohol within the literature of Modernist female authors of the Jazz Age, 1920 – 1930. An examination of the works of Djuna Barnes, Dorothy Parker, and Zelda Fitzgerald is conducted to understand their treatment of alcohol consumption by women and how this treatment is more complex than their male counterparts. This dissertation focuses on each author’s use of alcohol in developing their fictional female characters and how, when, and why they drink. These questions directly relate to the use and abuse of alcohol to assuage trauma, or as a reaction to trauma. …

Examining Tradeoffs Of Exposure Control And Collateral Information With Multidimensional Forced Choice Computerized Adaptive Testing, Naidan Tu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multidimensional forced choice (MFC) testing has been proposed as an alternative to single statement (SS) Likert-type measures to reduce response biases in noncognitive measurement. Research progress has been made on MFC computerized adaptive testing (CAT) to improve testing efficiency. CAT enhances efficiency by successively selecting items that are most informative at each respondent’s estimated trait score. In MFC CAT, this causes some forced choice items and the statements composing them to be frequently exposed while others are rarely used, which adversely affects test security and costs. This research develops an exposure control method for MFC CAT based on the Multi-Unidimensional …

Evaluation Practices In National Science Foundation Research Experiences For Undergraduates Programs, Aly Busse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess and describe the status of program evaluation within the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites. The National Science Foundation's REU program supports thousands of undergraduates annually in hands-on, immersive research experiences under the mentorship of science professionals. To date, there is a lack of published or accessible evaluation results from these REU programs and it is unknown what evaluation approaches are being used in the REU programs, how they are designed and implemented, how evaluation findings are utilized, and what barriers to evaluation activities exist. A self-administered electronic …