Digital Commons Network^™

Actualizing Empowerment: Developing A Framework For Partnering With Families In System Level Service Planning And Delivery, Kathleen Ferreira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The engagement of families of children and adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) as full partners in individual treatment, organizational, and system level decision making has become an important focus for systems of care (SOCs) serving youth with emotional and behavioral challenges. SOCs typically include cross-agency partnerships with mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, and education for the purpose of providing services and supports for youth with SED who have multi-agency needs. Implementation of a federal mandate requiring family driven care (FDC) within systems of care funded through the Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) has revealed that most system of …

Safety Evaluation Of Roadway Lighting Illuminance Levels And Its Relationship With Nighttime Crash Injury Severity For West Central Florida Region, Enrique Gonzalez-Velez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main role of roadway lighting is to produce quick, accurate and comfortable visibility during nighttime conditions. It is commonly known that good lighting levels enable motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists to obtain necessary visual information in an effective and efficient manner. Many previous studies also proved that roadway lighting minimizes the likelihood of crashes by providing better visibility for roadway users.

Appropriate and adequate roadway lighting illuminance levels for each roadway classification and pedestrian areas are essential to provide safe and comfortable usage. These levels are usually provided by national, or local standards and guidelines. The Florida Department of Transportation …

Archaeology And Indigeneity, Past And Present: A View From The Island Of Roatã¡N, Honduras, Whitney Annette Goodwin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Project Roatán was initiated in 2008 as a collaboration between the University of South Florida (USF) and the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH) to investigate the prehistory of the island of Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras. Based on data from the 2009 field season of Project Roatán, this study examines the ways in which native islanders of the Postclassic period (A.D. 900-1500) expressed their social identity and cultural affiliations with contemporaneous groups on northeastern mainland Honduras through their ceramic traditions. These initial investigations serve to evaluate the relationship between islanders and mainland groups and any major differences in terms …

A Case Study Of Selected Female Elementary School Leaders' Perspectives On The, Julie D. Hasson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The transition from the comfort of a familiar role, that of teacher, to the discomfort of a new role, that of school administrator, is a transformative process. Transforming oneself requires leaving what is known and venturing into the unknown. Researchers have illuminated women's struggle to attain school leadership positions, but the transformation of females making this change in professional roles is seldom addressed in leadership literature. Although context cannot be ignored, there are some challenges common to many women undergoing this transformation.

Situated in the elementary education setting, this study investigated the perspectives of female, early-career administrators who recently experienced …

A Cross-Cultural Adaptation Of The Irrational Beliefs Inventory From English To Icelandic, Gudmundur Torfi Heimisson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Irrational Beliefs Inventory (IBI) was built to measure self-defeating beliefs as conceptualized in Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy. The IBI has five factors: worrying, rigidity, problem avoidance, need for approval, and emotional irresponsibility. A three-phase cross-cultural study was conducted to translate and adapt the IBI from English to Icelandic, and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) approach was used for a test of factorial validity and cross-cultural invariance.

In Phase 1, the IBI was translated from English to Icelandic, using a forward-translation and back-translation. Two forward-translators and two back-translators were recruited. In Phase 2, qualitative interview methods were used in both the …

Diamond Based-Materials: Synthesis, Characterization And Applications, Qiang Hu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The studies covered in this dissertation concentrate on the various forms of diamond films synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, including microwave CVD and hot filament CVD. According to crystallinity and grain size, a variety of diamond forms primarily including microcrystalline (most commonly referred to as polycrystalline) and nanocrystalline diamond films, diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were successfully synthesized. The as-grown diamond films were optimized by changing deposition pressure, volume of reactant gas hydrogen (H2) and carrier gas argon (Ar) in order to get high-quality diamond films with a smooth surface, low roughness, preferred growth orientation and high sp3 bond …

An Evaluation Of The Early Steps Referral Process In Hillsborough County To Detect Delays In Access To Early Intervention Services, Jessica Fry Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Early intervention services are important in obtaining better outcomes for infants with a developmental delay or a condition that may result in a delay. In Florida, a primary resource for providing these services is the Early Steps Program. This study analyzed the Early Steps referral process to identify barriers to prompt access. The guiding hypothesis was if differences exist in key outcomes of the referral process, then these differences may reveal where improvements can be made. Improving access to early intervention should produce better outcomes and reduce the costs of services required later by addressing developmental concerns earlier.

The dataset …

Constructing Alternative Christian Identity: An Ethnography Of Jesus People Usa's Cornerstone Festival, Brian Johnston

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines processes through which alternative Christian identities are constructed, maintained, and performed at the annual Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. Organized and managed by Jesus People USA (JPUSA), an urban commune in Chicago, Illinois, the festival includes non-traditional methods of religious expression including rock music, making camp, play, and community-building. Cornerstone Festival attracts and includes members of the Christian faith who would not otherwise be included in traditionally organized Christian groups and fosters interaction between these less enfranchised members and more traditionally minded and socialized Christian practitioners. JPUSA appropriates the festival format as a method of religious expression …

When Does Fidelity Matter? An Evaluation Of Two Medical Simulation Methods, Nneka Joseph

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Job or task simulations are used in training when the use of the real task is dangerous or expensive, such as flying aircraft or surgery. This study focused on comparing two types of simulations used in assessments during a Clinical Performance Examination of third-year medical students: computer enhanced mannequins and standardized patients. Each type of simulation has advantages, but little empirical work exists to guide the use of different types of simulation for training and evaluating different aspects of performance. This study analyzed performance scores for different competencies as well as the reliability and validity of the different simulation types. …

Female Teachers As Sexual Predators: A Qualitative Study Of Grades 7-12 In The State Of Florida's Public Schools, Jayme Lynn Joslyn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study's purpose was to discover commonalities and differences among female predators and Florida female teachers who are perceived and reported to harass students sexually. When perceived and reported female sexual harasser and student safety was researched, a breath of studies did not occur. When current studies were reviewed, teacher sexual harassment continued to occur. In this qualitative study, ten Florida public school female teachers who were perceived and reported to sexually harass students were randomly selected. Findings indicted that further research is still needed on female teachers who are perceived and reported to sexually harass students. When researching the …

Goal Compatibility And Emotional Intensity: An Experimental Study Of Graphic Images In Strategic Communication, Lauren Marie Klinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine receiver variables involved in strategic communications and to look specifically at the use of graphic images in strategic communication materials. It argues that any complete, general model of persuasion effects will include both goal compatibility and emotional determinants. It argues that some influential theories used in strategic communications scholarship, including the situational theory of publics and the elaboration likelihood model, are incomplete because they have omitted these variables. This study also tests variables related to willingness to communicate, behavioral intention, and attitude towards the organization. These variables are drawn from prominent, …

Assist Principals' Perspectives On Professional Learning Conversations For Teacher Professional Growth, Connie Kolosey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to discover, document, and describe the salient actions, events, beliefs, attitudes, social structures and processes related to professional learning conversations from the perspective of nine assistant principals (APs). The participants were elementary, middle and high school APs, three at each level. Using a modified critical incident technique through participant written response and two in depth interviews with each respondent, this study investigated the lived experiences of these APs related to the practice of professional learning conversations in their schools. The research questions focused on: (1) the participants' beliefs and attitudes about professional learning conversations, …

Associate Degrees In Health Related Occupations As Predictors Of Success In Physician Assistant Programs, David E. Kotun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if applicants who had an associate degree in the health sciences prior to acceptance to a physician assistant program would do better than those applicants without an associate degree in the health sciences on three measures of success of physician assistant education. The three measures of success used were graduation rates, scores on the Physician Assistant Knowledge Rating and Assessment Tool (PACKRAT), and performance on the national certifying exam, the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination (PANCE). Data used for this dissertation were taken from original source documents and raw data sent …

Perspectives Of Teachers Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders Regarding The Factors Related To Their Intent To Remain In The Profession, Glenda Esther Koshy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined factors related to the intent of special education teachers of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to remain in the profession. A modified Working in Schools: the Life of a Special Educator (WSLSE) survey, developed by Miller, Brownell, and Smith (1999), was utilized to explore the relationships between factors associated with Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model (1977) and the special education teachers' intention to remain in the field of teaching students with ASD. Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model (1977) includes the Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, and the Individual domain.

Multiple regressions conducted as the method of data analysis revealed …

Bone Marrow Transplant Nurses' Attitudes About Caring For Patients Who Are Near The End Of Life: A Quality Improvement Project, Leslie Lauersdorf

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In oncology setting, there is a range of emotions felt by patients and nurses alike such as helplessness, anger, sadness and anxiety; and this is especially the case as patients near the end of life. The literature shows there is an interest in nurses' attitudes toward caring for patients who are near the end of life. This project examines the overall attitude of Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) nurses' attitudes toward caring for patients who are near the end of life using the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) and a Demographic Data Sheet. This project investigated the …

Assessing Relational Networks: An Evaluation Of Derived Relational Responding With Children With Asd And Typically Developing Children, Gianna Delayce Lozano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The way in which humans engage in conversation and social interactions is largely due to their ability to form relationships between a wide variety of stimuli. Two people are able to communicate fluently and effectively because each has the capacity to derive meaning during social interactions. Forming relationships is an effortless process that humans engage in daily, however for those individuals with developmental disabilities, the ability to form relationships between various stimuli based on arbitrary properties does not appear to happen in the natural course of development. The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of children to …

The Search For The Missing Mantles Of Differentiated Asteroids: Evidence From Taxonomic A-Class Asteroids And Olivine-Dominated Achondrite Meteorites, Michael Peter Lucas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The apparent rarity of taxonomic A-class asteroids poses a significant paradox for understanding asteroid differentiation and the dynamical evolution of the early solar system. Based on results from asteroid taxonomic surveys, and on the abundances and mineralogy of different achondrite meteorites, it appears that olivine-dominated mantle remnants are missing from both the asteroid population and in meteorite collections. Several scenarios to explain this paradox have been proposed: (1) olivine mantle material has been stripped away by collisions and only remains as small fragments (< ~5 km), (2) A-class asteroids are abundant but have been altered in some way masking their presence, or (3) differentiated asteroids did not form thick olivine-rich mantles.

We have approached these questions through the collection of taxonomic and observational data on known A-class …

Saved By The (Alexander Graham) Bell: An Analysis Of Synchronous Communication And Student Satisfaction / Retention Rates In The First Year Online Composition Classroom, Jennifer Jane Lynch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Online first-year writing courses, with all of their promise, still maintain alarmingly low retention and student satisfaction rates, driving online curriculum designers to take another look at ways to increase both retention and satisfaction. To replicate the high rates of face-to-face classes, we must revisit and revise our approach to communication in the first-year writing online classroom. Think about it: The online classroom has abandoned a mainstay in education for thousands of years - synchronous communication. Why have we been so quick to dispose of it? Are we now paying the price?

This research will provide additional value to the …

Nurse Manager Emotional Intelligence As A Predictor To Registered Nurse Job Satisfaction And Rn Perceptions Of The Practice Environment And The Relationship To Patient, Nursing And Hospital Outcomes, Jacqueline Cecilia Munro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the level of Nurse Manager (NM) emotional intelligence (EI) predicted registered nurse (RN) job satisfaction and RN perceptions of the practice environment. In addition, relationships to patient, nursing, and hospital outcomes were explored. Participants included RNs (N=659) and NMs (N=38) from 53 nursing units at eight hospitals located in the southeast region of the United States. A cross-sectional, correlational research design was used to test the hypotheses. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, simple linear and multiple regression statistics were conducted to analyze the data. Level of NM EI had a positive, not …

New Media Photographic Representations Of Women`S Collegiate Volleyball: Game Faces, Action Shots, And Equipment, Alicia Pack

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers consistently find that mainstream media often represent women athletes in stereotypical ways including trivialization, sexualization, infantilization, passivity, and utilization of camera down-angles. However, research on new media's visual representation of women athletes is still in its infancy. This study adds to the growing literature on new media's representation of women athletes and concurs with previous findings suggesting that new media might be an outlet that can counter old media gender stereotypes. This thesis used mixed methods of qualitative content analysis and photovoice in order to better understand how Big East volleyball players are represented in photographs on websites: Instances …

Cover: Volume 40, Issue 2

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Why Do All Casinos Seem To Be The Same? A Glance Into Casino Games, Gambling Machines And The Doctrine Of Fair Use, Eric D. Gorman

North Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.

Student Perceptions Related To The National Standards For Foreign Language Learning, Susan A. Hildebrandt, Sally Scott, Wade Edwards

Faculty Publications – Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

No abstract provided.

Parent And Family Guide, 2011-2015, Illinois State University, Dean Of Students Office, Parent And Family Services

Parent and Family Guide

Campus guide prepared by the Illinois State University Dean of Students Office's Parent and Family Services Department

Student Affairs Viewbook, 2011-2012, Division Of Student Affairs, Illinois State University

Student Affairs Viewbook

No abstract provided.

Event Hospitality, James Pokrywczynski

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Will Pergl: Haggerty Writing Projects On Milwaukee Artists, Bonnie Brennen

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

A Practical Photoelectrochemical Cell Using Nonprecious Metal Electrodes, Patrick Enright, Tony Betts, John Cassidy

Articles

Abstract: Photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) can be used to harvest light from the oxidation of dissolved organic matter. Similar to fuel cells but requiring light to operate, PECs contain a light assisted electrode that oxidises electron rich materials (anode); these electrons then flow to a typically Pt cathode where O₂ is normally the electron acceptor. In this work a PEC cell containing inexpensive materials was shown to (a) mineralise typical organic compounds present in waste water and (b) produce electricity from their decomposition. The PEC cell consisted of a TiO₂ coated conducting ink anode exposed to a light source, …

Non Aggregated Colloidal Silver Nanoparticles For Surface Enhanced Resonance Raman Spectroscopy, Aoife Power, John Cassidy, Tony Betts

Articles

Silver nanoparticles with a tuneable l max were produced as colloids by heterogeneous nucleation. The synthesis process is both fast and repeatable, producing stable PVA capped nanoparticles. The colloid’s effectiveness in the SERRS system was investigated using Rhodamine 6G, R6G, Crystal Violet, CV, and Malachite Green, MG, as probe molecules. A clear sensing trend was observed, where the Raman signal emitted was significantly enhanced by the addition of silver nanoparticles. A build up of signal intensity is observed until an optimum ratio is achieved, followed by a decline in signal intensity as the concentration of nanoparticles is further increased. The …

On Adjoint Entropy Of Abelian Groups, Brendan Goldsmith, Ketao Gong

Articles

The theory of endomorphism rings of algebraic structures allows, in a natural way, a systematic approach based on the notion of entropy borrowed from dynamical systems. In the present work we introduce a \lq dual\rq \ notion based upon the replacement of the finite groups used in the definition of algebraic entropy, by subgroups of finite index. The basic properties of this new entropy are established and a connection to Hopfian groups is investigated.