Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Between Continuing Professional Development And Demographic Characteristics, Professional Practices, And Employment Conditions Of School Psychologists, Alana D. Lopez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multiple issues that impact service delivery, such as changing student demographic characteristics, educational law and policy, and an increased focus on accountability for services, require school psychologists to adapt and acquire new professional skills in order to meet the needs of students and families. Continuing professional development (CPD) could help school psychologists expand their repertoire of professional skills so that they can engage in effective service delivery. The present study examined the CPD subject areas endorsed by practicing school psychologists and the relationship of those areas with selected demographic characteristics, professional practices, and employment conditions. Secondary analyses were performed using …

The Baccalaureate Community Colleges In Florida: A Policy Evaluation, Nicholas Manias

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to determine if community college baccalaureate programs in Florida were fulfilling the goals that were set forth in the legislation that created them. The study examined whether the baccalaureate level education programs at three community colleges in Florida were increasing access to baccalaureate education. The study investigated enrollment trends at all public institutions in Florida, reasons why students chose the community colleges for their upper division education, alternative plans students may have had if these programs did not exist, whether the limited number of baccalaureate programs at the community colleges impacted students' choice of major, and how …

On The Theory Of Records And Applications, Alfred Kubong Mbah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Optional Real World Application Projects On Mathematics Achievement Among Undergraduate Students, David Milligan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many undergraduate students enrolled in institutions of higher learning wish to connect their learning to real life experiences. By linking reality to academics, students see first hand the practical value in their studies. The purpose of this study was to critically analyze the practice of application projects in undergraduate mathematics courses to determine if, and if so how, students benefit from optional real world application projects. The study was limited to specific courses within a non-math major's undergraduate mathematics program of study at one large research university. Until the appearance of "The Mathematics Umbrella: Modeling and Education" (Grinshpan, 2005), no …

A Three-Dimensional Biophysical Model Of Light, Nutrient, And Grazing Controls On Phytoplankton Competition Affecting Red Tide Maintenance On The West Florida Shel, Scott P. Milroy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A coupled, three-dimensional, time-dependent numerical model of water circulation, spectral light, plankton dynamics, nutrient/CDOM loadings, and zooplankton grazing provided an assessment of the factors affecting the growth and maintenance of red tides on the west Florida shelf (WFS). The coupled biophysical model consisted of state variable quantities for temperature, salinity, horizontal/vertical velocity components, turbulent diffusion, spectral light, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), dissolved organic and inorganic carbon, particulate silica, four dissolved inorganic nutrient pools (nitrate, ammonium, phosphate, and silicate), and four phytoplankton groups (diatoms, microflagellates, non-toxic dinoflagellates, and the red tide organism Karenia brevis).

The model also included a complex …

Construction And Application Of Computationally Tractable Theories Of Nonlinear Spectroscopy, Christine L. Neipert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nonlinear optical processes probe systems in unique manners. The signals obtained from nonlinear spectroscopic experiments are often significantly different than more standard linear techniques, and their intricate nature can make it difficult to interpret the experimental results. Given the complexity of many nonlinear lineshapes, it is to the benefit of both the theoretical and experimental communities to have molecularly detailed computationally amenable theories of nonlinear spectroscopy. Development of such theories, bench marked by careful experimental investigations, have the ability to understand the origins of a given spectroscopic lineshape with atomistic resolution. With this goal in mind, this manuscript details the …

Community College Transfer Students’ Experiences Of The Adjustment Process To A Four Year Institution: A Qualitative Analysis, Karen R. Owens

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Today's mobile student population follows diverse paths. This research presents findings from a qualitative study investigating the perceptions of transfer students while they were actively engaged in the transfer process. Fifty-seven incoming community college transfer students (n=57) were interviewed, in a large metropolitan area, through e-journaling during fall 2006 (while students were still attending community colleges) and during spring 2007 (students' first semester of admission to the university).

The following research questions guided the study: What do transfer students perceive as a successful transfer process? From the transfer student's perspective, what supports are needed to accommodate a successful transfer process? …

An Exploration Of Three Residence Hall Types And The Academic And Social Integration Of First Year Students, Dorothy E. Paine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Living on campus has long been an important part of many students' collegiate experience. Most research describing the benefits of living on campus was conducted in the 1960s and 1970s and was based upon students living in double rooms on double loaded corridors with community bathrooms. In recent years, the style of residence hall buildings has changed from these traditional rooms to suite and apartment-style housing offering more privacy and greater amenities to students. This study sought to examine how first year students living in three different types of residence hall environments differ on measures of social and academic integration, …

Perceptions Of Florida School Library Media Specialists Relative To The Saliency Of Collaboration, Leadership, And Technology Tasks Outlined In Information Power: Changes Since 1996, Terrell M. Pace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1988 Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (IP1) was published. Ten years later an updated version, Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning (IP2) was released. The purpose of this study was to determine if school library media specialists' perceptions had changed since 1996 and if respondents' familiarity with IP2 was a factor in the development of those perceptions. Further, 37 items that were clustered based on the three primary threads of collaboration, leadership and technology developed in IP2 were used to assess changes in perceptions. An electronic survey was developed and disseminated to the population of school …

Third Grade Retention And Florida’S Pupil Progression Plan: Individual And School Characteristics Associated With Long-Term Outcomes In Reading Performance, Heather A. Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literacy is a growing national concern that has resulted in federal legislation (e.g., the No Child Left Behind Act) instituting higher accountability for states and schools with regard to reading instruction and remediation. As a result, Florida's statewide measure of achievement, the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT-Reading) is now tied to retention decisions for students in the third grade as part of the pupil progression plan for the state. In its first year of implementation (2003), 23% of third-grade students failed the FCAT and over 28,000 were retained. Though failure rates are decreasing, (i.e., 6% of …

Automatic Geo-Referencing By Integrating Camera Vision And Inertial Measurements, Duminda I. B Randeniya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Importance of an alternative sensor system to an inertial measurement unit (IMU) is essential for intelligent land navigation systems when the vehicle travels in a GPS deprived environment. The sensor system that has to be used in updating the IMU for a reliable navigation solution has to be a passive sensor system which does not depend on any outside signal. This dissertation presents the results of an effort where position and orientation data from vision and inertial sensors are integrated. Information from a sequence of images captured by a monocular camera attached to a survey vehicle at a maximum frequency …

Automatic Generation Of Global Phase Equilibrium Diagram From Equation Of State, Keyurkumar S. Patel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A computational tool that uses an automated and reliable procedure for systematic generation of global phase equilibrium diagram (GPED) is developed for binary system using equation of state and its extension to the ternary system is discussed. The proposed algorithm can handle solid phase and also can predict all major six types of phase diagrams. The procedure enables automatic generation of GPED which incorporates calculations of all important landmarks such as critical endpoints, quadruple point (if any), critical line, liquid-liquid-vapor line (if any), solid-liquid-liquid line (if any) and solid-liquid-vapor line. The method is also capable of locating all azeotropic phenomena …

Perceptions Of Senior Faculty Concerning Doctoral Student Preparation For Faculty Roles, Jennifer M. Purcell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Calls for reform in doctoral education are not new. However, the past decade has experienced renewed interest and discussion in preparing the future professoriate. Whereas most studies of graduate student socialization and preparation for faculty roles have focused on doctoral students or new faculty, this study examined the perceptions of senior faculty members involved in doctoral education. All senior faculty (n=4970) in biological sciences, English, mathematics, and non-clinical psychology from a stratified sample of 69 research universities nationwide were invited to participate. More than 1150 faculty completed a web-based survey. Respondents rated the importance of 18 competencies (based on a …

The Evolution Of Altruism: Game Theory In Multilevel Selection And Inclusive Fitness, Jeffrey Fletcher, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although the prisoner's dilemma (PD) has been used extensively to study reciprocal altruism, here we show that the n-player prisoner's dilemma (NPD) is also central to two other prominent theories of the evolution of altruism: inclusive fitness and multilevel selection. An NPD model captures the essential factors for the evolution of altruism directly in its parameters and integrates important aspects of these two theories such as Hamilton's rule, Simpson's paradox, and the Price covariance equation. The model also suggests a simple interpretation of the Price selection decomposition and an alternative decomposition that is symmetrical and complementary to it. In some …

Spinoza And Gödel: Causa Sui And Undecidable Truth, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Spinoza distinguishes between causation that is external, as in A causing B where A is external to B, and causation that is internal, where C causes itself (causa sui), without any involvement of anything external to C. External causation is easy to understand, but self-causation is not. This note explores an approach to self-causation based upon Gödelian undecidability and draws upon ideas from an earlier study of Gödel’s proof and the quantum measurement problem (Zwick, 1978).

Architecture Vs. Art: The Aesthetics Of Art Museum Design[1], Larry Shiner

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Many art critics have complained that the most dramatic art museum designs of the last decade have upstaged or interfered with the art within. This essay examines eight contemporary cases before drawing some lessons for art museum design, and ends by setting the architecture vs. art problem in the context of the philosophy of architecture, focusing on the issues of function and symbolism.

Poetics And Maieutics: Literature And Tacit Knowledge Of Emotions, Stefán Snaevarr

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The theme of this paper is the idea that imaginative literature can disclose our tacit knowledge of emotions. It this does with the aid of such devices as metaphors and similes. The kind of insight we get thanks to the disclosive power of literature is akin to that which Kjell S. Johannessen has called 'knowledge by familiarity,' Frank Palmer 'knowing what' and Charles Taylor implicitly 'the result of articulation.' I defend the theory that at least some important emotions cannot be understood (or even exist) outside of behavioral contexts and that this understanding is mainly tacit. I try to show …

The Forum Defendant Rule In Arkansas, Scott Dodson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Using Building Energy Simulation And Geospatial Modeling Techniques In Determine High Resolution Building Sector Energy Consumption Profiles, Shem C. Heiple

Dissertations and Theses

A technique is presented for estimating hourly and seasonal energy consumption profiles in the building sector at spatial scales down to the individual taxlot or parcel. The method combines annual building energy simulations for cityspecific prototypical buildings and commonly available geospatial data in a Geographical Information System (GIS) framework. Hourly results can be extracted for any day and exported as a raster output at spatial scales as fine as an individual parcel (

Workshop Report — Crawdad Workshop 2006, Jihwang Yeo, Tristan Henderson, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Wireless network researchers are seriously starved for data about how real users, applications, and devices use real networks under real network conditions. CRAWDAD, the Community Resource for Archiving Wireless Data at Dartmouth, is an NSF-funded project that is building a wireless network data archive for the research community. We host wireless data, and provide tools and documents to make it easy to collect and use wireless network data. We hope that this resource will help researchers to identify and evaluate real and interesting problems in mobile and pervasive computing. This report outlines the CRAWDAD project and summarizes the second CRAWDAD …

Inductive Learning Of Quantum Behaviors, Marek Perkowski, Martin Lukac

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper studied are new concepts of robotic behaviors - deterministic and quantum probabilistic. In contrast to classical circuits, the quantum circuit can realize both of these behaviors. When applied to a robot, a quantum circuit controller realizes what we call quantum robot behaviors. We use automated methods to synthesize quantum behaviors (circuits) from the examples (examples are cares of the quantum truth table). The don’t knows (minterms not given as examples) are then converted not only to deterministic cares as in the classical learning, but also to output values generated with various probabilities. The Occam Razor principle, fundamental …

The Teach Act: Recognizing Its Challenges And Overcoming Its Limitations, Oren R. Griffin, Stephana I. Colbert

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

Technological advancements centered on the Internet, distance education, and digitally transmitted information have created tremendous opportunities for educational institutions. Congress enacted the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act) to exploit these opportunities and provide educators with an important tool to take advantage of the information super-highway. While the Congressional intent of the Act has merit, its provisions arguably create troubling obligations and potential liability for colleges and universities. This article discusses challenges presented by the TEACH Act and proposes modifications intended to address some of the most troubling aspects of the Act.

Adult Impersonation: Rape By Fraud As A Defense To Statutory Rape, Russell Christopher, Kathryn Christopher

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

What Goes Around, Comes Around: Legal Ironies In An Emergent Doctrine For Preserving Academic Freedom And The University Mission, Barbara Bucholtz

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Bridges And Barriers To Developing And Conducting Interdisciplinary Graduate-Student Team Research, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Wayde Cameron Morse, Jo Ellen Force, J. D. Wulfhorst

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding complex socio-environmental problems requires specialists from multiple disciplines to integrate research efforts. Programs such as the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship facilitate integrated research efforts and change the way academic institutions train future leaders and scientists. The University of Idaho and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Costa Rica collaborate on a joint research program focusing on biodiversity conservation and sustainable production in fragmented landscapes. We first present a spectrum of integration ranging from disciplinary to transdisciplinary across seven aspects of the research process. We then describe our experiences and lessons learned …

The Anatomy Of A Coastal Bay/Lake System, Michelle Greene

LSU Master's Theses

A comprehensive and integrated approach involving sedimentology, shallow surface geophysics and radio-chemistry was used to understand lakebed sediment dynamics in Little Lake. This methodology attempted to (1) define the morphology and origin of the lake, (2) understand the variability in lake-bottom sediments, (3) assess short-term and long-term sediment accumulation rates, and (4) image lakebed features. Subbottom chirp, single beam echo sounder, and side scan sonar data were collected to define hydrographic depths, lateral variability in seabed sediment type, lakebed features, and shallow subsurface structure. Sediment samples were taken at representative locations throughout the lake and particle size distributions were determined. …

Research Summary: Characteristics Of Exemplary Schools For Young Adolescents, P. Gayle Andrews, Micki M. Caskey, Vincent A. Anfara Jr.

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two dangers are associated with any list purporting to include the characteristics of exemplary schools for young adolescents. One danger is a perception that the list is exhaustive—that it includes everything that needs to be considered. In reality, a list cannot capture the subtleties and complexities of schooling. A second danger is that each component will be seen as somehow self-contained, something that can be addressed in isolation. Instead, research demonstrates that the characteristics listed above are “an interacting and interdependent group of practices that form a unified whole… [that] must be dealt with holistically, systemically, to ensure success” (Jackson …

Chemical Differences Of Atherosclerotic Plaques In Native And Bypass Human Coronary Arteries And Diseased And Non-Diseased Human Aortas, Samuel Jean Washington

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT Cardiovascular disease, primarily atherosclerosis involves a number of distinct processes that are associated with plaque development. The use of differential gel electrophoresis to determine differences between proteins produced in native and bypass coronary arteries from the same heart has been studied. The analytical techniques presented in this study to characterize plaque samples include two dimensional gel electrophoresis, sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, differential gel electrophoresis, and high performance liquid chromatography. An overview of the stages involved in atherosclerosis and the theories implicated in the manifestation of atherosclerosis was presented. A design study using the Box Behnken method …

Environmental Factors Affecting The Distribution Of Native And Invasive Aquatic Plants In The Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, U.S.A., Rachel Cathleen Walley

LSU Master's Theses

Over the last century, the aquatic macrophyte community of the Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB) has become increasingly dominated by invasive species. I used digital photography and GIS software to determine ARB macrophyte community composition by measuring percent cover of each plant species within five 0.25-m2 quadrats sampled from 108 sites in 2005 and 103 sites in 2006. Macrophyte community data and measurements of soil and water physicochemistry at each site were used to investigate environmental associations of the macrophytes inhabiting bayou, lake, excavated canal, and swamp habitats. Analyses indicated substantial differences in physicochemical conditions among habitats, but none of the …

The Curious Incident Of The Law Firm That Did Nothing In The Night-Time, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This essay argues that organizations (here, the Milbank, Tweed law firm) often ignore obviously bad behavior by their employees because of various psychological and sociological factors that prevent them from recognizing the behavior as bad in the first place.