An examination of the relationship between urbanicity and children with emotional disturbances served in restructuring public schools

Harris, Karen Monk University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

Efforts to affect changes in student achievement through altering the manner in which schools operate have been countless. However, there are few empirical studies on the relationship between these reform activities and student outcomes, especially outcomes for students with emotional disturbances from geographically diverse locations. The current study was a secondary analysis of data collected as part of the School and Community Study and the Urban School and Community Study conducted by the Research and Training Center for the Children's Mental Health at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida. Both studies examined the relationship between student exposure to school restructuring efforts and change in academic and behavioral functioning. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between student outcomes and school reform activities and to compare students attending suburban/rural schools and students attending urban schools on academic achievement, psychopathology, and mental health service utilization. Using baseline data from the School and Community Study to match students from the Urban School and Community Study on the variables gender, income, and age; 66 matches (i.e., 132 students) comprised the study sample. Differences between the suburban/rural students and the matched sample of urban students were statistically significant in reading achievement, math achievement, functional impairment, and mental health service utilization. There were no significant differences between students on the variable of level of behavior problems, all of the students scoring in the clinical range. Schools in the suburban/rural settings were more highly engaged in reform and restructuring activities than the schools in the urban settings. Multiple regression equations were used to compare differences in school reform mechanisms and student outcomes. Family income and degree of engagement in school reform had a positive impact on reading achievement. Future research on the relationship between student outcomes and school reform and restructuring activities is needed to guide school efforts to improve student academic performance.

An examination of the relationship between perceived parenting style and the eating behaviors of college freshmen

Pitt Barnes, Seraphine University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

Unhealthy eating behavior is one of the priority health risk behaviors leading the causes of morbidity and mortality among adolescents and college students. A key component in understanding the influences of adolescent eating behaviors is the social environment, of which parents are a critical component. The literature suggests that the probability of engaging in health risk-behaviors is lessened by parental presence and authoritative parenting practices. Similarly, it has been hypothesized that the use of authoritative parenting practices may result in healthier eating among adolescents by allowing children to develop general self-control skills. However, the relationship between parenting style and adolescent eating behavior has not been well studied. This study investigated the association between perceived parenting style and the eating behaviors of college freshmen. It used a cross-sectional, Internet-based survey to obtain data from 264 college freshmen between the ages of 18 to 20, enrolled at the University of South Florida. Multiple regression was used to investigate the association between parenting style and healthy eating. Although previous studies suggest a relationship between parenting style and healthy eating exists during early adolescence, this study's findings suggest that parenting style is not a strong predictor of healthy eating during late adolescence. Future research should continue to address the impact of familial influences as one point of intervention to increase adolescents' consumption of healthy foods.

Racial disparities in breast cancer surgical treatment and radiation therapy use

Koehlmoos, Tracey Lynn University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

This study explores the relationship between race and surgical treatment and radiation therapy use for localized breast cancer patients in the state of Florida in 2001. The study will be useful in raising awareness of the relationship between Black race and appropriate breast cancer treatment within the Florida Cancer Data System. The Healthy People 2010 initiatives' call to eliminate racial disparities and the high placement of breast cancer on the national research agenda make this study timely and insightful for health policymakers, clinicians and other health researchers. Also, the study evaluates the effect of other health system and patient related factors such as insurance provider and rural versus urban residence, to the appropriate use of cancer therapy in order to present an up-to-date and accurate picture of the quality of breast cancer care for women in the state of Florida. The study used multivariate logistic regression modeling and chi-square distribution to compare models in order to disentangle the effects of age, rural residence, marital status and primary health insurance provider from race and to determine how these factors influenced breast conserving surgery versus mastectomy use. Further, the second research question exclusively focused on the population that received breast conserving surgery in order to examine the impact of race and the other covariates as explanatory measures of appropriate receipt of radiation therapy. The first hypothesis found that there was no statistically significant difference between Black and White women in terms of receipt of breast conserving surgery for treatment of localized breast cancer. The second hypothesis, which focused on appropriate receipt of radiation therapy following breast conserving surgery, found that there was a statistically significant interaction between Black race and Medicaid as primary health insurance provider. The study concludes by examining possible areas of improvement in data collection in the State of Florida. Also, the study contains recommendations as to previously unexplored facets of breast cancer research and breast cancer health policy that could be beneficial in the reduction of health and healthcare disparities in other geographic areas and in other diseases.

Narratives and sensemaking in the new corporate university: The socialization of first year communication faculty

Herrmann, Andrew F University of South Florida 2008 해외공개박사

I examined what brand new Ph.D.s in Communication experience when they start their first, entry-level, tenure-track assistant professor position at a new university. Through the lens of scocial construction, I review vocational and organizational socialization, individual agency by newcomers, academic socialization processes, and the concept of the academic career in the current climate of university change and transformation. Then, I present the method of research, including the population and sampling method, and rationales for utilizing a narrative approach, interactive interviewing, and autoethnographic writing. After presenting the participants' narratives, I revisit both within--- and between-case issues, beginning with socialization from the "bottom-up" lived experiences of the new faculty. The universities socialized these new professors through individual socialization processes. To lessen their uncertainty in their new place of work, the faculty members utilized seven individualized tactics to lessen ambiguity. Collectively, the new assistant professors saw the organizationally provided orientations and mentoring processes as inadequate. The loss of graduate school cohort necessitates the development of a new cohort with peers for new faculty development, despite the modern isolationist definition of the academic "subject." The new communication faculty generally found teaching to be an activity of stabilization within the new equivocal university environment, despite the supposed unpreparedness of new faculty. I discuss the interrelated use of strategically ambiguous communication, power, and the disciplining of the self and how they relate to the tenure process. I examine how the discourses of academic capitalism impact the daily lives and decision-making of new faculty, including compromised research agendas and publication production. I interrogate the pursuit of prestige by higher educational institutions and the manner in which this pursuit adds additional pressure and stressors on new professors. Finally, I consider how the short-term narrative of "getting tenure" truncates the canonical narrative of the academic career, and legitimizes the outsider-within category of the new faculty members.

Assessment of the community healthcare providers' ability and willingness to respond to a bioterrorist attack in Florida

Crane, Jeffrey S University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

Previous findings have demonstrated that the preparedness and infrastructure of the public health system are inadequately developed for a biological and/or chemical terrorism attack. Chen et al. reported that those primary care providers that would have to respond to such an attack do not feel prepared to diagnose and manage such an event. This research was an observational study using e-mail/web based survey to assess the levels of preparedness (PL) and willingness to respond (WTR) to a bioterrorism attack, and identify factors that predict PL and WTR of Florida community healthcare providers. The conceptual framework and questionnaire was designed based on empirical studies and the use of an expert panel to assess the providers' administrative and clinical competencies, WTR, and PL. The questionnaire was pilot-tested in 30 subjects. Reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha = .82). The emailed invitation letters were sent to 22,800 healthcare providers in Florida. The questionniare was posted for 7 days on the website during December, 2004. There were 2,279 respondents of 9,124 who received the e-mails. Response rate was 28%, with 86% completed questionnaires. The subjects included physicians (n = 604), nurses (n = 1,152), and pharmacists (n = 486). The results demonstrated that only 32% of the Florida providers were competent and willing to respond to a bioterrorism attack. 82.7% of providers were willing to respond in their local community and 53.6% within the State. The subjects were more competent in administrative skills than clinical knowledge (62.8% vs. 45%). The most competent areas were the initiation of the treatment and recognition of their clinical and administrative roles. The least competent areas were identifying the cases and communicate risk to the others. About 55% of the subjects had previous bioterrorism training and 31.5% had emergency drills. Gender, race, previous training and drills, perceived threats of bioterrorism attack, and preceived benefits of training and drills and "feeling" prepared were the predictors of overall preparedness. The findings suggest that only one-third of Florida community healthcare providers were prepared for a bioterrorism attack. To effectively plan for a bioterrorism attack it is important to target the interventions to improve clinical knowledge in every healthcare profession.

Negotiating curricular boundaries and sexual orientation: The lived experiences of gay secondary teachers in West Central Florida

Mayo, James B., Jr University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

There is little known about the daily lives of gay teachers at school. Studies have been conducted in this area, but the wide range of individual life experiences makes it difficult to define "the" gay teacher experience. Gay teachers' geographic location, gender, age, and race, are a few of those factors that will have a direct influence upon their lives. Therefore, I believe more focused, regional or case studies will yield better understandings of the lives that gay teachers lead at school. Until now, no other study had investigated the lives of gay teachers in West Central Florida. I decided to focus this study on male teachers who teach in secondary schools because I believe the lesbian experience at school differs to such a degree to warrant a separate study for them. I also believe that secondary teachers must confront controversial issues that are connected to the mandated curriculum and a more mature student audience that will be more apt to ask questions about those issues to a far greater extent than elementary school students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of gay male teachers in West Central Florida and uncover their understandings of various key issues: the perceived impact of their sexual orientation on curricular decision-making, the perceived impact of their sexual orientation on classroom management, and their understandings of the perceived barriers to addressing homophobic language and coming out at school. After six months of conducting personal interviews, engaging in telephone conversations, and exchanging electronic mail messages with the seven participants in this study, my analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of ten themes: (1) gay-themed materials in the classroom, (2) interactions with students perceived to be gay, (3) separation of informants' private lives from life at school, (4) informants' perceptions of proper conduct by a gay male teacher, (5) challenges and problems faced by the informants at school, (6) informants' understandings of how students use homophobic language, (7) informants' use of humor in the classroom, (8) informants' relationships and interactions with colleagues at school, (9) informants' perceptions of the acceptance of gay male teachers, and (10) informants' perceived special talents of gay male teachers. In the end, all seven informants shared their unique stories, but demonstrated some commonalities as well. All of them addressed gay-themed issues when they came up in class, all addressed homophobic language to some degree, and, with the exception of one individual, most agreed that it was best for gay male teachers to remain closeted at work, even if they personally wished that it could be different. I believe the one dissenting voice offers hope that at some time in the near future, gay male teachers will be able to be out at school despite the negative stereotypes that surround them. Further, the one dissenter demonstrated his ability to help all students better understand diversity, and his presence increases the possibility that someday teachers, administrators, and students will all be more open to accept the existence of and the performance of multiple forms of masculinity at school.

Investigating turnover intention among emergency communication specialists

Liu, Yufan University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

This study tested a model that uses job stressors, equity sensitivity, perceived organizational justice, and job satisfaction to explain turnover intention and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). An online survey was distributed to emergency communication specialists from 14 emergency communication centers in Florida. The supervisors in these emergency communication centers were asked to rate their employees on OCB. Responses to the survey and the OCB ratings were analyzed using structural equation modeling to evaluate the fit of a theoretical model to those data. Results showed that the model fit the data reasonably well and nearly all the hypotheses were supported. Specifically, job satisfaction completely mediated the relationships between job stressors, equity sensitivity, perceived organizational justice, and turnover intention. Job satisfaction partially mediated the relationships between job stressors, equity sensitivity, perceived organizational justice, and OCB, and equity sensitivity also had a unique, direct impact on OCB. Turnover intention alone did not reduce OCB. The implications of these finding are discussed.

Assessment of resource selection using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) for two vertebrates in disparate habitats: The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) and the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)

Keller, Cherie A University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation is a treatise on spatially-explicit resource selection on two very different vertebrate species. The North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis) is the most endangered large whales in the world. Ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement are impediments to recovery. The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is an imperiled species whose upland habitats are shrinking from urban and agricultural development. Determining spatial distribution of important resources is important for conservation strategies. Historical and modern thinking of habitat selection theory and analytical techniques are reviewed and applied to these species. Fine-scale resource selection of sea surface temperature (SST), derived from AVHRR imagery, is evaluated for right whales in the southeastern U.S. calving grounds. Aerial survey data (December-March, 1991-1998) including survey tracklines and right whale locations were entered into a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for comparing whale use of SST to availability based on search effort. Using Monte Carlo techniques, mean and standard deviation for SSTs and latitudes of whale-sightings were compared to sampling distributions derived from available SSTs and latitudes. From these data, it was concluded that the North Atlantic right whale uses SSTs and latitudes non-randomly. Broad-scale habitat selection for gopher tortoises was evaluated from the 2003 Land Cover/Land Use map (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Based on land cover and ancillary data, potential gopher tortoise habitat was developed for northeast Florida. Data collected at random field locations, including actual land cover type, vegetation structure, and gopher tortoise presence/absence were used to develop a spatially-explicit probabilistic (logistic regression) model, and associated uncertainty estimates, of gopher tortoise occupancy. Logistic regression was also used to develop a local model of habitat suitability based on vegetation structure. Exploratory analysis, based on AIC criterion, implied gopher tortoise presence was inhibited by understory vegetation and leaf litter, but probability of presence increased with additional ground cover. The potential for combining vegetation structure data with land cover data for refining the probabilistic model was explored. Following future model refinement and validation, a simple protocol is proposed for evaluating remaining gopher tortoise habitat for the state of Florida.

Positive protective factors as moderators in the relationship between relational victimization and depression in minority adolescents

Mihalas, Stephanie Tamara University of South Florida 2008 해외공개박사

This study explored the relationship between relational victimization and depression among middle school students (n = 153) in an urban school in Florida. The majority of participants were African-American and Hispanic at-risk youth. This study is one of the first to study how positive protective factors (i.e., hope, spirituality, perceived social support) moderate the relationship between victim status and depression. A mixed methods design was used to gain further insight into the survey data collected. Findings from the study indicated that hope and perceived social support were statistically significant moderator variables. Additionally, results from the qualitative interviews suggested that teachers, parents, and siblings play an important role in supporting victimized students. Implications for gender and culturally sensitive interventions are discussed. Possible avenues for future research are also outlined.

Students' voices: A qualitative study of Freshman English

Grove, Jennifer L University of South Florida 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

This study qualitatively describes two, two-term Freshman English courses at a state university. Seven research questions guided this study of content, method, and meaningfulness. The participants were all students at the university and included two instructor participants, four student participants, a co-rater, and the researcher. After a review of the literature and elements of the debates within Freshman English/1st-year Composition, a sample syllabus is constructed and pilot study results fleshed out to the final study structure. Chapter IV reveals individual and group experiences and thoughts. First, it describes the curriculum and the instructional approaches of two adjunct instructors, one whose approach is described as (current) traditional and as active learning with elements of social constructionism. Respectively, the writing focus was more on manipulating conventions than on understanding effect. Second, it analyzes the interviews and submissions of one student of each of the instructors. In Chapter V, comments made by individual instructor or student participants are intended to add to the discourse. The conclusions drawn by the researcher stem from duplications within interviews or triangulation of data sets. Because of the nature of this study, her conclusions should not be generalized. Instead, the commentary is intended to add another chapter to the ongoing debates and to add to the base knowledge of practitioners. One conclusion is that the definition of traditional or current-traditional instruction for Freshman English needs to be expanded to include adjunct instructors with departmental mandates and text selections. It influences curriculum and instruction and student engagement in class and with course content. Another conclusion is that reading and discussion of contemporary issues strongly supports composition classes, especially in student engagement and meaningfulness of the course. A third conclusion is that perhaps if reading, listening, thinking, speaking, and debating are included as parts of the writing skills-based curriculum, a closer consensus could be reached concerning Freshman English's writing objectives.