Education Commons^™

Behavior Analytic Interventions For Promoting Skill Acquisition In Individuals With Asd: Two Case Studies, Taylor Marie Comber

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This report describes two case studies that used behavior analytic interventions to promote skill acquisition during structured instructional activities for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The first study examined the effects of presession pairing (PSP) implemented by a teacher in the natural classroom setting for a 6-year-old with ASD whose problem behavior was associated with gaining access to attention and escaping from task demands. Results showed PSP augmented with a visual cue resulted in increased on-task behavior and decreased disruptive behavior. The second study examined the use of discrete trial training (DTT) for a 16-year-old female adolescent with ASD …

Generic Expectations In First Year Writing: Teaching Metadiscoursal Reflection And Revision Strategies For Increased Generic Uptake Of Academic Writing, Kaelah Rose Scheff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how student uptake of academic genres in First Year Writing (FYW) are challenged by the concept of writing expectations. Previous research on uptake has focused on uptake between genres with little attention to the role of writing expectations on the event of uptake or how to translate these expectations to students pedagogically. Identifying pedagogical uptake strategies for students to use across academic genres provides instructors with insight into student challenges in FYW and strategies for students to understand their own writing on a metacognitive level by assessing writing expectations. My thesis investigates uptake of academic writing in …

Success And Sustainability Of Sponsored International Development Programs In Education: A Narrative Inquiry, Sara Beth Leikin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a 2008 working paper published by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the authors lamented that, despite billions of dollars in investment in global education initiatives, access to education had been improved in targeted areas, but the return on investment with regards to learning outcomes was “much less impressive” (Gillies & Jester Quijada, 2008). From 2012-2017, USAID engaged in the Egypt STEM Schools Project (ESSP) along with four partner organizations with the goal of building model science and mathematics public schools that would challenge the educational status quo by providing students with hands-on, constructivist learning and providing an alternative …

Problematizing Florida’S Extended Reading Time Policy: A Critical Investigation Of Place, Demographics, And Curricula, Carrie L. Gentner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate Florida’s extended reading time (ERT) policy as enacted during the 2016-2017 school year. This policy requires elementary schools ranking among the 300 lowest performing in the state, as measured by state assessments, to provide an additional hour of reading instruction beyond the regular school day. Extending upon the work of a pilot study suggesting an overrepresentation of minoritized students within low 300 schools, this study presents the geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic distributions of the ERT mandate for a criterion sample of seven districts. Further, the pilot study indicated an underrepresentation of minoritized …

Counseling Clients With Traumatic Brain Injury: Exploring Counselors’ Perceived Knowledge, Comfort, And Self-Awareness, Michelle Bradham-Cousar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnoses continues to rise each year. Counseling is a critical factor in TBI treatment, and although numerous studies have investigated TBI outcomes, a paucity of researchers have studied professional counselors’ knowledge, comfort, and self-awareness when working with TBI clients. Due to the diversity of counselor caseloads, it is likely that counselors will serve clients with a dual diagnosis that includes TBI. These dual diagnoses include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, psychosis, or another neurocognitive disorder. The purpose of this study was to explore counselors’ knowledge, comfort, and self-awareness when working with individuals with …

Mapping Narrative Transactions: A Method/Framework For Exploring Multimodal Documents As Social Semiotic Sites For Ethnographic Study, Anne W. Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work grew from my attempts to find a method for studying a body of editorial cartoons—multi-modal documents producing cross-modal responses—that were created and published in an earlier time period, in order to answer questions about the culture in which the cartoons were produced and read. Initially my questions included wondering about the topics cartoonists addressed, the narratives cartoonists created to address the topics, how the narratives were framed, and in what ways the narratives might have been seen as attempts to shape the larger cultural discourse around the topics. However, given the number of possible combinations of information streams …

Enhancing Adult Refugees’ Metacognition, Motivation, And Multiliteracies: Metacognitive Instruction Within An E-Learning Environment, Imelda V. Bangun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult refugees without print literacy are a diverse group. The reasons adult refugees lack print literacy varies widely among individuals. While meeting the needs of these adults is indeed important, instructors who work with these learners are frequently challenged to provide suitable e-learning environments in which these learners can thrive. Accordingly, the present study aimed to achieve four goals. First, it investigated the effectiveness of explicit metacognitive instruction within an e-learning environment in enhancing the motivational profile of adult refugees with limited literacy. Second, it researched the effectiveness of explicit metacognitive instruction accompanied with an e-learning environment in enhancing the …

Communication, Learning And Social Support At The Speaking Center: A Communities Of Practice Perspective, Ann Marie Foley Coats

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In response to increasing demand for public speaking instruction, more institutions are establishing campus speaking centers staffed by student tutors. Peer tutors provide clients with a range of supports in the speech-making process, including suggestions for speech content and organization and for improving delivery during simulated practice sessions. This study investigates patterns of peer interaction in one campus speaking center to understand the dynamics of peer support in a non-classroom setting and how they may create the conditions for student learning. This ethnographic study conceptualized speaking center activities and the practice of oral communication skills development through the lens of …

Feasting On Words: What University Students Learn When They Study Food Writing And Food Media, Janet K. Keeler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of food in college curriculum is unique in its ability to create lasting impact because of the keen interest millennial and Generation Z students have in what they eat and drink. Studying media with food at its core is an underutilized mechanism to show how food intersects with the lives of all people thus encouraging students to look beyond their own experiences to consider the wider society. A program evaluation of 10 semesters of food writing and food media courses at a Florida public university reveals the ways in which students make deeper connections to culture and current …

Fostering Success Through Coaching: Perspectives Of Help Seeking Within A Coaching Relationship With Post-Secondary Students From Foster Care, Jamie L. Bennett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coaching, a humanistic approach to growth, has recently been utilized on college campuses as an alternative to standard student service strategies to address the needs of students from foster care. For this dissertation, I have collected interview data from four coaches and five college students who had spent time in the foster care system to explore the perceptions of help-seeking behaviors and coaching within a campus-based university program. The goal was to understand the role of coaching in the students’ help-seeking behaviors. The theories of self-determination and survivalist self-reliance were used to conceptualize my literature review, research design, and data …

Facilitating Early Intervention Through Teacher Training In Brief Functional Behavior Assessment, Casie L. Peet

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 30% of students who enter state-funded early childhood education programs exhibit significant problem behavior, putting them at risk for long-term adverse behavioral and academic outcomes. Tier 2 behavioral interventions might not be effective for all when delivered in a one-size-fits-all fashion suggesting that individualizing behavioral intervention to the student’s specific concerns may be. To do so, it is necessary to collect problem identification data indicative of each student’s concerns and function of problem behaviors. This question is particularly pertinent in early childhood settings where educators have a wide range of training experiences and backgrounds. Early childhood teachers are essential …

Distributed Leadership: Leadership Teams And Implementing Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support, Joseph D. Latimer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary educational legislation in the last 30 years has reflected the age of accountability in which positive student academic outcomes and yearly student progress are the main goals of the school system. In addition to accountability legislation, schools are mandated to implement multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) to provide a continuum of services for all students. To implement MTSS and the necessary system changes, many schools are using distributed leadership models and practices such as leadership teams to maximize the human and material resources available. This study examined the conceptualization and enactment of distributed leadership in a school that is …

Exploring The Association Of Academic Psychological Capital And Experiential Learning With Academic Performance, Diane Kutz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study expands upon the body of research seeking to define the effect of Academic Psychological Capital (Academic PsyCap) and student Participation in Experiential Learning on one success measure of students, Academic Performance, as measured by grade point average (GPA). It also seeks to investigate the moderating effect of Experiential Learning on the relationship between Academic PsyCap and Academic Performance. The study argues that Social Cognitive Theory and Broaden and Build Theory supported a reciprocal relationship between Academic PsyCap and Participation in Experiential Learning Activities and the positive relationship between both constructs and Academic Performance.

The study was conducted …

Civic Engagement Amid Civil Unrest: Haitian Social Scientists Working At Home, Nadège Nau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Unlike many of the autoethnographic accounts in world anthropologies discourse, this study employs critical educational ethnography to both address the geopolitics of Haitian anthropology while also spotlighting an understudied group: university faculty. This study addresses: What are the conditions of academic labor for anthropology professors working in Haiti? Moreover, what is the price of being an anthropology professor at the School of Ethnology at the State University of Haiti (UEH), and how do professors add meaningful value to their labor through sacrifice, ingenuity, and civic engagement? Despite professors’ work-related challenges and Haiti’s severe “brain drain” levels, for many professors, their …

Facilitators And Barriers To Treatment Engagement In A Behavioral Parent Training Program, Holland Hayford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study sought to analyze caregivers’ perspectives regarding facilitators of, and barriers to, attending the behavioral parent training programs (BPTs) known as Helping Our Toddlers, Developing Our Children’s Skills (HOT DOCS) and Developing Our Children’s Skills K-5 (DOCS K-5). Participants included 43 caregivers who successfully completed their respective DOCS program. These caregivers answered two questionnaires which contained items addressing demographic variables (i.e., gender, race, ethnicity, household income, level of education, number of children, and program attendance) and logistic factors of the DOCS programs (i.e., course location, class length, time of day, course duration, availability of transportation, availability of childcare). …

Temporal Discounting And The Assessment And Treatment Of Academic Procrastination, Anthony Concepcion

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many individuals engage in procrastination at some point in their lifetime. Although procrastination is usually not detrimental, for college students, academic procrastination is correlated with adverse health effects (e.g., anxiety, depression, sleep hygiene) and poor academic performance (Akinsola, et al., 2007; Ferrari, et al., 1995). Furthermore, the prevalence of academic procrastination is high with reports of up to 95% of college students engaging in detrimental amounts of procrastination (Hussain & Sultan, 2010). Notably, students enrolled in online courses are likely to be at greater risk to experience adverse consequences associated with procrastination (Elvers, et al, 2003). Previous studies have focused …

Female Identity And Sexuality In Contemporary Indonesian Novels, Zita Rarastesa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project focuses on female characters’ identity and sexuality in four contemporary Indonesian novels, selected based on historical settings highly significant to the discussion. First, The Girl from the Coast (2002) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer takes place during Dutch colonialization, and the second, The Dancer (1982) by Ahmad Tohari, during the transition of power from President Soekarno to General Suharto, a period when the Indonesian Communist Party was still active. Durga/Umayi (2004) by Y. B. Mangunwijaya and Saman, a Novel (1998) by Ayu Utami both take place during the New Order era when Suharto was president of Indonesia.

The project’s …

Understanding Campus Support Programs: How Universities Are Assisting Foster Care Alumni In Achieving Success, Bonnie Wilson Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Young adults with foster care experience encounter a number of challenges related to obtaining a college degree. To assist this population in reaching their academic goals, many colleges and universities have created campus-based support programs. These programs are designed to assist former foster youth through an array of services, which range from financial aid to mentorship. However, little is known about how these programs are designed or implemented, or how effectively they are meeting the needs of this population. This dissertation sought to build upon previous research that examined the barriers faced by former foster children who are pursuing a …

Parent Perceptions Of The Acceptability, Effectiveness, And Experience Of Engaging In The Group Stepping Stones Triple P Intervention For Parents Of Children With Disabilities, Tara B. Delach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The challenges associated with parenting are often compounded for parents of children with developmental disabilities. Children with developmental disabilities are at increased risk for exhibiting mental health concerns and challenging behavior compared to their typically developing peers. Parents who are raising a child with a disability tend to experience increased demands, higher levels of stress, and greater challenges associated with the physical, emotional, and behavioral needs of their children than do parents of typically developing children. Parent training interventions grounded in social learning theory and behavioral principles have proven to be effective in improving both child and parent outcomes in …

Explore L2 Chinese Learners' Motivation Through L2mss: Selves, Mental Imagery, And Pedagogical Implications, Yao Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Motivation is understood as the original drive of a person to make specific choices, engage himself or herself to make efforts, and to be persistent for the pursuit of the goals. Over the decades, numerous studies have been dedicated to studying this complex and significant construct, in both the fields of Second Language Acquisition and Social Psychology. Since the beginning of the last decade, the findings and theories of motivation research of the two fields mentioned above have been merged and integrated by Dörnyei (2005, 2009) to explain the second language learners’ motivation. This vigorous Second Language Motivational Self System …

Making Meaning Of A Whole School Transformation Model: A Policy Ethnography Of A Schools Of Hope Legislation Implementation, Adam Charles Rea

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cheryl High School (CHS) is a geographically large county in Florida that received funding through the state of Florida's "Schools of Hope” grant. The grant’s parameters called on Carter County Schools (CCS) to partner with an external consultant and a research university to help improve teacher and school administrative capacity. The district chose Scientific Pedagogy Services (SPS) and to continue their existing relationship with Tampa Bay State University (TBS). The consultant’s mission was to improve school performance through a unique form of professional development. TBS was charged with developing an on-site program that funded staff efforts to obtain advanced degrees …

The Gentle Artist: Empowering Warrior-Scholars Through The Physical Feminism Of Jiu-Jitsu, E. Emily Mahoney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an autoethnography about the socialization of people in various cultural contexts, in particular, women in the embodied role of the academic researcher. Being a researcher and enduring an experience of sexual assault right in the middle of my first research interview left me in a state of shock and survival. One out of every six American women will survive attempted or completed rape during her lifetime, with college-aged women being three to four times at increased risk compared to all women, yet the odds that this would take place during a project which had major implications for …

Evaluating The Use Of Alternative Seating With Children At Risk For Emotional Behavioral Disabilities, Corinne E. Bloom Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Characteristics of emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) include learning difficulties that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors and an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. Often, children with EBD have a tendency to have negative experiences in school and engage in challenging behavior in the classroom. This could stem from their lack of desire or motivation to succeed, which is often found in individuals with EBD. One possible antecedent manipulation, alternative seating, may reduce problem behavior and involves exchanging the typical seating and tables in classrooms for different types of seating …

Effects Of Learning A Second Language On English Academic And Low-Frequency Vocabulary Acquisition And Metalinguistic Knowledge, Hayriye Karliova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the possible effects of learning a language from the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family as a second language (L2), namely Latin and Spanish, on English academic and low-frequency vocabulary acquisition and metalinguistic knowledge of native English speaker (NES) undergraduates in their first language (L1), English.

The study sought to attain two objectives: first, it aimed to discover the effects of learning Latin and Spanish as L2s with respect to the vocabulary acquisition of NES undergraduates; second, it aimed to detect the effects these L2s in terms of metalinguistic awareness. In both cases, the focus was …

Educators' Perceptions Of Students' Academic And Social Growth In A Collegiate High School Program., John Matthew Legg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine educators’ perceptions of high school students’ academic and social growth in a collegiate college program. Collegiate high school programs afford opportunities to minorities and the economically disadvantaged, as well as first-generation college students (Aviles-Reyes, 2007). This research used a qualitative case study framework to collect information about educators’ perceptions of the academic and social integration of students in a collegiate college program. Data were collected in phases—educator focus group interviews and individual interviews—and subsequently coded and reviewed using thematic comparative analysis. The guiding question was as follows: What are educators’ perceptions of …

Disciplinary D/Discourses: Navigating And Negotiating Disciplinary Paradigms, Michael R. P. Bailey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past twenty-five years, in the United States, zero-tolerance policies that were initially implemented to deter gun violence and drugs in schools have expanded to include a wide range of discretionary offenses such as disrespect and defiance. As a result, many students have been denied access to educational opportunities, been excluded from their peers, and had their lives irrevocably changed due to systemic sanctioning of exclusionary practices. Educators, who are caught between competing societal demands, job expectations, and ethical beliefs about their profession are tasked with balancing the instructional and interactional components of their work in an attempt to …

Health-Promoting Behaviors And Subjective Well-Being Among High School Students, Nicholas David W. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In positive psychology, a greater emphasis is placed on the presence of indicators of both physical and mental health. This study examined the relationship between 12 health-promoting behaviors and subjective well-being (SWB; e.g., happiness) in a sample of 450 high school aged youth from five high schools in two states. Participants reported on their dietary habits, physical activity, abstinence from tobacco products, abstinence from alcohol, and sleep hygiene (i.e., 8 unique components) as well as a multidimensional assessment of SWB (i.e., life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). It was hypothesized that increased engagement in each of the health-promoting behaviors …

Book-Sharing As A Context For Fathers And Mothers To Enhance Language Development Of Their Preschool Children, Yagmur Seven

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poor reading levels is a pervasive problem in the US. For example, two of every three eigth grade students in the US are estimated to demonstrate insufficient reading comprehension skills. Early use of decontextualized language, in which the language expressed is removed from the here and now, serves as a precursor of academic language proficiency. Starting as early as the third year of life, decontextualized language is less likely to be practiced in lower socio-economic status (SES) households. Although storybooks offer a rich context for practicing the language with young children, reading storybooks alone is not adequate to promote conversational …

Promoting Healthy Sleep Practices Among Parents Of Young Children: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial, Kristin Lynn Edwards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the most significant and underrecognized public health concerns in young children is related to the consequences of inadequate sleep. Inadequate sleep may result in problems related to behavioral regulation, executive functioning, and academic performance. ‘Sleep hygiene’, a term that describes consistent daytime and nighttime practices that promote healthy sleep, has been found to significantly increase sleep duration and improve sleep quality in the pediatric population. Researchers have found that many parents have a poor understanding of sleep hygiene. The purpose of this study was to determine if an educational intervention increased parental knowledge and practices of sleep hygiene …

Reducing Underrepresentation: Promising Practices In Florida, Catherine A. Mullins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examined representation rates of gifted students from diverse backgrounds in Florida county school districts. Florida state legislation governing gifted student education allows for alternative identification methods to be used for students from underrepresented groups if plans for such identification are approved by the Florida Department of Education; however, this option, informally referred to as “Plan B” after subsection B of the legislation governing gifted services, is not a requirement that districts must follow. Consequently, there are large differences in the ways districts identify underrepresented students for gifted services. State legislation identifies underrepresented populations as students with …