Digital Commons Network^™

Gamifying The Crew: Effects Of Collaborative Responsive Writing Using Gamification, In Interactive Web-Based E-Books, On L2 International Students’ Motivation And Academic Vocabulary Achievement, Rabea M. Alfahad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

International students usually find it challenging to adapt to English academic vocabulary (Park, 2019). The literature is interspersed with the use of a variety of technologies and technological tools to augment the knowledge of language learners regarding English academic vocabulary (Flemban, 2018). However, in this dissertation, interactive web-based e-books and two strategies to teach English academic vocabulary (gamification and collaborative responsive writing) is employed. Gamification is applying game mechanics in non-game related contexts (Groh, 2012). This study investigated the impact of these two strategies on the participants’ academic vocabulary achievement and motivation level. In so doing, interactive web-based e-books are …

Charter School Management: Mo Interaction With Educational Inputs And Outcomes, Joseph C. Simmons

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to understand if the utilization of a management company has any interaction with the socioeconomic status (SES) of students served, the school’s academic performance, the percentage English Language Learners served, the percentage of highly qualified teachers per school site, the amount of student attrition/mobility, or the amount of disciplinary events. Ultimately this study seeks to determine the efficacy and utility of management organization utilization by studying inputs and outputs of Florida charter schools and disaggregating them based on utilization of Charter Management Organizations, Education Management Organizations, or their decision not to utilize a Management Organization. This study …

Cool Under Fire: Psychopathic Traits And Decision-Making In Law Enforcement-Oriented Populations, Sean J. Mckinley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Law enforcement is an occupation that is typically characterized by high stress, physical danger, and potential for use of excessive force to subdue suspects of criminal activity. Compared to other jobs, the law enforcement profession is considered a high-stakes occupation that has the potential to greatly impact public safety, and officers must face daily dangers not experienced in other professions. While much research has focused on traditional models of personality and police performance (i.e., Big Five traits; Schneider, 2002; Twersky-Glasner, 2005), there may be utility in examining police officer performance through the lens of the triarchic psychopathy domains (Patrick, Fowles, …

Resilience And Health Outcomes Of Sexual Minority Middle-Aged And Older Adults, Christi L. Nelson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (hereafter referred to as sexual minority) middle-aged and older adults has increased over the past decade, there is still a critical need for more research on the health and resilience in this growing subpopulation. Research has provided evidence that sexual minority adults have an increased risk of negative health outcomes when compared to heterosexual adults. Research has also demonstrated possible resilience in sexual minority middle-aged and older adults; however, few studies have measured resilience in middle-aged and older adults. Gaining a better understanding of resilience in sexual minority adults may help identify modifiable …

The Use Of Video Games In Teaching Efl Students To Write Arguments, Dalal Boland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to investigate how playing an online digital video game, Quandary, during a university writing course affect the quality of argumentative writing produced by adult EFL students in Kuwait and how playing the same video game is different between male and female adult EFL students when learning how to write argumentative essays. The sample of the study consisted of 42 students who were enrolled in English composition 2 at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. The students were divided to control and experimental group and were part of the study for 3 weeks. Students in the control …

An Ecology Of Learning: Secondary Mathematics Teacher Candidate Learning While Co-Teaching In Early Clinical Practice, Cynthia A. Castro-Minnehan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have called for more empirical research exploring better ways to organize clinical practice around teacher candidate (TC) learning and the coursework-fieldwork gap. This study responds to their call by exploring secondary mathematics TC learning in early clinical placements that use co-teaching. Further, this study views co-teaching in clinical practice through the lens of an activity system. An activity system conceptualizes co-teaching in clinical practice as a complex learning environment or a learning ecology. This study uses a convergent mixed methods design. Findings reveal evidence of TC learning of eight key practices associated with co-teaching in their early clinical placements. …

Community Assessment Of Water Perceptions And Household Point-Of-Use Treatment Methods In Madagascar, Isabella Rose Silverman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One in four people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water, which means that two billion people globally lack access. In high-income countries, 0.02% of yearly deaths are attributed to unsafe water sources; however, an alarming 10.6% of deaths occur in Madagascar, for the same reason.

To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all, a collaboration between public health and engineering is critical. Within the public health sector, social marketing is commonly utilized to address a problem by using commercial marketing principles to change behavior for the good of society. …

Laboratory Examination Of Lead Weights Harvested From Pitcher Pumps In Eastern Madagascar, Madelyn Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous sampling campaigns in Tamatave, Madagascar, conducted by the University of South Florida (USF) have identified lead contamination in drinking water sourced from self-supply pitcher pumps. The pitcher pump piston and foot valves were identified as the primary source of lead contamination since they are often manufactured from recycled lead acid batteries. The previous field sampling technique consisted of collecting an aliquot of a 10-15-liter composite sample from the pitcher pump for dissolved lead analysis; however, this technique (1) neglects the contribution of particulate lead, (2) does not properly account for the effects of water stagnation inside the pitcher pump …

Criminalizing Lgbtq+ Jamaicans: Social, Legal, And Colonial Influences On Homophobic Policy, Zoe C. Knowles

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Based on colonial and neocolonial models of oppression, Jamaica has adopted many laws, policies, and systems mandated by the British monarchy. Many of these laws contain anti-LGBTQ+ policies which remain in effect today. To address the criminalization of LGBTQ+ identities, I used queer theory and queer criminology to analyse the ways Jamaica constructs LGBTQ+ people as criminals and how they are treated in the legal and criminal justice systems from a postcolonial standpoint. Using a qualitative text-based feminist and queer policy analysis, I investigated social, legal, and colonial influences on current anti-LGBTQ+ policy by looking at the Offences Against the …

Jane Anger Her Protection For Women And The Emergence Of A Radical Female Voice In Late Sixteenth Century England, Ashley M. Wessel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how women authors responded to masculine discourses of dominance in late sixteenth-century England. Directly, it concentrates on the pamphlet Jane Anger her Protection for Women, written in 1589 and published under the pseudonym Jane Anger. I argue Anger’s pamphlet was a radical voice within Elizabethan print culture which lends a view into gender politics of the time in which this piece was produced. I also argue that though Anger’s target audience was the gentlewomen of England, she crafted her pamphlet for a broad audience that included any literate man or woman across social station. The importance …

Cultural Values As A Moderator Of The Emotion Suppression To Strain Relationship: A Comparison Of Two Dominant Theoretical Mechanisms, Roxanne C. Lawrence

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although the relationship between emotion regulation and deleterious health outcomes is a robust finding in Western cultures, studies show that this effect is attenuated in non-Western cultures. The present study employed an experience sampling method to examine the mitigating effect of cultural values (i.e., individual-level collectivism) on the relationship between emotion regulation and employee strain (i.e., job satisfaction and anxiety) through the theoretical models of emotional dissonance and resource loss (operationalized as inauthenticity and emotional exhaustion). Using data collected from 182 adults working in the service industry, I ran a multilevel path analysis to test the study’s hypotheses. Results indicated …

Barriers And Motivating Factors To Parent Involvement In The Well-Being Promotion Program, Alexis C. Elvy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Well-Being Promotion Program (WBPP) is a school-based positive psychology intervention implemented in both primary and secondary schools to increase subjective well-being in children and adolescents. Through the inclusion of a parent information session and weekly parent contacts, parents of students enrolled in the program are encouraged to enhance their child’s generalization of positive activities and relationship building skills. However, previous implementation of the WBPP provides evidence for the existence of barriers to parental involvement in the intervention. Although the literature on parental involvement in school-based positive psychology interventions is sparse, research conducted with a variety of school-based and clinical …

Retaining And Supporting Graduate Racially Minoritized Students: A Critical Analysis, Patricia Y. Gills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to critique the racial status quo of a school psychology graduate training program by gaining the perspectives of former and current racially minoritized students from the program. Additionally, this study aimed to utilize this information to provide implications for how to dismantle the racist and oppressive structures within the school psychology program. This study also aimed to analyze the success of research recommendations in helping racially minoritized students defeat the systemic barriers to completing a school psychology program. I conducted one-hour, semi-structured interviews of eight school psychology graduate racially minoritized students from the school psychology program. I …

Development And Validation Of A Scale To Measure Songwriting Self-Efficacy (Sses) With Secondary Music Students, Patrick K. Cooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social cognitive theory was developed to explain how individuals learn, in part, by witnessing the behavior of others. Self-efficacy is a construct within social cognitive theory which indicates the beliefs that an individual can be successful at a task under specific situational demands. The sources of self-efficacy include self-evaluating past experiences to predict future success, comparing our abilities to those around us, the verbal and social feedback we get from others, and the physiological feelings we experience when engaged in or thinking about the task. Measures of self-efficacy have been shown to be accurate predictors of successful learning outcomes, achievement, …

Bad Bunny’S Purplewashing As Gender Violence In Reggaeton: A Feminist Analysis Of Solo De Mi And Yo Perreo Sola, Dairíne Hoban

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bad Bunny has skyrocketed to fame in the past few years, gaining worldwide recognition as one of the best reggaetoneros of his time. His self-promoted image as an ally to women’s movements and the Queer community has garnered him the recognition of being a role model for youth and as an anomaly in the misogynistic genre of reggaeton. However, few have looked beyond the assertion of allyship to see if his work truly does support women and anti-gender violence ideology. While scholarship on reggaeton has well documented the prevalence of gender violence in the lyrics, videos and overall culture of …

Multidimensional Well-Being Across Time Scales In Caregivers And Non-Caregivers, Victoria R. Marino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary research on informal caregiving recognizes that, though stressful, providing care for a disabled family member or friend can bring psychological benefits, such as increased meaning or purpose in life, growing closer to the care recipient, and learning new skills. Scales of eudaimonic well-being (EWB – e.g., meaning in life, personal growth, and positive relations with others) developed in positive psychology literature offer an innovative solution to incorporating caregiving benefits into between-groups comparisons of caregiver and non-caregiver well-being, which have typically focused on cross-sectional assessment of hedonic well-being (HWB – i.e., negative/positive affect and life satisfaction). Moreover, using daily using …

A Field-Wide Examination Of Cross-Listed Courses In Technical Professional Communication, Carolyn M. Gubala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses cross-listed courses (courses with a mix of undergraduate and graduate students) to uncover current pedagogical and programmatic trends at a field-wide level. The applied mixed-methods study provides important foundational insights into an under researched area in Technical and Professional Communication (TPC). Research questions include: What courses are cross-listed? How does offering these courses affect writing programs and writing program administration? Through the use of three types of data: (1) course data from institutional documents, (2) interview data from program administrators and/or faculty, and (3) pedagogical materials (syllabi and assignment sheets) from the courses supplied by administrators or …

The Adaptive, Social, Communication, And Cognitive Skills Of Monolingual And Bilingual Toddlers With Autism, Marcela A. Galicia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The rates of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2019) and bilingual individuals are rapidly increasing in the United States (Zeigler & Camarota, 2019). Yet, research on the global development of bilingual children with ASD is limited. Despite the lack of research in this vein, educators and clinicians are tasked with the assessment and intervention planning for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children with ASD (Dilly & Hall, 2019). There are mixed findings regarding the effect of bilingual exposure on the development of adaptive, social, communication, and cognitive skills of children with ASD (e.g., Hambly & Fombonne, …

School Nurses’ Attitudes And Perceptions Toward Supporting Students With Chronic Health Conditions In An Ecological System, Destiny L. Singleton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chronic health conditions impact one in four school-aged youth (Van Cleave, Gortmaker, & Perrin, 2010). Supplemental to the medical challenges that students with chronic health conditions face, they also are at risk for a variety of academic, behavioral, and social-emotional adversities. Using an ecological approach for addressing the diverse needs of students with chronic health conditions has been deemed valuable due to the array of key stakeholders, institutions, policies, and cultural norms that impact the development of the pediatric population. A key stakeholder in supporting the functioning of school-aged children with chronic illnesses is the school nurse. School nurses’ skills …

Stressors, Resources, And Psychological Well-Being Among Working Black And White Caregivers In The United States, Maureen E. Templeman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

By the year 2060 in the United States (U.S.), not only will the number of adults aged 65 and older double, non-Hispanic Whites (Whites), who currently constitute 77% of the older adult population, will constitute just slightly more than half of older adults. As the older adult population diversifies, so will their caregivers. Over 60% of informal caregivers of older adults (caregivers) are employed, and the majority of these are employed full time. Little is known about the unique experiences of working Black or African American (Black/AA) and White caregivers and non-caregivers in the U.S. This dissertation consists of three …

Knowledge Extraction And Inference Based On Visual Understanding Of Cooking Contents, Ahmad Babaeian Babaeian Jelodar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we discuss our work on analyzing cooking content for the ultimate goal ofautomatic robotic manipulation. For a robot to perform a cooking task, it will need to both have an understanding of the scene and utilize prior knowledge. We will explore two main sub-problems: knowledge extraction and inference, and visual understanding of the scene in this dissertation. Visual understanding of a scene, requires algorithms that can visually infer information from a single image or video. Many algorithms in the area of image classification, object detection, or activity recognition can be used in this area. Although great advances …

Poetic Justice: A Counter-Narrative Of The First Black Male Principal In A Coastal Community Since The Desegregation Era, Adrian Anthony

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Entering a new school as a new principal, and the first black male administrator in a community since the desegregation era, was fraught with challenges that have a universal cadence. Additionally, the three-year school turnaround initiative I entered had its own unique barriers. My voice quivers, my head sinks low, my eyes averted but this no more, for I uphold the mantle of men of bronze, for I will lead within this challenge and my voice will go on (Anthony, 2020). Using critical race theory as a framework with counter-storytelling I examined leadership and different forms of racial and gender …

Awareness, Advocacy, And Activism: A Self-Study Of Social Justice Supervision Of Secondary Science Teacher Candidates, Stephanie A. Arthur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the demographics of public K-12 schools continue to shift towards a wider representation including students of color and students from low-income households, it is critical for new secondary science teachers entering the field to be prepared to teach science that is culturally responsive to their students’ needs and communities. As teacher candidates continue their pedagogical growth while in their final clinical internships in high-needs schools, there is great potential for the university supervisor to support their development within a social justice framework. By encouraging and supporting teacher candidates to include culturally responsive approaches in the biology, chemistry, physics, and …

"They Say We're Expendable:" Race, Nation, And Citizenship In The Dominican Republic., Edlin Veras

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2013, new Dominican legislation left approximately a quarter-million Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent at risk of being undocumented and/or stateless in the Dominican Republic. While the histories of racial and ethnic tensions between the Dominican Republic are well-studied, few qualitative works have explored how these harsh migration policies impact Haitians’ everyday experiences. In my dissertation, I sought to understand: 1) How day-to-day experiences of racialization practices shape the lives of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent, and 2) investigate how migration policies impact Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent’s quality of life. I tend to these questions by …

Design, Synthesis And Testing Of Bioactive Peptidomimetics, Sami Abdulkadir

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Proteins are complex macromolecules that are responsible for almost all biochemical processes and play vital roles in signaling pathways, metabolic pathways, and all other cellular functions. Proteins accomplish this by interacting with other proteins and macromolecules like DNA and RNA, for instance, as transcription factors. As such, we can find protein interactions behind every cellular action or inaction, and it is easy to see how protein interactions are crucial in understanding disease processes. Advance in proteomics has particularly provided a wealth of insights into molecular mechanisms of disease processes of cancers and other rare diseases, which has helped identify key …

Analysis And Modeling Of Strategic Interactions In Health Systems To Improve Patient Care Access, Jorge A. Acuña Melo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Affordable health care access that provides well-coordinated and high-quality services on time is a goal that governments and health organizations strive for. Regrettably, most countries deal with access problems that affect the population's health, such as long waiting lists for specialized medical services, overcrowding of emergency departments, and high health prices. In the present doctoral dissertation, I model and analyze the strategic interactions that inhabit the health system machinery to uncover possible structural problems that led to the aforementioned issues. The study involves operation research, data science, and game theory techniques to address the health care access predicament.

Each research …

Successful Aging In Adults Who Stutter: Exploring Predictors Of Physical And Mental Health-Related Quality Of Life, Amanda Kelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to investigate predictors of physical and mental health quality of life in aging adults who stutter (AWS). Our goal was to identify factors contributing to successful aging in this talker group. The aging population is expected to increase exponentially over the next twenty years. Factors influencing self-perceived health-related quality of life have yet to be investigated in aging AWS.

An online survey was completed by a total of 40 AWS, age 50 years and older, recruited from the Greater Tampa Bay region and nationally. The survey comprised multiple measures that probed for information regarding self-perceived health …

Native And Non-Native English-Speaking Doctoral Students' Strategies To Understand Idiomatics In Comics And Comic Strips, Himelhoch Luz-Aydé

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Everyday language consists of many idiomatic and figurative expressions. For non-native English speakers to achieve native fluency, control of idiomatics—native speech that includes the use of both idiomatic and figurative language—is paramount. In this study, I aimed to explore the use of comics and comic strips in the learning and comprehension of L2 (second language) idiomatics. Seldom has the topic of comics and comic strips been addressed as it applies to idiomatics learning in second language acquisition (SLA). I employed a descriptive and exploratory approach in this study to address this gap in SLA pedagogy. A total of 21 doctoral …

“Here Come The Crackers!”: An Ethnohistorical Case Study Of Local Heritage Discourses And Cultural Reproduction At A Florida Living History Museum, Blair Bordelon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the complex roles of power and heritage in the reproduction ofcultural and ethnic identities in the context of a local living history museum called Cracker Country. Throughout this thesis, I demonstrate how discourses of Florida heritage are constructed, reproduced, or contested in various ways among all the museum’s different communities of stakeholders. Using Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s (1995) theory of historical silences and expanding on Laurajane Smith’s (2006) notion of the Authorized Heritage Discourse, I explore the ways that heritage “works” at a local level, and the multitude of meanings it can hold within particular communities. I analyze the …

An Investigation Of The Hot Docs Guide For Weekly Early Intervention Sessions: A Multiple Baseline Design, Cashea Holyfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many parents of young children across the United States are increasingly impacted by their children’s display of early childhood challenging behavior. Common examples of these behaviors include feeding difficulties, tantrums, whining, crying, and noncompliance (Barbarian, 2007; Hemmeter et al., 2014; Spencer & Coe, 2003). Though the relationship between early childhood behavior problems and future outcomes may not be causal, researchers have consistently concluded that if left unaddressed, children who demonstrate early challenging behavior are likely to experience some difficulties in academic achievement, sociability, school readiness, and mental health (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002; Turney & McLanahan, 2015). Behavioral parent training …