Education Commons^™

Internship And Job Acquisition Experiences Of Veterans In A Graduate Cybersecurity Degree Program, Stephen P. Gary

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My purpose in this qualitative inquiry was to explore how student veterans experience cybersecurity internships and job acquisitions. I chose Schlossberg’s individual transition theory viewed through a constructivist lens to support the inquiry. Five participants, who completed graduate cybersecurity internships and acquired cybersecurity positions, provided responses. I employed semi-structured interviews to collect data from the participants. I engaged reflexive thematic analysis to guide my data analysis. Based on my analysis, I generated the following discoveries applicable to the inquiry: (a) opportunities for developing practical experience are regarded as essential for successful participation in an internship; (b) a flexible internship program …

The Use Of Video Games In Teaching Efl Students To Write Arguments, Dalal Boland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to investigate how playing an online digital video game, Quandary, during a university writing course affect the quality of argumentative writing produced by adult EFL students in Kuwait and how playing the same video game is different between male and female adult EFL students when learning how to write argumentative essays. The sample of the study consisted of 42 students who were enrolled in English composition 2 at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. The students were divided to control and experimental group and were part of the study for 3 weeks. Students in the control …

An Ecology Of Learning: Secondary Mathematics Teacher Candidate Learning While Co-Teaching In Early Clinical Practice, Cynthia A. Castro-Minnehan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have called for more empirical research exploring better ways to organize clinical practice around teacher candidate (TC) learning and the coursework-fieldwork gap. This study responds to their call by exploring secondary mathematics TC learning in early clinical placements that use co-teaching. Further, this study views co-teaching in clinical practice through the lens of an activity system. An activity system conceptualizes co-teaching in clinical practice as a complex learning environment or a learning ecology. This study uses a convergent mixed methods design. Findings reveal evidence of TC learning of eight key practices associated with co-teaching in their early clinical placements. …

An Assessment Of Nutrient Improvement In Surface Water Due To The Conversion Of Onsite Sewage Treatment And Disposal Systems To Sewerage, Jenelle A. Mohammed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida represents approximately 12% of all onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS) in the United States. Properly designed, constructed and maintained OSTDS are effective eco- friendly alternatives for the treatment of domestic wastewater from households not serviced by public sewer systems. However, conventional OSTDS are not designed to effectively remove nitrogen. If installed and improperly used, they may contribute other pollutants. OSTDS have also been linked to degraded water quality in some regions. However, it has been difficult to quantify OSTDS impacts on water quality because of various confounding factors such as point and non-point sources of nutrient input. …

Material And Topographically Optimized Thermal Dissipation For High-Performance Electronic Devices Utilizing Vapor Chambers, Derek Joseph Daniels

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advances in materials science and engineering in the field of thermal transport and dissipation enable the use of higher-performance electronic devices that are smaller and generate more heat. Phase change thermal transport systems such as heat pipes and vapor chambers enable passive dissipation from devices that generate excessive heat without the need for actively pumped cooling systems. Properly designed vapor chamber enabled systems easily exceed the thermal conductivity of manufactured diamond at a small fraction of the cost.[1][2][3] While heat pipe phase change systems are generally one-dimensional with a limited cross section, vapor chambers are generally two-dimensional with a small …

Teachers' Perspectives Of Implementing Restorative Justice, Antonio G. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of restorative justice in the school system is an emerging philosophy for handling student discipline that seeks alternative methods for solving problematic behavior than traditional or retributive approaches that are detrimental to the education and well-being of students. Student discipline is a controversial topic in education circles, resulting in many school districts looking to implement restorative practice program initiatives. Responses that are restorative, largely decrease the chances of recidivism. Zero-tolerance policies that were originally enforced to keep schools safe, have proven to not have the desired effect as intended, most arguably making schools less safe. There is a …

Experiences Of Saudi Arabian Mothers Of Young Children With Disabilities: An Exploratory Study, Samirah Bahkali

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that seeks to provide and develop services for children with disabilities and their families. As times have progressed, regulations and laws have placed an emphasis on providing suitable and better services for children with disabilities and their families. However, a gap exists in the literature regarding the overall experiences of Saudi Arabian mothers of children with disabilities in the early childhood years from birth to age ten (Al Otaibi & Al Sartawi, 2009; Alazemi, 2010). This study explored the experiences of Saudi Arabian mothers of children with disabilities. A qualitative interview approach, utilizing …

Book Review: Integrations: The Struggle For Racial Equality And Civic Renewal In Public Education, Michael A. Ready

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Model Misspecification On Individual-Level Differential Item Functioning Detection In Multilevel Data Using Hierarchical Generalized Linear Model, Yue Yin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) has become more and more popular in detecting differential item functioning (DIF) items in multilevel contexts due to its flexibility and efficiency. This dissertation aims to investigate and compare four different HGLM DIF detection models under various DIF conditions with multilevel data. Three studies were conducted in this dissertation. The first two studies were simulation studies and the third one was an empirical study. Simulation Study One compared the performance of two-level HGLM and three-level HGLM with the individual-level covariate (HGLM-IL) on detecting individual-level DIF items with two-level and three-level data structures. Simulation Study Two …

Retaining And Supporting Graduate Racially Minoritized Students: A Critical Analysis, Patricia Y. Gills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to critique the racial status quo of a school psychology graduate training program by gaining the perspectives of former and current racially minoritized students from the program. Additionally, this study aimed to utilize this information to provide implications for how to dismantle the racist and oppressive structures within the school psychology program. This study also aimed to analyze the success of research recommendations in helping racially minoritized students defeat the systemic barriers to completing a school psychology program. I conducted one-hour, semi-structured interviews of eight school psychology graduate racially minoritized students from the school psychology program. I …

Building Resiliency With Students Of Color During The Pandemic: Providing Remote After-School Activities, John Bell, Marcus Mcdonald

Journal of Practitioner Research

As two Black male teachers, we knew the risks for our Black male students in our culture and the importance of keeping them safe and attending school. Keeping our students involved in our school community took on a new urgency when the pandemic hit and the country struggled with racial issues after the shooting of unarmed Black men and women. We adapted our after-school mentoring and leadership programs (that had been f2f) for young Black males and transformed them to after-school remote platforms. Secondary students participated in a remote football practice and training program. They were able to socialize …

Teachers As Instructional Designers: Unearthing The Essence Of The Primary School Curriculum For Delivery Within The Remote Learning Classroom, Angela Gonzalez, Michael Poole

Journal of Practitioner Research

Moving our elementary curriculum to emergency remote instruction presented numerous challenges to our elementary school, as teachers recognized that elementary-age children could not be expected to spend the amount of time on computer screens that they had spent in face-to-face classrooms. Working with our colleagues, we adopted a “less is more” approach, using inquiry processes to make systematic and informed choices as to which state standards would be covered. We acted as instructional designers to develop coherent learning units for remote instruction, using inquiry processes to study the effectiveness of our lessons and adjust instruction accordingly. This work could only …

A Quest For More Equitable Experiences For All Students During A Global Pandemic: An Inquiry Into Remote Delivery Of De-Tracked Chemistry And Biology Classes, Mayra Cordero, Elizabeth Davis

Journal of Practitioner Research

Through our collaboration, we helped one another rethink and adapt the delivery of our de-tracked science courses for remote instruction as we finished out the 2019-2020 school year, with a particular focus on developing remote instruction practices that would support our learners struggling in our secondary science de-tracked classrooms. We derived three actions to take to target the needs of our students who struggled and to differentiate our instruction. We reduced the amount of material being covered to allow for deeper dives into content, prioritized depth of learning over breadth of learning; connected our remote lessons to our students’ real-world …

Students’ Lived Experiences During The Pandemic: Their Expressions Through Art And Poetry, Blake Beckett, Susan I. Johnson

Journal of Practitioner Research

Blake, a language arts teacher, and Susan, a visual arts teacher, were both committed to connect our students’ lived experiences of the pandemic with their academic learning in our new virtual classroom environments. Through this inquiry cycle, we were reminded of the critical role teachers play in addressing the social and emotional needs of their students, and seamlessly integrating those needs with academic goals. We chose to make our remote instruction platforms work for the individual needs of students rather than use a standardized curriculum enacted on an online platform (McQuirter, 2020). Our students responded, as evidenced in this essay, …

Addressing Student Isolation During The Pandemic: An Inquiry Into Renewing Relationships And Reimagining Classroom Communities On Remote Instruction Platforms, Elizabeth Davis, Angela Flavin, Melanie M. Harris, Laura Huffman, Dicy Watson, Kristin M. Weller

Journal of Practitioner Research

We began this pandemic cycle of inquiry by acknowledging that we all viewed relationships with our students as foundational to the teaching and learning process (i.e., Elmore, 2004; Fullan, 2007; Noddings, 2014; Rimm-Kaufman, et al., 2014). While we had well-established strategies for creating caring classroom communities in our face-to-face classrooms prior to the pandemic, we were all searching for new online strategies for keeping relationships vital when faced with the abrupt transition to remote instruction and the isolating effects of the Spring 2020 lockdown, both for ourselves and for our students. Hence, we committed to documenting and sharing with one …

Introduction To The Special Issue: Inquiring Into, About, And During Covid-19, Nancy Fichtman Dana, Karen L. Kilgore

Journal of Practitioner Research

One of the most pervasive ways the inquiry movement has needed to be reshaped since its inception is as a mechanism to respond to a global pandemic. As COVID-19 necessitated an abrupt transition to remote delivery of instruction, teachers needed a powerful form of professional learning to understand and respond with changes to serve their students during this challenging time. At P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School, a K-12 school, the leadership team designed a Canvas website devoted to teacher inquiry, enabling teachers to share experiences, collaborate, and address issues regarding the abrupt transition to emergency remote instruction. In this …

Comprehensive Leadership Development: Principal Characteristics, Experience And Performance, Gregory Basham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The significance of the principal’s role in creating a generative learning environment to influence student achievement is well documented in research (Davis et al., 2017; Hitt & Tucker, 2016; Leithwood, 2012; Leithwood, & Jantzi, 2008; Sebastian et al., 2017). This research has led to the creation of frameworks for developing leaders and constructs identifying effective leadership practices (Leithwood, 2012; Murphy et al., 2006; Sebring et al., 2006), but very little research has been done to investigate the relationship between prior roles and principal performance. Research designed to focus on the professional background of effective principals, the relationship of how prior …

Social Constructivism In Chemistry Peer Leaders And Organic Chemistry Students, Aaron M. Clark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social constructivist learning is a goal in many STEM programs. The goal of this dissertation is to shed light on what that pedagogy looks like in the context of organic chemistry courses and by peer leaders whose job is to implement this pedagogy with general chemistry and organic chemistry students. Learning is complex; the social constructivist ideas presented in this dissertation, however, are a straightforward means for promoting learning. Qualitative and quantitative methods used to explore social constructivist learning are outlined.

Three investigations were conducted: First, approaches to learning by students completing the first semester of a yearlong organic chemistry …

The Effects Of University Faculty Coaching On Teachers’ Confidence With Classroom Management, Georgina Rivera-Singletary, Renee Sedlack

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Improving instructional effectiveness is often a challenging task for teachers working in a struggling school. In many cases, impacting the success of effectiveness in the classrooms is the struggle or inability of teachers to effectively manage their classrooms (Marzano, Marzano, and Pickering, 2003). Instructional coaching can be an effective method to help teachers especially when provided by someone other than an evaluator. The research questions that guided this study were: 1. How receptive are elementary school teachers to accurately self-identify classroom management practices in which improvement is needed? 2. To what extent are elementary school teachers willing to accept non-evaluative …

Using A Virtual Format To Support Student Learning Across Cultures, Countries And Disciplines, Vicky G. Spencer, Cindy A. Smith

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Today, an increasing number of higher education institutions are recognizing the importance of preparing students to communicate, live, and work effectively with others from different cultural backgrounds (Appiah-Kubi, 2020; Eliyahy-Levi, 2020; Iuspa, 2019). Providing opportunities for students to travel abroad has been an integral part of the higher education experience for many years. However, with the global pandemic resulting in limited travel, universities are developing new and innovative ways to provide international experiences for students. The purpose of this project was to explore an international virtual student collaboration between two universities, one in the United States and one in Australia. …

Proceedings Of The Global Conference On Education And Research: Volume 4, Waynne B. James, Cihan Cobanoglu, Muhittin Cavusoglu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This is the fourth volume of the Global Conference on Education and Research Proceedings Series.

ISSN: 2572-6374

DOI

10.5038/2572-6374-v4

Frequency And Development Of Collocations In Turkish Efl Learners’ Essays, Didem Koban Koc

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The aim of the present study is to analyze the frequency and development of collocations found in the essays of Turkish learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) across different proficiency levels. The learners were enrolled in the English Preparatory School of the School of Foreign Languages at a government university in Turkey. The study compared 25 intermediate, 25 upper-intermediate, and 25 low-advanced level EFL learners in terms of using adjective+noun and verb+noun collocations in essays and determined whether or not there would be an improvement in using such collocations as the learners’ proficiency developed over time. The results …

Prospective Chemistry Teachers’ Evaluations About The Instruction Of The Graphic Organizers Course, Canan Nakiboglu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Graphic organizers (GOs) are visual teaching and learning tools that provide an organized expression of knowledge by explaining concepts and events. If the teachers incorporate the GOs into their lessons as instructional material and assessment tools, they can make the teaching period more effective and also help their students' understanding of the chemistry subjects. In this study, the prospective chemistry teachers (PCTs) attended a Graphic Organizers Course, and then their opinions regarding the evaluation of the course were taken. A total of 43 PCTs, 32 female and 11 male, who took the course in four different semesters, participated in this …

Cross-Cultural Differences To Implement The Social Practice Research Of College Students’ Overseas Volunteer Work, Mei-Hsiu Chuo, Ni-Yen Lin, Yi-Wen Huang

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The 21st century is an era in which excellence is pursued. Under the influence of a diversified society, many countries have promoted USR in universities, and the core goals of different countries are different; In recent years, because of the vigorous development of learning, building dreams, cherishing beads, and flying in the "Ministry of Education Award for Students Study Abroad", more and more college students have been baptized by cross-culturalism, and many schools have also launched corresponding internships. The main purpose of this research is to combine the "University Social Responsibility Practice Project" to flip the traditional curriculum and implement …

Metacognitive Functions Of Solving Routine And Non-Routine Problems, Yasemin Katranci

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

In this study, the main aim was to analyze the role of metacognition while solving routine and non-routine problems. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach. “Routine and Non-routine Problems Form” and “Metacognitive Skills Questionnaire” were used as the data collection instruments. The study group was determined according to a convenience sampling. Within this regard, 66 pre-service middle school mathematics teachers participated in the study. In order to fill out the data collection instruments, 60 minutes were given to the pre-service teachers. The collected data were analyzed descriptively. As a result, it was seen that the pre-service middle school …

The Impact Of Working Capital On Cash Management Under Ias 7 Framework: An Examination Of Tourism Listed Companies In Indonesia And Turkey, Tri Damayanti, Tuba D. Baskan

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The objective of this study is to find the impact of capital on cash management in tourism industries. We employ three models for measuring cash management. Working capital structure is measured by working capital turnover ratio. In order to get more understand of our analysis, we hired control variables such firm performance, firm size and country specific. We applied panel analysis of 93 financial reports of Indonesian and 27 Turkish tourism listed companies. We apply three models of cash management which could not be find in another prior research. The output shows that each model found that our hypotheses is …

Teaching For Knowledge Transfer: Best Practices From A Graduate-Level Educational Psychology Distance Learning Program, Bobby Hoffman

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

One measure of effective instruction is the ability to solve authentic real-world problems by effectively transferring and applying classroom and textbook knowledge. While many students can productively earn high grades and learn course content, they are not always able to apply the knowledge they gain. As such, this quasi-experimental study compared the comprehensive exit exam results of learners across instructional modalities who completed a prominent graduate-level educational psychology program. ANCOVA revealed superior knowledge transfer for blended-learning students compared to those who completed distance education and significantly greater transfer of declarative, procedural, and self-regulatory knowledge by the blended-learning students. This paper …

Intercultural Competence In Teacher Preparation Programs In The United States And Canada: A Meta-Synthesis Study, Sandra Silva-Enos

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

With a growing linguistically and culturally diverse population among our student demographics, it has become a necessity for teachers to create culturally responsive and sustaining classroom environments that can value and leverage students funds of knowledge. Teacher preparation programs are tasked with helping pre-service teachers develop intercultural understanding and competence as a means to aid in preparing them for culturally responsive and sustaining teaching. This meta-synthesis systematic review explores how pre-service teachers enrolled in teacher preparation programs in the United States and Canada progressively develop their intercultural competence skills. The findings highlight a progression of seven stages, across eight studies, …

The Performance Of Elementary Preservice Student Teachers Based On Interdisciplinary Curriculum Design, Ying-Feng Wang

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The study was aimed at exploring the performance exhibited by preservice student teachers in interdisciplinary curriculum design for elementary science in Taiwan. The subjects are eighty elementary preservice teachers from the National Metropolitan University. They designed integrated science curriculum and instruction by incorporating what they learned from the Elementary Science Methods course. The lesson plans, mind maps, artwork and feedback performed by the preservice student teachers were collected for data analyses. The findings indicated that eighty percent of preservice student teachers exhibited a high degree of interest in science instructional planning across different disciplines. They presented science lesson planning with …

Overarching Themes Of Moocs: An Integrative Literature Review, Gregory Bunn, Doris Lee

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) represent a growing means of offering mass instruction to students separated across distances and countries. MOOCs provide a flexible platform for instruction across numerous disciplines via the Internet. By incorporating a variety of online environments and discussion formats, MOOCs enable learners to engage with content and instructions in new ways. As MOOCs continue to evolve in design and involve more students, it becomes important to determine overarching themes in the literature discussing MOOCs. Such an investigation offers the potential to reveal new connections and ideas pertinent to the successful design and running of online courses. …