Education Commons^™

Will I Ever, Hunter A. Taylor

9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and Celebration

"Will I Ever" is a short story that follows Trace, a young college student, as he tries to gain control over his life.Through a drunken public revelation, Trace sexually ousts himself and begins a battle with his impotence and his lusty boyfriend, Damon. Trace looks to his ex-boyfriend, Ryan, for advice, but instead becomes blinded with guilt about a brutal accident that occured two years prior.

Running...Blank, Alexander Jones

9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and Celebration

USF Dance Performance major Alexander Rashuan Jones choreographed Running…Blank, a solo modern dance work, during the fall semester of 2010 as a part of his senior B.F.A. project. This solo was performed in the Fall 2010 USF Student Dance Production Concert. The work is a movement investigation of the idea of stress as it affects a person both mentally and physically. Jones constructed the dance from three movement phrases, exploring the concept of spiraling – through both the spine and the body as a whole, as well as the tension between being on balance and off balance. He utilized …

An Examination Of Influences On Hiring Practices Used To Select Head Coaches In The National Football League From 1991 To 2010, Eric C. Holland

9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and Celebration

Managers are often critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization.  As a result, organizations should hire individuals that have characteristics that match the needs and expectations of the firm (Wright, McMahan, & McWilliams, 1994).  However, the National Football League (NFL) may go against this conventional wisdom.  According to experts, the NFL has become a “copycat league” in which teams utilize league trends rather than hiring the most qualified candidate (Greenberg, 2009).  To determine the validity of this statement, the study examines the hiring practices of NFL head coaches over the past two decades.  By comparing the credentials of …

Rivalry Through Games, Casey M. Parent

9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and Celebration

Subject: History- Severan dynasty

Motivation: As a researcher on the Severan Provincial Coinage database last summer, I became interested in the coinages of two neighboring cities in Cilicia, Anazarbus and Tarsus.  Each city advertised festivals and games on their coinage.  I noticed that although the themes were similar, the cities seemed to favor different emperors. I wanted to know why they differed in this aspect.

Thesis: Anazarbus and Tarsus competed fiercely with one another for dominance over the koinon of Cilicia; this is evident by examining the numismatic evidence of both cities and their usage of festivals/games on these coins. …

Sex And Violence: A Way To Hold Women Down, Mary E. Spurlock

9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and Celebration

Sex and Violence: A Way To Hold Women Down is based on the content of sex and violence in Jacobean drama and how is affected women. Were men intimidated by some of the power that women had? Was it a way to have control over them and hold them down? The goal of my paper is to answer these questions. Sex and violence is something of a taboo nature in how people view it. Sex, violence, and women is something that has always drawn in audiences, but were these women destroyed because men felt threatened by Jacobean women and their …

Resistance Meets Spirituality In Academia: "I Prayed On It!", Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

We describe the lived experiences of a Black Woman educational leader who has studied and worked in the academy and in the field of K-12 education. This partial life history, excavated through the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT), illuminates the social construction of race and the pervasiveness and permanence of racism. We determined through a series of interviews that the participant's resilient resistance is guided by critical spirituality so that circumstances and people who challenge her also confront this source of power. Her lived experience, from student to faculty member, conveys the challenges and opportunities she faces and adds …

Promoting Diversity Through Multilevel Activism: An Organizational Approach, Patricia Alvarez Mchatton, Barbara J. Shircliffe, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was founded in 1954 to serve as an independent body in promoting high quality teacher preparation programs (NCATE 2008). Its mission is to ensure accredited institutions produce high quality educators, administrators, and specialists able to meet the needs of all learners. Institutions seeking NCATE accreditation must address six standards NCATE identified as essential to producing quality educators: (1) Candidate knowledge, skills and professional dispositions; (2) Assessment system and unit evaluation; (3) Field experiences and clinical practice; (4) Diversity; (5) Faculty qualifications, performance, and development; and (6) Unit governance and resources. This …

Success Lives Here: The Impact Of The Residential Experience On Student Success, Ana Hernández

Student Affairs Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Sunbay Data Consultation For The 32nd Annual Penngse Ethnography Forum, Charles Vanover, George J. Roy, Zafer Unal, Vivian Fueyo, Susan Holderness, Phillip Vahey

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

This proposal asks for comments on data collection and analysis efforts that are intended to track the development, implementation, and impact of a major, educational scale up study: The SunBay Digital Mathematics Project. All data shared in the session comes from the project's first 6 months of investigation. SunBay is collaboration between a university, a non-profit research organization and a large urban school district. One of the project’s long-term goals is to implement a digital middle school mathematics curriculum in a large urban district that will allow every middle school student to be successful in learning dynamic motion phenomenon and …

Spreadsheets Across The Curriculum, 2: Assessing Our Success With Students At Eckerd College, Laura Reiser Wetzel

Numeracy

The Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum (SSAC) library consists of activities to reinforce or teach quantitative literacy or mathematical concepts and skills in context. Each SSAC “module” consists of a PowerPoint presentation with embedded Excel spreadsheets. Each student works through a presentation, thinks about the in-context problem, figures out how to solve it mathematically, and builds spreadsheets to calculate and examine answers.

To assess the effectiveness of SSAC modules, I surveyed Eckerd College undergraduates in two separate studies. Two undergraduate research assistants and I generated pre- and post-tests for 10 SSAC modules. We hired 21 undergraduates who conducted 62 individual module …

Underrepresented Women In Higher Education: An Overview, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, Vonzell Agosto

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

Central to understanding how social justice and diversity are articulated in institutions of higher education, are the experiences of female faculty and administrators from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in the U.S. system of higher education. According to the Urban Dictionary's (1999 - 2011) website, the word "work" as in "you better work" (1999 - 2011a), or "workin' it" (1999 - 2011b), is used to give praise or approval to another person and is analogous to:

Journey Of Elam: Her Pedagogy As A Public Intellectual, Zorka Karanxha, Vonzell Agosto, Donna Elam

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

We explore pedagogical moments reflecting the social justice inspired servant-leadership of Dr. Elam in her journey as a public intellectual. Using auto/biographical methods we examine critical moments in her work across contexts: conducting diversity workshops, providing professional development for principals and teachers, and leading district and regional interventions in response to court orders to racially desegregate. We focus her leadership through the lens of critical pedagogy. In the journey of Elam we find an expression of critical social justice leadership that is inspired and empowered by the values of public service, spirituality, and humanitarianism. This auto/biography contributes to our knowledge …

The Florida Problem Solving/Response To Intervention Project: Year 3 Evaluation Report, Jose M. Castillo, C M. Hines, G M. Batsche, M J. Curtis

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Betwixt Safety And Shielding In The Academy: Confronting Institutional Gendered Racism—Again, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

This article represents a critical reflection of a Black African American female associate professor who, while teaching a diversity course, unknowingly enabled systems of power and privilege to undermine her faculty role in the course and in the academy. The author revisits a story of this experience and its vestiges using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and an autoethnographic approach. In doing so, she comes to terms with her complicity in supporting White supremacy and patriarchy and reclaims a voice previously suppressed yet still vulnerable in the matrix of institutional power. Two significant shifts are captured in this account--a narrative shift …

Tedious Journeys: Autoethnography By Women Of Color In Academe Edited By Cynthia Cole Robinson And Pauline Clardy, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, Vonzell Agosto

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Annual Report 2010-2011, University Of South Florida. College Of Education

College of Education Publications

No abstract provided.

Parts Of The Whole : Cognition, Schemas, And Quantitative Reasoning, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

Based loosely on ideas of Jean Piaget and Richard Skemp, this Parts of the Whole column considers the construction of knowledge in mathematics and quantitative reasoning. Examples are chosen that illustrate an important cognitive difference between quantitative numeracy and classical mathematics, and which illuminate the particular choices instructors must make in order to teach either or both of these.

Applying An On-Track Indicator For High School Graduation: Adapting The Consortium On Chicago School Research Indicator For Five Texas Districts., Jenifer J. Hartman, Chuck Wilkins, Lois Gregory, Laura Feagans Gould, Stephanie D'Souza

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

This study uses a measure of the on-track or off-track status of students at the end of grade 9 as an indicator of whether students in five Texas districts would graduate from high school in four years. In all five districts, on-time graduation rates were higher for students who were on track at the end of grade 9 than for students who were off track, both for students overall and for all racial/ethnic groups.

Four Popular Books On Consumer Debt: A Context For Quantitative Literacy, Andrew J. Miller

Numeracy

The topics of credit cards, mortgages, subprime lending, and fringe banking are rich sources of problems and discussions for classes focused on quantitative literacy. In this theme book review, we look at four recent books on the consumer debt industry: Credit Card Nation, by Robert Manning; Maxed Out, by James Scurlock; Collateral Damaged, by Charles Geisst; and Broke, USA, by Gary Rivlin. Credit Card Nation takes a scholarly look at the history of credit in America with a focus on the genesis and growth of the credit card industry up to the turn of the 20th century. Maxed Out also …

Personal And Professional Numeracy: A Unit For Pre-Service Teachers At The University Of Tasmania, Jane M. Watson

Numeracy

This paper addresses issues associated with the development of a unit preparing pre-service teachers to be quantitatively literate in three respects. These issues surround (i) the need to be aware of numeracy demands across the curriculum, (ii) the need to model numerate behavior in all interactions of teachers, and (iii) the need to be able to interpret and use system data provided from local and national testing programs. The context for the unit described is Australia, where a national testing program for literacy and numeracy requires teachers to analyze extensive data on their students, a national curriculum requires teachers of …

Making Meaning With "Readers" And "Texts": A Narrative Inquiry Into Two Beginning English Teachers' Meaning Making From Classroom Events, Christi Underwood Edge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Situated in a transactional paradigm, connections between the constructs of meaning and experience in both teacher education and reading in English education guided my construction of a theoretical framework called Classroom Literacy. This framework extends Rosenblatt's Transactional Theory of Reading (1978, 1994, 2005), broadens the concept of text to include the verbal and non-verbal communicative signs related to the context of the classroom, and positions teachers as "readers" of their classrooms as texts. The Classroom Literacy theoretical framework guided my thinking as I re-conceptualized three persistent problems in learning to teach (Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, Bransford, Berliner, Cochran-Smith, McDonald, & Zeichner, 2005)--an …

The Development Of The Personal Strengths Intervention (Psi) To Improve Self-Determination And Social-Emotional Levels In Postsecondary Students With Learning Disabilities And/Or Adhd: A Multiple Baseline Study, Jennie L. Farmer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students with learning disabilities and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience decreased academic and social-emotional outcomes when compared to their peers without disabilities. Self-determination, positive psychology, and cognitive theories of learning offer suggestions for improving these outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop The Personal Strengths Intervention (PSI) and investigate its impact on levels of self-determination and the social-emotional functioning of postsecondary students with learning disabilities and/or ADHD. PSI integrates key elements of self-determination, positive psychology, and cognitive theories. ADHDA multiple baseline design with seven participants was used to examine the intervention effects over time. Results indicate PSI …

Secondary Principals At The Center Of School Reform: Portraits Of Leadership, Daniel James Evans

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of studies related to school reform and principal leadership styles confirms both the interest in how the two might be related and the enigma that schools and principals present as research topics. The art and science of school reform is hard to figure. While many studies attempt to make sense of an overlapping and competing set of variables that are found in good schools, nearly all studies have confirmed some support for principals as a key ingredient to school improvement.

This study seeks to add to the increasing amount of research related to principal leadership styles in an …

Hiv Education For Youth In Transition To Adulthood, Peter Eugene Gamache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the role of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) stigma in program implementation. A case study design comprising qualitative methods provided in-depth, context-sensitive comparisons of adult educator (n = 8) and youth (n = 67) perspectives among programs that provide HIV services and those that provide risk reduction services. Nearly half of the youth participants were male, 42% were female, and 6% identified as transgender. Two thirds of participants were Black or African American, one quarter of participants were Hispanic or Latino, and the average participant age was 19. Although program personnel from all youth service programs in this …

A Reflective Exploration Of A Multiyear Elementary School Learning Community Experience, Susan Jean Ganley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study reports a reflection upon the experience of a multiyear elementary school learning community designed for improved teaching and learning. The exploration uses interview data to describe the perceptions and reflections of the principal and teachers directly engaged in this project of educational reform. The goal of this process is to gain a deeper understanding of the experience and to determine to what factors the participants attribute the outcomes of this project.

Through an auto-ethnographic reflective critical practice inquiry and extended interviews, this study describes the context and environment of this learning community and how the participants reflect on …

The Effect Of Unexpected Exercise Duration On Rating Of Perceived Exertion In An Untrained, Sedentary Population, Lisa M. Giblin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale is a primary tool for researchers and practitioners in exercise science to describe the intensity level subjects are experiencing when participating in exercise sessions. It has recently been suggested that RPE is not simply the direct result of interpretation of physiological changes as originally postulated, but is also influenced by affect, past experience, and time to completion, a concept coined as teleoanticipation.

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of teleoanticipation in a sedentary population, by examining the effect unexpected increases in exercise duration on rating of perceived exertion …

Kujichagalia! Self-Determination In Young African American Women With Disabilities During The Transition Process, La Tonya L. Gillis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the role that self-determination played in the transition process for young African American women with disabilities who exited high school with a special diploma and participated in a local transition program. Factors under study included the young women's autonomy, self-regulation, psychological empowerment, and self-realization (Wehmeyer, 1996).

This examination of the perceptions of the transition process of young African American women with disabilities involved in-depth interviews with five young women and their parent or guardian. Additionally, The Arc's Self-Determination Scale (ASDS) and the Parent Self-Determination Practice Survey (PSDPS) were administered to determine the …

Evaluating Lethal And Sub-Lethal Effects Of Catch-And-Release Angling In Florida's Central Gulf Coast Recreational Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops Atlanticus) Fishery, Kathryn Yvonne Guindon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Atlantic tarpon are sought after because of their fighting ability on various tackle and support a popular, lucrative and predominantly catch-and-release recreational fishery in Florida. They are not commercially harvested or consumed by the general public, therefore assessing effects of catch-and-release angling on tarpon survival is critical to a sustainable fishery. Tarpon caught on artificial breakaway jig and traditional live bait fishing charters in Boca Grande Pass (n=42) and trips from the recreational fishery of Tampa Bay (n=40) were tagged with ultrasonic transmitters and tracked up to 6 hours immediately following release to estimate post-release mortality. Of the 82 tagged …

Self-Directed Learning Characteristics Of First-Generation, First-Year College Students Participating In A Summer Bridge Program, Jeffrey Drummond Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to advance understanding of self-directed learning characteristics of first-year, first-generation college students participating in a summer bridge program. Understanding the experience of these students in higher education can lead to the development of programmatic and pedagogical strategies to better meet the needs of this at-risk student population.

This study was conducted at the University of South Florida (USF), a large, public research university in Tampa. Participants were recruited from the Freshman Summer Institute (FSI), a summer bridge program for first-generation students at USF.

Theoretical frameworks from higher education and adult education literature merged to …

Using Multi-Paradigmatic Interventions: Gauging The Possibilities Of Using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Within A Response To Intervention Framework, Vanessa Hein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There exists a highly charged debate about whether or not the Problem Solving/Response to Intervention (PS/RtI) model works alone in lowering the rate of special education referrals for students in an inclusive learning environment. This study seeks to explore the incorporation of a culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) into the PS/RtI framework, with the assumption that it would assist teachers with PS/RtI implementation as well as enhance their classroom learning environment. Interviews with PS/RtI coaches and elementary school teachers implementing PS/RtI are coded using inductive and deductive strategies, using salient factors of both CRP and PS/RtI as indicators for a comparative …