Other Education Commons^™

Building Insight One Tray At A Time: A Systematized Review Of Sandtray Expressive Arts On Counselor Trainees’ Self-Awareness, A'Lyse M. Miranda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact of sandtray expressive art interventions on the self-awareness of counseling students, recognizing the vital role self-awareness plays in counselor development. It is essential for counselors to practice self-awareness so that they may connect effectively with clients, make ethical decisions, and enhance their professional competence. Self-awareness is best identified as a transformative and reflective integration process. While traditional methods like journaling and supervision are commonly studied, the use of sand tray therapy as an expressive art intervention has received limited attention. This review synthesizes existing literature on self-awareness and sandtray expressive art interventions in counselor education, …

Gender Representation Of Composers In Recommended Wind Band Literature And Prominent Performances, Devon Alexis Gray Porter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to evaluate gender representation in recommended literature in wind band repertoire and prominent performances. I collected data from music lists approved by the National Band Association (NBA) state chapters, programs from the Midwest Clinic and College Band Directors National Association, music vendor catalogues, the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, and Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) Music Performance Assessment (MPA) past performances. I evaluated names of composers to determine the male-female ratios and quantities for recommended works from these sources. I conducted further analysis to determine if trends existed in the relationships between composer …

Capability Building And Quality Management In Higher Education: An Empirical Investigation, Kanwal Nasim, Xiaowen Tian

Journal of Global Education and Research

This paper proposes a resource-capability-based framework of quality management in Higher Education (HE) and empirically tests it against the experience of HE institutes in Pakistan. The paper posits that HE institutions face intensifying global education competition in a world of accelerated globalization, fast pace of technology development, and rapidly growing knowledge. To enhance quality and performance, they need to build higher-order dynamic capabilities of knowledge creation and transfer (KCT) undergirded by orchestrating three sets of resources they own or control: Staff, students, and facilities. The paper hypothesizes how HE institutions can orchestrate the resources to build up dynamic KCT capabilities …

Managing/Negotiating The Unexpected: Principals’ Sensemaking Of A School Reopening Policy During A Crisis, The Covid-19 Pandemic, Andrea O'Sullivan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate high school principals’ Sensemaking of a school reopening policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. I inquired about four high school Principals, in the State of Florida, made sense of an Executive Order to reopen schools during a pandemic. As method, I applied Weick (1995) interpretivist framework of Sensemaking as reconceptualized by Coetzee & Wilkinson (2020), as both a theoretical and an analytic framework for a priori analysis. Weick (1995) included seven guiding principles of identity, retrospect, ongoing, enactments, social, extracted cues, and plausibility. Coetzee and Wilkinson (2020) emphasize an eighth principle of reflection …

Room-Temperature Multiferroic Epsilon Iron Oxide Semiconductors: Thin-Film Growth And Characterization, Derick Detellem

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is an ever-growing need for larger computing power, nonvolatile memory and energy efficient devices as the number of applications that draw upon the current base of computer resources increases. At the forefront of research aiming to meet this need is the field of multiferroics. If it is possible to leverage the fast and energy efficient application of an electric field with the data storage capabilities of magnetic materials, then it would be possible to not only increase the robustness and energy efficiency of current memory, but possibly present new types of device components for computation application as well. Currently, …

Sustaining The Spark: Professional Learning For The Seasoned Principal, Jennifer C. Mccrystal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Principals play a pivotal role in shaping student achievement and supporting teacher success. However, the limited existing research reveals that professional development opportunities for principals, especially seasoned ones, are often uninspiring, inadequately designed, and disconnected from their actual needs. As a result, seasoned principals may face challenges in maintaining motivation, engagement, and continued leadership development. This study addresses this gap by investigating how seasoned principals perceive and value professional learning, focusing specifically on their pinnacle experiences—those they regard as the most impactful and significant throughout their careers.

Using a narrative inquiry approach with an Appreciative Inquiry lens, this study captures …

Using Stomach Content Analysis To Determine The Trophic Ecology Of Omosudis Lowii, A Deep-Sea Predator In The Gulf Of Mexico, Claire De Noyo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the feeding dynamics of deep-sea communities, despite their significant ecological importance. Deep-pelagic communities contribute to marine biodiversity and ecosystem stability while directly offsetting climate change via carbon sequestration. Omosudis lowii is an understudied, deep-sea fish found in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, including the Gulf of Mexico. Omosudis lowii have large jaws and distensible stomachs, allowing them to capture prey items larger than their body size. The present seminal study used stomach content analysis to quantitatively describe the O. lowii trophic ecology, providing baseline data regarding diet composition, feeding selectivity, and factors that impact prey selection. …

Pedagogy, Technology Acceptance, And Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Among Nursing Faculty, Rachel Ross

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Integrating pedagogical and technological knowledge among faculty is crucial, especially within Florida state colleges’ Nursing (ADN) programs. I explored the impact of three decades of technological advancements on faculty's ability to incorporate technology into their teaching methods using a qualitative, exploratory design; I conducted semi-structured interviews via Microsoft Teams. The analysis of faculty perceptions, experiences, and challenges reveals a significant gap in pedagogical knowledge despite strong subject matter expertise, indicating underdeveloped instructional strategies and learner-centered pedagogies. Additionally, participants exhibited a diverse understanding of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, highlighting difficulties in effectively integrating technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. …

Examining Within- And Cross-Language Relationships And Quantitative Methods In Spanish-English Dual Language Learners' School Readiness Skills, Shaunacy R. Sutter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aims of this three paper dissertation are as follows: First, to examine the cross-domain associations between school readiness skills, including oral language, literacy, and math skills, within and across languages in Spanish-English speaking DLLs in PreK. Second, to explore the cross-domain associations between oral language, literacy, and mathematics skills at varying levels of literacy and math achievement. Finally, to review the quantitative methods used in research on school readiness skills and the home and classroom contextual factors that support these skills for Spanish-English speaking DLLs in the United States over the past decade. Spanish-English speaking DLLs enter early childhood …

Telecollaboration As An Approach To Facilitating Intercultural Communicative Competence And Exposure To Arabic Dialects In Arabic As Foreign Language Classrooms In The Us: Exploring Teachers’ Perspectives And Practices, Reham Abuemira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The literature on foreign language education shows an increasing interest in incorporating intercultural communicative competence in the foreign language curriculum. However, making intercultural communicative competence an active component in Arabic as a foreign language curriculum in the United States has been overshadowed by a heavy emphasis placed on developing learners’ grammatical competence instead. Intercultural communicative competence has been proven to help language learners develop an awareness of their own culture and other cultures, an appreciation for both the target language and culture, and a set of necessary skills that allow them to communicate effectively and appropriately with others. Intercultural communicative …

The Kinematics And Aerodynamics Of Freely Flying Tiny Insects, Evan J. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tiny insects are an extremely diverse set of organisms that have important engineering and economic applications. These organisms often fly and readily disperse distances that far exceed their body lengths. The mechanisms behind tiny insect flight are not well understood and present complex kinematics and unintuitive aerodynamics that depart from both fixed-winged mechanisms and larger insects. In addition, their tiny spatial and fast temporal scales make them exceedingly difficult to study, and to date, the field has relied on numerical studies and dynamic scaling. Herein, we describe three projects that significantly advanced our understanding of tiny insect flight and experimental …

Trace Detection In Complex Gas Mixtures By Feedback-Assisted Multipass Raman Scattering, Jaspreet Singh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The recent development of Raman spectroscopy as a powerful analytical tool for trace gas analysis owes much to not only advancements in modern optoelectronic tools but also to substantial research in enhancement techniques. Feedback-assisted, non-resonant, multipass cavity Raman spectroscopy stands out among various Raman enhancement methods. We effectively employed this technique to estimate the deuterium/hydrogen ratio in water vapor, to simultaneously identify and quantify multiple analytes, even at extremely low concentrations such as 20 parts-per-billion for methane (CH4), and to detect hydrogen (H2) at concentrations as low as 75 parts-per-billion. This dissertation focuses on the practical application of spontaneous Raman …

Dancin’ In The Dark: Exploring The Possibilities For Queer Joy And Belonging In Sotu Nights, Trinidad And Tobago, Emily Hernandez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When I talk about “dancin’ in the dark,” I mean three things: 1) the moments that are written off as ordinary, the ephemeral yet joy-filled moments that seem hardly worthy of further reflection; 2) the act of dancing and experiencing joy against the backdrop of state-sanctioned homophobia in a dominant heteropatriarchal regime; and 3) queer people existing locally in the Caribbean region, a region in the metaphorical dark, typically mystified or diminished by western framings of the Caribbean as simply a vacation destination or an underdeveloped graveyard of colonization. Yet, queer people not only exist in this region, but we …

The Knowledge, Ability And Willingness Of Instructors To Accommodate Students With Disabilities In Higher Education, Hawa Allarakhia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the findings of a study investigating the knowledge, ability, and willingness of faculty at a large university to accommodate students with disabilities (SWD). It reveals that while many instructors demonstrate a solid understanding of disability legislation, variations in knowledge and confidence exist based on demographic factors, particularly years of experience. Accommodations like extended time and distraction-free testing environments are more likely to be received positively by instructors and granted easily, while there needs to be more inclination to offer resource-intensive options like note-takers. The study also recommends future research and practical strategies for higher education institutions to …

Preparing Effective Stem Communicators Through Focused Interventions, Sondra M. Miller, Carl F. Siebert, Lindsey Wiggins, Katherine L. Wright

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Advancement of scientific knowledge is dependent on effective communication. It requires engineers and scientists to engage in well-grounded argumentation to establish and justify their claims. Educators must move beyond assignments that simply summarize or replicate established findings and begin to engage students in argumentation. This study had undergraduate students work in teams to identify topics for further scientific inquiry. They were tasked with making pitches as a tool for recruiting other students to their teams. It was realized that the engineering and computer science students involved with this project had not yet developed sufficient argumentation skills, which led a team …

Navigating Education In Island Spaces: Insights From Italian Minor Islands, Giambattista Bufalino

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Education in Italy’s minor islands exists at the confluence of geography, culture, and policy, where the experience of insularity shapes not only the material conditions of schooling but also the foundations of learning itself. These islands, defined by their liminality and interdependence, face pedagogical constraints imposed by centralized curricula, which often fail to reflect the embedded knowledge systems, ecological particularities, and socio-cultural rhythms of insular life. This study critically examines how minor island schools mediate the tension between standardization and locality, leveraging place-based education (PBE) as a means of pedagogical resistance and cultural preservation. Through a documentary analysis of Piani …

Linking Education And Work: Understanding The Influence Of Community Schooling Models On Student Pathways, Takiyah N. Dixon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the integration of work-study programs, mentorship, and support systems at Cristo Rey Tampa Salesian High School (CRTSHS) and their role in preparing underrepresented students for post-secondary education and professional careers. Utilizing a case study methodology, this research centers on an in-depth analysis of a single participant's experience, which provides a qualitative insight into the impacts of these educational components. The study examines how the school's work-study program equips students with practical skills, how mentorship shapes their academic and personal development, and how support systems contribute to their readiness for higher education and employment.

The data for this …

Secondary Teacher Perceptions And Practices Of Intercultural Communicative Competence Development In Online Intercultural Exchanges, Paige L. Roland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Secondary level world language programs in the United States lack efficient infusion and assessment of intercultural communicative competence in the curricula. When a learner acquires a new language, they also shape their personal identity and expand their ability to successfully interact cross-culturally, thus the need for culture and language to be understood as interdependent components of the bigger whole is evident (Liontas & Siegel, 2019). While there are extensive research theories and studies regarding models of assessment for various competences underlying intercultural communicative competence (e.g., communicative competence, idiomatic competence, sociolinguistic competence) throughout the decades, little research is available which utilizes …

Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Incorporation Of An Ecojustice Framework In An Undergraduate Stem Integration Course, Rita G. Ortiz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental education across the K-12 science curriculum lacks critical examination of human and ecological relationships, particularly in relation to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. While the Next Generation Science Standards include environmental topics within their disciplinary core ideas and many schools offer environmental science courses, this gap can be addressed in teacher preparation programs, particularly for those teaching younger students. Ecojustice centers on socioecological topics by addressing cultural assumptions we, as humans, live by in relation to natural systems. Ecojustice education is a critical pedagogy that engages learners about social issues related to our current ecological crisis. This …

Flexible Docking Method Development For Computer-Aided Drug Design, Luke C. Warrensford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modern drug discovery, the process of identifying or developing novel therapeutic compounds to treat a disease, increasingly relies on computational methods to make the process faster and more efficient. One of the most useful tools in the computer-aided drug design toolbox is molecular docking, the simulation of a protein-ligand complex to determine ligand binding affinity. The results from molecular docking help inform the overall drug discovery process on which compounds have more potential to be potent inhibitors, thus saving time and resources during the later and more expensive stages of drug discovery. Two important considerations of modern docking methods are …

Advanced Magnetic Sensing Technologies For Enhanced Biodetection And Healthcare Monitoring, Kee Young Hwang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of biosensing systems that leverage the unique properties of magnetic nanoparticles and the high sensitivity of magnetic sensors for detecting biomolecules and cancer cells has been an active area of research. However, challenges remain in detecting and differentiating the magnetic signals of biomarkers made from nanoparticles that have similar sizes but distinct magnetic properties. Additionally, overcoming the reduction in detection sensitivity caused by non-magnetic coatings on magnetic nanoparticles remains a key hurdle. Concurrently, there is a pressing need to develop advanced magnetic sensor technologies that can enhance existing healthcare monitoring systems and enable more precise, real-time diagnostics.This dissertation …

Navigating Critical Incidents As Black Women Assistant Principals In Title I Charter Schools: A Narrative Inquiry, Marsha T. Henry-Lewis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The racial discipline gap and the school-to-prison persist despite contemporary discourse, legislation and trending best practices implemented to reduce exclusionary discipline and its related consequences. However, school leaders are often faced with critical school discipline events, that based on predetermined consequences, end with students being excluded from school. For my study, critical incidents needed not be major incidents, but they hold some level of significance in the lives of those involved. This study examined how Black women assistant principals experienced critical school discipline incidents while they worked in Title I charters schools in Florida. Narratives were captured during individual interviews …

Foundations Of Music Education: Creativity, Curriculum, And Terminal Degrees, Charles Edwin Patterson Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This collection of articles includes three concepts centered on critical areas within music education: (1) creativity and the creative personality, (2) curriculum development with a focus on orchestral string teaching, and (3) the historical evolution and current status of doctoral programs in music education in the United States. These three articles are correlated through their shared focus on enhancing the field of music education by examining the essential elements that shape practices by students, teachers, mentors, etc. Together, they explore how creativity, curriculum approaches, and advanced training programs in music education contribute to a holistic and adaptive music education framework …

Six-Year College Graduation Status For High School Students Participating In An Upward Bound Program, Raymond Upward Cabrera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact of high school academic indicators and participation in the federally funded Upward Bound program on college graduation rates for first-generation, low-income students. Specifically the extent to which participation in the federally funded TRIO Upward Bound program and related factors—high school GPA, course rigor, program involvement, gender, race, and college type—predict 6-year college graduation rates for first-generation, low-income students. Using stepwise logistic regression analysis on data of 163 students in an Upward Bound program in the Southeast, the results show that students with higher GPAs, active engagement in the program, and females were significantly more likely …

Monsters, Multiplicities, And Liminal Experiences In Doctoral Education: Fabulation As Research Methodology, Anna V. Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to experiment with qualitative research methodologies while exploring the complexities of doctoral education, research practices, philosophies of inquiry, and other topics intersecting with(in) educational scholarship. My vision for this work was fueled by postmodernist critiques of humanist education, frustrations with the methodological status quo pervasive in educational research, and deep concerns about the unsustainability of performance-focused teaching and learning.

The logic I follow in this project is simple: if we—researchers and academics—are to contribute solutions for challenges and ongoing crises in our world, then we must start thinking relationally and in ways more complex …

Do Students Notice If Institutions Require Their Faculty To Prepare For Teaching?, Adam M. Caskie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher Education is the gateway to a successful life, and students need their institution's support to make it to graduation. Undergraduate students have their primary academic interactions with a university through its faculty and the courses they are required to complete to earn a degree. Engagement with faculty is a key factor in student satisfaction with their institution. The extent to which faculty make time for excellent teaching and additional experiences for students is driven by the reward systems at the institutions where they research, teach, and advise.This research study investigates whether student perceptions of faculty interactions and teaching effectiveness …

Baseline Factors And Their Association With Refractive Error And Control In A Pediatric Randomized Clinical Trial Of Overminus Therapy For Intermittent Exotropia, Julianne L. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Intermittent exotropia (IXT) is a condition resulting in an eye deviation away from normal alignment, potentially treatable with overminus lenses. These induce accommodation of the eye, combatting the eye drifting outward. Overminus lenses may help treat IXT but also potentially worsen refractive error. Analyses aimed to find associations of baseline factors as they relate to IXT control outcomes, as well as the risk of worsening spherical equivalent refractive error (SER). One hundred ninety-six participants aged 3 to <11 treated with overminus lenses for 12 months were analyzed to explore associations between age, sex, race, ethnicity, strabismus severity, accommodative convergence/accommodation ratio (AC/A), and baseline SER with outcomes of change in SER and change in control. Analyses included outcomes for both SER and control as continuous and binary outcomes, and a secondary combined outcome. More myopic baseline refractive error and older age were associated with a worsening in SER after 12 months, -0.08 diopters (D) worsening SER per 1 year age increase (95% CI -0.13 to -0.03), and -0.30 D worsening SER per additional 1 D of myopic refractive error (95% CI -0.39 to -0.21). A larger AC/A ratio was associated with better distance control (0.11 points improvement per D of AC/A, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.19). The combined SER and control outcome showed the same factors (age, baseline refractive error, and AC/A ratio) were significantly associated with improving outcomes. Overminus lens therapy may be beneficial for some patients, but further study is needed to explore the results of these exploratory analyses.

Examining Emergency Remote Teaching And Undergraduate Academic Outcomes During The Pandemic, Melissa S. Ramge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic represented an extraordinary public health emergency, leading to the most profound disruption to education systems in modern history. As higher education institutions expand their post-pandemic online course catalogs, it is necessary first to explore the student outcomes and student perceptions of learning related to the pandemic. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to assess the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and students’ perceptions of online learning. The purpose of the study was to examine what, if any, trends in undergraduate student course grades and student perceptions of the instruction occurred coincident with the …

Emergent Magnetism And Magneto-Transport Phenomena In Helimagnet-Based Heterostructures For Spin-Based Device Applications, Nivarthana Waruni Yapa Abeyrathna Yapa Mudiyanselage

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of magnetoresistance (MR) phenomena in magnetic materials has been pivotal for advancing magnetic sensors and spintronic devices. Helimagnets, characterized by a non-collinear arrangement of magnetic moments that form a helical or spiral configuration, present an intriguing avenue for MR-based device applications. Theoretical predictions suggest that the MR magnitude in the helimagnetic (HM) regime can exceed that in the ferromagnetic (FM) regime by over an order of magnitude. However, in metallic helimagnets like manganese phosphide (MnP), the MR in the HM phase remains modest (< 10%), limiting its applicability in MR devices. This dissertation investigates the emergent magnetism and magneto-transport phenomena in nanostructured MnP helimagnets and their interfaces with ferromagnets (Fe) and ferrimagnets (Fe3O4), aiming to enhance device performance.

In the first part of the dissertation, we present a novel approach to achieve …

A Case Study Of A Large School District’S High School Principals’ Instructional Decision-Making For Students With Disabilities, Laura Meehan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of a large school district and it’s high school principals’ approach to instructional decision making for students with disabilities. This study explores how principals utilize teaching resources and make instructional decisions for students receiving special education services on their campus. Using district-wide quantitative data on special education students in high school, this study offers a comprehensive view of how these students are served. Additionally, five in-depth interviews with high school principals currently serving in the district provide qualitative insights into leadership practices. Findings from this study reveal variation in how students with disabilities are …