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The Predictive Validity Of Four Reading Fluency Measures On A State's "High-Stakes" Outcome Assessment, Jose Michael Castillo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the long-term predictive validity of four reading fluency measures on a statewide reading assessment. The reading fluency measures were administered to a group of first and second grade students and their utility for predicting outcomes on a state's reading assessment in third grade was examined. Specifically, the amount of variance accounted for on the outcome assessment by Curriculum-Based Measurement ñ Reading (R-CBM) probes from two sources, a list fluency measure, and a group measure of fluency was investigated. The extent to which each is an accurate predictor of long-term performance when considered individually and in combination with …

A Co-Orientational Analysis Of Public Involvement Perceptions In The Transportation Process: A Case Study, Kristen E. Carson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored public involvement within the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) using the co-orientational theory. Effective public involvement gives the public opportunities to be involved early in the planning and implementation of transportation projects that directly affect or may concern them. The co-orientational model looks at what an organization (FDOT) thinks about an issue (public involvement), what the public thinks of the issue, what the organization thinks the public thinks about the issue, and what the public thinks the organization thinks about the issue.

This study investigated whether the FDOT management has an accurate understanding of the perceptions of …

Eros, Paideia And Arête: The Lesson Of Plato’S Symposium, Jason St. John Oliver Campbell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Commentators of Plato’s Symposium rarely recognize the importance of traditional Greek conceptions of Eros, paideia and arête in understanding Plato’s critique of the various educational models presented in the dialogue. I will show how Plato contests these models by proposing that education should consist of philosophy. On this interpretation, ancient Greek pedagogy culminates in a philosophical education. For this new form of education, the dialogical model supplants the traditional practices of kléos and poetic mimēsis, inextricably bound to archaia paideia and traditional forms of education. Plato’s Socrates is searching for knowledge and immortality through an application of the philosophical method, …

Effects Of Constructed Response Contingencies In Web-Based Programmed Instruction On Graphing Compared To Cued-Text Presentation Of The Same Information, Reinaldo L. Canton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Web-based lessons teaching graph construction techniques (via the internet) were presented to 144 undergraduate and graduate college students. One group experienced program-controlled tutorials requiring them to construct answers in a defined sequence. A second group experienced identical lesson material in the form of typographically cued text presentations. The programmed instruction students performed significantly better than the cued-text group on an immediate computerbased posttest assessing comprehension of the graphing lesson material. The cuedtext group performed better on an applied graphing assignment. The experiment did not account for individual’s internet study habits or the metacognitive approaches to learning employed by the study …

From Strange Fruit To Fruitful Kitchens: The Space Of The Kitchen In Toni Morrison’S Novels, Betty J. Chroninger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Toni Morrison's recovery of the African-American presence in her novels is uniquely tied to the space of the kitchen. The recovery of the African-American presence has been accomplished in various ways for various groups: historians, critics, authors, sociologists. They have named names, recalled incidents, and "discovered" texts. Recovery has been accomplished by reconstructing culture through songs, storytelling, folklore and myth. Morrison establishes a connection between the space of the Garden that represents a white male empowered world in which African-American women have difficulty establishing power to a space of the kitchen where we see how well each character has been …

Finding My Voice: Adolescent Girls’ Experiences With Speaking Up And How Recounting These Experiences Impacts Future Expression, Deborah A. Cihonski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning of the Expression of Voice experience in adolescent girls using an existential-phenomenological interview approach and also to explore the impact of participation in an interview session talking about Voice. Two open-ended interviews were conducted. During the first interview, participants are asked to "Please think of a specific time when you had something important to say, and although it was difficult, you did speak up and say what you thought. In as much detail as possible, describe that experience." During the second interview, each girl was asked if she "... feel[s] …

Effects Of Hyperoxia In Alzheimer’S Transgenic Mice, April Cox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An association between major surgery in the elderly and precipitation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been reported. Hyperoxia (100%) oxygen is commonly administered after surgery to increase the oxygen content of blood. However, hyperoxia is a potent cerebral vasoconstrictor and generator of free radicals, as is β-amyloid (Aβ). This study was aimed at examining behavioral, neuropathological, and neurochemical effects of hyperoxia treatments in APPsw transgenic mice (Tg+), which have elevated brain Aβ levels by 3-4 months of age but are not yet cognitively-impaired. At 3 months of age, Tg+ mice were pre-tested in the radial arm water maze (RAWM) task …

Dissecting Out The Contribution Of Cognitive, Social, And Physical Activities To Environmental Enrichment’S Ability To Protect Alzheimer’S Mice Against Cognitive Impairment, Jennifer R. Cracchiolo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Retrospective studies suggest that lifestyle activities may provide protection against Alzheimer s Disease (AD). However, such studies can be inaccurate and prospective longitudinal studies investigating lifestyle protection against AD are both impractical and impossible to control for. Transgenic (Tg+) AD mice offer a model in a well controlled environment for testing the potential for environmental factors to impact AD development. In an initial study, Tg+ and non-transgenic (Tg-) mice were housed in either environmentally enriched (EE) or standard housing (SH) from 2-6 months of age, with a behavioral battery given during the last 5 weeks of housing. In the Morris …

Early Learning Experiences: Education With Coaching And The Effects On The Acquisiton Of Literacy Skills In Preschool Children, Dale Lynn Cusumano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reading to learn becomes a difficult task for children if they have not become proficient at comprehending written text. It was hypothesized that, for some children, reading difficulties may have been averted had they been reared in homes or participated in early childhood settings where literacy-based activities, interactions, or materials were prevalent. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that training early childhood educators in researchbased early literacy instructional strategies (within the HeadsUp! Reading curriculum ñ HUR) had on the development of early reading skills in the preschool children they taught. Further examination also identified the impact …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Predictors Of Self- And Other Reported Marketability: Looking Beyond Human Capital, Rachel Day

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a comprehensive model of marketability using both individual and situational predictors. Participants in this study were members of professional associations and were recruited from internet listserves. They consisted of 485 employees and 176 co-workers. This study used a matching technique to link participant and co-worker data and was the first study to assess multiple perspectives of marketability. Results demonstrated the relationships of human capital variables, positivity traits, proactive career behaviors, the environment and industry characteristics on internal and external marketability. Interestingly, not all predictors related to both internal and external …

Fire And Ice In The Age Of Innocence, Alisa Mariva Deborde

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study will explore the dichotomy of culture and psychological landscape in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. To lay the foundation for this study, I first consider how Ms. Wharton often employed dichotomy in her own life: her role as socialite and author, woman of old New York and European maverick, and her life as spouse or beloved. Compartmentalizing her life’s roles prevented her from having to compromise the distinct qualities of each paradigm. Similarly, in The Age of Innocence, Ellen and May are completely opposite representations of life and culture in the 1870’s who cannot happily coexist …

The Impact Of Gender-Role Stereotypes And The Sex-Typing Of The Professor Job On Performance Evaluations In Higher Education, Jay M. Dorio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the influences of gender-role stereotypes, gender-role congruity, and the sex-typing of the professor job on performance evaluations of university educators in actual classroom settings. Participants used the Schein Descriptive Index (Schein, 1973) to define gender-role stereotypes, characteristics of their professor/instructor, and the characteristics of an “Effective Professor.” Participants used a behavior summary scale (BSS) formatted student assessment of instruction to evaluate their professor’s/instructor’s performance after a full semester of class participation.

It was hypothesized that a pro-male bias would exist in the sex-typing of the professor job, and that combined with the gender-role stereotypes of participants …

The Effects First Language Use Phonological Difficulty Perception Foreign Accented Speech, Astrid Zerla Doty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Listener perception of accentedness has been shown to be influenced by experience with L2 (measured by length of residence in US). However, frequency of L1 use and degree of phonological difficulty (defined by the number of non-native phonetic features targeted) may provide more insight into the role of experience in the perception of accentedness.

Three groups of listeners (monolingual English and Spanish [L1] speakers divided into two groups of high and low use of English [L2]) rated the accentedness of bilingual speakers who spoke with varying degrees of accentedness. The speakers read sentences adapted from Magan (1998) to include phonological …

Evaluating Positive Behavior Support Plan Implementation In The Home Environment Of Young Children With Challenging Behavior, Michelle A. Duda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, a central focus of the field of early intervention/early childhood special education has been to investigate ways to effectively support young children with challenging behavior and their families (Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior, 2003; DEC, 1999). Positive behavior support (PBS) is one of the most promising evidence-based practices for young children with challenging behavior and their families. The central purposes of PBS are to both help people develop and engage in socially desirable behaviors and to help minimize patterns of socially stigmatizing responding (Koegel, Koegel, & Dunlap, 1996).

Research documenting the utility and …

Political And Economic News During The Argentine Crisis Of 2000-2002: An Agenda-Setting Analysis Of Major Newspaper Coverage, Mariana Eberle-Blaylock

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the years 2000-2002, the Republic of Argentina experienced one of the most, if not the most, devastating social/political/economic crises ever seen. President Fernando de la Rua, elected in 1999, was forced to resign on December 20, 2001, after several months of protests, public demonstrations, and a colossal economic recession. This unprecedented event in the history of the country created a state of chaos and confusion in a frantic population desperately searching for answers.

During the crisis, the media played a vital role in providing the public their daily updates. This study analyzed the newspapers’ role during the crisis using …

Oral/Written Contrast Of Mental State References In Older Children, Jeanne E. Federico

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in the use of mental state references by typically developing 9- and 11-year-old children. Following a priming task that emphasized distinctions between physical and mental acts, children watched an 11- minute textless video and then were asked to generate an oral and a written story that focused on the mental states of the multiple characters. Narratives were transcribed, and all mental state references were classified into motivational, experiential, and belief categories. Specific mental state references were also analyzed to determine levels of semantic complexity. The study attempted to answer: 1) whether …

Negotiating Artistic Identity Through Satire: Subreal 1989-1999, Anca Izabel Galliera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research study is on major art works produced during the nineteen-nineties by the Romanian collective subREAL, composed of Calin Dan and Josif Kiraly. The thesis is an alternative to the literal-minded and politically biased Western view typified in two major exhibitions of art from Eastern Europe: Beyond Belief: Contemporary Art from East Central Europe (Chicago, 1995) and After the Wall: Art and Culture in Post-Communist Europe (Sweden, 1999). Both exhibitions presented Post-Communist nations as a monolithic bloc, in which art was primarily a passive reflection of political and social events. It will be demonstrated that …

The Effect Of Conducting Gesture On Expressive-Interpretive Performance Of College Music Majors, Ronald Wayne Gallops

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of non-verbal conducting gesture on musicians’ stylistic response and whether conducting gestures alone elicit consistent musical responses from musicians. Through an analysis that utilized a Gestural Response Instrument (GRI) it was determined that, even if the use of verbal and facial cues were eliminated, some experienced conductors successfully utilized non-verbal conducting gestures to communicate specific musical interpretations. It appeared that musicians responded in specific ways to the musical interpretation of conductors who had command of a variety of conducting gestures. The results illustrated the existence of a perceptual contract that …

Full-Page Versus Partial-Page Screen Designs In Web-Based Training: Their Effects On Learner Satisfaction And Performance, Phillip Eulon Grace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a report on research regarding the screen layout of Web-based training (WBT) programs, conducted with an eye toward providing evidence-based guidance for the design and development of WBT interfaces. Specifically, the study investigated the relative instructional benefits of two general types of WBT screen design, full-page and partial-page, in terms of both learner performance and learner satisfaction. The main hypotheses of the study were that the full-page design option would yield significantly better outcomes in both categories of interest.

The study employed a mixed-method design, generating both quantitative and qualitative data. The main phase of the study was …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Urbanicity And Children With Emotional Disturbances Served In Restructuring Public Schools, Karen Monk Harris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to affect changes in student achievement through altering the manner in which schools operate have been countless. However, there are few empirical studies on the relationship between these reform activities and student outcomes, especially outcomes for students with emotional disturbances from geographically diverse locations.

The current study was a secondary analysis of data collected as part of the School and Community Study and the Urban School and Community Study conducted by the Research and Training Center for the Childrenís Mental Health at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida. Both studies …

Service-Learning Literacies: Lessons Learned From Middle School Youth, Steven Michael Hart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dominant ideology driving the current educational reform movement positions adolescents as deficient in basic literacy skills. To address this deficiency, the trend has been to implement high-stakes standardized literacy tests and increase accountability to schools for developing basic literacy skills. Opposing this Discourse of “deficient youth,” literacy researchers have moved to adolescents’ cultural spheres of life beyond school to discover that traditional structures for teaching literacy appear to have resulted in a growing dissonance between literacies that take place within schools and those employed by youth in their personal worlds.

This research was conducted to explore how adolescents constructed …

The Effects Of A Comprehensive Post-Treatment Recovery Program For Breast Cancer Survivors, Keri Ann Hockett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Breast cancer and its treatment often result in side effects that persist long after treatment has ended. The increased survival rate for breast cancer has allowed for the study of the physical and psychosocial symptoms that persist into the post-treatment period. Although research has tested various interventions and demonstrated improvement in some symptoms, no standard of care exists for management of symptoms in the post- treatment period as part of the continuum of care. Objective: The aim of this research was to examine the effects of a comprehensive recovery program of education, exercise, and support for breast cancer survivors …

Development And Initial Validation Of The Work-Family Facilitation Scale, Sheila K. Holbrook

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The benefits of occupying multiple roles have typically been overlooked. One reason for this oversight is the lack of a well-established scale measuring work-family facilitation. This study developed and validated short, self-report scales of work-to-family facilitation and family-to-work facilitation. Based on conceptualizations of work and family facilitation presented in current research content domains and definitions of the constructs are presented. Work-to-family facilitation is defined as a form of role facilitation in which the experiences in the job, work skills, and emotional gratification from work makes participation in the family easier. Family-to-work facilitation is defined as a form of role facilitation …

The Effects Of An Internet-Based Program On The Early Reading And Oral Language Skills Of At-Risk Preschool Students And Their Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Program, Mary Huffstetter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This investigation examined the effects of instruction, within the context of the Headsprout Reading Basics program, on the oral language and early reading skills of atrisk preschool students, and their teachers’ perceptions of the program. Random assignment was used in a pretest-posttest, control group design to assess the effects of this program. Thirty-one students, across two preschool settings, participated in the experimental group, and 31 students participated in the comparison group. The experimental group received instruction through the Headsprout Reading Basics program, which teaches the alphabetic principle, decoding strategies, print awareness, vocabulary, and deriving meaning from texts. The comparison group …

All The News That’S Fit To Print? Media Reporting Of Environmental Protection Agency Penalties Assessed Against The Petroleum Refining Industry, 1997-2003, Melissa L. Jarrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although examination of the relationship between the media and crime has received considerable attention in the academic literature, only a few studies have examined news media coverage of environmental crimes. The present study examines print news media coverage of federal penalties assessed against the petroleum refining industry from 1997 to 2003. The Environmental Protection Agency initiated and/or settled 162 cases involving seventy-eight petroleum refining companies from 1997 to 2003. While a news search of the nation’s twenty-five largest newspapers produced seventy-four articles related to petroleum refining industry violations, only seventeen articles matched the EPA cases analyzed in the present study. …

A Comparison Of Traditional Physical Laboratory And Computer Simulated Laboratory Experiences In Relation To Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Conceptual Understandings Of A Communication Systems Topic, Giti Javidi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate an alternative to the use of traditional physical laboratory activities in a communication systems course. Specifically, this study examined whether as an alternative, computer simulation is as effective as physical laboratory activities in teaching college-level electronics engineering education students about the concepts of signal transmission, modulation and demodulation. Eighty undergraduate engineering students participated in the study, which was conducted at a southeastern four-year university.

The students were randomly assigned to two groups. The groups were compared on understanding the concepts, remembering the concepts, completion time of the lab experiments and perception toward the laboratory …

Occupational Role Portrayals Of African-American Women On Prime-Time Television, Shani Tyhirah Jefferson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined portrayals of African-American women shown in professional careers on prime-time network television during the May 2005 sweeps month. Specifically, the study compares these portrayals to actual U.S. Department of Labor workforce statistics to observe a possible similarity. Additionally, the study identifies any behavioral and conversational stereotyped attributes ascribed to AfricanAmerican female characters shown in the workplace. A quantitative content analysis of four broadcast networks (FOX, ABC, UPN, and WB) ranked by Nielsen Media as having the highest rated prime-time television programming among minority households for 2003-2004 revealed that African-American female characters on network television are over-represented in …

The Effects Of An Education/Behavioral Intervention On Knowledge, Perceived Risk And Self-Efficacy For Sexually Transmitted Infections In Women., Versie Johnson-Mallard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to test the effects of an education/behavioral intervention on knowledge, perceived risk, and self-efficacy for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevention in women. Additionally, the instruments that measured knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and perceived risk were tested for reliability. Instruments used to test the effects of the intervention at pretest and following the intervention included the Sexually Transmitted Infection Knowledge Survey (Johnson-Mallard, 2002); the Perceived Risk for Sexually Transmitted Infection Survey (Johnson-Mallard, 2002); and the Sexual Self-Efficacy Survey (Heather & Pinkerton, 1998). Participants included 89-women seeking family planning services, sexually transmitted infection services …

Temporal Comparisons And The Perception Of Posttraumatic Growth In Early Stage Cancer Patients, Sean Ransom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Like others who endure serious stressors, cancer patients often report personal growth as a result of their illness, a phenomenon termed "posttraumatic growth." Although researchers often accept these reports as valid, temporal comparison theory suggests that people may overestimate such growth. According to the theory, remembering the past self as less positive than the present self may serve as an illusory self-enhancement process that allows one to see continual personal growth. Thus, reports of posttraumatic growth may represent perceived rather than actual change in the self. To test this possibility, we prospectively examined 88 individuals with early stage breast (Stage …

The Role Of Sensation Seeking In Children’S Ability To Learn Alcohol Expectancy Associations, Nicole M. Bekman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sensation seeking is a personality characteristic associated with problematic alcohol use and positive alcohol expectancies, but little research has examined the relationship between sensation seeking and the acquisition of alcohol expectancy information. In a recent study (Steinberg, 2003), sensation seeking was associated with how quickly and accurately college-aged students were able to learn alcohol-expectancy word pairs in a paired associate learning task. In this age group, however, the individuals had fully developed alcohol expectancies that may have influenced their rates of learning.

The current study sought to minimize the influence of previously held alcohol expectancies by exploring this relationship in …