Digital Commons Network^™

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

Research Reports

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

Detecting Changes In Cancer-Related Cognitive Functioning Using Mixed-Effects Modeling And Study Design Simulations, Jonathan D. Clapp

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to utilize and compare two existing approaches for modeling nonlinear change in cognitive functioning in cancer patients over time and to assess alternative study designs to better capture chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment using simulation data. Using data from the Thinking and Living with Cancer study, trend analysis with orthogonal polynomials (OP) and piecewise (PW) regressions approaches used to analyze cognitive functioning trajectories. Simulated datasets tested the impact of study design parameters including measurement test-retest reliability (.6 or .8), sample size (100, 200, or 300), and the number of data collection time points (4 or 5) …

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

This study is the …

Is It Really An Affect Gap? Outcome Type Vs. Intensity In Risky Decision-Making, Jordan E. Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People respond to decisions differently when emotion is involved. The affect gap hypothesissuggests that people are more likely to focus on the outcome and ignore probabilities of outcomes when emotions are strong, and people are likely to include consideration of probabilities with outcomes when emotions are weak. However, typical methodologies have a confound in the manipulation of affect, with affect-poor outcomes that are quantitative in nature (e.g., money) and affect-rich outcomes that are typically qualitative (e.g., experiences). To address this confound, I created a mixed factorial design to examine choices made in lottery pairs manipulated by intensity (low, high), outcome …

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

Learning Peer Support Interactions Via Bi-Lstm Graph Neural Networks For Suicide Risk Prediction, Harikrishna Marampelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Suicide prevention through early detection using social media data has been widely studied. However, the critical role of peer support interactions among individuals with similar mental disorders has not been deeply investigated or explored. In this study, we explore peer interactions in online communities for individuals with bipolar disorder and leverage this information to predict suicide risk levels. We propose a model that uses contextualized posts and comments along with their sentiment features. By embedding these features into a peer support network, our model captures peer interactions and predicts suicide risk levels using the bidirectional LSTM Graph Neural Networks (Bi-LSTM …

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

Expert Consensus In A Politically-Charged Environment: Motivated Reasoning In Information Processing, Austin L. Katz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the abundance of information online, what drives news consumption? It has been theorized that there are two distinct conflicting motivations which operate simultaneously when consumers encounter new information: the motivation to reach accurate conclusions and the directional motivation to reach conclusions that are consistent with a person’s preexisting beliefs or predispositions (e.g., Kunda 1990). This experiment tests situations in which both motivations are simultaneously made salient in the context of reading headlines to decide what news to read and how accurate the news is likely to be.

A new fact-check manipulation was used to draw attention to the accuracy …

Thriving Or Surviving In Virtual Sales: The Connection Between Virtual Work And Job Satisfaction Amongst Salespeople In The Pharmaceutical Industry, Amit Garg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The post COVID 19 sales environment for salespeople in pharmaceuticals has shifted to becoming hybridized within a continuum of face-to-face and virtual interactions, when engaging with health care professionals. This dissertation reports on a study investigating the relationship of virtual work with job satisfaction and burnout. There were two questions that were addressed in this study to understand the impact virtual work has had on overall job satisfaction and burnout. First, what is the relationship of virtuality to job satisfaction and burnout in the pharmaceutical sales environment? Second, which facets of job satisfaction and burnout are most strongly related to …

The Attitudes, Perceptions, And Motivations Of Student-Athletes In Intermediate Algebra, Alexandra Green

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research delves into the attitudes, perceptions, and motivations of student-athletes enrolled in Intermediate Algebra courses. It focuses on the distinct challenges they encounter in juggling academic and athletic responsibilities at a southeastern university in the United States. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study gathered quantitative data through surveys to assess students' attitudes, perceptions, and motivations toward learning mathematics, as well as to determine the influence of their instructors on these factors. The qualitative segment provided deeper insights into their personal experiences, shedding light on their prior encounters with mathematics, their most memorable moments during the current course, and their …

Revision Strategies And Academic Socialization Of Multilingual Graduate Students, Sean E. Farrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that revision is a complex practice guided by a variety of factors; however, the nature of the relationship between these factors and the revisions themselves, along with how the revision process contributes to academic socialization, remains understudied. A more comprehensive understanding of revision can lead to a deeper understanding of the support that will be most effective for multilingual graduate students. This study thus aims to determine (1) what revision strategies multilingual graduate students use, (2) what factors mediate these strategies, and (3) the extent to which these revisions index a shift in academic socialization. To answer these …

Using Function Based Self-Monitoring To Teach Functional Communication Skills And Decrease Problem Behavior For Middle School Students With Asd, Lanease Ganey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of a function-based self-monitoring procedure on functional communicative response (FCR) and problem behavior in middle school students with autism spectrum disorder. Three middle school age students diagnosed with and autism spectrum disorder and displaying challenging behavior and their respective classroom teachers and supporting staff (paraprofessionals) participated in this study. The study employed a multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate the effect of function-based self-monitoring on FCR, task engagement, and problem behavior. Following a 30-min training, the students and staff independently implemented the function-based self-monitoring procedure with fidelity which led to desired changes in student …

Exploring Saudi Arabian Teachers' Perceptions Of Smartboard Instruction For Students With Communication Disorders, Mohammed Alqahtani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using smartboards with students with communication needs in the classroom is one way to apply technology in educational settings. Research has shown the benefits of using the smartboard with students with disabilities (SWDs) and second-language learners. There is still a need to understand further teachers’ perceptions towards using the smartboard in their classrooms with students with communication needs. Therefore, I conducted an exploratory qualitative study to explore Saudi teachers' perceptions regarding the use of smartboards with students with communication needs in the classroom. I collected data via in-depth interviews, smartboard screen recordings, and audio recordings of teachers’ lessons taught using …

Perceived Workplace Obstacles And Compensatory Strategies Used By School Psychologists With Disabilities, Gary E. Schaffer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts to recruit and retain school psychologists from diverse backgrounds, there has been little focus on school psychologists with disabilities. This oversight is concerning given that school psychologists deliver extensive support to students with disabilities yet simultaneously remain largely absent from diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The current study sought to learn about school psychologists with disabilities by providing much-needed demographic information on this population while also focusing on their workplace experiences. Two-hundred-fifty-five participants were asked about their perceptions regarding the systemic challenges they encountered, personal challenges they faced, reasons they disclosed or did not disclose their disability, and …

The Pilling Process: Significance Quest, Self-Verification, And Fusion In Online Incel Forums, Gregory J. Rousis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Incels (short for “involuntary celibates) are an online community of men who blame women for their reputed sexual and romantic failures. The misogyny of their worldview, called the blackpill, has inspired multiple instances of real-world violence against women. Alarmingly, we know little about the temporal processes whereby an incel goes from joining an online community to becoming deeply aligned (i.e., “fused”) with the group. This project sought to address this by scraping incels’ most popular web forum and using text analysis to identify psychological mechanisms that could be responsible for incels’ fusion. The resulting dataset consisted of 1,097,841 unique discussion …

Unravelling The Impact Of Blood Metabolites, And Lifestyle Factors On Periodontal Disease Using Mendelian Randomization, Rhea Charles

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal disease remains a global public health concern. Despite the availability of preventive and therapeutic strategies, the multifactorial nature of periodontitis complicates its understanding and management. Periodontal disease is associated with an increased risk of chronic conditions, including ischemic heart disease (IHD), gestational hypertension, respiratory diseases such as COPD and bronchitis, and various cancers, including kidney and pancreatic cancers. Moreover, individuals with diabetes, autoimmune diseases like lupus and Crohn’s disease, and osteoporosis are more likely to develop periodontitis. The ambiguity in the direction of causality between periodontal disease and its associated conditions poses challenges for effective treatment. Mendelian randomization offers …

Transition Aged Youth Substance Use At Electric Dance Music Events In The Tampa Bay Area: A Qualitative Study Of Awareness And Prevention, Danielle Vinciguerra

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study investigates substance use among Transitional Aged Youth (TAY), particularly focusing on Electronic Dance Music (EDM) events in the Tampa Bay area. TAY, defined as individuals aged 18-29, experience significant psychological, biological, and developmental changes, which can lead to increased vulnerability to substance use. The study examines the prevalence and patterns of substance use, specifically ketamine and cocaine, among TAY at EDM events. Exploratory qualitative data collection method was utilized for the study. Applying Social Learning Theory as a framework, the research explores the beliefs, attitudes, experiences, and community influences that contribute to substance use within this demographic. Data …

Empowering Entrepreneurial Evolution: A Beyond Founder Strategic Approach To Small Business Growth, D. Jared Knisley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Growing a business beyond its founder’s capacities and talents presents a challenging undertaking. When a founder is no longer involved or motivated to grow the business, firm decline is a likely outcome. Small businesses often have a deep and, at times, hindering reliance on their early founders for development. Therefore, a continuous engaging plan to advance entrepreneurial success is needed to grow a small business.

My research objective aims to find methods and designs, through academic literature and practitioner interviews, that transition leadership responsibilities and increase team empowerment within a small business, enabling these firms to continue growing as the …

Full Issue, Maryland Birdlife

Maryland Birdlife

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The Use Of Geospatial Imagery In Myanmar For Mass Atrocity Prevention, Elisenda Calvet-Martínez

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper aims to explore to what extent the usage of geospatial imagery can serve as a tool for atrocity prevention in a context of armed conflict and post-conflict. While most attention has been paid to the use of geospatial imagery to document mass atrocities for advocacy and accountability purposes, less attention has attracted the potential of this technology as a preventive tool. In the case of Myanmar, a special interest is on how to advance in the use of geospatial imagery to guarantee the safe return of the Rohingya refugees and how to prevent acts of genocide after the …

Failing To End Genocide: Structural Factors, Triggers, And Ineffective Responses, Tutku Ayhan

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Why do ongoing genocides persist despite global condemnation? This paper examines the challenge of ending ongoing genocides and argues that the persistence of genocides can be largely attributed to the interaction of structural factors and triggers with inadequate responses at the national, regional, and international levels. The analysis focuses on the genocidal experiences of the Yezidi and Rohingya communities, which were triggered by the 2014 attacks in Sinjar, Iraq, and the 2017 actions in Rakhine State, Myanmar. By viewing genocide as a process rather than an isolated act of violence and recognizing cultural genocide as genocide, this study aims to …

Bridging The Atrocity Prevention Gap Between The International And The Local: Lessons Learned From Meso-Level Leadership In Ukraine And Syria, Kristina Hook, Jamie D. Wise

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper explores meso-level approaches to atrocity prevention that incorporate a wider array of local expertise at all stages, from early warning to transitional justice. Specifically, we treat meso-level approaches as encompassing local leadership and advocacy across bottom-up processes, grassroots efforts, victim-led activism, and civil society mobilization. We draw from two contemporary cases of mass atrocities, Ukraine and Syria, which exemplify such efforts, using primary interview data with meso-level actors. First, we examine atrocity risk early warning in Ukraine, where prescient local expertise at the meso-level failed to influence international responses, asking what went wrong and what more could be …