Education Commons^™

Measurement In Chemistry, Mathematics, And Physics Education: Student Explanations Of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms And Instructional Practices In Introductory Courses, Brandon J. Yik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The work in this dissertation is presented in two parts. The first part (Chapters 3 and 4) details work relating to students’ explanations of reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry. The second part (Chapters 5 and 6) details work relating to the evaluating the uptake of research-based instructional practices in introductory chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses.

To evaluate learning of organic chemistry reactions, instructors must ask students to construct written explanations of reaction mechanisms. Written assessments should focus on what is happening and why it is happening to promote deeper student understanding. However, for instructors to gain insight into students’ understanding, …

Educating Culturally Relevant Leaders: Experiences In Leadership Identity, Capacity, And Efficacy Development In College Students, Ana C. Maia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation study explored meaningful experiences contributing to students’ identity, capacity, and efficacy development as culturally relevant leaders. In Chapter One, I detailed the importance and relevance of this topic in the field of higher education. Then, I reviewed the literature on college student leadership development; defined leadership identity, capacity, and efficacy development; and culturally relevant leadership learning (CRLL; Bertrand Jones et al., 2016). In the third chapter, I described the qualitative methodological approach to uncovering how college students develop leadership identity, capacity, and efficacy to engage in culturally relevant leadership. I approached this study from a critical constructivist paradigm. …

Going Flat: Challenging Gender, Stigma, And Cure Through Lesbian Breast Cancer Experience, Beth Gaines

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the decision-making process of reconstruction surgery among lesbian breast cancer patients to better understand how identity impacts healthcare decisions. Breast cancer patients experience the disease in unique ways due to gender, sexuality, race, and class, impacting their individual decisions regarding treatment plans. Many breast cancer patients face mastectomy surgery as the first plan of treatment after diagnosis. By exploring the impact of gender, sexuality, stigma, and ideas of cure, this research aims to advance research about breast cancer by recognizing why some lesbian breast cancer patients forego reconstruction surgery and instead choose to “go flat.

Beliefs, Identity, And An African American Cemetery: An Exploratory Study Of Difficult History Curricular Decision- Making, Shannon Peck-Bartle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative exploratory study, I examine the influence of administrative curricular decision-makers’ beliefs and values towards race and ethnicity, heritage, and place on curricular aims for the inclusion of local difficult history associated with the erasure of a racialized cultural landscape, The Ridgewood Cemetery. I additionally examine the influence of contemporary issues on beliefs and values as administrative curricular decision-makers navigate ways to incorporate local cemetery history into secondary social studies curriculum. Through semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and research’s reflective journaling I shed light on ways beliefs, values, and contemporary issues influenced administrative curricular decision-making for local difficult history. …

Remnants Of Educational Leadership And Desegregation Etched In The Memories Of Black Educational Leaders: An Oral History, Janice Barge Clarke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study the experiences of Black (a.k.a. African Americans/ Negroes) educationalleaders were explored focusing on the period during the transition to a more desegregated public- school setting in the state of Florida. Using retrospective storytelling and reflections of ‘leading’ during desegregation, the lived experiences of those in educational leadership roles were captured in the form of oral histories and analyzed using critical race theory. The effects of desegregation is recounted from their vantage point, from the dissolution of the ‘all Black’ schools to the impact it had on the communities. The research question was: What are the stories told …

Development And Evaluation Of The Values-Centered Assessment Tool (Vcat) To Inform Culturally Responsive Behavioral Parent Training Intervention, Daniel Kwak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, we aimed to develop and evaluate the use of the Values-Centered Assessment Tool (VCAT) intended for use by behavior analysts to design and provide culturally responsive behavioral parent training intervention for children with behavioral difficulties who are from diverse cultural backgrounds. The study was completed in two phases using a mixed methods research approach. In Phase 1, the VCAT was developed through review of literature and interviews with behavior analysts and was validated through an expert panel review. Major revisions made from the initially developed VCAT included the addition of (a) a questionnaire for parents, (b) information …

Interfacing Computational Techniques With Synthetic And Spectroscopic Methods For Research And Education, Nicole Annette Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantum Mechanics (QM) is a powerful tool in computational chemistry with a wide range of applications in both research and education. More and more, the scientific community is tackling research questions of increasing difficulty with an interdisciplinary approach between experimental and computational chemistry. QM methods are now developed to a point where computation can accurately predict chemical properties related to structure and function such as potential energy surfaces (PES), natural bond order analysis (NBO), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Herein, QM methods will be applied to research in peptidomimetics through PES and NBO calculations (Chapter 2 …

Advising Latinx Students For Postsecondary Career And Technical Education (Cte): A Qualitative Study Of High School Counselors In Florida, Adriana C. Magana

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gather detailed descriptions of information, resources, and interventions that school counselors use to inform and advise Latinx students of postsecondary CTE options. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted to understand how Florida school counselors advise Latinx students for postsecondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) options. A three-prong conceptual framework was used, drawing from Bourdieu’s (1986) Theory of Cultural Capital, career development theories, and the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA) National Model.

Ten school counselors working in public high schools in Florida participated in semi-structured interviews for this study. Altogether, the study’s …

Revisiting ‘Our’ Place On Campus: A Queer(Ed) And In-Depth Interview Study Of Qt Resource Professionals In Higher Education, Kristopher Andrew Oliveira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers an interactional, structural, and theoretical analysis of the experiences of Queer and Trans (QT) resource professionals in higher education. Data from the empirical chapters draws on 41 in-depth semi-structured interviews that conducted with QT resource professionals from 19 different states across the United States. The interactional and structural chapters reveal tensions between institutional commitments to doing equity work on college campuses and the neoliberal and institutional barriers that QT resource professionals experience in promoting and fostering institutional equity on campus. The third substantive chapter offers a queer of color critique – through Muñoz’s (2019) notion of queer …

A Tale Of Two Art Programs: Art & Identity For People With Disabilities, Melinda Leigh Maconi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the relationship between disability and art in individual and organizational narratives told in the context of art programs that are designed to provide meaningful and inclusive experiences for people with disabilities outside of “art therapy.” Findings of narrative and thematic analysis of the websites of two non-profit disability centered arts education organizations, autobiographical sketches of disabled artists, and in-depth family history interviews with parents of people with disabilities suggest that the clear cut boxes created by scholarly and social movements narratives of disability do not map neatly onto the lived experiences of people with disabilities, their families, …

Color Defined: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of How Race, Trauma, Gun Violence, And Grief Connect For A Black Mother, Kokita Dirton Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Black mothers are disproportionately affected by fatal shootings and the need for making meaning and finding purpose remains overlooked as a vital component of building resilience in their grief journey. The purpose of this study was to (a) reflect on being a Black mother of a fatal shooting victim; (b) understand the grief and healing process that follows; (c) connect my experiences to those within the larger Black grief community, and (d) by example, help other grieving mothers navigate through their grief struggles. I used two research questions: 1) How can I learn about my grief process by using personal …

Ultrafast Magneto-Optic Study Of Exchange Interactions In Magnetic Materials, Hengzhou Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magneto-optic Kerr Effect (MOKE) is a very important method to investigate the magnetization ofmaterials with the polarization and intensity of light reflected from a sample. Both dynamic and static MOKE are performed to study the magnetic properties of thin films and bulk crystals in this research. For the static MOKE measurement, a solid state laser was used to probe the samples to generate a hysteresis loop by changing the external field from -0.8 T to 0.8 T. The magnet can be placed at an angle between 0 to 20 degree with respect to the sample surface to probe different sample …

A Bathroom Break For Teachers: An Institutional Ethnotheatrical Inquiry, Jonathan M. Coker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the teacher bathroom dilemma, a term I coined to describe teachers not having adequate access to the bathroom during their workdays. While this issue is widely known by those in the profession, only a handful of articles have been written on this topic. The teacher bathroom dilemma is part of a litany of working conditions that have intensified due to the neoliberal turn in education, forcing teachers to perform precarious actions that endanger their physical and psychological health. This dissertation explored how the teacher bathroom dilemma impacted teachers’ work and personal lives. …

Educational Language Policy: An Examination Of Race And Language In Policy Discourse, Dionne L. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Linguistic diversity is an integral thread in the tapestry of America. As such researchers how linguistic differences across ethnoracial groups can be understood as resources rather than problems. The aim of this study was to examine ideologies concerning race/ethnicity and language in the discourse of educational language policies that guide multilingual approaches to education. The design of this study was critical discourse policy analysis, and the framework was a combination of Critical Language and Race Theory, also known as LangCrit (Crump, 2014), and Raciolinguistics (Alim, 2016; Flores and Rosa, 2015). The research questions were: (1) How are ideologies about the …

First-Generation Female Doctoral Students’ Perceptions Of The Doctoral Experience, Nancy Carol Carr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my study was to understand the perceptions of first-generation female doctoral students (FGFDS) and what factors may impact first-generation female doctoral students’ completion of their doctoral program. As the researcher, I collected data through: (a) interviews, (b) participant generated photographs, (c) the group meeting, and (d) the researcher’s personal reflexive journal. Two research questions guided this exploratory qualitative study: In what ways do first-generation female doctoral students in the College of Education perceive their experiences impact their progress during their doctoral program at a large research university in Central Florida?; and what factors do first-generation female doctoral …

Saudi Efl Learners’ Detection And Comprehension Of English Vivid Phrasal Idioms: A Conceptual Replication Study, Basma A. Moreb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was a mixed method research. The quantitative part investigated Saudi English learners’ English vivid phrasal (VP) idiom detection differences by lexical level, semi- lexical level, and post-lexical level, as well as comprehension and interpretation by zero-context and full-context conditions. It also researched the extent to which Saudi English learners differed in their scores on the measure of participants’ perceptions on the need for including VP idioms in classrooms. The qualitative part of this study investigated the challenges Saudi English learners faced while completing the detection and comprehension tasks and the strategies they used to detect and comprehend the …

English Language Learners’ Perceptions Of Employing A Social Annotation Tool To Promote Peer Support, Engagement With The Text, And Reading Comprehension, Inanc Karagoz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

International students in English-medium higher-education programs read various texts from different fields in English throughout their studies. Many students find reading for academic purposes less enjoyable which, in turn, has a negative effect on their engagement and reading comprehension. Collaboration through social annotation tools may transform the process of meaning-making into a social activity. The extant literature focuses on its impact on comprehension and learners’ attitudes. To add to the literature and understand remote learners’ experiences, I explored international students’ perceptions of employing a social annotation tool on promoting their peer interactions, reading engagement, and comprehension in a hybrid EAP …

Using Movie Clips To Understand Vivid-Phrasal Idioms’ Meanings, Rasha Salem S. Alghamdi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increased use of educational technology in second language acquisition, idiomatic language instruction has seen an increase in the use of educational technology as an instructional method. Second/foreign language (L2) idioms teaching methods have extended their pedagogical approaches to employ Computer Assisted language Learning (CALL) and/or Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) educational technologies such as games, online platforms, images, videos, movies, social media, and augmented reality. Recent Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research has begun to focus on the effect(s) different types of videos (YouTube, advertisements, TV shows, full movies, and movie clips) can have on learning a second language, English …

The Experiences Of Black And Hispanic Males Retained Through Florida’S Mandatory Third Grade Retention Law, Sophia Mcmorris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There has been a constant argument that if students cannot read by third grad, then they will have an uphill struggle for the rest of their educational journey. Researchers have provided evidence signaling some truth to this claim and efforts have been established to ensure that all students receive high-quality instruction (Tweed, 2001). Many states have struggled with policies on how to correct this problem, and they have been challenged to answer whether students who cannot read proficiently by the third grade should be promoted, or if they should be pertained and provided with intensive interventions before moving on to …

To Thine Own Self Be True, Renee A. O'Brien

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this self-study was to take an in-depth look at the development of the pedagogy of one teacher, myself, and to describe and explain how this style of teaching developed both from early familial influences and through experiences I have had throughout my career. This study focused specifically on my use of storytelling in the classroom and how my lessons, community building, language development, and maintaining student engagement are based on the culmination of those experiences. This study also looked at the impact these factors had on my persistence as a teacher and how using this type of …

Psychometric Characteristics Of Academic Language Discourse Analysis Tools, Courtney (Cici) Brianna Claar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Academic language plays a key role in students’ educational success, yet its development in primary grades is poorly understood and often neglected (Snow & Uccelli, 2008). Academic language skills may enhance overall academic performance if targeted early and intensively. However, current methods of assessment are not sufficient to understanding the construct well enough to develop evidence-based intervention strategies. This investigation examined the psychometric properties of two discourse analysis tools designed to directly measure students’ comprehension and production of academic language. Academic language samples (n = 7,887) from a previous cohort-design study (n = 1,040; Kindergarten through third grade participants) were …

Academic Resource And Social Emotional Advisory Period: Promoting Communities Of Care And An Equitable Learning Environment, Mary Jane Lucas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological, single case study was to evaluate the innovative programming of an Academic Resource and Social Emotional Learning (AR/SEL) Advisory Period at one large suburban public high school in the southeastern United States. The AR/SEL Advisory Period incorporates academic, mindfulness, and mental health initiatives, in tandem with relationship building tools for adults and students. The AR/SEL Advisory Period aims to provide an equitable learning environment where all students have an opportunity to develop high quality relationships with adult mentors and peers, as well as experience a sense of belongingness and community of care. The question that …

An Exploratory Investigation Of Student-Level Factors And Perceptions Of Safety In Secondary Schools Implementing Swpbis, Nicholas L. Scheel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Past and recent violent incidents (e.g., shootings, bullying) within schools in the United States have caused great concern among the public about the safety of students. Although research has shed light upon the positive and negative impacts of current crisis prevention initiatives (e.g., federal and state legislation, security cameras, trauma-informed practices) on student perceptions of safety, the breadth of literature focused on the impact multitiered systems of supports (i.e., school-wide positive behavior supports and interventions [SWPBIS]) have on student perceptions of safety is limited (Nowicki, 2020). This exploratory investigation utilized a multivariate analysis of variance to examine perceptions of safety …

A Descriptive Exploratory Case Study Of University Of Central Riyadh Collaboration With Public Schools In Preparing Teachers, Arwa Alazwari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive exploratory case study is to explore the collaboration between the University of Central Riyadh (UCR) (pseudonym) teacher preparation program and public schools in preparing teachers. This study was framed using the theory of social constructivism. Qualitative methodology was used to collect data by using semi-structured interviews with three university supervisors (USs), three cooperating teachers (CTs), and three preservice teachers (PSTs). All the participants were from the curriculum and instructor department at UCR. The qualitative data were thematically analyzed using NVivo software. This study found that UCR and public schools collaboration was one-directional, meaning the collaboration …

Examining The Relationship Between Racial Respect Among Black Early Childhood Professionals And Their Perceptions Of Black Children, Kayla Nembhard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Black children are exposed to the highest rates of negative teacher perceptions and punitive consequences. Healthy People 2020 acknowledges the significance of the first five years of child development and the various factors that promote or hinder health outcomes during this time. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of quality relationships between children and their caregivers, including their ECE teachers. Overall, Black children tend to fare better academically when they are able to engage with Black educators and other ECE professionals. However, there is recent evidence Black educators in ECE settings, specifically, also uphold racialized negative perceptions of Black students that …

Afro-Latinx And Afro-Latin Americans In The United States: Examining Ethnic And Racial Experiences In Higher Education, Glenda Maria Vaillant Cruz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Education research in the United States has vastly excluded Afro-Latinx and Afro-Latin American college students from the canon. Afro-Latinx and Afro-Latin American college students are presented with unique challenges and opportunities for identity exploration and development at the university level. As Schwartz, Kurtines, and Montgomery argue, higher education institutions extend emerging adulthood or the period in which individuals explore identities and develop a sense of self (Shwartz, Kurtines, and Montgomery 2005). Education research in the United States has historically centered around US-based racial formation, suggesting that Blackness and Latinness are mutually exclusive, what researchers Christopher Busey and Carolyn Silva refer …

Assessing Environmental Sensitivity In San Diego County, California, For Bird Species Of Special Concern, Eda Okan Kilic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is widely recognized that desertification constitutes one of the biggest environmental problems on Earth. Desertification negatively impacts the future of humans and other living things all over the globe. Therefore, the assessment of desertification is essential to both monitor and combat desertification. A number of models are routinely applied to assess desertification. The MEDALUS model is one of the most popular approaches, identifying desertification risk based on an environmentally sensitive area index (ESAI) that integrates climate, vegetation, soils, groundwater, and socio-economic factors to obtain an overall rating. The goal of this study was to measure the potential impacts of …

“Sometimes I Do This Thing”: Exploring Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge And Beliefs About Reading Instruction, Sherridon Leigh Sweeney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has established preservice literacy teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning are often misguided and/or overly-simplistic, yet limited work has examined in what ways their in-the-moment teaching decisions align or misalign with what they believe. This qualitative study used deductive analysis methods to: (1) Identify three preservice teachers’ knowledge/beliefs about reading, reading instruction, and learning, as evidenced by their planning, reflecting, and in-the-moment teaching decisions, and (2) investigate if/how participants’ knowledge/beliefs manifested across multiple teaching experiences. Findings indicate that while participants made attempts to act on professional ideas they explored/practiced with the support of a university-based mentor, they taught …

Hybrid Rans-Les Hemolytic Power Law Modeling Of The Fda Blood Pump, Joseph Tarriela

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study applies the SBES and IDDES hybrid RANS-LES turbulence models along with the K-ω SST model to four flow conditions of the FDA blood pump. Validation of all three turbulence models show good agreement with experimental pressure and velocity fields. Evaluation of turbulent kinetic energy fields for the hybrid models show 80-90+% of kinetic energy is resolved in the rotor and diffuser regions of the pump. Hemolysis power law models were evaluated using the commonly used von Mises stress and additional energy dissipation stress (EDS). Results show viscous and Reynolds stresses computed with the K-ω SST under predict and …

Assessing Required Hospitality Competencies Among Students, Industry Professionals, And Faculty, Angad Singh Dang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the competencies important for success in the hospitality industry, based on the perceptions of hospitality faculty, professionals, and students. To identify the competencies, the research employed the following steps: initial survey development, input from a focus group panel of experts, review by validation panel of experts on revised survey, pilot study of process for final survey and data collection using the revised questionnaire. The study targeted hospitality students who were enrolled in a 4-year undergraduate degree program, faculty who taught in a 4-year hospitality under-graduate or graduate program, and hospitality professionals who …