Digital Commons Network^™

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. …

Experiences Of Saudi Arabian Mothers Of Young Children With Disabilities: An Exploratory Study, Samirah Bahkali

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that seeks to provide and develop services for children with disabilities and their families. As times have progressed, regulations and laws have placed an emphasis on providing suitable and better services for children with disabilities and their families. However, a gap exists in the literature regarding the overall experiences of Saudi Arabian mothers of children with disabilities in the early childhood years from birth to age ten (Al Otaibi & Al Sartawi, 2009; Alazemi, 2010). This study explored the experiences of Saudi Arabian mothers of children with disabilities. A qualitative interview approach, utilizing …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

A Framework To Aid Decision Making For Smart Manufacturing Technologies In Small-And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Purvee Bhatia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 has changed today’s manufacturing scenario. The transition to smart manufacturing technologies has been evolving over the last few years and has recently accelerated due to the pandemic. The need to make manufacturing systems agile, adaptive, resilient, and robust has expediated the adoption and implementation of smart manufacturing technologies.

Despite the interest of manufacturers in smart manufacturing, the adoption rate has been slow due to the lack of decision-making tools that can provide a clear strategic roadmap for effective execution. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are especially slow in adoption due to the …

Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge Of The Brain: Implications For Autonomy-Supportive And Controlling Motivational Styles, Katie Jansen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neuromyths, or misconceptions about the brain and learning that are rooted in scientific fact, have been documented among educators across various subject areas and educational levels throughout the world. The endorsement of neuromyths may affect the ability of educators to support the psychological needs of their students. The present study examined neuromyth endorsement and neuroscience literacy among pre-service educators, as well as their orientations toward autonomy-supportive or controlling motivational styles. Associations between pre- service teachers’ knowledge of the brain (i.e., neuromyth endorsement and neuroscience literacy) and their motivational styles (i.e., autonomy-supportive or controlling) were also explored. Data were gathered from …

Students’ Perceptions Of Factors Contributing To Enrollment In Arabic Courses At A College Level, Qays Q. Majeed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this evaluation was to investigate the factors that contribute to students’ recruitment and retention in the Arabic program at my college. The two questions guiding this evaluation were: (1) what factors influence students to join the Arabic program at my college and (2) what factors influence students to continue to enroll in subsequent higher-level Arabic courses? To accomplish this evaluation, I conducted interviews with six former students --four women and two men--in the Arabic program. Eight themes emerged following analysis of data. The findings show that students joined the Arabic program for a variety of reasons. Several …

“I Wish Somebody Called Me, Told Me Not To Worry”: Evaluating A Non-Profit’S Use Of Social Support To Address Refugee Women’S Resettlement Challenges, Brandylyn L. Arredondo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This report details the qualitative findings from an evaluation of the Refugee and Migrant Women’s Initiative (RAMWI) in Tampa, FL. Founded in 2013, the 501(c)(3) provides cultural knowledge and sewing classes to resettled refugee women. Using primarily semi-structured interviews and participant observation, I place a critical lens on the non-profit to examine how refugee women and volunteers use the provided resources and experience the values (e.g., empowerment, vulnerability) RAMWI centralizes in its programs.

Interviews with refugee women, volunteers, and key informants revealed that the challenges RAMWI faces derive from six key areas of contention: 1) an informal organizational structure; 2) …

“Be Valiente”: Investigating Ethnic Identity Through Digital Storytelling With Latinx Fourth-Grade Students, Jennifer Michelle Barreto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multilingual and multicultural students face the challenge of understanding where their ethnic identity lies in learning. The education system in the United States lacks inclusivity in classrooms, continuing monocultural views and monolinguist ideals as the norm and encouraged in curriculum and standards (Flores, 2020). This dissertation study seeks to break cultural and linguistic ideologies to better understand the development of ethnic identity in three Latinx fourth-grade students by creating a digital story. Through a sociocultural lens that includes a bioecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Vélez-Agosto et al., 2017) and multimodality (NGL, 1996) framework the study emphasizes all funds of knowledge (Moll …

The Early Medieval Transition: Diet Reconstruction, Mobility, And Culture Contact In The Ravenna Countryside, Northern Italy, Anastasia Temkina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research project evaluates the effects of increased mobility and culture contact on dietary practices, and on dietary variation among people buried at two northern Italian sites, Chiunsano di Ficarolo and Chiesazza di Ficarolo, located near the ancient Roman capital of Ravenna and dating 4th to 7th century CE. The Early Medieval period was a time of change, political instability, migration and invasion of the “barbarian” tribes, and diet was not unaffected. In particular, it is hypothesized that a new staple crop, millet, was introduced and that meat consumption had increased. The goal of this research is to use stable …

The Perceptions Of Speech-Language Pathologists Toward Augmentative And Alternative Communication In Thailand, Wansiya Kamonsitichai

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems have gained increasing acceptance in the US, they are not well-known and broadly used in Thailand. To begin introducing AAC systems and interventions to children with complex communication needs (CCNs) in Thailand, understanding Speech-Language Pathologists’ (SLP) perceptions toward various AAC systems is considered an important first step. This study assessed SLPs’ perceptions toward three AAC modalities: gestural communication, communication boards, and speech-generating devices. All SLPs in Thailand (n ~ 200) were invited to participate. A total of 78 SLPs watched three video vignettes with a Thai child illustrating each AAC mode. They then …

Investigating The Relationship Between Vocabulary Size Level, Informal Exposure, Motivation, And The Efl Learners’ Collocational Knowledge In Saudi Arabia, Amal Barzanji

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the correlation between English collocation test scores and three independent variables including vocabulary level, informal language exposure, and motivation. The study also examined which independent variable was the most influential in predicting the collocation tests scores. Data was collected using, Gyllstad’s (2007) COLLEX and COLLMATCH tests, Webb et al.’s (2017) Form A of the updated Vocabulary Levels Test, Luk and Bialystok’s (2013) Language and Social Background Questionnaire (LSBQ), and Moskovsky et al.’s (2016) L2 Motivational Self-System Questionnaire (L2MSS). Participants (N = 136) from a Saudi university completed the questionnaires. The results indicated that although there were …

Turkic Interlingua: A Case Study Of Machine Translation In Low-Resource Languages, Jamshidbek Mirzakhalov

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Machine Translation (MT) has the potential to bridge the gap between the developed world and the marginalized communities by making information more accessible in real-time. While there are over 7000 spoken languages in the world, only about a hundred have access to high-quality MT systems and even fewer enjoy the benefits of more advanced language technologies. Unfortunately, resource scarcity and the lack of digital infrastructure are only some of the many challenges associated with globalizing NLP. Many large-scale multilingual studies and datasets often get little to no feedback from native speakers or linguistic experts of the languages involved, leading to …

Framing #Metoo Movement In China A Content Analysis Of China Women’S News Coverage, Wenminzi Wu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Grounded in the framing theory, this article examined a differential study by content analysis. After the #MeToo movement rapidly trended in at least 85 countries including China, many people’s life and mind have been changed. The purpose of this study was to explore the frames used in the news coverage in China Women’s News referring to sexual harassment/assault and to examine how far the sense of gender equality has been changed in China especially after the #MeToo movement began. The sample came from the online database of a total of 546 relevant coverage from 2014 to 2020 in China Women’s …

Enacting An Equity Framework With A Teacher And Students In An Urban Elementary Classroom: A Qualitative Study, Samantha J. Haraf

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this study was to engage a fifth grade teacher and students in the exploration and application of the EFE (Education for Equity) conceptual framework, and to develop understandings of how EFE functioned in this context. This framework, developed around a decade of equity-focused research in elementary contexts, outlines research-based categories of practices for equity work in elementary schools, and it draws attention to areas lacking attention in the literature. Using and extending from case study methods and participatory methods, I worked with a teacher and her students in this urban classroom for approximately six months in both …

Exploring Educators' Sensemaking Of Statewide Professional Learning For Educational Decision-Making Within An Mtss, Sarah E. Thoman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative inquiry explored district-based educators’ sensemaking of an ongoing, statewide professional learning series focused on special education eligibility for students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) using a response-to-intervention (RtI) approach within a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). Specifically, the professional learning series was designed as a community of practice (CoP; Lave & Wenger, 1991) with both face-to-face and virtual activities. The professional learning series was in its second year of implementation and educators in the first two cohorts (Cohort 1 and Cohort 2) of the series were the participants in this study. The theoretical framework of sensemaking (Weick, 1995) …

Women Entrepreneurs In China: Dialectical Discourses, Situated Activities, And The (Re)Production Of Gender And Entrepreneurship, Zhenyu Tian

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the number of women entrepreneurs on the rise globally, the business world and the identity of the entrepreneur remain to be normed masculine and male gender stereotyped. This male gender stereotyping situates women who practice entrepreneurship in disadvantages, limiting their access to resources on which they depend to make meaning of their activities and identities. This imbalanced masculine gender order also manifests in China’s economy. Women entrepreneurs in China face complex contradictions and challenges when navigating an arena that privileges men and masculinity. However, not much is known about the micro-dynamics of Chinese women’s entrepreneurial experiences in light of …

Elementary Teachers' Beliefs And Practices For Building Teacher-Student Relationships In Title I Schools, Raven S. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As elementary teachers may serve as the initial advocates for students’ safety, basic needs, and emotional well-being, research has pointed to teacher-student relationships as a means of increasing successful experiences within the school setting (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Cook et al., 2018; Pianta, 1999; Schafer & Barker, 2018). However, urban schools continue to be disproportionately identified as contexts that serve as a nexus toward lack of opportunity for student success, but a focus on teachers’ beliefs and practices for building teacher-student relationships urban, Title I schools can dispel misconceptions (Delale-O’Connor et al., 2017; Hornstra et al., 2015; Milner, 2018; Nieto, …

Directing Attention In Second Language Phonological Contrast Learning, Laura Conover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Why are some people better at learning new languages than others? There is a rich body of research examining this issue from multiple perspectives and at all levels of language. This study attempts to add to that knowledge at the most fundamental level of language by examining potential influences on the learning of novel phoneme contrasts. The purpose of this study was to explore whether individual differences in attentional capabilities would help adults learn a non-native phonological contrast, and whether providing explicit directions that would guide the learners’ attention could help boost their performance. VCV recordings of the Thai /p/ …

Combination Of Time Series Analysis And Sentiment Analysis For Stock Market Forecasting, Hsiao-Chuan Chou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to build a model to predict trend of financial asset price using sentiment from news headlines and financial indicators of the asset. Objective of the model is to conclude good results but also to minimize the difference between predicted values and actual values. Unlike previous approaches where the sentiments are usually calculated into score, we focus on combination of word embedding of news and financial indicators due to nonavailability of sentiment lexicon.

One idea is that the sentiment of news headline should have impact on financial asset val- ues. In other words, it would …

The Characteristics Of Deaf Adult Learners Related To Predictors Of Online Learning Success, Caitlin Mckeown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Online learning has grown substantially in recent years, and there has been an emphasis among administrators, instructors, and researchers alike to better understand what drives student success in their online courses. Success in online learning is also a concern for deaf students, who face unique challenges in online courses. This survey-based correlational study used the Test of Online Leaning Success (TOOLS) to examine the characteristics of deaf adult students shown to impact success in online courses. There were 22 full responses (for a response rate of 20.95%), and an additional 7 partial responses which were included in analysis where possible. …

Learning To Be Human: Ren 仁, Modernity, And The Philosophers Of China's Hundred Days' Reform, Lucien Mathot Monson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a period of deep political division, insurrection, opium addiction, foreign conflicts, and economic distress, three intellectuals, Tan Sitong 譚嗣同 (1865-1898), Kang Youwei 康有爲 (1858-1927), and Liang Qichao 梁啓超 (1873-1929), developed philosophical systems to identify the source of China’s problems and to devise solutions. With these philosophical theories, they enacted a political movement to reform Chinese government and society known as the “Hundred Days’ Reform” (wuxubianfa 戊戌變法) of 1898. While scholars like Chang Hao, Wing Sit-chan, and Joseph R. Levenson have all written on all or some of these reformers, they have done so largely from the perspective of Chinese …

An Automated Framework For Connected Speech Evaluation Of Neurodegenerative Disease: A Case Study In Parkinson's Disease, Sai Bharadwaj Appakaya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people around the world. The progressive degeneration worsens the symptoms, heavily impacting the quality of life of the patients as well as the caregivers. Speech production is one of the physiological processes affected by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Speech is the most basic form of communication, and the effect of neurodegeneration degrades speech production, thereby reducing social interaction and mental well-being. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting speech production in 90% of the diagnosed individuals. Speech analysis methods for PD in clinical methods …

Instructional Experiences: A Case Study Of Perceptions Of High School American Sign Language Teachers Who Are Hearing, Rhonda S. Leslie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A significant gap has been identified in research-based findings and classroom instructional practices of hearing ASL teachers in high schools in the U.S. (Rosen, 2015). Research has shown the absence of standardized ASL instructional guidelines, rules, and procedures has created a significant gap in teaching and learning practices at the high school level, and research-based findings about the most suitable pedagogical approaches that should be used in ASL induction and immersion programs. This study aims to understand hearing teachers’ perceptions of their ASL instructional practices and choices, using a qualitative research approach and a case study design. Based on a …