Education Commons^™

Youth Character Strengths, Peer Victimization, And Well-Being: Understanding Associations Between Positive Traits, Social Experiences, And Positive Psychological Outcomes, Michael James Frank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The advent of positive psychology has increased awareness of factors that lead individuals to thrive in life, allowing for a more comprehensive model of mental health service delivery. However, while measurement and understanding of character strengths and well-being have improved over the last decade, the interaction of these factors with social risk factors is not entirely understood. The current study analyzed an archival dataset consisting of self-report data from 425 high school students, to examine the extent to which high school students' specific character strengths (i.e., social competence, self-regulation, responsibility, and empathy) are associated with positive psychological outcomes (i.e., gratitude, …

Residency Education In Preparing Adolescent And Young Adults For Transition To Adult Care: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study, Janet S. Hess

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: There is considerable evidence that physicians lack sufficient training in facilitating transition from pediatric to adult care systems for adolescents and young adults (A/YA). While several primary care residency programs have introduced health care transition (HCT) curricula in recent years, there are few studies that assess the effectiveness of HCT teaching models.

Purpose: To assess the impact of a residency education program that uses electronic health records (EHR) and other methods to teach residents how to prepare A/YA for transition to adult care.

Methods: In a mixed methods, quasi-experimental research design, quantitative methods were used to measure change in …

Title Viii (Finance Code) 2014.11.25, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Constructing An "Appropriate" Education In Florida Special Education Due Process Final Orders, Michelle Henry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how Florida administrative law judges (ALJs) constructed an appropriate education for students with disabilities in their final orders. This study utilized the Johnstone Method as a heuristic in analyzing the data. It examined the construction of an appropriate education from the implementation of PL 94-142 up to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Board of Education v. Rowley (1975-1978), after the Rowley decision (1983-1986), and after the reauthorization of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act in 2004 (2004-2007). Each time period was examined individually and then the results were compared. The data sources included six purposively sampled …

Chemistry Graduate Teaching Assistants' Experiences In Academic Laboratories And Development Of A Teaching Self-Image, Todd Adam Gatlin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) play a prominent role in chemistry laboratory instruction at research based universities. They teach almost all undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses. However, their role in laboratory instruction has often been overlooked in educational research. Interest in chemistry GTAs has been placed on training and their perceived expectations, but less attention has been paid to their experiences or their potential benefits from teaching.

This work was designed to investigate GTAs' experiences in and benefits from laboratory instructional environments. This dissertation includes three related studies on GTAs' experiences teaching in general chemistry laboratories. Qualitative methods were used for each …

Senate 11-18-2014 Agenda, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Senate 11-18-2014 Vote Record, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Jb [R] 55-015 Les And Pam Muma Commemoration, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

I Demand. . . Sorry, I Apologize: Power, Collaboration, And Technology In The Social Construction Of Leadership Across Diversity, Heather Sadler Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This transformative case study used qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the social construction of collaborative and technology leadership among students in a graduate-level course on curriculum leadership. Analysis of interactions among students during an asynchronous computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) project using critical discourse analysis was completed. Student dialogue was analyzed for how students across different social groups interacted discursively to promote and inhibit the development of leadership in the domains of collaboration and technology, while socially constructing the knowledge context for learning about the societal curriculum for diverse social groups. Findings were that women more than men were verbose …

Predicting Adolescents' Academic Achievement: The Contribution Of Attention And Working Memory, Diane Elizabeth Napier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the direction and strength of the relation between three different areas academic achievement and working memory with adolescent students. The data analyzed included ratings for inattention, a diagnosis of ADHD (or not), and demographic information for race/ethnicity. Fifty children aged 11 to16 years of age participated in the study. Participants were recruited from several middle schools, homeschooling networks, and churches from a southeastern state of the United States. Each participant completed a standardized achievement test, a behavioral rating scale, and visual and verbal working memory tests. The research questions investigated: 1) the relation between visual and …

"Choosing My Words Carefully": Observing, Debriefing, And Coaching Four Literacy Teachers' Through Their Lessons, Iveta Maska

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A safe environment, conducive to productive and transparent conversations, makes possible the improvement of literacy practices and strengthens teacher/administrator relationships for more honest and vulnerable conversations. In this autoethnographic intrinsic case study I conducted a self-study of my use of language and communication with four literacy teachers during debrief, after classroom walkthroughs, when coaching each on literacy practice. Furthermore, the component under investigation was the debrief meeting where dialogue is the key ingredient for discussing teacher classroom practice. The study was approached through identifying characteristics from my personal and professional background, to my interactions with the four literacy teachers and …

The Physiological Effects Of Precooling Beverage Temperatures On Heat Strain In Collegiate Women Soccer Players, Taylor Welch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Precooling is a method used to decrease initial pre-exercise core temperature in order to facilitate a greater margin for heat production before a maximum core temperature is reached. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in physiological and perceptual effects of precooling using beverages of three different temperatures: room temperature beverage (24.88 ± 1.13°C), cold beverage (6.15 ± 3.16°C) and ice slushy (-1.61 ± 0.45°C) in a hot environment (27.88 ± 0.72°C and 35.36 ± 0.83°C for wet globe bulb temperature and dry bulb temperature respectively). For all trials the environmental temperature was set to 35°C with …

Social-Emotional Strengths And Academic Outcomes In Kindergarten Students, Bryan B. Bander

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social-emotional competence has received increased attention as being critical to a student's success in the classroom. Social-emotional strengths are multidimensional and include assets such as social competence, self-regulation, empathy, and responsibility; however, previous research has not investigated which of these strengths contribute most to a student's academic success. Additionally, limited research has investigated the use of multiple informants (e.g., parents and teachers) to determine whose perceptions are more predictive of academic achievement in kindergarten students. This study examined the relationship between social-emotional strengths, as rated by parents and teachers on the SEARS (Merrell, 2011), and academic outcomes, using the AIMSweb …

Senate 11-4-2014 Agenda, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Senate 11-4-2014 Vote Record, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Twenty-Five Years Of Giving: Using A National Data Set To Examine Private Support For Higher Education, Karen Ann Frank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resource dependencies have increased substantially at colleges and universities over the years due to economic declines, recessionary periods, and decreased funding from state allocations. The purpose of this study was to advance an understanding of private support for higher education as a source of supplementary funding. As the environment continues to become more competitive for outside resources, institutions of higher education can benefit from more substantive and objective research on private voluntary support to better meet their growing needs for additional resources.

Effective financial management requires a greater understanding of the expected size of financial contributions to assist with strategic …

Perceptions Of Practitioners In A Voluntary Prekindergarten On Probation, Susan Evelyn Weber

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the perspectives and beliefs that practitioners have about prekindergarten in a Voluntary Prekindergarten program unable to meet minimal accountability requirements. The exploratory questions included: What are the beliefs and perceptions about effective and appropriate early childhood education among practitioners in a Voluntary Prekindergarten program on probation? And in what ways does probation influence practitioners' perceptions and beliefs about early childhood education? I used participants from a school where I conducted a pilot study. My data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews, resumes, my research reflective journal, and the centers program improvement …

Indirect Challenges And Provocative Paraphrases: Using Cultural Conflict-Talk Practices To Promote Students' Dialogic Participation In Whole-Class Discussions, Michael Sherry

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

In this article, the author offers a sociolinguistic discourse analysis of two conversations in which a preservice teacher encouraged her urban, 10th-grade students to disagree. The author's analysis demonstrates the positive effects of the teacher's use of indirect challenges and provocative paraphrases -- features of the African American sociable conflict-talk practice known as The Dozens -- to promote collaborative disagreement during whole-class discussion. The author argues that teachers can promote collaborative disagreement in whole-class discussions by appealing to students' home-cultural disagreement practices, which may already overlap with argumentation practices valued in school settings. The author calls for further research into …

Self-Perceived Competence Of New Student Affairs Professionals, Jennifer Smith Schneider

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to determine the extent to which new student affairs professionals feel competent for the work and to identify the experiences that foster such competence in them. The study also revealed discrepancies in the perceived levels and sources of competence between professionals who have completed either one or three years of full-time employment in student affairs. While some quantitative studies have addressed competence in student affairs professionals, the literature lacks in-depth information regarding the acquisition of competence of new professionals. This basic qualitative study offers rich information about competence development from the professionals themselves.

Participants graduated from …

Teaching With The End In Mind: A Teacher's Life History As A Legacy Of Educational Leaders, Daryl Adam Ward

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the life history of a female teacher by examining her beliefs about leaving a teaching legacy and by analyzing the narratives of four educational leaders as they reflect on the generative behaviors of this teacher. The research questions guiding this study were: (a) What elements of this teacher's life history contributed to creating a legacy of educational leaders? (b) What are the perspectives of the educational leaders impacted by this teacher as they relate to crafting an educational legacy? (c) How do the life stories of the teacher and educational leaders intersect …

A Portraiture Of Leadership As Enacted By School Administrators Working In Alternative Educational Settings, Eric Shawn Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School leadership has been an evolving topic over the past several decades, with research examining the impact of leadership on school performance, school culture, and other elements in this field. However, only a few studies have examined the construct of leadership in alternative schools, where these specialized sites often serve as mid-points between traditional schools and juvenile detention centers. Considering the evidence related to the displacement rates of minority students, particularly Black males, from traditional schools to alternative settings, these specialized sites are ideal for exploring practices that perhaps can redirect students in the school-to-prison pipeline, back towards their traditional …

The Effects Of Emotive Reasoning On Secondary School Students' Decision-Making In The Context Of Socioscientific Issues, Wardell Anthony Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The discrepancy between what students are being taught within K-12 science classrooms and what they experience in the real world has been well documented. This study sought to explore the ways a high school biology curriculum, which integrates socioscientific issues, impacts students' emotive reasoning and their ability to evaluate evidence, make informed decisions on contemporary scientific dilemmas, and integrate scientific content knowledge in their reasoning on SSI. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine differences within and between an SSI treatment group and a comparison group as well as individual differences among students' responses over a semester of …

Senate Rules Of Procedure (Updated 10-29-2014), Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Creating A Mythopoeic Graphic Novel To Expand Self-Understanding, Luis De La Lama

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a study about how I produced a graphic novel to introduce a model of the self that is informed by complexity theory to an audience of comic book and graphic novel enthusiasts. Because this model of the self has the potential to preserve, extend, and/or reinforce character strengths that are operationalized as virtuous behavior, and that also function as inner resources in times of adversity, my study explores storytelling by sequential art as a communication method that some counselors and educators might use to counsel and educate large segments of popular culture. Also, more generally, I explore the …

Senate 10-28-2014 Agenda, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Senate 10-28-2014 Vote Count, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Title Iv (Legislative Branch) 2014.10.27, Abdool Aziz

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.

Genres Of Children's Websites: A Comprehensive Methodology For Analyzing Digital Texts, James L. Welsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study establishes a comprehensive methodology for analyzing children's website content, based on both linguistic and rhetorical data, by employing defensible criteria to evaluate both qualitative and quantitative data. By employing genre theory as a prism for examining form, substance, and rhetorical action within children's websites, this study applies that methodology to a purposeful sample of five children's websites. Results of the analysis document the complex multimodal and multilinear nature of the websites studied and identify a possible new genre, the pop culture carousel website.

Is More Always Better: Comparing The Effects Of Single And Multiple Learning Channels On Academic Performance, Samantha Ann Spillman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Precision teaching (PT) is a measurement system used in multiple settings for all types of behavior, from driving to mathematics. The ultimate goal of PT is to develop fluent, free operant behaviors through analyzing response frequencies on a standard celeration chart. Research has found PT to be effective at improving both the speed and accuracy of academic skills. There is little research, however, in the effects of learning channels, a component of PT, as they relate to the acquisition of academic skills. The present study examined the relationship between single and multiple learning channels on the acquisition of mathematics skills …

Appropriations And Audits Meeting Minutes 10-23-2014, Senate Committee On Appropriations And Audits

Legislative Branch Publications

No abstract provided.