Education Commons^™

A Longitudinal Examination Of A Ssi-Embedded Experiential Environmental Education Course And Environmental Behaviors, Mark H. Newton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A perennial goal of environmental education is to produce a scientifically literate citizenry capable of negotiating and resulting complex environmental problems. Popular methods of environmental education instruction tend to overemphasize scientific content knowledge and neglect to consider ethical and moral aspects of the problem. This qualitative study examines the longitudinal association between an experiential environmental education course infused with SSI instruction and students’ environmental behaviors. The results indicate that several students’ conceptualizations of contentious environmental issues change after completing the course and specifically. Furthermore, students’ willingness to act to resolve contentious environmental issues was most closely associated with their environmental …

The Elusiveness Of Inclusiveness: A Discursive Analysis Of Inclusion In A District Level Exceptional Student Education Leadership Team, Karen Ramlackhan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This poststructural study utilizes Foucault’s theories of power/knowledge nexus and disciplinary power to explore the discursive formation of inclusion of a district level Exceptional Student Education leadership team in order to understand how the discourses are constructed, practices are normalized, and power relations are legitimized. This type of analysis interrogated the assumptive groundings of special education in the district, and how these have been taken-for-granted and normalized in the professional knowledge, policies, and practices of the field. Data from multiple sources: semi-structured interviews, observations, multimodal forms of communication, observation journal, and researcher reflexive journal produced findings within four dominant discourses---the …

“Way Down Upon The Suwanee River”: Examining The Inclusion Of Black History In Florida’S Curriculum Standards, William Newell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As education focuses increasingly on standards based assessment, social studies must be examined for its integration of Black History in the United States History curriculum. Using a Critical Race Theory lens, this directed content analysis attempts to examine the Florida Standards for United States History to determine if and how Black History is integrated into United States History courses. The study also makes use of Banks’ (1994) “levels of integration” to explore the degree to which this is accomplished. In addition, lesson plans created and/or endorsed by the state of Florida are analyzed for their inclusion of Black History. Data …

Perspectives Of Women In Orthopaedic Surgery On Leadership Development, Ann C. Joyce

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 50 years, the demographics of medical school graduates in the United States has changed dramatically with the number of women (47%) almost equaling the number of men in 2014 (AAMC, 2014). However, the Association of American Medical Colleges (2014) reports that orthopaedic surgery has the lowest proportion of female residents, instructors, assistants, associate, and full professors of all the sub-specialties and little has changed in the past several decades.

Due to the healthcare reform and the changing needs of our society, it is importance to recruit, retain, and promote women into leadership positions. The purpose of this …

The Self-Directed Learning Actions Of Women Regarding The Menopause Transition, Jamie Johnson Cooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that increased knowledge about the menopause transition positively impacts a woman’s attitude about this stage in her life, and a more positive attitude leads to less distress during the transition. However, there has been no research regarding how women gain this knowledge about menopause, what factors in her environment may hinder or assist her, or how women’s knowledge of menopause is leveraged by health care providers to help facilitate her menopause transition.

The purpose of this research was to explore the self-directed learning actions of women regarding their search for information about menopause, and to understand what factors, …

Racial And Ethnic Differences In Low-Risk Cesarean Deliveries In Florida, Yuri Combo Vanda Sebastiao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background and Significance: Cesarean delivery rates increased by more than 50% between 1996 and 2011 in the United States. The large increase in rates for the procedure was generally not associated with significant improvements in obstetric outcomes, raising concern about quality and prompting recommendations for prevention. Primary cesareans provide the best opportunity to reduce overall cesarean rates, and the group of first-time mothers considered low-risk for cesarean (known as nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex, NTSV) constitutes the focus of prevention efforts. Studies increasingly report racial and ethnic differences in NTSV cesareans, which remain after controlling for health factors. However, the reasons …

Hope, Expectation, Math Anxiety, And Achievement In College Algebra Students: Examining An Instructional Strategy Using Multi-Level Modeling, Kathleen A. Gibson-Dee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

American students no longer lead the world in quantitative skills. This decline in mathematical ability has potentially significant negative national and personal consequences. Math anxiety, low self-efficacy in relation to math, and a sense of hopelessness about math are all possible barriers to being successful in learning and using math, not only in school but ultimately in many aspects of adult life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between hope, expectation, math anxiety (positive and negative affect related components), and students’ final course scores in College Algebra within the context of an instructional strategy intended to …

Influence Of Musical Engagement On Symptoms Of Tourette’S Disorder, William Christopher Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tourette’s is currently considered a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder. Georges Gilles de la Tourette is given primary credit for the diagnoses of the disorder in the late 1800s. Clear answers have been elusive although modern research and improvements to neuroimaging have enabled the causal factors of Tourette’s Disorder (TD) to be examined with greater scrutiny. Currently, there is no known cure or pharmaceutical treatment that has been proven 100% effective for all patients and symptoms of Tourette’s. Anecdotally, there have been recent media and self-reports of people diagnosed with Tourette’s finding relief from their symptoms through involvement in focus-based activities such …

Making A Place For People At A Wildlife Corridor On Chicago's South Side, Alexis Winter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

What role do environmental conservation projects play in the transformation of American cities? How do these projects affect city residents? In this study, I ask these questions at the Burnham Wildlife Corridor, where the Chicago Park District worked with institutional and community-based partner organizations to engage city residents in the creation of a lakefront wildlife habitat and public nature area. Through ethnographic interviews and participant observation I explored how actors at various levels understand this changing landscape and their roles in shaping it. I situate the Burnham Wildlife Corridor project in the broader context of a state-level plan, the Millennium …

Faculty Perceptions Of Online Student Disruptive Behavior, Kenneth J. Posner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Limited research and literature address online student disruptive behavior and the effectiveness of conflict management strategies to address these inappropriate behaviors. Through expanded offerings of online education, higher education institutions need to prepare strategically and intentionally for increased instances of online student disruptive behavior. This research study developed and administered an online survey to obtain quantitative and qualitative data. Utilizing the Qualtrics Research Suite and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for quantitative data analysis and MAXQDA for coding the qualitative data this research study examined five research questions identifying online student disruptive behaviors, observed frequencies, and effective …

Blue-Collar Scholars: Bridging Academic And Working-Class Worlds, Nathan Lee Hodges

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores one white working-class family’s hopes, fears, illusions, and tensions related to social mobility. I tell stories from my experiences as a first-generation college student, including: ethnographic fieldwork; interviews with my family, community members, and former teachers; and narratives from other working-class academics to provide an in-depth, evocative, and relational look at mobility. I explore the roots of vulnerability in my family and how I was socialized into understanding belonging and worthiness in particular ways, and how this socialization influences my feelings of belonging and worthiness in the academy. The goal of this research is bridging – past …

Urban English Language Arts Teachers’ Stories Of Technology Use: A Narrative Inquiry, Bridget Abbas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology use in high-minority, low-income middle school ELA classrooms is defined by traditional instructional practices (Applebee & Langer, 2013; Attewell, 2001; Boser, 2013; Cuban, 2001; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008), barriers to access (O’Dwyer et al., 2005; Purcell et al., 2013; Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010), and inequalities in use (Banister & Reinhart, 2011; Beers, 2004; Gorski, 2009; Makinen, 2006; Powell, 2007; Reinhart et al., 2011; Dijk, 2003, 2006; Warschauer et al., 2004). This characterization, or grand narrative, of technology use is echoed and challenged by this narrative inquiry. Here the stories of two ELA teachers frequently using technology in instruction and …

Development And Validation Of A Remote Sensing Model To Identify Anthropogenic Boreholes That Provide Dry Season, Refuge Habitat For Anopheles Vector Mosquitoes In Sub-Saharan Africa, James Pkemoi Kukat

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A lack of surveillance systems is an impediment to public health intervention for perennial vector-borne disease transmission in northern tropical savanna region of Kenya. The population in this area are mostly poor nomadic pastoralists with little acquired functional immunity to Plasmodium falciparum, due to infrequent challenges with the parasite. A common characteristic in tropical savanna climatic zone is the availability of riverbeds that have anthropogenic boreholes that provide malaria vector mosquitoes, such as Anopheles gambiae s.l and Anopheles funestus, with aquatic refuge habitats for proliferation and endemic transmission to proximity human households during the dry-season. Unfortunately, currently there …

The Effects Of Technical And Imagery-Based Instruction On Aspiring Performing Artists’ Acquisition Of Learning Newly Composed Pieces And Improvisation And On Listeners’ Perceived Expressivity, José Valentino Ruiz-Resto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the union of technical and imagery-based instruction (hereinafter, T-I instruction) in two phases. Phase one: The researcher (1) explored T-I instruction’s influences on aspiring performing artists’ acquisition of learning and performing newly composed pieces and improvisation, and; (2) observed aspiring performing artists’ feelings of learning with T-I instruction versus technical instruction. Phase two: The researcher investigated (1) listeners’ perceived expressivity of aspiring performing artists’ performances that were either influenced by T-I instruction or technical instruction; (2) listeners’ perceived expressivity of aspiring performing artists’ performances of newly composed pieces versus improvisations; (3) whether …

Predictors Of Adult Community College Students' Intent To Transfer From The Community College With The Associate In Science, Associate In Applied Science, Or Associate In Arts Degree To A Public University In Florida, Anthony Gemart Hill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors and pre-transfer navigation experiences of community college students enrolled in Associate of Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), or Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degrees with transfer intent to Florida’s public universities. The population included adult students aged 26 and above enrolled in Florida state/community college AA, AS, or AAS programs. One hundred and seventy-five students from two community colleges participated in this study with a response rate of 10%. The valid data set included 101 respondents, AA (n =17), AS (n =76), AAS (n =4), other …

Exploring The Relationship Between Severity Of Illness And Human Milk Volume In Very Low Birth Weight And Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants Over Six Weeks, Shannon Leigh Morse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Very low birth weight and extremely low birth weight neonates have tremendous risk of mortality. This is a grave concern; however, survival alone is not the goal of neonatal intensive care. Survival, along with a reduction or elimination of life long morbidity is the aim of neonatal intensive care.

Human milk is known as the best nutrition for babies and a growing body of evidence supports that human milk is critical in helping these fragile neonates mitigate the overwhelming risks they face. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between neonatal severity of illness and human …

From Misdiagnosis To Prognosis: Autoethnographic Layered Accounts Of Life With Mastocytosis, Gianina Shamarr Hayes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was an autoethnography authored in the form of layered accounts. It was based on my journey toward a correct diagnosis with the rare, orphan disease known as mastocytosis. The purpose of the study was to utilize my experiences to investigate mastocytosis from the perspective of an individual diagnosed with the disease. Furthermore, I investigated what ways and how much adult education philosophies and principles (e.g., humanistic, behaviorist, and adults’ involvement in learning) may have been salient in my being correctly diagnosed to examine not only the disparities, but also the similarities in the way each physician I encountered …

Spiritual Frameworks In Pediatric Palliative Care: Understanding Parental Decision-Making, Lindy Grief Davidson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parents of seriously ill children are charged with making complicated medical decisions, and many of those decisions are made during their children’s hospitalizations. As medical staff seek to support parents, it is important for them to understand what resources parents are drawing upon for decision-making. This project explored parental decision-making by examining the following research questions: RQ1: What resources do parents draw upon to make medical decisions for their seriously ill children? RQ2: How do parents enact their spiritual or religious frameworks in clinical settings when faced with medical decisions for their seriously ill children? Methods of research included ethnographic …

Developing Ethical Leadership: An Analysis Of Business Ethics Education In National Liberal Arts Colleges In The United States, James Stewart Welch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to survey and compare current undergraduate business ethics curricular strategies and preferences among national liberal arts colleges in the United States. There are 180 national liberal arts colleges as classified by the U.S. News and World Report Rankings with a significant percentage of these liberal arts colleges offering economics and/or business administration majors. The primary purpose of the study was to examine the survey responses of business school administrators (and/or professors) who work with undergraduate business education in national liberal arts colleges regarding undergraduate business ethics education.

The three research questions address curriculum approaches for undergraduate …

International Teaching Assistants In The Us University Classroom: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Individual Differences And L2 Pragmatic Competence, Erhan Aslan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

International teaching assistants (ITAs) are considered advanced English users with relatively high standardized language proficiency test scores. However, they may experience difficulties during their interactions with undergraduate students. Some of these difficulties may arise from affective factors such as ambiguity, stress, and adjustment and can impact language use. From an individual differences perspective, a second language user with high communication anxiety may have difficulty comprehending or producing appropriate pragmalinguistic forms. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examined the underlying factors in ITAs communication anxiety and willingness to communicate in the US classroom and how these factors explained their pragmatic competence, …

Our Counter-Life Herstories: The Experiences Of African American Women Faculty In U.S. Computing Education, Shetay Nicole Ashford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this life history qualitative study was to explore the Counter-Life Herstories of African American women faculty in U.S. Computing Education. Counter-Life Herstories are derived from Counterstories, life histories, and herstories as powerful social justice tools to uncover hidden truths about marginalized groups’ experiences. Through the collection of timelines, counter-life story interviews, and reflective journal writings, I co-constructed and interpreted the Counter-Life Herstories of five participants using an integrative conceptual framework that included critical race theory and Black feminist thought as interpretive frameworks, and Afrocentric feminist epistemology to govern my knowledge validation process. As an emerging African American …

Utilizing Immediate Feedback In Piano Pedagogy, Michael Szabo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Piano pedagogy is the study of the teaching of piano performance. Several effective methods have been developed since the early 1700's, but lack empirically supported techniques. Immediate feedback procedures have been shown to be effective with skill acquisition in various capacities within the literature. While some innovative techniques are being developed which utilize technologies such as video and sensor-based feedback, the true impact of these interventions has not been empirically validated. There is also a paucity of research in the behavioral literature evaluating the efficacy of immediate feedback procedures in acquisition of music performance. The current study evaluated the effectiveness …

The Effect Of Exercise Order On Body Fat Loss During Concurrent Training, Tonya Lee Davis-Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While the benefits of both cardiovascular exercise and resistance training have been well documented, there is a lack of evidence for the order of exercise that is most effective when both are done in the same day. This study was designed to look at two groups of participants performing both resistance (R) and cardiovascular (C) training in the same day to determine if their order, resistance before cardiovascular (R-C) or cardiovascular before resistance (C-R), matter with regard to changes in body composition, maximal strength, and maximal aerobic capacity. The participants were 17 women between the ages of 30 and 55 …

The Relationship Between Learning Styles And The Choice Of Learning Environment For Hospitality And Tourism Undergraduate Students, Gunce Malan-Rush

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between learning styles and the choice of learning environment for Hospitality and Tourism undergraduate students. An anonymous two-part survey was sent to the instructors of Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism Management courses (both online and face-to-face) in four schools in the state of Florida. The survey was designed to gather information related to the following three research questions related to MBTI profiles for undergraduate students in attempt to identify differences between students enrolled in online classes and those in face-to-face classes. In order to determine the probability of predicting course …

Motivation Of Adult, Auditioned Community Choirs: Implications Toward Lifelong Learning, David James Redman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of motivation factors can assist conductors and music educators at all levels in planning and implementation of musical goals. The purpose of this study was to identify motivational factors to join the choir and maintain membership in the choir as well as the role of stress/anxiety in maintaining choral membership. In addition, the role of musicianship was evaluated in terms of music aptitude and vocal ability. Participants (N=135) from four adult, auditioned community choirs participated in this study. Data was collected using Advanced Measures of Music Audiation, Singing Coach, measure of vocal ability and a questionnaire relating to topics …

The Ecological Succession Of Mosquitoes Inhabiting Waste Tires In A Subtropical Swamp And Upland Forest In Central West Florida, Emily Thuong Nguyen Dinh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literature has not yet seen a contribution involving the description of successional patterns of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) inhabiting discarded automobile tires in sylvan areas nor an investigation into the macro- and micro-environmental factors that may influence the seasonal shifts in species composition and abundance in that respective habitat. Waste tires in undeveloped forests are a hazard to human and animal health because they can support a population of vector mosquitoes. Locating productive waste tire mosquito habitats is problematic in wooded areas but is crucial for diminishing pathogen transfer in areas where humans have regular access to forests because of possible …