Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Between Perceived And Actual Knowledge Of Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support/Response To Intervention (Mtss/Rti) In Middle School Principals In Florida, Susan L. Sanger-Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Principals play a crucial role in implementing MTSS/RtI (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support/Response to Intervention), yet little is known about their understanding of the RtI component. This quantitative survey examined Florida middle school principals’ actual and perceived knowledge of MTSS/RtI, as well as how training and demographic factors—such as special education certification, education level, Title I status, administrative experience during rollout years (2006–2010), district training hours, and college coursework—relate to that knowledge. Data from 54 principals were collected through perception scales, training background, and knowledge-based questions. Results showed principals rated their perceived knowledge higher than their actual knowledge, with a moderate …

Improving Coral Restoration Outcomes Through Novel Molecular Applications, Matthew H. Gamache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coral reef ecosystems are declining globally from numerous stressors, including localized pollution, disease, and marine heatwaves induced by climate change. To preserve these ecosystems, it is critical to identify corals that can withstand stressors—primarily future marine heatwaves—and prioritize them for coral restoration efforts until these stressors are mitigated. Coral responses to thermal stress can be influenced by several partners, including mutualistic microalgae and a vast prokaryotic community. Here, I use advanced molecular techniques to examine which partners (coral host, algal symbiont, and microbial communities) are associated with coral health, how they contribute to holobiont physiology, and their potential to increase …

The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Cognitive Performance In African American Older Adults, Rio S. Tate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of older adults in the United States is expected to increase in the years to come. As we age, cognitive performance is noted to decline. African American older adults are more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to experience cognitive impairment and dementia. It is known that physical activity is a modifiable risk factor for dementia. It is not known the extent to which physical activity engagement is related to cognitive performance in African American older adults, and which variables, if any, moderate this association. To answer this question, the authors examined the association between three intensities of physical activity …

Recruitment, Retention, And Attrition Of Special Education Teachers At Title 1 Schools: How Administrators Perceive Their Role, Sherry Jane S.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States needs more special education teachers. Although this shortage affects many schools nationwide, the effects can be particularly harmful at Title 1 schools. Although there is a large body of literature on teacher attrition and retention, enlarging it focuses on teachers' viewpoints. Through semi-structured interviews, this research examines the perceptions of school administrators at Title 1 schools about their role in the recruitment, attrition, and retention of special education teachers. The context of the research is one large district in central Florida

Mosquito Classification And Explainability From Image Data Via Deep Learning Techniques, Farhat Binte Azam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on Earth, responsible for more human deaths annually than any other species. Mosquito-borne illnesses continue to pose severe risks to global health. In 2015 alone, there were an estimated 214 million malaria cases worldwide. Similarly, a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that Puerto Rico’s Department of Health received over 62,500 suspected cases of Zika, with 29,345 confirmed positive cases. In 2019, Southeast Asia experienced its worst dengue outbreak in recorded history. Of the approximately 4,500 mosquito species distributed across 34 genera, …

Promoting Sophomore Progression: Academic Advocates’ Perceptions Of Holistic Interventions And Data Analytics, Sarah Angela Wray Marshall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored academic advocates’ perceptions regarding holistic student interventions and data analytics utilization to enhance sophomore success at their institution. This study contributes to the literature on sophomore success by providing an academic advocacy perspective and to the emerging literature using data analytics to enhance retention, persistence, and graduation rates in higher education. Multiple methods of data collection were employed, including four academic advocate interviews, document analysis, and reflexive journaling. A hybrid thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. By exploring practitioners’ narratives, the research addressed a gap in scholarship on how academic advocates enact their …

“From Bars To Becoming”: Exploring Identity Change Across Prison Programming, Evan W. Saunders

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-identity plays a pivotal role in one’s day-to-day life, impacting their behaviors and ambitions, but what is conducive to a change in identity is often underdeveloped. Mechanisms that lead incarcerated individuals to both a shift in identity and desistance away from crime are both underdeveloped as well. The current study examines the impact of programming on identity and the relationship between identity and recidivism. A sample of individuals participating in a reentry prison program responded to 16 statements that evaluated their perceptions of their Overall Self-Identity, Current Self, Feared Self, and Positive Possible Self at the beginning and end of …

Community, Autonomy, Irony: Lessons From Historic Rosenwald Schools, Ronald B. Matus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Growing evidence suggests the Rosenwald schools of the American South, which anchored thousands of Black communities for a half century before desegregation, boosted academic outcomes for generations of Black students and helped fuel the civil rights movement. The research literature, however, is thin on what specifically made these schools successful. My research attempts to narrow the gaps by asking the Rosenwald alums themselves. Through semi-structured interviews, 10 alums in Florida identify defining features of their schools, including seamless community connections; a culture of high expectations for academic achievement and character development; and especially caring and committed teachers. The alums’ insights …

Ai-Assisted Spectral Fingerprinting Of Mg-Doped Zno Tracer Phosphors: Tuning Photoluminescence Emission And Investigating Lifetime Via Sol-Gel Synthesis Parameters, Thomas M. Brandte

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plastic sorting remains a major driver of recycling costs, and existing infrared (IR) optical identification systems cannot determine material prominence or quality, nor reliably identify dark polymers [1]. This work explores a PVA-stabilized sol–gel and thermal synthesis route for magnesium-doped zinc oxide (Mg:ZnO) as a tunable photoluminescent tracer phosphor.

Lattice-defect control forms the foundation of phosphorescent emission tuning, enabling unique spectral fingerprints to be generated based on synthesis parameters—Mg molar ratio (Mg%), PVA mass (g), and calcination temperature (°C). Photoluminescence (PL) spectra (400–850 nm) were analyzed using Gaussian peak fitting and principal component analysis (PCA), reducing hundreds of spectral features …

Design And Implementation Of A Cross-Platform, Modular Electronic-Nose System, Kaushika Rudraraju

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electronic noses (e-noses) are a subject of great research. They are useful in multiple platforms and serve a great purpose in both studies and safety. This thesis presents a portable, modular e-nose platform that spans the full pipeline from sensing to visualization, with emphasis on scalability, repeatability, and straightforward integration. The hardware is organized as swappable sensor modules each hosting multiple commercial sensors and local signal-conditioning networked to a master microcontroller via structured communication protocols. High-resolution acquisition, time alignment, and efficient streaming to a host enable reliable logging and analysis. A controlled exposure chamber and a repeatable sampling protocol (baseline-exposure-purge …

“The Best Laid Plans”: Evaluating How Housing Expectations Impact Prison Reentry, Vittoria A. Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses the expectations of housing stability pre-release and evaluates how closely these expectations align with actual housing outcomes. Additionally, this study examines how the alignment between pre-release housing expectations influences recidivism. The aim is to understand how individuals’ perceptions of their housing plans prior to release affect their reentry experiences and to offer insights that may inform policy and program design. Using data collected pre- and post- release within a prison reentry program from 115 individuals, results indicate that higher overall housing concern is associated with slightly higher odds of recidivism, and mismatches between expected and actualized housing …

Graphene Screen-Printed Electrode For Wound-Related Biosensing, Chanyapat Sriviroch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring wound healing is critical for improving patient outcomes, especially for chronic wounds, which often have complications like delayed healing and infections. Current methods for monitoring wound healing are invasive and costly. Also, these methods have a limited ability to provide real-time, continuous data. This study seeks to explore a graphene screen-printed electrode (SPE) electrochemical biosensor that is non-invasive and efficient to constantly monitor wound healing in real time. This research study focuses specifically on the electrochemical detection of the Human Neutrophil Elastase (HNE) and Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor (SLPI), which is one of the most abundant neutral proteinases in …

Mapping Seagrass Extent Using Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery: A Case Study In Salt River Bay, United States Virgin Islands, Chelsea O. Bryant

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Seagrass beds provide important services in many coastal ecosystems. They provide habitat and food for a wide range of marine species, stabilize sediments, and prevent coastal erosion. These services support local fisheries and tourism-driven economies. Yet, seagrass ecosystems are threatened by changes in water quality, sedimentation, and other stressors. This study investigated the interannual variability in seagrass extent in Salt River Bay, United States Virgin Islands (USVI), from 2018 to 2024. The goals were to better understand temporal dynamics in seagrass extent and evaluate the influence of turbidity as a driver of seagrass health and distribution. The overarching research question …

What Controls Ice Shelf Isotopic Variability? Local And Global Processes Preserved Within Ice Cores Across The Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, Orion Laurene Schomber

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is one of the foremost indicators of anthropogenic global warming as it interacts with both atmospheric and oceanic processes. Although ice shelves across the AP have undergone increased rates of disintegration over the last 30 years, limited in-situ measurements have been investigated. Assessment of three short (~30 m) firn cores (J108, J208, and J409) across the Larsen C ice shelf (LCIS) provide insight into local, regional, and global processes. Average core densities and isotopic variability (δ¹⁸O and δ²H) fall within expected ranges for all cores, indicating signal preservation through firn. However, isotopic maxima in J108 and …

Oxygen Supply Capacity Of The Atlantic Horseshoe Crab,, Marty Sims

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, inhabits shallow bays and estuaries where it encounters variable oxygen levels. Moreover, each year, the biomedical industry harvests hemolymph from hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs to use in bacterial contamination testing, yet the effects of bloodletting on their physiology are relatively unknown. This study aims to determine the oxygen supply capacity of Limulus polyphemus in relation to environmental hypoxia and biomedical bloodletting. Study animals were collected from the intertidal waters of Tampa Bay, Florida. Experiments included a control group that did not undergo substantial blood-volume reduction and a treatment group from which 10% of …

Econometric Analyses Across The Continuum Of Care For Individuals With Hearing Loss, Teresa I. Anthony

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hearing loss affects individuals across the age span and, if left untreated, can lead to developmental delays and health and well-being concerns. This dissertation applies econometric analyses to investigate factors influencing diagnostic outcomes in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), intervention enrollment rates among babies with permanent childhood hearing loss (PCHL), and utilization and hospitalization outcomes among adults with sensory impairment (SI). The first study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of automated auditory brainstem response (aABR) versus transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) for newborn hearing screenings in a Thailand hospital NICU. Decision tree modeling and economic evaluation suggested that although aABR is …

Connectedness And Belonging: An Autoethnography About Military Veteran Transition, Benjamin A. Smet

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Military veterans often face profound challenges transitioning to civilian life, yet prevailing narratives focus narrowly on PTSD and combat trauma. This dissertation uses autoethnography to broaden that view, blending personal narrative with theory to explore seven interrelated transition stressors: grief and bereavement, loss of military identity, autobiographical memory, service-connected nostalgia, moral injury, stereotype threat, and socialized masculinity and stoicism. These layered stories illuminate the cultural, emotional, and relational dimensions of transition, showing how isolation, disconnection, and loss of belonging shape veteran experiences as deeply as trauma. The analysis demonstrates that healing emerges not from prescriptive programs but from relational practices …

Using Behavioral Skills Training And In Situ Training To Teach Game-Related Social Skills, Sumeyye Erdem

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social skills are important for individuals to be successful, therefore programs that seek to improve social skills of individuals with autism and other disabilities are important (e.g., Agran et al., 2016; Miltenberger et al., 2017). The context of playing games has been used to teach children specific skills and may be a valuable way to promote generalization of social skills (e.g., Amadi et al., 2022; Radley et al., 2014). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral skills training (BST) for teaching social skills to children and adolescents using a game format and assess whether these …

An Integrated Pcb-Based Heating And Auto-Ranging Platform For Volatile Organic Compound (Voc) Detection Using Carbon Nanotube Based Sensors, Thomas Kalach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the development, characterization, and integration of a novel low-cost, high-dynamic-range sensor platform for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), leveraging the unique electrical properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) thin films. The platform introduces a fully integrated auto-ranging analog front-end circuit capable of real-time resistance measurement spanning over eight orders of magnitude ranging from tens of ohms to hundreds of megaohms, without compromising signal resolution or precision. This was achieved through a digitally controlled, multi-path feedback architecture and controllable current source.

To further enhance sensor performance, the system incorporates a copper trace heater beneath the sensor array, …

Investigating Factors Influencing Organic Chemistry Learners' Explanation Sophistication And Representational Competence, Caroline J. Crowder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation has two themes: organic chemistry learners’ written explanations and representational competence. Chapters 3 and 4 explore how organic chemistry learners construct explanations of reaction mechanisms, specifically focusing on electrophile and nucleophile components. Chapter 5 investigates organic chemistry learners’ representational competence skills and the relationship between these skills and their performance in the course.

Understanding reaction mechanisms is critical for success in organic chemistry, yet learners often struggle to reason beyond explicit, surface-level features. Constructed-response prompts that ask learners to explain what is happening in a reaction mechanism and why it occurs can provide insight …

Human Adipose Stem Cell-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles Modulate Glial Cell Response In Aged And Young Tbi Mouse Models, Salma S. Abdelmaboud

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of long-term neurological impairment, with aging significantly increasing vulnerability and worsening outcomes. Older individuals experience greater cognitive and motor deficits after TBI and often show diminished responses to therapeutic interventions. Both aging and TBI independently promote heightened neuroinflammation and cognitive dysfunction, increasing susceptibility to poor recovery. This study investigated the therapeutic potential of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) derived from human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) to promote neurological recovery and modulate neuroinflammation in a mouse model of TBI. Male C57BL/6 mice aged 3, 15, and 20 months underwent controlled cortical impact (CCI) and …

Mode Engineering And Functional Enhancement In Piezoelectric-On-Silicon Mems Resonators With Magnetic Field Sensing Applications, Ugur Guneroglu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation significantly advances the field of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) resonators by exploring novel post-fabrication tuning techniques, electrode configuration effects, and innovative sensor applications for thin-film piezoelectric-on-silicon (TPoS) resonator devices. Driven by the increasing demand for tunable, high-precision and robust MEMS resonators in radio frequency (RF) applications such as sensing, timing, and filtering, this research aim to provide foundational knowledge and practical solutions for overcoming existing technological limitations. The dissertation is organized into three main research thrusts, each addressing critical challenges and opportunities in the design, fabrication, and application of TPoS MEMS resonators.

The first research thrust investigates an innovative …

Exploring System Identification Of Non-Linear Dynamics Using The Weighted Composition Operator And The Liouville Operator, Chukwuebuka Amagwula

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

System identification is the process of determining mathematical models that describe the dynamics of a system from data. Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) and Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (SINDy) are two distinct approaches used for this purpose.

DMD identifies dominant spatiotemporal modes and eigenvalues that describe the evo lution of a system. It assumes a near-linear representation of dynamics and is closely linked to the Koopman operator, making it ideal for analyzing fluid flows, oscillatory systems, and modal structures. The DMD method uses time series data where each data point is referred to as a snapshot and represents the …

Conflicting Social Information And Its Impact On Sentence Comprehension In Young Adults With Dld: An Eye Tracking Study, Ansley Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals must recognize linguistic and non-linguistic social cues to resolve contextual ambiguities in their conversations. When the linguistic and social cues match, sentence processing is facilitated. However, conflicts between linguistic and social stimuli (i.e., incongruency) can lead to prediction errors which slow sentence processing. Limited research has explored the social cognition conflict resolution skills in individuals with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) despite their documented emotion processing deficits. This study considers the role of social prediction processing in adults with DLD as they engage in a social cognition conflict resolution task.

Young adults with DLD (n=29) and typically developing (TD) peers …

Gender Representation Of Composers In Recommended Wind Band Literature And Prominent Performances, Devon Alexis Gray Porter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to evaluate gender representation in recommended literature in wind band repertoire and prominent performances. I collected data from music lists approved by the National Band Association (NBA) state chapters, programs from the Midwest Clinic and College Band Directors National Association, music vendor catalogues, the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, and Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) Music Performance Assessment (MPA) past performances. I evaluated names of composers to determine the male-female ratios and quantities for recommended works from these sources. I conducted further analysis to determine if trends existed in the relationships between composer …

Beyond The Hype: The Fundamental Challenges Of Machine Learning-Based Android Malware Detection In Cybersecurity, Guojun Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) algorithms have achieved remarkable success across various domains, including cybersecurity. Inspired by these advancements, the academic security community has explored numerous ML-based approaches for Android malware detection. While ML holds significant promise in this domain, its practical deployment faces substantial challenges, including data collection, feature selection, app representation across different models, performance instability across datasets, and inherent limitations of learning-based malware detection. These challenges can lead to overly optimistic detection results and weaken the reliability of malware detection frameworks.

Android malware detection has been extensively studied using both traditional ML and deep learning (DL) approaches. Although many …

An Fgfr-P53 Developmental Signaling Axis Drives Salivary Cancer Progression, Julia M. R. Billington

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most frequently occurring salivary gland malignancy.Here, we investigated transcriptomic profiles of human fetal and adult salivary glands and MEC tumors to assess programs involved in MEC progression. Molecular and genetic analyses revealed that MEC tumors and fetal salivary glands share proliferative and developmental gene expression profiles that implicate an FGFR-p53 signaling axis in salivary MEC progression. Based on these findings, we developed a genetically engineered mouse model of advanced MEC via targeted expression of the CRTC1-MAML2 oncogene in salivary ductal cells. Specifically, CRTC1- MAML2 expression combined with p53 dysregulation in salivary ducts rewires FGF signaling …

The Political Philosophy Of Habitude: Conservatism Analytically Explained, Kyle S. Hodge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Conservatism is both undertheorized and poorly understood in philosophical political theory; all extant theories have proven deficient. They either conflate what is contingently associated with conservatism with its essence, draw mistaken generalizations from apparently conservative behavior, or else are explanatorily incomplete.

To avoid these deficiencies, I develop a rigorous, theory-neutral groundwork for evaluating theories of conservatism. This groundwork utilizes both traditional methods of analytic philosophy and, for the first time in the field, historiometry. Philosophical analysis determines the formal requirements of a successful explanation while empirical, historiometric data determines the most salient conservative exemplars whom any such theory must explain. …

Efficient Methods And Algorithms For Analyzing Stochastic Systems, Mohammad Ahmadi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the challenges of stochastic analysis of safety-critical systems with biological components, where unexpected behavior can lead to catastrophic events. Two fundamental challenges hinder the analysis of such systems: their typically large or infinite state spaces, and the extreme rarity of error states of interest. While Monte Carlo simulation can analyze biochemical systems without storing the state space, accurately estimating rare event probabilities becomes computationally prohibitive. Conversely, probabilistic model checking excels at analyzing extremely low probability events but becomes impractical for systems with large or infinite state spaces due to memory constraints.This work proposes two main contributions to …

Teaching Word Combinations Using Matrix Training Via Serious Gaming In Minimally Verbal Children, Nataly Innamorato

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the communication challenges faced by minimally verbal children who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), often limited to one-word expressions. The approach used involves gamifying matrix training, an empirically supported method for teaching word combinations and promoting the generalization of language skills. Across three studies, the development of an instructional game is described and evaluated with two populations, typically developing children and children who are minimally verbal. First, it introduces a gamified application of matrix training that provides training in an interactive digital environment. Second, a proof-of-concept was obtained via a multiple baseline across participants with typically …