Digital Commons Network^™

Depredation And Angler Interactions Involving Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Sarasota Bay, Florida, Jessica R. Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Typical depredation behavior by cetaceans involves stealing or damaging prey items already captured by recreational or commercial fishing gear. Depredation among cetaceans has been reported to be increasing in both severity and frequency globally. This behavior is of particular concern for small stocks of cetaceans since any interaction with fishing gear has the potential to injure or kill animals leading to unsustainable losses. In Florida, depredation became evident in 2006 when the number of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) strandings resulting from fishing gear ingestion or entanglement sharply increased. For the resident dolphin community in Sarasota Bay, modeling showed continued mortalities …

Nature, Daylight And Sound: A Sensible Environment For The Families, Staff And Patients Of Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Ana Praskach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In healthcare environments, elements like nature, daylight and sound have been found to significantly influence the healing process of patients, by enhancing the quality of their recovery, shortening their hospital stay and consequently reducing hospital costs. For instance, it has been shown that exposure to nature triggers positive responses in people, daylight affects human psychology, and different sounds have varying behavioral effects on different groups of people. But, while these effects have been carefully studied in adult patients, leading to clear design standards, less is known about their impact on premature infants. Interestingly, the care that many newborns receive in …

Assessing Druze Identity And Strategies For Preserving Druze Heritage In North America, Chad Kassem Radwan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study focuses on promoting historical, religious, and cultural knowledge among transnational Druze. The Druze are a relatively small, tightly knit religious community from the Middle East who practice endogamy and accept no converts. In the diaspora, Druze have often established their own communities based on their collective ancestral and familial ties and through the establishment of groups such as the American Druze Society. This study works to allow individuals to discuss their Druze identity, identify the community's social problems, and recommend possible approaches or solutions. My research experience as an insider doing ethnography among fellow Druze has in …

From The Academy To The Streets: Documenting The Healing Power Of Black Feminist Creative Expression, Tunisia L. Riley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I explore through feminist content analysis how poetry, blogging, political narrative, and music are employed by Black women as a means of personal and political empowerment, healing, activism and feminist practice. I theorize the emergence of a new manifestation Black feminism represented in poetry, blogs, political narrative, and popular music-exploring its ties to the history of Black feminism. I seek to demonstrate how gender conscious Black women create poetry, blogs, political narratives, and music as the catalyst to spark anti-sexist activism in contemporary Black women who may or may not call themselves feminists.

Agriculture And Tampa Bay News: How Do Local News Media Frame Agribusiness?, Alex R. Ritzheimer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for this thesis was to explore a dynamic between the news media, their subjects, and their audience. I investigate whether everyday news media frame the information they deliver in such a way as to potentially direct the audience on how to respond to news stories. The setting for this research question is in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and the subject matter deals specifically with agriculture, its practitioners, how they do business, and how the local news media report about it. The issue will be explored from an applied anthropological perspective, basing conclusions on field research and …

Predictors Of Cancer Caregiver Depression Symptomatology, Henry R. Rivera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While the duration of the cancer illness may be shorter than that of other serious diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer caregivers provide many more hours of care during a week. Research directed at the intensive experience of caregiving of hospice cancer patients is needed as there is limited research of predictors of hospice cancer caregiver depression symptomatology. The purpose of the study was to examine predictors of depression symptomatology in caregivers of hospice cancer patients. A secondary analysis was conducted using baseline assessment data of patients and caregivers from a larger study of patient/caregiver dyads from two large hospices …

An Experimental Investigation Into The Impact Of Crisis Response Strategies And Relationship History On Relationship Quality And Corporate Credibility, Camille Roberts

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the influence of different crisis response strategies and relationship history on corporate credibility and the dimensions of the organizational-public relationship. The relationship dimensions examined were trust, commitment, satisfaction and control mutuality. An experiment was conducted among undergraduate students drawn from an introductory mass communication class. Results indicate that when an organization's relationship history with its publics is positive, the public is more likely to view the post-crisis relationship quality and organizational credibility as positive than negative. Additionally, more accommodative crisis response strategies have a greater impact on relationship quality than less accommodative strategies. Crisis response strategy does …

Psychosocial Outcomes Of Weight Stigma Among College Students, Sabrina Joann Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Overweight and obesity are important public health issues in the United States with more than 60% of US adults overweight or obese. The social consequences of being overweight and obese are serious and pervasive. Individuals who are overweight and obese are often the targets of bias and stigma and thus susceptible to negative attitudes. Obesity and weight stigma have been linked to low self-esteem, higher rates of depressive symptoms, body dissatisfaction and poor psychological adjustment. Although weight stigma is a problem in the general population, it is more consequential among adolescents due to mental and physical developmental changes. Therefore college …

The Role Of Proactivity During Organizational Entry: Proactive Socialization Tactics, Citizenship And Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Ozgun Burcu Rodopman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Newcomers engage in proactive behaviors during organizational entry to increase their adjustment to the organization and to successfully complete their socialization. The present study investigated the links between proactive socialization tactics (i.e., positive framing, sense making and relationship building) and organizational outcomes. Specifically, organizational citizenship behaviors (e.g., assisting coworkers) and counterproductive work behaviors (e.g., verbal abuse) were investigated. The sample included 216 employees from various industries and organizations with an average organizational tenure of 9 months. The results indicated that all proactive socialization behaviors were associated with high levels of citizenship behaviors (i.e., OCB). Only positive framing was associated with …

Transdiscursive Cosmopolitanism: Foucauldian Freedom, Subjectivity, And The Power Of Resistance, Joanna Rozpedowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following project will consist in the study and examination of the concepts and theories that lie in the domain of political theory. The enquiry into the dimensions and complexities of the socio-political organization and the political substance of individual human agents will be conducted with the intellectual assistance of the postmodernist turn of thought. I will interrogate and develop a specifically Foucauldian reading of international politics and the emerging global world order as well as situate Foucault's insights and theorizing in a cosmopolitan framework, which calls for a progressive re-conceptualization of the dimensions of power and the modalities of …

School Work Environment: Transition From Education To Practice, Shane Ross

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Learning how to learn as opposed to obtaining the experience to practice any field of professionalism creates a great disconnect between education and careers. Many educational programs do not have the curriculum or a building to transition students into a work atmosphere. When the design of a building and its program creates an environment that bridges the gap between school and work, the psychology and standard of an average graduate greatly increases. Students learn from being taught and personal experience. There are programs that require an internship or similar practice as a mandatory factor of the degree. Apprenticeships connect the …

Interview With Commissioner Of Police George Asiamah, Ghana National Police Service Interviewed By Gordon A. Crews And Angela D. Crews, Gordon A. Crews, Angela D. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In January of 2007, Drs. Gordon and Angela Crews traveled with their graduate assistant, Mr. Kofi Annor Boye-Doe, and Ghanaian Fulbright Scholar, Mr. Ken Aikins, to Ghana, West Africa, in order to conduct a research study. The original research plan was to conduct a three part examination of: 1) the blend of indigenous government (rooted in religious practices and strongly associated with spirituality and mysticism) and state government in the Ghanaian justice system; 2) the treatment of women and children within these systems; and 3) the alternative dispute resolution, restorative justice, and conflict resolution strategies within the two systems.

During …

The Need For Ecumenical, Denominational And Empirically-Supported Christian Psychotherapy Approaches In Public Settings, P. Scott Richards

Faculty Publications

James Skillen has written an important and broad- ranging article about the place of Christian counseling in public settings. I will focus my brief comments on what I regard as some of the implications of the following statement: "You ought to be able to conduct your counseling and psychiatric practices in a thoroughly Christian manner within a public or semi-public accrediting system that provides public-legal protection and equal access for a diverse range of professional and disciplinary approaches. You should not have to stuff your practice into a private box if it is distinctively Christian any more than another professional …

Honors Convocation Speech (Text And Audio), Jonathan Dey

Honorees for Teaching Excellence

No abstract provided.

Access And Innovation: A Study Of Two Ngo Schools In North India, Christy Ivie, '09

Honors Projects

Using data collected from two NGO schools in North India, this study presents two case studies that will shed some light on how NGOs in India are increasing access and innovation in the primary education system. By comparing and contrasting the two organizations, this study will also highlight the diversity of NGOs involved in primary education in India. Instead of making broad generalizations about the role and contributions of NGOs in primary education in India, this study aims to provide perspectives on two different organizations and raise questions about NGO schooling in India.

A Comparative Study Of Organisational Commitment Of Bank Employees In Ireland And China, Helen Chen

Conference papers

Organisational commitment has been extensively researched in the Western and non-Western contexts. However, little has been conducted to approach it from a cross-cultural perspective. This paper sets out to fill in the gap by examining bank employees’ organisational commitment in Ireland and China. Data was collected in two American banks, one in Ireland and the other one in China in June 2008. Research results showed interesting and dynamic differences of the three dimensions of the Irish and Chinese bank employees’ organisational commitment with regards to the effects of income, gender and tenure. Implications for managers in Ireland and China are …

The Internet As Playground And Factory, Robert T. Scholz

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

"Free labour" is central to the Internet. Traditional exploitation of labour was complemented by the monetization of attention between the 1880s and 1950s and then by the commoditization of networked publics starting in the 1980s. Today, commercial interests have colonized the Internet and "labour" is being performed online by hundreds of millions of people. Without being recognized as "labour", it turns profits for corporations. Playful, virtual volunteerism, and social production, driven by the desire for praise, entertainment, and peer recognition, has become a significant driving force of consumer capitalism. I am introducing the term "interactivity labour" to discuss the complex …

To Give Is Better Than To Receive: The Benefits Of Peer Review To The Reviewer’S Own Writing, Wendy Baker, Kristi Lundstrom

Faculty Publications

Although peer review has been shown to be beneficial in many writing classrooms, the benefits of peer review to the reviewer, or the student giving feedback, has not been thoroughly investigated in second-language writing research. The purpose of this study is to determine which is more beneficial to improving student writing: giving or receiving peer feedback. The study was conducted at an intensive English institute with ninety-one students in nine writing classes at two proficiency levels. The ‘‘givers’’ reviewed anonymous papers but received no peer feedback over the course of the semester, while the ‘‘receivers’’ received feedback but did not …

Do Emotions Have Distinct Vocal Profiles? A Study Of Idiographic Patterns Of Expression, Bruce L. Brown, Matthew M. Spackman, Sean Otto

Faculty Publications

Research on vocal expressions of emotion indicates that persons can identify emotions from voice with relatively high accuracy rates. In addition, fairly consistent vocal profiles for specific emotions have been identified. However, important methodological issues remain to be addressed. In this paper, we address the issue of whether there are individual differences in the manner in which particular emotions may be expressed vocally and whether trained speakers’ portrayals of emotion are in some sense superior to untrained speakers’ portrayals. Consistent support was found for differences across speakers in the manner in which they expressed the same emotions. No accompanying relationship …

Prediction Of Light Gas Composition In Coal Devolatilization, Ravichandra S. Jupudi, Vladimir Zamansky, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

The chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model describes the devolatilization behavior of rapidly heated coal based on the chemical structure of the coal. It predicts the overall char, tar, and light gas yields. This paper presents an improved CPD model with improved capability for predicting light gas composition. This is achieved by incorporating a kinetic model that simulates the release of various light gas species from their respective sources/functional groups in coal. The improved CPD model is validated using experiments with a wire mesh reactor and published experimental observations

Flame Interactions And Burning Characteristics Of Two Live Leaf Samples, Brent M. Pickett, Carl Isackson, Rebecca Wunder, Thomas H. Fletcher, Bret W. Butler, David R. Weise

Faculty Publications

Combustion experiments were performed over a flat-flame burner that provided the heat source for multiple leaf samples. Interactions of the combustion behavior between two leaf samples were studied. Two leaves were placed in the path of the flat-flame burner, with the top leaf 2.5 cm above the bottom leaf. Local gas and particle temperatures, as well as local oxygen concentrations, were measured along with burning characteristics of both leaves. Results showed that the time to ignition of the upper leaf was not significantly affected by the presence of the lower leaf. The major difference observed was that the time of …

Estimating Dysphonia Severity In Continuous Speech: Application Of A Multi-Parameter Spectral/Cepstral Model, Christopher Dromey, Shaheen N. Awan, Nelson Roy

Faculty Publications

The purpose of the study was to identify a sub-set of spectral/cepstral-based analysis methods that would most effectively predict dysphonia severity (as estimated via auditory-perceptual analysis) in samples of continuous speech. Acoustic estimates of dysphonia severity were used as an objective treatment outcomes measure in a set of pre- vs post-treatment speech samples. Pre- and post-treatment continuous speech samples from 104 females with primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) were rated by listeners using a 100 point visual analogue scale (VAS) and analysed acoustically with spectral/cepstral-based measures. Stepwise linear regression produced a three-factor model consisting of the cepstral peak prominence (CPP); …

Laryngeal-Level Amplitude Modulation In Vibrato, Christopher Dromey, Lorie Reese, J Arden Hopkin

Faculty Publications

Summary: The goal of this investigation was to test a new methodology for measuring amplitude modulation (AM) at the level of the vocal folds during vibrato in trained singers, because previous research has suggested that AM arises in large part as an acoustic epiphenomenon through an interaction of the harmonics in the laryngeal source with the resonances of the vocal tract as the fundamental frequency oscillates. A within-subjects model was used to compare vocal activity across three pitch and three loudness conditions. Seventeen female singers with a range of training and experience were recorded with a microphone and an electroglottograph …

Articulatory Changes In Muscle Tension Dysphonia: Evidence Of Vowel Space Expansion Following Manual Circumlaryngeal Therapy, Christopher Dromey, Nelson Roy, Shawn L. Nissen, Shimon Sapir

Faculty Publications

In a preliminary study, we documented significant changes in formant transitions associated with successful manual circumlaryngeal treatment (MCT) of muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), suggesting improvement in speech articulation. The present study explores further the effects of MTD on vowel articulation by means of additional vowel acoustic measures. Pre- and post-treatment audio recordings of 111 women with MTD were analyzed acoustically using two measures: vowel space area (VSA) and vowel articulation index (VAI), constructed using the first (F1) and second (F2) formants of 4 point vowels/ ", i, æ, u/, extracted from eight words within a standard reading passage. Pairwise t-tests …

Social Or Academic Language Intervention? You Don’T Have To Choose, Lee Robinson

Faculty Publications

Students with a variety of types of language impairments exhibit deficits that affect both social interactions and academic performance. Two types of theory of mind underlie social and academic language skills: interpersonal and intrapersonal. In this article, the authors describe strategies for developing interpersonal and intrapersonal theory of mind abilities with the goal of promoting the inferencing skills essential for comprehension of social and academic language.

Exploring Childcare: A North West Of Ireland Study, Maureen O'Hara

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

This study sought to explore and examine if the provision of full day care improves the quality of life for children and their parents. There are now 60.8% of women employed in the workforce (CSO, 2008). This means many changes for children, parents and families. Twenty-seven childcare managers in the north west of Ireland were interviewed. Also, 325 questionnaires were completed by working parents. Babies as young as four months are being cared for in childcare facilities from 6.45am until 6pm daily, five days per week. Some children are spending up to 11 hours per day in childcare facilities. The …

Exploratory Study Investigating The Opinions Of Russian-Speaking Parents On Maintaining Their Children's Use Of The Russian Language, Sue Kraftsoff, Sarah Quinn

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

This study explored why and how Russian speaking parents in an Irish context maintained the Russian language in their school-age children. Using a self-administered unstandardised questionnaire, the opinions of 16 Russian-speaking parents, reporting on 24 children, were surveyed. Of this sample, five parents were then interviewed using focus group methodology. The main findings revealed that Russian-speaking parents living in Ireland strongly supported Russian language maintenance in their families and wanted their children to be as fluent as possible in the Russian language. The reasons for the support of Russian language were: cultural preservation, general knowledge of languages in addition to …

The Potential Of Asynchronous Video In Online Education, Michael E. Griffiths, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

There are differences in the benefits that are afforded by the two extremes of face-to-face and distance education. University campus courses are based on the assumption that the student community and interaction between learners and an expert teacher in the same physical location is essential to the learning process. In comparison, distance education provides a learner with flexibility, individualized learning, lower costs, and self-determination in the learning process. Much research has been invested into modern approaches that may be able to harness key benefits from both face-to-face and distance education. One recent breakthrough has come in the use of asynchronous …

Tpack Development In Science Teaching: Measuring The Tpack Confidence Of Inservice Science Teachers, Charles R. Graham, Nicolette Burgoyne, Pamela Cantrell, Leigh Smith, Larry St. Clair, Ron Harris

Faculty Publications

Knowledge related to the effective use of educational technologies has become widely recognized as an important aspect of an educator’s knowledge-base for the 21st Century (ISTE, 2008; National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1997; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2003). Early in the history of educational technology, educators were taught in technology classes that focused primarily on technology skills independent from the pedagogical or content courses (Graham, Culatta, Pratt, & West, 2004; Hargrave & Hsu, 2000; Willis & Mehlinger, 1996). Educators soon recognized that technology skills alone did not serve them well because one could know how to operate …

Factors Contributing To Improved Teaching Performance, Whitney Ransom Mcgowan, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

This article focuses upon the quality and scholarship of teaching as it pertains to educational and faculty development. We outline what more than 200 faculty members at one institution have done over a 3-year period to make significant and sustained improvements in their teaching, surprisingly with minimal effort. The top three factors leading to improvement were active/practical learning, teacher/student interactions, and clear expectations/learning outcomes. We provide practical applications for change and suggestions for future research.