Education Commons^™

An Exploratory Study Of Technology Use By Older/Senior Men For Enrichment, Communication, And Social Connectedness, Emerson Campbell Hardy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More older adults are moving toward options for digital connection; keeping up with and learning technology is challenging. Older adults’ perceptions of the difficulty of learning to use technology may contribute to their hesitancy to adopt technology options (Barnard, Bradley, Hodgson, & Lloyd, 2013). The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to explore the experiences of older/senior men learning and using technology for enrichment, communication, and social connectedness; and (2) to identify learning experiences and/or supports that aided these older/senior men in building knowledge, confidence, and comfort in technology use.

This was an exploratory qualitative study utilizing in-depth interviews. …

Development And Initial Validation Of The Parent And Family Engagement In Higher Education Measure, Michelle R. Mcnulty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the history of higher education in the United States, parents and family members of college students have often found themselves as obsolete to the postsecondary experience. Minimal research has been dedicated to understanding the experience of parents and family members of college students until the millennial generation began their collegiate years (Harper et al., 2012; Wartman & Savage, 2008). In consideration of a new generation of college students (i.e., Gen Z) and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, it is crucial to illuminate the complexities of parent and family engagement in higher education and the needs of …

Relationships Among The Community Of Inquiry, Achievement Emotions, And Academic Achievement In Asynchronous Online Learning In Higher Education, David H. Tai

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed to investigate how achievement emotions predict, mediate, and affect academic achievement in online learning. Online learning has been proliferating, but little is known about how emotion mediates cognition in the Community of Inquiry framework. Recent progress in cognitive neuroscience provided the theoretical foundation for researchers to investigate emotion's role in online learning, especially academic achievement. The researcher of this study adopted a quantitative non-experimental research design to investigate how achievement emotions mediated, predicted, and affected academic achievement in the Community of Inquiry framework. The Partial Least Square Structure Equation Modeling (PLS- SEM) method was adopted for statistical …

The Boy Scouts Of America Merit Badge Program And Career Development, Todd R. Van Auken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a youth’s career development, as defined by the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI Form C), is associated with motivation, student grade level, and number of merit badges earned as a result of participation as Boy Scouts. For close to three decades there has been a call to improve career counseling for middle and high school youth. However, due to a shortage of school counselors in middle and high schools, counselors are inundated with heavy workloads of various responsibilities and do not always have the ability to focus on youth career development. Thus, …

The Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy And Career Action Steps Of Humanities Students: A Quantitative Survey Analysis, Catherine Gorman Cordova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In an era of governmentally controlled education systems sustained through performance-based funding metrics, the value of higher education is often considered justified by socioeconomic impact and degree employability. Although modern academia traces its roots to the humanities and liberal arts for its foundation, degrees without direct job relation, and the students seeking these degrees, are often considered less employable than majors directly linked to vocations. However, the humanities and labor market are not mutually exclusive. Influenced by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) (Lent, et al., 1994), Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977), and Career Maturity Theory (Crites, 1973), this cross-sectional quantitative survey …

Collaboratively Building A Teaching Model (Tttc) In A Doctoral Science Education Program: An Autoethnography, Alton George Declaire

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnography illustrates benefits of doctoral education consistent with the holistic paradigm underlying today’s society and development of a practice-research-practice cycle useful to science teacher educators. Emergent hypotheses indicate ways to increase a doctoral student’s well-being, intellectual risk taking, production of creative products, and expedite in-depth learning. The hypotheses were derived from the processes and pathways I used to make sense of the learning opportunities afforded me and features of my experience that led to my well-being and maintaining my enthusiasm despite the significant life challenges I encountered and the tedious parts of the doctoral process.The original research question was, …

Meditation And Mindfulness Practice: Mitigating Burnout And Promoting Wellbeing Among Faculty, Billy E. Thomas Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this autoethnography was to explore meditation and mindfulness to mitigate burnout and promote wellbeing among faculty. I explored how meditation and mindfulness shaped me personally and professionally as an educator. I explored the methods I used to promote my own wellbeing and to deal with my experiences of burnout, anxiety, and depression. Self Determination Theory and Flow helped to inform this autoethnography, as well as mindfulness and meditation as tools for promoting faculty wellbeing. By telling my personal and professional story and how I have benefited from meditation and mindfulness practices, I hope to provide a road …

Passion To Purpose: An Autobiographical Narrative Inquiry Into The Development Of The Summer Ace Program, Owen Hooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students transitioning from high school to college are met with many challenges beyond academics including social acclimation, campus culture integration, and holistic wellness. Researchers agree that a successful and purposeful transition for incoming college students requires involvement and engagement with peers to help students adapt and increase their likelihood to graduate (Astin, 1999; Kuh, 2009; Tinto, 1998). This autobiographical narrative inquiry reflects on past experiences in assessing the needs of transitioning students at the University of South Florida and developing a purposeful programming model to support students. I aim to help the reader understand my personal commitment to these programs …

Exploring The Relationship Between Student Expected Engagement And Referrals To The Behavioral Intervention Team, Makenzie R. Schiemann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher education administrators are tasked with supporting and retaining students with increasing needs. These needs often include emotional and mental health issues but can worsen to include suicidality and violence toward others. Traditional campus approaches for supporting students and intervening for violence, such as counseling and campus safety, have been reactionary rather than proactive. Behavioral Intervention Teams (BITs) have emerged as a mechanism for heading off violence before it occurs while also supporting students who may never engage in violence but need support. These teams were born out of the concept that violence is preventable and have grown into a …

Torn Between Two Worlds: Role And Identity In Hybrid Teacher Leadership, Lauriann Marie Messier-Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Roles of Hybrid Teacher Leadership (HTL), positions which involve classroom teaching for part of the day and academic coaching, curriculum planning, department chair, or professional development responsibilities for the remainder of the day, are becoming more prevalent due to budgetary concerns and teacher shortages. This autoethnography analyzes the first year of my experience as a Hybrid Teacher Leader in a school district in the Southeastern United States to gain knowledge of my enactment of the role, the ways in which I can learn more about myself as an educator and an academic coach from my experiences in the role, and …

Who's Got Your Six: A Formative Evaluation Of A Military-Connected Student Cultural Competency Workshop, Wayne N. Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University of South Florida (USF) ranks as one of the top 50 public universities in the nation. As of Spring 2022, 14% of the student population identify as military-connected students (MCS). MCS comprises Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve, veteran or military dependents. Many student veterans choose not to embrace their veteran identity due to feeling unaccepted or viewed from a deficit mindset by faculty, staff, and other students. Veteran studies research identifies the significant influence faculty and staff possess when addressing MCS retention and graduation rates (Lim et al., 2018; Vacchi, 2012; Vacchi, 2018). USF’s Office of Veteran Success …

Using An Appreciative Inquiry Summit To Improve Support For First Year Experience Community College Instructors, Elise G. Zornow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This evaluation study had three main aims: 1) to examine how an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Summit can be used to promote First Year Experience (FYE) instructors’ sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within the context of the FYE program at a community college; 2) to examine how an AI Summit might guide FYE program development; and 3) to examine how and in what ways an AI Summit might influence FYE instructors’ intent to act on the recommendations that result from this approach to program development. Instructors teaching the FYE course at a community college in the Southeastern United States were …

Qualitative Examination Of Sex Therapists' Perspectives Regarding Women With Low Sexual Desire, Tatiana C. Bryan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Female sexual desire disorder is often discussed in the literature, but there is a paucity of data on how sex therapists conceptualize and treat this disorder. To address a gap in the current literature, this study collected the perspectives and attitudes of clinicians working with patients presenting with low sexual desire. This qualitative study aimed to understand how sex therapists’ conceptualization of female sexual desire disorder is used to make decisions about diagnosis, treatment, and assessing patient progress. Grounded theory methodology was used to examine the attitudes and beliefs held by sex therapists. Results were used to generate a framework …

Defining And Modeling Pericyte-Induced Capillary Network Assembly, Capillary Regression Preceding Pericyte-Stimulated Fibrosis, And Lymphatic Capillary Regression, Scott Stephen Kemp

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Capillary formation and maturation can only occur through a series of highly orchestrated events that requires the coordinated efforts of both endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes. While ECs are perfectly capable of creating tube networks on their own, the maturation and stabilization of these tube networks require the presence of a second cell type, pericytes, to create stable capillary networks. Previous studies have identified factors required for pericyte recruitment to EC tube networks, however, we hypothesized that there were still unaccounted for EC-derived molecules that were contributing to pericyte recruitment. In the first part of this study, we used serum-free, …

Targeting The Side-Chain Convergence Of Α-Helical Hot Spots To Design Small-Molecule Mimetics Disrupting Protein-Protein Interaction, Zhen Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

α-Helix accounts for the largest class of protein secondary structures and plays a key role in mediating protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Small-molecule α-helix mimetics mimic the structural features of α-helical hot spots and offer a powerful tool to unravel complex signaling networks and mitigate aberrant PPIs. In this dissertation, the side-chain conformational convergence of α-helical hot spots was disclosed, and insights into the side-chain convergence were exploited to instruct the design of small-molecule α-helix mimetics. The first chapter of this dissertation provides an overview of the characteristics of α-helical hot spots and current strategies to design small-molecule α-helix mimetics. In chapter …

The Esea Waiver From The 1.0 Percent Threshold And Participation Rates In State Assessments., Justin N. Arner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Participation of students in standardized testing has been a long-debated topic in the field of education since the beginning of accountability movements. Federal laws require that all students in the public school system in grades 3 -8 and high school participate in these assessments. Monitoring of participation on these assessments is a requirement of a state’s annual reporting across many identifying categories. One such category is students with disabilities identified under the IDEA (2004). Within those students identified as having a disability is a small population of students with a “most significant cognitive disability.” This population of students participates in …

Oral Narrative Interventions Implemented By Teachers, Speech-Language Pathologists, And Parents, Megan S. Kirby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children’s oral language skills in preschool through early elementary grades can predict reading, writing, and social outcomes ten years into the future. Oral narrative language, which includes storytelling, is a long-established cultural practice in communities around the world. Narratives are the monologic re/telling of a real of fictitious event and people have used them for centuries to entertain, make sense of current and past events, and provide instruction. Oral storytelling does not require physical materials and can be tailored to the cultural and linguistic values of the community in which they are used. Thus, the portability, utility, and ubiquitous nature …

Writing Supports For Honors Thesis Students: An Applied Program Evaluation Study, Krysta Banke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This pragmatic study identifies the writing supports embedded in documentation and coursework for students working on honors theses in the USF Judy Genshaft Honors College, thereby addressing the most challenging and stressful regular honors experience. This mixed-methods study draws on writing process and post-process theories and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), as well as the task analysis component of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), to answer these four research questions:

• What honors thesis program components and practices are writing supports-- resources and/or actions that appear to support student writing--at the programmatic, curricular, assignment, and pedagogical levels?
• Do the writing supports align with …

Comparing Participants In Discipline And Non-Discipline Specific First-Year Seminars: A Study On Student Characteristics, Expectations, And Changes In Major, Caroline Kaufmann Twachtman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

First-year seminar (FYS) courses tend to focus on preparing students for successful academic and social integration into the college environment. Many of the studies on FYS courses focus on measuring outcomes such as college grades, retention, and graduation rates. While there is notable documentation of several different types of FYS courses, relatively few studies compare the different types of FYS courses. What, if any, differences might there be in the profiles of students who take either type of course? Is there a certain type of student that enrolls in the discipline-specific course, or a certain type of student that enrolls …

Distributed Leadership: Formal Leadership, Barriers, And Facilitators For Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support, Joseph D. Latimer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently, educators are exposed to an increased environment of accountability, which prioritizes student academic achievement. That environment of accountability is reinforced by multiple pieces of legislation that also call attention to the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). Even with these federal mandates, educators are continuously overwhelmed implementing MTSS and often leverage distributed leadership practices such as school leadership teams to carry out school improvement tasks. Both distributed leadership practices and MTSS are directly impacted by the practices of formal leadership (i.e., principals). In addition, enablers of and barriers to distributed leadership for MTSS should be investigated. This current …

Measuring And Improving Student Attitude In College-Level Chemistry: A Novel Survey Methodology And Social-Psychological Interventions, Ying Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students’ attitude has been an important focus in the chemistry education community. However, there is a lack of research in evaluating interventions aiming to improve students’ attitude. Social-psychological interventions (SPIs), brief interventions that target students’ subjective experiences, were demonstrated to improve students’ attitude in instructional settings. In addition, accurately measuring students’ attitude helps researchers better understand the impact of the intervention. Therefore, the major goal of this work is to explore practices, particularly a novel survey methodology and a social-psychological intervention (SPI), to facilitate measuring and improving students’ attitude in college-level chemistry courses. This work also paid particular attention to …

2d Lateral Heterostructures For Optoelectronic Devices, Florence Ann Emila Nugera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two-dimensional (2D) materials show remarkable physical properties when compared to their bulk form. These are single layer materials where the atoms are covalently bonded to each other. Among the 2D materials, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have special consideration due to its unique electrical, optical and mechanical properties. These materials can be combined either vertically or laterally to form heterostructures and can be mixed to form alloys in order to expand the number of members in the 2D family. In turn optoelectrical properties can be tuned for better performances when develop for potential applications.

In the first part of this dissertation, …

A Macro Social Examination Of The Relationship Between Disabilities And Crime Using Neighborhood And County Level Data, Natasha A. Baloch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last few decades, there has been a consistent increase in mental illnesses in the US population. This has also lead to increased interactions of those with mental illnesses and/or disabilities with law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Despite these instances, there is limited research on the relationship between disabilities, mental health issues and crime in the large body of criminological research. Further, the current extant research is a) outside the field of Criminology, b) primarily focuses on those with only intellectual or developmental disabilities and/or c) does not examine this relationship at the macro level, despite evidence …

Inaccuracies In Patient Self-Report Of Genetic Testing Results For Hereditary Cancer Risks Could Impact Risk-Management Practices, Brittany Faye Sears

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pathogenic variants (PV) or likely pathogenic variants (LPV) in a cancer risk gene increase lifetime risks of developing cancer. National guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations on cancer risk management (CRM) strategies tailored to the cancer risks associated with PV/LPV in different genes. Emotional responses after learning of a PV/LPV have been studied as predictors of patient adherence to CRM, but less attention has been given to whether patients remember their actual genetic test results and the impact this may have on subsequent adherence to CRM. We surveyed a group of 114 participants registered with the Inherited Cancer Registry (ICARE), all of …

The Specifics Of Specific Learning Disability: An Analysis Of State-Level Eligibility Criteria And Response To Intervention Practices, Lora M. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The field of specific learning disability (SLD) in the United States has changed considerably since reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA; (§3007); State Education Agencies (SEAs) have been transitioning away from the severe discrepancy model of SLD identification and towards a Response to Intervention (RTI) model (Hauerwas et al, 2013). This study aimed to review SLD practices in the United States through the analysis of SEA documents and to evaluate the progress made since the reauthorization of IDEA. The aim of the current study was to provide a snapshot of 1) how SEA regulations defined SLD; 2) when …

A Case Study In Applied Behavior Analysis: Using Prevent-Teach-Reinforce Strategies To Decrease A Student’S Task Refusal, Kiersten L. Whitaker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Task refusal might hinder academic performance (e.g., grades, test scores, etc.); however,one model that has been proven to help decrease problem behaviors is the Prevent-TeachReinforce (PTR) model. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the PTR model on the assessment and treatment of problem behavior for one high school student’s task refusal. Results demonstrated the PTR model helped identify plausible functions of task refusal; furthermore, the PTR model led to the development of an effective intervention that was feasible, function-based, and resulted in decreasing task refusal. Keywords: classrooms, function-based intervention, prevent-teach-reinforce, task refusal

Impact Of Perinatal Exposure Counseling On Patient Reported Emotional Outcomes And Decisional Empowerment, Madison J. Lake

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, 88.8% of pregnant patients utilize at least one medication during pregnancy. The lack of guidance on medication use and teratogen exposures during pregnancy can induce stress and impact decision-making about continuing or adding medication in pregnancy. Although previous research has evaluated changes in patient knowledge after exposure counseling, we are unaware of studies that examined emotional outcomes or the extent to which patients feel informed and empowered to make decisions related to medication use. Our quasi-experimental study measured changes in patients’ feelings of guilt, anxiety, and decisional empowerment after receiving exposure counseling from trained teratogen information …

Evaluating Technology-Based Self-Monitoring Of Performance With Reinforcement For Students With Disabilities, Madeline Rose Risse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the use of a technology-based self-monitoring intervention augmented with differential reinforcement and focused on self-monitoring of performance to increase task completion and reduce off-task behavior in students with disabilities. Three students with disabilities served in an inclusive 5th-grade general education classroom participated in the study. A concurrent multiple baseline design across participants with an ABC sequence was used to evaluate the intervention outcomes. A general education teacher of the participating students implemented the intervention that involved student training on self-monitoring of performance (SMP) using an app and delivery of reinforcement contingent on task completion and accuracy of …

Effective Statistical And Machine Learning Methods To Analyze Children's Vocabulary Learning, Houston T. Sanders

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poor methodological and statistical practices can lead to unreliable results. The collaboration between statisticians and researchers can remedy this. Early education intervention research rarely uses advanced statistical techniques. Within early education, vocabulary instruction has been well-studied, yet outcomes continue to be underwhelming. The specialized knowledge and expertise statisticians possess has the potential to enhance word learning research by applying sophisticated analyses not commonly used. Choosing vocabulary words for instruction can be a daunting task and is highly subjective. In an effort to aid in the selection process, researchers use a word selection framework that groups words into three tiers. Even …

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (Art): A Review Of Treatments For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Henry B. Burns Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the past, patients diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were treated with medications that masked their conditions or through the use of various mental health treatments like Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) with limited success. Each of these treatments, lasting weeks or months, are mentally exhausting for the patient, and, over time, contribute to burn-out for the practitioner as well. The purpose of the study was to compare mental health treatments from the practitioner’s point of view regarding burn out. Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a new form of …