Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Training Outcomes In The Context Of E-Learning: The Impact Of Objective Learner Control, Training Content Complexity, Cognitive Load, Learning Goal Orientation, And Metacognitive Strategies, Benjamin P. Granger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Learner-controlled e-learning has become a preferred medium for the delivery of organizational training. While e-learning offers organizations and trainees many advantages, it also comes with several potential disadvantages. The aim of this study was to explore the relative efficacy of learner- and program-controlled e-learning for content that differs in its complexity. This study also explored cognitive load as a differential mediator of the interaction between learner control and training content complexity for predicting cognitive and behavioral learning outcomes. Finally, learning goal orientation was explored as a motivational individual difference that helps learners cope with complex, learner-controlled e-learning environments. Results suggest …

Unlocking The Black Box Of Policymaking: A Discursive View Of The Florida Commission On Mental Health And Substance Abuse, Ardis Hanson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Discourse creates the world of policy. Discourse plays a key role within policy formation; political discourse is made visible within particular discursive (spoken and written) practices. Hence, mental health policy is the endpoint of a discursive process and that it is, in itself, an institutional process. The shared understanding necessary to formulate policy is crucial to persons who are responsible for policy decisions and recommendations. Since the public perception is that public policy problems are too complicated for ordinary people to deal with, the policy problem is reframed into manageable "bits." It is how these "bits" are framed, named, and …

Lower Sacraments: Theological Eating In The Fiction Of C. S. Lewis, Gregory Philip Hartley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For years, critics and fans of C. S. Lewis have noted his curious attentiveness to descriptions of food and scenes of eating. Some attempts have been made to interpret Lewis's use of food, but never in a manner comprehensively unifying Lewis's culinary expressions with his own thought and beliefs. My study seeks to fill this void. The introduction demonstrates how Lewis's culinary language aggregates through elements of his life, his literary background, and his Judeo-Christian worldview. Using the grammar of his own culinary language, I examine Lewis's fiction for patterns found within his meals and analyze these patterns for theological …

Noise Exposure In Medical Helicopter Flights, Melissa Constance Hay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to evaluate noise exposures of helicopter pilots,

nurses and paramedics at a hospital by collecting area and personal samples, determining noise levels inside the helmet, and evaluating the current selection of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Measurements gathered during personal sampling were statistically analyzed and calculated using OSHA 1910.95 App A to determine dose, reference duration and the Time-Weighted Average (TWA).

Using a mannequin head, with the noise dosimeters in the ears, tests were performed on the headset inside the helmets to determine the sound pressure levels generated from the radio communications at different volume …

Communicating During An Organizational Crisis: Using Facebook As A Relationship Management Tool, Vjollca Hysenlika

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how organizations communicate on Facebook during a crisis, from a relationship management perspective, and how their interactivity, responsiveness, and transparency affect their Fan page's relevance, importance, and appeal. In this study, the researcher conducted a controlled experiment to examine if a strategized Facebook Fan page that contained a high level of interaction, responsiveness, and transparency contributed to long-lasting relationships with fans or helped organizations recover/prevent a crisis. The researcher created eight different conditions (Facebook Fan Pages) presenting a crisis message, and recruited 200 students (25 participants per condition) from the University of …

Communication And Academic Vocabulary In Mathematics: A Content Analysis Of Prompts Eliciting Written Responses In Two Elementary Mathematics Textbooks, Christine M. Joseph

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate how writing in mathematics is treated in one 4th grade National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded mathematics textbook titled Everyday Mathematics and one publisher-generated textbook titled enVision MATH. The developed framework provided categories to support each of the research questions. The results indicate that writing is supported in both traditional and NSF developed 4th grade mathematics textbooks

Results also indicated the number of exercises and writing prompts was higher in the enVision MATH textbook. However, Everyday Mathematics had a higher percentage of exercises that were coded as writing prompts. The framework domains of content …

An Exploration Of The Organization-Public Relationship Through Online Media: The Case Of The Tampa Bay Rays, Steven Lynch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Organizations are working to establish and maintain relationships with their target publics using a wide variety of communication tools. How they work at developing this organization-public relationship (OPR) is open to the organization, but previous research suggests there are measurement scales that can indicate what factors an organization may be doing right and those they may need to improve on.

This study examines relationship building efforts of the Tampa Bay Rays organization and the representation it has demonstrated through online content. Utilizing a content analysis, sample articles were collected and coded to examine if relationship components could be found …

Investigation Of Various Surface Acoustic Wave Design Configurations For Improved Sensitivity, Greeshma Manohar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Surface acoustic wave sensors have been a focus of active research for many years. Its ability to respond for surface perturbation is a basic principle for its sensing capability. Sensitivity to surface perturbation changes with every inter-digital transducer (IDT) design parameters, substrate selection, metallization choice and technique, delay line length and working environment.

In this thesis, surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors are designed and characterized to improve sensitivity and reduce loss. To quantify the improvements with a specific design configuration, the sensors are employed to measure temperature. Four SAW sensors design configurations, namely bi-directional, split electrode, single phase unidirectional transducer …

Masculinity, Sexuality, And Soccer: An Exploration Of Three Grassroots Sport-For-Social-Change Organizations In South Africa, Sarah Theresa Mcghee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Programs that utilize soccer as a tool for social change are steadily emerging throughout townships and rural areas in South Africa, the most economically disadvantaged areas of the country. In South Africa, grassroots sport-for-social-change organizations are compensating for failed government policies and programs that seek to help at-risk youth. As a result, program staff are often members of the community who are not versed in academic critiques of the use of sport in development initiatives. Additionally, much of the existing literature on sport-for-social-change champions the advancement of specific projects without asking critical research questions, which should include the appropriateness of …

Circling Back Home: A Lifelong Odyssey Into Feminism, Scott Leslie Neumeister

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

What happens when a classroom becomes more than just a site of intellectual growth and evolves into a locus of emotional, social, and spiritual transformation? What happens when a student in such a classroom also occupies the role of teacher and desires to reproduce such a transformative environment for his students? In brief, this thesis answers these questions by offering a narrative and critique of my personal "conscientization" via feminism and elucidates the theory behind, my approaches toward, and the results of my bringing graduate-level feminist theory and pedagogy to a middle school English classroom. I examine how my experiences …

Two Essays On Corporate Restructuring, Dung Anh Pham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the first essay titled "Divestitures and Acquisition Probability", I examine the relationship between a firm's divestiture activities and the likelihood that the firm will become an acquisition target. Using a logit model comparing a sample of target firms matched with a sample of non-target firms from 1986 to 2010, we find that a firm is 27 percent more likely to be acquired within three years of a divestiture activity than if there was no previous divestiture, and the effect is stronger for firms with fewer numbers of segments. Our finding is robust to modifications of control variables, to managerial …

A Critical Case Study Of Selected United States History Textbooks From A Tribal Critical Race Theory Perspective, Gary Padgett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the portrayal of American Indians in U.S. textbooks selected for review in Hillsborough County, Florida's 2012 textbook adoption. The study identified which of the textbooks under consideration contained the greatest amount of information dedicated to American Indians. The study then analyzed how that information was portrayed. The exploratory questions that guided this study were, how are American Indians portrayed in five selected U.S. history textbooks? It also addresses the question, under what conditions can Tribal Critical Race Theory help illuminate how American Indians are portrayed in textbooks? The methodology used …

A Comparison Of The Perceptions Of School Work Culture By Administrators And Faculty In The Public Charter And Non-Charter Elementary Schools Of A Central Florida County, Wayne Anthony Quin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This study investigated perceptions of school work culture of instructional staff members (administrators and faculty) in public charter and public non-charter elementary schools in a large urban metropolitan county of Central Florida by assessing differences in perceptions of administrators and faculty related to school work culture, perceptions between school administrators and faculty, and the interaction between type of school.

The School Work Culture Profile (SWCP), a paper-and-pencil survey, was designed in 1988 by Snyder to obtain a measure of a school's work culture. The SWCP uses a Likert scale to assess the overall perception and four sub-domains of planning, …

Listening In Action: Students' Mobile Music Experiences In The Digital Age, Rebecca Marie Rinsema

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the introduction of the iPod in 2001, portable music listening devices that play or stream compressed music files have steadily become the standard devices used to listen to music. Despite this, few music education researchers have investigated the role that such devices have in shaping students' music listening experiences. This dissertation is meant to fill that gap in the literature and contribute to the existing sociological and psychological literature on music listening in everyday life.

Phenomenology served as the theoretical framework for the design of the study. 10 college students from three institutions underwent iterative interviews and were asked …

Environmental Change And Place-Based Identities: Sponge Fishing In Tarpon Springs, Florida, Michael Suver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

As the environmental consequences of urbanization and climate change become apparent in coastal communities, it has become important to understand how residents of these communities experience and approach their changing environments. This becomes especially significant in places where nature-based livelihoods constitute a major part of the economy. This thesis focuses on the city of Tarpon Springs, located along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida, where sea sponge fishing is an important contributor to the local economy while also being central to place-based tourist and ethnic identities. It seeks to understand how environmental changes in the sea sponge economy will …

Perceived Barriers For Implementing Primary Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention, Rachel Monique Stewart-Campbell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents continue to be at increased risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI's). This research study describes the perception of barriers that providers in the Tampa Bay area encounter when implementing primary STI prevention programs for adolescents within the community context. This study used semi structured interviews to explore perceived barriers for implementing primary such programs for adolescents in the Tampa Bay area programs. Participants reported faith based institutions/churches and schools as common sectors for presenting a variety of barriers for implementing their program. Perceptions of barriers were described as, the need to tailor program messages and presentations based on …

Tracing Boundaries, Effacing Boundaries: Information Literacy As An Academic Discipline, Grace L. Veach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Both librarianship and composition have been shaken by recent developments in higher education. In libraries ebooks and online databases threaten the traditional "library as warehouse model," while in composition, studies like The Citation Project show that students are not learning how to incorporate sources into their own writing effectively. This dissertation examines the disciplinary origins and current status of information literacy and makes a case for increased collaboration between Writing Studies and librarians and the eventual emergence of information literacy as a discipline in its own right. Chapter One introduces the near-total failure of information literacy pedagogy and the lack …

Understanding Social Integration And Student Involvement As Factors Of Self-Reported Gains For African American Undergraduate Women, Edna Jones Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diversity of student populations within higher education has considerably increased, particularly for women and minority populations, which is indicative of greater access to education toward a college degree. However, increased diversity of student populations has introduced a new set of challenges for higher education administrators in that it is becoming increasingly difficult for administrators to maintain current educational methods when considering the changing needs of matriculating students. As a result, higher education institutions are compelled to strategize beyond the "one-size-fits all" approach in the way teaching and support services are delivered in order to provide a more holistic approach to …

Multistable Shape-Shifting Surfaces (Mssss), Paul Joseph Montalbano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents designs for Multistable Shape-Shifting Surfaces (MSSS) by introducing bistability into the Shape-Shifting Surface (SSS). SSSs are defined as surfaces that retain their effectiveness as a physical barrier while undergoing changes in shape. The addition of bistability to the SSS gives the surface multiple distinct positions in which it remains when shifted to, i.e. by designing bistability into a single SSS link, the SSS unit cell can change into multiple shapes, and stabilize within the resulting shape, while maintaining integrity against various forms of external assaults normal to its surface. Planar stable configurations of the unit cell include, …

Neuron To Microglia Communication; A Study Of Cx3cl1 Signaling Implications In Cognitive Function, Inflammation, And Neurodegeneration, Joshua M. Morganti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a consequence of aging, the brain is subject to chronic neuroinflammatory conditions. The resident immune cells of the brain, microglia, act similarly to peripheral macrophages to protect the brain from insults, infection, and physical trauma. However, without proper regulation of their respective host defense mechanisms, these actions can become neurotoxic. In the healthy brain neurons have several signaling systems that directly interact with microglia in order to maintain a calming influence upon their actions, one of particular interest is the chemokine CX3CL1. This chemokine is found predominantly on neurons, while its cognate receptor CX3CR1 is found exclusively on microglia. …

Multiple Intelligences In The Text: Examining The Presence Of Mi Tasks In The Annotated Teacher's Editions Of Four High School United States History Textbooks, Carey Mullican

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current state of the social studies classroom comprises one of uninspired students using unexciting textbooks as their guide for learning U.S. history (Hope, 1996; NCES, 1993; Banks, 1990; Wakefield, 2006). With multiple intelligences gaining popularity in education, renewed hope exists for social studies to produce quality textbooks with differentiated instruction to reach all learners. The purpose was to design a rubric for measuring the presence of multiple intelligences structured tasks in teacher's editions of four 11th grade U.S. history textbooks. Using 1995 to 2007 as a purposeful sample of consistent authorships and similar publications, the study looked at teacher's …

Mangroves, Mudbanks And Seawalls: Political Ecology Of Adaptation To Sea Level Rise In Suriname, Ravic Nijbroek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to understand how global discourses of sea level rise (SLR) and mangrove ecology influence national climate change adaptation policy to reduce coastal vulnerability in Suriname. A majority of the Surinamese population lives along the low elevation coastal zone and is highly exposed to projected SLR. Failure by the international community to reach agreement on climate change mitigation means that vulnerable coastal communities must adapt. The Suriname coast is predominantly shaped by mudbanks and mangroves which together provide protection against coastal erosion and trap sediments resulting in coastal accretion. Knowledge claims of mangrove ecology and utility in SLR …

Impact Of School Counselors' Use Of Deliberate Practice And Accountability Measures On Perceived Levels Of Self-Efficacy And Student Academic Success, Allison Paolini

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the degree and frequency to which school counselors' utilized accountability measures and deliberate practice and their impact on perceived levels of counselor self-efficacy, as well as, perceived levels of student academic success. This study attempted to answer several critical questions regarding school counselor accountability and deliberate practice. It assessed the relationship between receipt of formal training in the American School Counseling Association Model (ASCA) or another counseling model and likelihood of using ASCA principles, the relationship between years of work experience and use of accountability measures and deliberate practice, the relationship between use of accountability measures and …

Maternal Immune Dysregulation In The Pathogenesis Of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Interleukin-6 As A Central Mechanism And Therapeutic Target Of Flavonoids, Ellisa Carla Parker-Athill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Activation of the maternal immune system and resultant maternal cytokine expression due to prenatal infection has been implicated as a significant contributor to the pathology of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Increased maternal interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression, observed clinically and in animal models of prenatal infection, and resultant activation of key signaling pathways, has been shown to be a biological indicator of pathology, and a central component of the pathological mechanism. In animal models of prenatal infection and clinically in pregnancy disorders hallmarked by immunological irregularities and increased IL-6 expression, inhibition of IL-6 has …

Four English Language Learners' Experiences And Strategy Use In Learning Environments Of Multiliteracies, Ho Ryong Park

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

English language learners (ELLs) develop their reading by engaging in diverse literacy activities in the learning contexts of multiliteracies. I investigated ELLs' experiences and their use of strategies when they read computer-based texts at home and in school. In addition, I identified a variety of influential factors that affected the ELLs' use of reading strategies when they read computer-based texts in both research contexts.

This research was conducted at homes and at three public elementary schools. Participants were two fourth-grade and two fifth-grade ELLs, four parents, and five classroom teachers. The study included observations, interviews, verbal reports, documents, field notes, …

Cell Adhesion And Migration On Ndga Cross-Linked Fibrillar Collagen Matrices For Tendon Tissue Engineering, Ana Ysabel Rioja

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tendons, essential tissues that connect muscles to bones, are susceptible to rupture/degeneration due to their continuous use for enabling movement. Often surgical intervention is required to repair the tendon; relieving the pain and fixing the limited mobility that occurs from the damage. Unfortunately, post-surgery immobilization techniques required to restore tendon properties frequently lead to scar formation and reduced tendon range of motion. Our ultimate goal is to create an optimal tendon prosthetic that can stabilize the damaged muscle-bone connection and then be remodeled by resident cells from the surrounding tissues over time to ensure long-term function. To achieve this, we …

Musical Rhetoric And Sonic Composing Processes, Kyle D. Stedman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project is a study of musical rhetoric and music composition processes. It asks the questions, "How does the nature of music as sound-in-time affect its rhetorical functions, production, and delivery?" and "How do composers approach the task of communicating with audiences through instrumental music?" I answer these questions by turning to the history of musical rhetoric as practiced in the field of musicology and by interviewing composers themselves about their composition practices--approaches that are both underused in the rhetoric and composition community.

I frame my research participants' responses with a discussion of the different degrees to which composers try …

Cultivating An Engaged Workforce: The Roles Of Leader Personality, Motivation, And Leadership Style, Amy Marie Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the links between leadership style, leader personality, and motivation to lead, with employee engagement. Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and abusive supervision styles were examined in relation to levels of employee engagement via a sample of n=195 employees and n=130 managers. Consistent with findings from Christian, Garza, and Slaughter (2011), transformational leadership showed a positive link to employee engagement (r= .38, p< .05). On the opposite end, abusive supervision was negatively related to employee engagement (r= -.27, p< .05). Contingent reward leadership showed a positive link to employee engagement (r= .32, p< .05).

Relationships between personality and leadership style were framed according to the socioanalytic framework (Hogan & Shelton, 1998). This study did not find any significant differences in the relationships between the expected leadership behaviors and the traits …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of An Electrospray Rf Ion Funnel, Eric Miguel Tridas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using experimental techniques along with computational fluid dynamics and electrodynamic simulations the performance of the first of three focusing elements in an electrospray macromolecular patterning system was assessed. The performance of this element, the ion funnel, was analyzed by varying the parameters and electric field applied to the system including electrospray emitter to atmosphere-vacuum interface capillary distance, temperature of the desolvating heater, injection rate of solution and the voltage applied to the jet disruption element. Results indicated that processes involved in injecting larger droplets into the chamber resulted in a less effective transmission of the ions through the funnel. Droplet …

Structure And Agency: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Structure On Group Agents, Elizabeth Kaye Victor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Different kinds of collectives help to coordinate between individuals and social groups to solve distribution problems, supply goods and services, and enable individuals to live fulfilling lives. Collectives, as part of the process of socialization, contribute to the normalization of behaviors, and consequently, structure our ability to be self-reflective autonomous agents. Contemporary philosophy of action models characterize collective action as the product of individuals who have the proper motivations to perform cooperative activities (bottom-up); or they begin with the social-level phenomena and explain this in terms of individual actions and the mental states that motivate them (top-down). One general goal …