Digital Commons Network^™

Preparing Teachers To Apply Research To Mathematics Teaching: Using Design-Based Research To Define And Assess The Process Of Evidence-Based Practice, Sarah Van Ingen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Persistent lack of mathematics achievement and disparity in achievement has led to the publication of research findings related to equitable teaching practices. Although the publication of such research provides insights about approaches for potentially increasing equity in mathematics education, teachers must be able to apply what has been learned from these studies to their classroom teaching practices. Despite the widespread expectation that teachers use research-supported teaching strategies to meet the needs of their diverse classrooms, the research to practice gap persists. Little research is currently available to guide mathematics teacher educators in how to prepare future teachers to apply research …

The Influence Of Campus Culture On Mental Health Help-Seeking Intentions, Jason I. Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mental health issues are widespread on college campuses. However, the majority of these individuals do not seek help. Prior research suggests many factors which may be related to mental health help-seeking including age, gender, and prior treatment experience. There has however been little work considering the context of the college campus on mental health help-seeking, specifically the influence of campus culture. Accounting for the context of mental health help-seeking may help to determine which social groups have the greatest influence on mental health treatment processes.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived peer, student body, …

Differentiating Between Objectification And Animalization: Associations Between Women, Objects, And Animals, Kasey Lynn Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While it's clear that the objectification of women is a prominent feature of Western society, it is far less clear what it actually means to be objectified. Philosophers, feminist scholars and psychologist agree that objectification involves a denial of humanity, however, the nature of this dehumanization has yet to be explained. Although existing research provides evidence that objectified women are associated both with objects and animals, no research has examined the conditions under which women are likely to be dehumanized by one form or another. Here, I propose that animalization, characterized by an association with animals, occurs when a woman …

Community On The Menu: Seven-Courses To Cultivate Familial Bonds, Exchange Social Capital, And Nourish Community, David Franklin Purnell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an auto/ethnographic account, which examines food, close personal friendships, and community. The research combines autoethnography with ethnographic observations and personal/group interviews conducted within the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, Florida. The observations are of a weekly dinner event referred to by most attendees as Family Dinner. I am one of the founders of this event; the participants of this study are neighbors (or were at some point in time) as well as past and present attendees of the weekly dinner.

The purpose of this research is to illustrate how food can be a tool to build …

Science Informational Trade Books: An Exploration Of Text-Based Practices And Interactions In A First-Grade Classroom, Virginia Anne Schreier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although scholars have long advocated the use of informational texts in the primary grades, gaps and inconsistencies in research have produced conflicting reports on how teachers used these texts in the primary curriculum, and how primary students dealt with them during instruction and on their own (e.g., Saul & Dieckman, 2005). Thus, to add to research on informational texts in the primary grades, the purpose of this study was to examine: (a) a first-grade teacher's use of science informational trade books (SITBs) in her classroom, (b) the ways students responded to her instruction, and (c) how students interacted with these …

Continuing Attachment Bonds To The Deceased: A Study Of Bereaved Youth And Their Caregivers, Erica Hill Sirrine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although grief is a universal experience impacting the lives of many children and adolescents each year, not much study has been afforded to this population. In addition, the concept of a continuing attachment bond (CAB) or ongoing relationship to the deceased and its role as adaptive or maladaptive in the bereavement process is in its infancy of research among adult populations and is largely unstudied among bereaved youth. This mixed-methods study attempted to bridge the gap by examining the relationship between CABs among a sample of 50 bereaved youth (ages 11-17) and their bereaved adult caregivers. In addition, the study …

Guanxi, Networks And Economic Development: The Impact Of Cultural Connections, Patricia Anne Weeks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanics of guanxi in an organizational setting, focusing on the use of interpersonal relationships within Chinese firms to discover how firms initiate, build and use guanxi networks. Two richly detailed case studies document changes that take place over time in two distinct networks with respect to key actors and their contacts. This research also investigates patterns of social structure that emerge over time in these two distinct cases looking at brokerage relationships, network density, and dyadic redundancy in three waves at six month intervals. The cases are dissimilar in all aspects …

When Celebrity Women Tweet: Examining Authenticity, Empowerment, And Responsibility In The Surveillance Of Celebrity Twitter, Megan M. Wood

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a textual analysis of stories in online celebrity news articles about celebrity women and their use of Twitter. It adds to the burgeoning discussion about gendered and racialized bodies online using scholarship from critical feminist, surveillance, and digital media studies. Throughout, my work attends to notions of authenticity and surveillance, examining how what I term a "call to authenticity"--the use of technologies of self-surveillance to verify "authentic" displays of the self--serves to animate contradictory post-feminist paradigms of femininity which function together to discipline and subjugate femininity. I ask: How do post-feminist questions of empowerment and responsibility become …

Reading Assessment Practices Of Elementary General Education Teachers: A Descriptive Study, Sarah Mirlenbrink Bombly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this descriptive study, I researched five elementary general education teachers' reading assessment practices as they worked within the context of IDEA (2004), NCLB (2002) and Response to Intervention (RTI). My own connection to the classroom and reading assessment practices brought me to this research. I presented my personal and professional connection through vignettes about my own classroom assessment practices. Relevant literature on both the context and culture of assessment were pertinent to this research.

I used a qualitative design, specifically, Colaizzi's (1978) method of phenomenological analysis. Data were three in-depth phenomenological interviews, relevant documents and artifacts, and use of …

Defining Semantic Space And Degree Of Association Using Brainwaves: An Erp Investigation Of Alcohol Expectancies, Ty Brumback

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the cognitive organization of alcohol expectancies using event-related potentials (ERPs). Building on previous behavioral and ERP paradigms, the goal of the current study was to quantify the relationship among alcohol expectancies using ERP indices of salience, congruence, and cognitive distance. The ERP components being evaluated fit perfectly into the alcohol expectancy theory and research; however, implementing specific paradigms to reliably measure individual differences in alcohol expectancies using ERPs has proven to be more elusive than originally thought. This study utilized established cognitive modeling techniques coupled with ERP responses to linguistic stimuli. In essence, this study provides …

Alliance And Mechanisms Of Medication Adherence In Pediatric Psychiatric Practice, Alessandro Stevens De Nadai

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Psychiatric medications have been established as an efficacious treatment for pediatric psychopathology (Comer, Olfson, & Mojtabai, 2010), with approximately 3.9% of American children receiving psychotropic medication in a given year (Olfson, Marcus, Weissman, & Jensen, 2002). However, medication adherence for these conditions is suboptimal, with over 50% of children discontinuing treatment before the period recommended for full therapeutic benefit (e.g., Gau et al., 2006; Murray, de Vries, & Wong, 2004). This is highly problematic because pediatric psychopathology is associated with substantial functional impairment and reduced quality of life, as well as increased risk for suicidality (e.g., Bridge, Goldstein, & Brent, …

Predictors Of Quality Of Life In Patients With Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma, Darcie Marie Deaver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a rare, incurable, chronic disease accounting for approximately 3% of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnoses every year. Patients with CTCL have skin lesions that can vary in severity putting patients at risk for developing symptoms that may impair their quality of life (QOL). The disease burden can lead to increased depressive symptoms, fatigue distress, and anxiety that the disease may be worsening. Seventy-five participants agreed to take part in an exploratory, prospective study to evaluate depressive symptoms, anxiety, fatigue distress, and spirituality as predictors of QOL in CTCL patients. Demographic variables including stage of disease, …

Polysemy, Plurality, & Paradigms: The Quixotic Quest For Commensurability Of Ethics And Professionalism In The Practices Of Law, Eric Paul Engel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

According to many, the legal industry is currently suffering from a professionalism problem. The following dissertation is a response to the question, "What can be done about incivility in the practice of law in Florida?" It begins by exploring the literature examining ethics and professionalism, specifically focusing on the role communication plays in the production and reification of patterns of meaning and action. After contextualizing the professionalism problem socio-culturally and historically, the dissertation next provides an overview of some relevant aspects of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (a theoretical communication framework employed to help make sense of the existing state …

Chinese Consumers' Evaluation Of Domestic And Foreign Products: The Roles Of Country Of Origin And Product Usage Experience, Yuze Gao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although COO has been a topic of central interest in international marketing research, most work has focused on consumers in western countries. The concept of product usage experience, though often implied in COO research, has yet to be investigated more directly and explicitly. The goal of the study is to examine the relationships among COO perceptions, product usage experience and purchase intention among Chinese consumers. The study examined two kinds of product usage experiences (usage variety and frequency) pertaining to products (products in general and laptop computers in specific) made in two countries (America and China). Empirical data gathered from …

Ocbs And Strain: The Moderating Role Of Control, Kevin Loo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are typically assumed to be beneficial to employees and organizations. However, research has recently questioned this assumption. This study seeks to identify when OCBs are related to various strains and are detrimental to the employee or the organization. Specifically, using a stressor-strain model, it is hypothesized that in general, OCBs will be related to work effort; however, when employees feel pressured to perform OCBs, and thereby feel less control, OCBs will be more related to various strains. The hypotheses were partially supported: under all conditions, OCBs were related to effort, but under conditions of feeling forced, …

A Case Study Of Jamaican Children's Lived Play Experiences, Carol Ann Long

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although research on children's play is abundant and considerable advances have been made in young children's play, the majority of these studies have been based in western developed countries and written from adults' perspectives rather than with children. Additionally, very little research has been done on children's play with active participants from smaller developing countries. The voices of society's youngest members have been lost or are only marginally represented.

The purpose of this qualitative research is to explore, understand, and describe young Jamaican children's lived play experiences as related through their eyes. The theoretical frameworks used to guide this study …

Efficacy Of A Dissonance-Based Intervention For Self-Objectification: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Jessie Erin Menzel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-objectification is the process by which women take on a third-person perspective in evaluating their physical appearance and sexual attributes. Objectification theory states that self-objectification may lead to negative mental health outcomes in women; a growing body of cross-sectional and experimental research supports the connection between self-objectification and the experience of shame, disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. This study sought to evaluate an intervention designed to reduce self-objectification behaviors and beliefs in order to prevent the development of disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. An efficacious prevention program using cognitive dissonance induction was adapted to target self-objectification. The efficacy …

Translation, Adaptation And Invariance Testing Of The Teaching Perspectives Inventory: Comparing Faculty Of Malaysia And The United States, Jecky Misieng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a result of growing attention in cross-cultural research, existing measurement instruments developed in one language are being translated and adapted for use in other languages and cultural contexts. The benefits of having the same instrument across cultures can only be realized if the process of translation and adaptation of the measurement instruments produces measurement operations that function similarly across national and cultural boundaries. Producing invariant measurement instruments that assess educational and psychological constructs provide a way of testing the cross-cultural generality of theories that include these constructs.

The major purposes of the study were to translate and adapt the …

Social Determinants Of Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Perinatal Morbidity: Social Origins Of Perinatal Health Study, Abraham A. Salinas-Miranda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: The social causation of preterm birth remains elusive, without an adequate explanatory framework. Thus, this study proposed and evaluated a conceptual model of the social determinants of perinatal health for the understanding of perinatal health disparities.

METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted with pregnant women between 20 and 35 weeks gestation who were participating in two Healthy Start programs in Central Florida, from July 2011-August 2013. Perinatal health was operationalized based on gestational age, birth weight, and healthy start infant risk screen score. The predictors were: early life adversity, social position, maternal health-related quality of life, maternal stress, …

A New Item Response Theory Model For Estimating Person Ability And Item Parameters For Multidimensional Rank Order Responses, Jacob Seybert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The assessment of noncognitive constructs poses a number of challenges that set it apart from traditional cognitive ability measurement. Of particular concern is the influence of response biases and response styles that can influence the accuracy of scale scores. One strategy to address these concerns is to use alternative item presentation formats (such as multidimensional forced choice (MFC) pairs, triads, and tetrads) that may provide resistance to such biases. A variety of strategies for constructing and scoring these forced choice measured have been proposed, though they often require large sample sizes, are limited in the way that statements can vary …

The Relationship Of Undergraduate First-Time-In-College Students' Expectations Of Interactions With Faculty And Four-Year College Degree Completion, Craig N. Story

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Faculty are the academic heart of colleges and universities. They guide learning and facilitate student academic and social integration in the campus community. As described by Tinto, student integration is an important component to success in college. Out-of-class and in-class faculty-student interaction supports student integration and may lead to improved college completion. Students enter college with expectations for what they are about to experience, including expectations for faculty interaction. Smart adapted Holland's vocational choice theory to study college disciplines and found that faculty in six broad categories of disciplines displayed specific environmental and personality traits and interacted differently with students. …

Adolescent Literacy Practices And Positive Youth Development Through Fink's Taxonomy Of Significant Learning, Paula Taylor-Greathouse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was not to disprove the effects of the current, common remedial literacy course design and the literacy practices within that help adolescent RLLs pass statewide assessment tests, but to describe the potential long-term impact of an innovative comprehensive approach to literacy (CAL) framed through an integrated course design model. In this study I sought to determine if the 2012 CAL design with a particular demographic of student produced "significant" or lasting learning as defined by Fink (2003). In other words, did the 2012 CAL design promote sustained or increased practices of literacy and PYD over …

A Comparative Perspective Of Black College Males On The Achievement Gap: Implications For School Counselors, Detra Bethell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dominant discourse regarding Black males in America is that they are less academically successful than European American males and Black females. Similarly, Black males in the Bahamas are described as less successful than Black Bahamian females. School Counselors are in a unique position to alter the trajectory of success for Black males if they are knowledgeable of factors contributing to Black male academic success; have an awareness of the potential impact their unique roles can have; and develop and execute comprehensive, culturally responsive school counseling programs. While there is little research on the Achievement Gap in the Bahamas, much …

The Harm Of Influence: When Exposure To Homosexuality Elicits Anger And Punishment Tendencies, Timothy Andrew Caswell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the current project, I examined the distinct elicitors and behavioral outcomes of anti-gay anger and anti-gay disgust. The CAD triad hypothesis (Rozin, Lower, Imada, & Haidt, 1999) suggests that anger and disgust are elicited by distinct moral violations and cognitive appraisals. A plethora of research has documented the strong link between disgust and sexual prejudice, but very little attention has been given to the role of anger in sexual prejudice. The biocultural framework of stigmatization (Neuberg, Smith, & Asher, 2000) suggests that people who counter-socialize against prevailing social norms are stigmatized by others. If homosexual sexual behavior does not …

Daily Recovery From Work: The Role Of Guilt, Eunae Cho

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acknowledging the critical role that occupational factors play in employee health, researchers have tried to understand ways to reduce the harmful effects of work on employee health. As the process by which individuals recharge resources that have been depleted, recovery has been recognized as important due to its potential to mitigate the negative effects of work on employee well-being. Although the recovery literature has continued to grow, many questions remain unanswered. The purpose of the present study was to expand our knowledge of recovery by examining situational (job characteristics) and individual (trait guilt) predictors of recovery and investigating psychological attributes …

Risk Assessment Of Driving Safety In Long Scaled Bridge Under Severe Weather Conditions, Shengdi Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weather conditions have certain impacts on roadway traffic operations, especially traffic safety. Bridges differ from most surface streets and highways in terms of their physical properties and operational characteristics. This research assess the driving risk under different weather conditions through focus group firstly, then it develops a multi-ordered discrete choice model that is used to analyze and evaluate driving risks under both single and dual weather conditions. The data is derived from an extensive questionnaire survey in Shanghai. And the questionnaire includes those factors related to roadway, drivers, vehicles, and traffic that may have significant impacts on traffic safety under …

"It's This Simple, You Really Have To Want To Be Together": A Qualitative Study Of African American Military Couples, Emelda Curry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies have reported that African American couples in the military are less likely to divorce than their civilian counterparts. This dissertation was designed to document the experiences of African American military couples in order to understand the challenges they face while serving in the armed forces and the strategies they have used to maintain their marriages. A grounded theory approach was utilized to produce 12 main themes that categorize experiences of both the individual and the couple within the context of their respective military branch. Photo-elicitation was incorporated into semi-structured interviews with 10 couples to identify what they consider …

The Relationship Among Career Thoughts, Optimism, And Spirituality In Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer, Levette Subraina Dames

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship of dysfunctional career thoughts, optimism, and spirituality on Bahamian women (n=212) diagnosed with breast cancer. Also, it examined how optimism mediates the relationship between spirituality and dysfunctional career thoughts. The diagnosis of breast cancer impacts women physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, financially, and in their career development. Career developmental plans and decisions are continuously being made. However, plans may become altered and decisions more difficult to make when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer as she considers returning to work. The high survival rate of breast cancer patients indicates women may continue to work after …

A Study On Lane-Change Recognition Using Support Vector Machine, Weiping Deng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses primary on recognition of lane-change behaviors using support vector machines (SVMs). Previous research and statistical results show that the vast majority of motor vehicle accidents are caused by driver behavior and errors. Therefore, the interpretation and evaluation of driver behavior is important for road safety analysis and improvement. The main limit to understanding driver behavior is the data availability. In particular, a full-scale lane-change data set is difficult to collect in a real traffic environment because of the safety and cost issues. Considering the data demands of the recognition model development and the obstacles of field data …

Predicting Tablet Computer Use: An Extended Technology Acceptance Model, Adam J. Ducey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While information technology has rapidly changed work in the United States in the past 50 years, some businesses and industries have been slow to adopt new technologies. Healthcare is one industry that has lagged behind in information technology investment for a variety of reasons. Recent federal initiatives to encourage IT adoption in the healthcare industry provide an ideal context to study factors that influence technology acceptance. Data from 261 practicing pediatricians were collected to evaluate an extended Technology Acceptance Model. Results indicated that individual (i.e., perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use), organizational (i.e., subjective norm), and device (i.e., compatibility, reliability) …