American Studies Commons^™

Perceptions Of Career And Psychosocial Functions Between Mentor And Protégé Teachers, Allison A. Vanderbilt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the career and psychosocial functions that mentor teachers and their protégé teachers believed occurred during the 2008-2009 mentoring relationship.

This comparative survey study was conducted in a suburban middle-sized Florida school district. The target population for this study involved one group of matched mentor teachers and protégé teachers. Two survey instruments were used during this study, Mentoring Functions Scale for the Mentor and the Mentoring Functions Scale for the Protégé modified by Wilson (2006). This instrument was selected because it measures the career and psychosocial functions of the mentoring process. The survey …

Corrosion Of Dual Coated Reinforcing Steel With Through-Polymer Breaks In Simulated Concrete Pore Solution, Adrienne Accardi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This investigation is an examination of the behavior of dual coated reinforcing steel (DCR) with defects in the polymer coating exposing the only zinc layer in simulated concrete pore solution with and without chlorides. The intentional defects simulated the condition typically experienced by the rebar in service. Specimens were tested at open circuit potential, +100 mV, -500 mV, and -1000 mV for 30 to 100 days. The results were compared with that from previous DCR investigation with to-steel defects and epoxy-coated rebar (ECR). DCR with to-zinc defects had extensive corrosion damage when under strong anodic polarization and exposed to chlorides …

Total Internal Reflection Holographic Microscopy (Tirhm) For Quantitative Phase Characterization Of Cell-Substrate Adhesion, William Mason Ash Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Total Internal Reflection Holographic Microscopy (TIRHM) combines near-field microscopy with digital holography to produce a new form of near-field phase microscopy. Using a prism in TIR as a near-field imager, the presence of microscopic organisms, cell-substrate interfaces, and adhesions, causes relative refractive index (RRI) and frustrated TIR (f-TIR) to modulate the object beam's evanescent wave phase front. Quantitative phase images of test specimens such as Amoeba proteus, Dictyostelium Discoideum and cells such as SKOV-3 ovarian cancer and 3T3 fibroblasts are produced without the need to introduce stains or fluorophores. The angular spectrum method of digital holography to compensate for …

Implicit Affect And Alcohol Outcome Expectancies, John M. Ray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Expectancy theory provides a useful framework within which to examine the link between cognitive representations of anticipated alcohol related outcomes and affective processes that ought to shape behavior at the level of implicit, or automatic, processing. The role of affect in alcohol expectancies is an important one as it reflects the approach-avoid contingency associated with reward learning presumed to underlie addictive processes. This study examined the relationship between affect and expectancy operation by using suboptimally presented alcohol related cues to prime affectively congruent evaluations of otherwise unrelated targets. Hypotheses predicted that drinkers who reported higher positive and arousing expectancies for …

A Study Of Selected Teachers‘ Perceptions Of Grade Retention In A Florida School District, Julius L. Wynn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined and analyzed selected middle school teachers' perceptions of grade retention, and informed teachers about current and past research on grade retention. Through analysis of teacher interviews and using a Likert scale instrument, responses indicated that teachers continue to support and to use retention when students do not master required objectives for promotion. Because of the new Florida retention policy and the No Child Left Behind policy, it was critical to measure teachers' levels of understanding and perceptions of grade retention.

Their perceptions gave insight into their thoughts and beliefs about the practice. Survey responses of 326 teachers …

Bird Communities Of Isolated Cypress Wetlands Along An Urban Gradient In Hillsborough County, Florida, Nathaniel L. Goddard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Migratory bird communities are sensitive to landscape alteration. Urban development significantly impacts bird communities on breeding grounds, as well as en-route during migration. One current theory is that Neotropical migratory birds are not limited by breeding or wintering habitat constraints but by food and habitat availability along major migration routes. The eastern flyway is the route taken by neotropical land-birds through eastern North America that follows coastal areas denoted by intense urban development. Coastal areas funnel birds to major departure points along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the western coast of Florida.

Birds were monitored for …

Characterization Of Cannabinoid Receptor 2 Transcript Expression In B Cells, Tracy Sherwood

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors have been shown to play important roles in immune regulation particularly as modulators of anti-inflammatory cytokines and antibody production. The predominant cannabinoid receptor involved in this immune regulation is cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB₂), which is robustly expressed in B cells. Utilizing a combination of bioinformatics, 5' RACE, real time RT-qPCR, and reporter assays, we showed that human B cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) expressed one CB2 transcript while mouse B cells from spleen express three CB₂ transcripts. Alignment of the sequenced B cell RACE products to either the mouse or human …

Statistical Learning And Behrens-Fisher Distribution Methods For Heteroscedastic Data In Microarray Analysis, Nabin K. Manandhr-Shrestha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the present study is to identify the di®erentially expressed genes be- tween two di®erent conditions and apply it in predicting the class of new samples using the microarray data. Microarray data analysis poses many challenges to the statis- ticians because of its high dimensionality and small sample size, dubbed as "small n large p problem". Microarray data has been extensively studied by many statisticians and geneticists. Generally, it is said to follow a normal distribution with equal vari- ances in two conditions, but it is not true in general. Since the number of replications is very small, …

Experiences Of Foreign Language Teachers And Students Using A Technology-Mediated Oral Assessment, Jeannie Ducher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of the speaking skill at the lower levels of proficiency is seldom assessed as a matter-of-fact in the foreign language classroom, for reasons of impracticality and difficulty of implementation. Although the practice of the speaking skill is an important part of current approaches to the teaching of foreign languages, issues of time and logistics often prohibit the direct evaluation of the skill in a manner consistent with best practices, which purport that practice and assessment must be closely aligned, and that students benefit from self-evaluation and teacher feedback. Classroom research has shown that a skill that is not …

School Psychologists Involvement And Perceived Preparedness In The Provision Of Suicide-Related Services: A Comparison Of Practitioners Serving Different School Levels, Jennifer M. Cunningham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While the manifestation of suicidal thoughts and/or behavior is more common among adolescents, children are capable of, and do experience, suicidal ideation as well as demonstrate suicidal behaviors. Suicide is the sixth leading cause of death among children aged 5-14 years (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2008). However, children may not always be referred or brought to the attention of the school psychologist, as their threats may be considered immature and unfounded. The purpose of this study is to provide data that clarifies the need for the provision of suicide-related services for children in elementary school. An archival dataset of …

Manifestations Of Hidden Curriculum In A Community College Online Opticianry Program: An Ecological Approach, Barry Hubbard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the influential factors at work within an online learning environment is a growing area of interest. Hidden or implicit expectations, skill sets, knowledge, and social process can help or hinder student achievement, belief systems, and persistence. This qualitative study investigated how hidden curricular issues transpired in an online learning environment's institutional and organization systems using an ecological paradigm. A phenomenological approach rooted in a case study context was used to explore the experiences and perceptions of a group of students, faculty, and administrators involved with an online academic program (opticianry) at a community college. Interviews, non-participant observation, and a …

An Interpretive Policy Analysis Of Bullying Law And The Development Of Bullying Policy In A Central Florida School District, Scott D. Richman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bullying has been an issue in schools and became a major concern for school leaders over the past two decades. Olweus (1993) defined three characteristics of bullying behavior: intent to harm another, repeated offenses, and a perceived or real power imbalance. This study examined the law's provisions concerning bullying in schools; specifically examining the Florida Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Student Act (2008), and the required policy implemented in Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS). Discourse theory framed the study, as defined by Habermas (1996) and the derivative Interpretive Policy Analysis was used to analyze the district policy, as defined …

Writing To (Re)New Orleans: The Post-Hurricane Katrina Blogosphere And Its Ability To Inspire Recovery, Daisy Pignetti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly every website or software application these days features a feed to subscribe to, a network to join, or a social timeline to track—all of which do their part to influence public opinion, promote products, and bring people closer together. Being a blogger since 2003 exposed me to these user-generated trends, but never did I expect my blog space, or any others, to play such an important role in my emotional well-being; not until Hurricane Katrina hit. Sharing my story as a transplanted New Orleanian watching the disaster unfold from afar in a public forum quickly linked me to other …

Imagined Realities, Defying Subjects: Voice, Sexuality And Subversion In African Women's Writing, Sarah Namulondo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The privileging of man in African societies has involved an erasure of identities and subjectivities of many women, holding them to an assumption of female inferiority. To counter the injustice, African women writers have engaged in rhetorical and performative strategies designed to reconstitute the cultural erasure as they try to claim status as individuals. But in the process, various cultural expectations such as their maternal roles act as constant bottlenecks to return them back to their prescribed roles as subordinate beings. This dissertation, “Imagined Realities, Defying Subjects: Voice, Sexuality and Subversion in African Women’s Writing” explores the methodologies of cultural …

Exploring Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis Disclosure To First-Degree Relatives: An African American Family Case Series, Kamilah B. Thomas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cancer killer in the United States and the third most common cancer in African American men and women. Though the overall death rates have declined, this reduction in mortality is smaller for African Americans than for Whites. Factors that are protective against colorectal cancer include occupational or recreational physical activity, a diet high in fruits and vegetables, and colorectal cancer screening with removal of polyps (polypectomy) before they progress to cancer. Compliance with CRC screening recommendations requires people to know if a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, and child) or second-degree relative (aunt, uncle, …

System Identification In Automatic Database Memory Tuning, Tiffany Burrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Databases are very complex systems that require database system administrators to perform system tuning in order to achieve optimal performance. Memory tuning is vital to the performance of a database system because when the database workload exceeds its memory capacity, the results of the queries running on a system are delayed and can cause substantial user dissatisfaction. In order to solve this problem, this thesis presents a platform modeled after a closed control feedback loop to control the level of multi-query processing. Utilizing this platform provides two key assets. First, the system identification is acquired, which is one of two …

Residual Stress Analysis In 3c-Sic Thin Films By Substrate Curvature Method, Jose M. Carballo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Development of thin films has allowed for important improvements in optical, electronic and electromechanical devices within micrometer length scales. In order to grow thin films, there exist a wide variety of deposition techniques, as each technique offers a unique set of advantages. The main challenge of thin film deposition is to reach smallest possible dimensions, while achieving mechanical stability during operating conditions (including extreme temperatures and external forces, complex film structures and device configurations). Silicon carbide (SiC) is attractive for its resistance to harsh environments, and the potential it offers to improve performance in several microelectronic, micro-electromechanical, and optoelectronic applications. …

The Rebirth Of A Semi-Disintegrated Enterprise: Towards The Future Of Composites In Pre-Synthesized Domestic Dwellings; And The Societal Acceptance Of The Anti-In Situ Architectural Movement, Timothy James Keepers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The prefabricated home has been said to be the site of innovation, exploration and sometimes spectacular failure since the mid 20th-century (Home Delivery, 8). Despite years of research and advancements in technology, pre-synthesization in the domestic realm has typically remained loyal to past construction methods/materials and banal aesthetic ripostes. As a result, the modern pre-synthesized home suffers in terms of programmatic diversity, spatial feedback, supertemporal expansion (in reference to the supertemporal art movement) and societal acceptance.

Materials and technologies are constantly upgrading in our increasingly technetronic society. Re-marketing the prefabricated home will require a similar modus operandi. Investigating the successes …

Depositional Dynamics In Seagrass Systems Of Tampa Bay, Fl: Influence Of Hydrodynamic Regime And Vegetation Density On Ecosystem Function, Alison Cheryl Meyers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many coastal ecosystems around the world are dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitats. These SAV habitats are known to provide many highly valuable ecosystem services such as habitat for commercial important species and increased water clarity. Water flow is an environmental variable which can have measurable effects on the ecosystem services provided by SAV, but is often not considered in studies assessing these services. This dissertation sought to investigate the links between SAV, primarily seagrasses, and hydrodynamics, paying special attention to the effects on sediments and fauna. Three main areas are discussed: (1) the effects of SAV on flow, …

(Im•Print) A Material Investigation To Encourage A Haptic Dialog, Julie Marie Vo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The word impression encompasses a dual meaning which desires to be more fully explored in the built realm. An (im-print) has a powerful impact because the message becomes an indelible mark embedded within the material. Physically, an impression is made by the pressure of one object on or into another, leaving behind a trace of this interaction on the surface. This process has the potential to create a vivid memory within the participant who comes into contact with it.

The idea of imprint can become a part of the process of design both physically and conceptually. As polished concrete can …

Surface-Bonded Sol-Gel Sorbents For On-Line Hyphenation Of Capillary Microextraction With High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Scott S. Segro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the most widely used analysis technique. However, its sensitivity is limited. Sample preconcentration methods, such as fiber-based solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and in-tube SPME (capillary microextraction) offer improved detection limits. It is, however, difficult to couple fiber SPME on-line with HPLC due to the need for complicated desorption devices. Such coupling is further complicated due to the limited solvent stability of the extracting phase both in the fiber and in-tube formats of SPME. In this research, surface-bonded sol-gel sorbents were developed to provide the solvent stability required for effective on-line hyphenation of capillary microextraction (CME) with …

Phenomenology Of Home, Lidiya Angelova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this Master's Thesis project is to investigate the meaning of home through the bodily experience and psychological perception of space.

An inherent ambiguity to the word, as it fails to translate in languages other than those of the Germanic group, causes confusion in defining what home is. In English the word home suggests a deeper understanding and attachment to the surrounding environment, a sort of fusing of the spatial, time and material elements into a single intense experience of being.

In languages that do not contain the word the notion of home is expressed in poetry through …

Architecture As Canvas, Monika Blazenovic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cities are increasingly becoming vessels of consumption, while various opportunities for production of space and public expression are taken away from the city's inhabitants. New architectural interventions often disregard a site's previously developed character and further aid in wiping away memories closely related to a city's cultural past. Banja Luka, the second largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been an important cultural center, even through years of unrest. Within the city's main plaza stands an unfinished concrete structure (Fig. 3), built with pre-war conceptions of a hotel. The structure's location within the city of Banja Luka has provided for …

Application Of Luminescence Sensors In Oxygen Diffusion Measurement And Study Of Luminescence Enhancement/Quenching By Metallic Nanoparticles, Sanchari Chowdhury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The first part of this dissertation deals with the application of a luminescence quenching method to measure diffusion and permeation coefficients of oxygen in polymers. Most luminescence oxygen sensors do not follow linearity of the Stern-Volmer (SV) equation due to heterogeneity of luminophore in the polymer matrix, thus the complexity of data analysis is increased. To circumvent this limitation, inverted fluorescence microscopy is utilized in this work to investigate the SV response of the sensors at the micron-scale. In these diffusion experiments, oxygen concentration is measured by luminescence changes in regions with high SV constants and good linearity. Thus, we …

Women And Architecture: Re-Making Shelter Through Woven Tectonics, Kirsten Lee Dahlquist

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weaving and architecture, conceived simultaneously with cave paintings, are two ancient forms of craft used to enclose space and provide shelter harmoniously with nature. In its basic composition, a useable textile is the interlacing of two members, warp and weft, at right angles to create structure and surface respectively. Textile artist Anni Albers of the Bauhaus attributes the organization of weaving to the skills of an ancient goddess. Her understanding of prehistoric cultures further links women closer to the overall creation of structure, though perceived as a masculine endeavor. Consequently, early advancements in architecture, the structural organization of shelter, are …

Motivational Factors And Worldview Dimensions Associated With Perceptions Of Global Education Initiatives By U.S. College Professors, Emmanuel Jean-François

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate motivational factors and worldview dimensions associated with perceptions of global education initiatives by college professors in the United States. The concept of "perceptions of global education initiatives" is used in this study to refer to attitudes toward institutional support for global education, internationalizing curriculum, campus and community activities to increase global awareness, and international experiences and cooperation. The term college professor in this study is used to designate full-time assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors teaching at a regionally accredited private or public four - year college or university in the …

A Comparative Study Of The Plants Used For Medicinal Purposes By The Creek And Seminoles Tribes, Kimberly Hutton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies in Native American ethnobotany on the shared use of medicinal and cultural plants between communities fail to clearly reveal if these shared uses are part of changing culture or remain a stabilizing connection between old and new tribes. During the late 1700's to early 1800's, various factions of the Creek tribes of Georgia migrated into Florida, forming a new tribe called the Seminoles. This event provides the unique opportunity to study the changing cultural and medicinal uses of plants by a new tribe in a new geographic location, revealing if cultural purposes were passed from one group to …

Leadership Competencies For College Leaders Of Public Small, Rural, Single-Campus And Large, Urban, Multiple-Campus Colleges, Joseph M. J Kools

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examined how two decidedly different groups of community college presidents from across the United States viewed the competencies, characteristics, and professional skills identified by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (2005) as important for effective community college leadership. The two groups participating in the research were from small, single-campus colleges serving rural populations and from large, multiple-campus colleges serving urban populations. The participants were asked to identify those activities and experiences that they found helpful in developing the AACC leadership competencies. The results from this research suggest that community college presidents from both sizes of college campuses …

Play: A Process-Driven Study Of Design Discovery, Kuebler Wilson Perry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Frequently, in architecture and in other professions, a results-oriented approach to design truncates the creative process. Architecture is a man-made intervention, ultimately involving a fair bit of destruction in order to eventually arrive in a state of hopefully coherent grace in the lives of its users and the built or natural context (Clark 2000, 10). It is unacceptable to proceed hastily into such complex territory-without a degree of rigor and process-driven creativity commensurate with the gravity of creating large scale, reality-altering, life-affecting structures.

A process-driven inquiry requires many hours of experiment, revision, and meandering about that may initially have no …

Page, Benjamin H., 1859-1916 - Letter To (Sc 2223), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2223. Letter to Benjamin H. Page, in Mud Lick, Monroe County, Kentucky, from Lou Ann Nichols, Randolph, Metcalfe County, Kentucky. She discusses their individual living and economic situations in the absence of any firm decision to marry, and asks him to keep her letters confidential.