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- Title
- THE REBIRTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
- Creator
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Blaszak, Urszula, Hall, Scott, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Human beings encounter cascades of a plethora of experiences, one after another, every single microsecond of our lives. There are many things happening around. The world is full of events and occurrences. As they happen, the mind reacts to every individual input. This is a very exhausting and difficult. Thus, people have developed a process of self-defense against this horrible mishmash of information. Their minds have this amazing capacity of sorting them out and making sense out of them....
Show moreHuman beings encounter cascades of a plethora of experiences, one after another, every single microsecond of our lives. There are many things happening around. The world is full of events and occurrences. As they happen, the mind reacts to every individual input. This is a very exhausting and difficult. Thus, people have developed a process of self-defense against this horrible mishmash of information. Their minds have this amazing capacity of sorting them out and making sense out of them. Humankind's survival depends on that. If one does not sort all this information out, one might not be able to make a simplest decision. As humans process the information, they learn to ignore and forget. They focus on their feelings and emotions. They forget the logic. The oversimplification process begins. Humans create rigid systems of oversimplified formulas. They assign adjectives to things, occurrences, and other people. The number of those adjectives is small. After assigning, those adjectives obscure everything else. A new world is created, stupid, limited, lazy, and in the end making humans very easy to control. What starts as a basic survival process ends up as a tool one can use to destroy the owners of the mind. In the end, the birth of consciousness leads to its death. My work fights this process. It aims to put a person back into that state of shock created by a mishmash of information and thus create the rebirth of consciousness.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001673, ucf:47195
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001673
- Title
- DIGITIZATION PROTOCOLS AND APPLICATIONS FOR LASER SCANNING HUMAN BONE IN FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY.
- Creator
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Filiault, Matthew, Schultz, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In medico-legal investigations involving unidentified skeletal remains, forensic anthropologists commonly assist law enforcement and medical examiners in their analysis and identification. The traditional documentation techniques employed by the forensic anthropologist during their analysis include notes, photographs, measurements and radiographic images. However, relevant visual information of the skeleton can be lacking in morphological details in 2D images. By creating a 3D representation...
Show moreIn medico-legal investigations involving unidentified skeletal remains, forensic anthropologists commonly assist law enforcement and medical examiners in their analysis and identification. The traditional documentation techniques employed by the forensic anthropologist during their analysis include notes, photographs, measurements and radiographic images. However, relevant visual information of the skeleton can be lacking in morphological details in 2D images. By creating a 3D representation of individual bones using a laser-scanner, it would be possible to overcome this limitation. Now that laser scanners have become increasingly affordable, this technology should be incorporated in the documentation methodologies of forensic anthropology laboratories. Unfortunately, this equipment is rarely used in forensic anthropology casework. The goal of this project is to investigate the possible visualization applications that can be created from digitized surface models of bone for use in medico-legal investigations. This research will be achieved in two phases. First, examples of human bone as well as replicas of bone will be scanned using a NextEngine™ laser scanner. In conjunction with this will be the exploration and documentation of protocols for scanning different bone types and processing the scan data for creating a 3D model. The second phase will investigate how the resulting 3D model can be used in lieu of the actual remains to achieve improved documentation methodologies through the use of several commercial computer graphics programs. The results demonstrate that an array of visual applications can be easily created from a 3D file of bone, including virtual curation, measurement, illustration and the virtual reconstruction of fragmented bone. Based on the findings of this project, the implementation of laser scanning technology is recommended for forensic anthropology labs to enhance documentation, analysis and presentation of human bone.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004287, ucf:44907
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004287
- Title
- INTERACTIVE TEXT-IMAGE CONCEPTUAL MODELS FOR LITERARY INTERPRETATION AND COMPOSITION IN THE DIGITAL AGE.
- Creator
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Weaver, Elizabeth, Saper, Craig, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation focuses on text-image conceptual models for literary interpretation and composition in the digital age. The models investigate an interactive blend of textually-based linear-sequential approaches and visually-based spatial-simultaneous approaches. The models employ Gestalt-inspired figure-ground segregation models, along with other theoretical models, that demonstrate the dynamic capabilities of images as conceptual tools as well as alternate forms of text. The models...
Show moreThis dissertation focuses on text-image conceptual models for literary interpretation and composition in the digital age. The models investigate an interactive blend of textually-based linear-sequential approaches and visually-based spatial-simultaneous approaches. The models employ Gestalt-inspired figure-ground segregation models, along with other theoretical models, that demonstrate the dynamic capabilities of images as conceptual tools as well as alternate forms of text. The models encourage an interpretative style with active participants in open-ended, multi-sensory meaning-making processes. The models use the flexible tools of modern technology as approaches to meaning-making with art strategies used for research strategies as well as a means to appreciate reading and writing in the context of an increasingly visual environment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003008, ucf:48335
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003008
- Title
- Farm to Fork: A Culinary- and Farm-Enhanced Nutrition Education Program.
- Creator
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Ray, Vivian, Hopp, Carolyn, Lue, Martha, Stout, Jeffrey, Thomas, Lionel, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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With obesity in adolescents becoming a major health problem in the United States, there has been an expansion in the use of nutritional education programs as intervention. Effective nutrition education can decrease the incidence of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. This dissertation in practice proposes to design a nutrition education program, integrating farm and culinary activities into a nutrition education...
Show moreWith obesity in adolescents becoming a major health problem in the United States, there has been an expansion in the use of nutritional education programs as intervention. Effective nutrition education can decrease the incidence of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. This dissertation in practice proposes to design a nutrition education program, integrating farm and culinary activities into a nutrition education curriculum. The program is designed as a stand-alone program, but for this practice, implementation integrates the nutrition education program into the Film @ 6 after-school program (-) a STEM-focused program designed to assist sixth graders in their first year of middle school (-) at Southeast Middle School in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina (NC). This experiential nutrition education program will provide instruction and activities in order to increase nutritional knowledge, improve culinary techniques, and increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed foods of sixth grade students as a means to address the overweight and obesity risks of middle school children. Children and adolescents are considered the priority population for intervention strategies because 70% of obese adolescents become obese adults and it is difficult to reduce excessive weight once established (Dehghan, Akhtar-Danesh, (&) Merchant, 2005).
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005871, ucf:50866
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005871
- Title
- Mirrors and Vanities.
- Creator
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Salas, Leslie, Rushin, Patrick, Poissant, David, Bartkevicius, Jocelyn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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"Mirrors and Vanities" is a multi-modal collection which showcases the diversity of working in long and short storytelling forms. Featured in this thesis are fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and screenplay.Using unconventional approaches to storytelling in order to achieve emotional resonance with the audience while maintaining high standards for craft, these stories and essays explore the costs inherent to the subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships. The fiction focuses on the...
Show more"Mirrors and Vanities" is a multi-modal collection which showcases the diversity of working in long and short storytelling forms. Featured in this thesis are fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and screenplay.Using unconventional approaches to storytelling in order to achieve emotional resonance with the audience while maintaining high standards for craft, these stories and essays explore the costs inherent to the subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships. The fiction focuses on the complications of characters keeping secrets. A husband discovers the truth behind his wife's miscarriage. A girl visits her fianc(&)#233; in purgatory. A boy crosses a line and loses his best friend. Meanwhile, the nonfiction centers on self-discovery and gender roles associated with power struggles. A schizophrenic threatens to ruin my mother's wedding. I rediscover my relationship with my father through food writing. Sword-work teaches me to fail and succeed at making martial art. The title work of the thesis is a collaged story highlighting the tribulations of a physicist fixated on recovering his lost love by manipulating the multiverse. The multi-modal format implicates the nebulosity of physics theories and how different aspects of the narrative can be presented in various formats to best suit the nature of the storytelling.Through the interactions of characters in mundane and extraordinary circumstances, the works in this thesis examine the consequences of choice, the contrast between reality and expectation, coming of age, and the Truth of narrative.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004745, ucf:49789
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004745
- Title
- THE IMPACT OF MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH LITERATURE ACROSS FIVE DISCIPLINES.
- Creator
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Routhier-Martin, Kayli, Killingsworth Roberts, Sherron, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Mindfulness meditation programs, benefits, and outcomes were examined through research previously conducted and published by professionals within five differing disciplines: health and wellness, psychology, elementary education, exceptional education, and medicine. The goal was to find common themes within the differing disciplines in order to gather information about the effectiveness of a mindfulness meditation program to be used in an elementary classroom. In this thesis, the chapter of...
Show moreMindfulness meditation programs, benefits, and outcomes were examined through research previously conducted and published by professionals within five differing disciplines: health and wellness, psychology, elementary education, exceptional education, and medicine. The goal was to find common themes within the differing disciplines in order to gather information about the effectiveness of a mindfulness meditation program to be used in an elementary classroom. In this thesis, the chapter of Health and Wellness is a review of literature that tells the benefits found within meditators, which are not found within non-meditators. The chapter of Psychology explains the social-emotional needs of students, the causes of stress and anxieties amongst students, and the benefits that meditation provides in order to counter the negative effects of stress, anxiety, poverty, etc. The chapter of Elementary Education reviews research literature on the existing mindfulness meditation programs within the United States. This chapter also describes the implementation of such a program in an elementary school, as well as the documented data of the outcomes of the programs. The chapter of Exceptional Education is a review of the research literature on the benefits mindfulness meditation has on students with exceptionalities, such as specific learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. The chapter of Medicine is a retelling of previously published scholarly articles that list the neurological benefits of meditation, and also references the negative side effects to the currently prescribed medications that are being used in the treatment of ADHD.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFH0004877, ucf:45424
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004877
- Title
- All of Chinese Literature Condensed: A Sourcebook from the Playwright, Director, and Biggest Fan.
- Creator
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Emerson, Whitney, Routhier, Mark, Tan, Huaixiang, Brotherton, Mark, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Aristotle stated in his Poetics that theatre's dual purpose was to educate and entertain. Centuries later the Roman Horace and Indian Bharata echoed his same sentiments. I intend to realize all three theorist's ideas on the theatre by creating an original educational and entertaining work and bringing it to performance. The audience will retain information without being aware of learning if it is presented in a pleasurable way.The most important geopolitical relationship of this century will...
Show moreAristotle stated in his Poetics that theatre's dual purpose was to educate and entertain. Centuries later the Roman Horace and Indian Bharata echoed his same sentiments. I intend to realize all three theorist's ideas on the theatre by creating an original educational and entertaining work and bringing it to performance. The audience will retain information without being aware of learning if it is presented in a pleasurable way.The most important geopolitical relationship of this century will be between China and America. In order to educate the American public about the culture of The Middle Kingdom, I propose to write and direct my own play, condensing all three thousand years of Chinese literature into a one hundred and ten minute performance. I will benefit from the personal nature of this thesis by experiencing every stage of a play's production: from idea to page to performance. My thesis will be made of three major parts: conceiving and writing the play, a journal of directing the debut production, and a third section made of choices, influences, and reflection on the entire experience. In this manner, the ideas swirling in my head may be made clear to others reading this thesis. The play itself will be a comical distillation of ten selected works of Chinese literature. Four non-gender specific American actors will seem to make up the show as it performs in a tongue-in-cheek way. Taking my stated goal of entertaining and educating the audience to heart, the overarching plot of the play will center on the four actors teaching the audience about the literature and culture of China by acting out scenes and telling stories. The information in the scenes will be targeted to a normal American citizen's educational level with liberal doses of humor added. The four actors will be playing fictionalized versions of themselves and at times breaking character by explaining and setting up the theatricality of the piece to the audience. Part of the fun of the show will be seeing how these actors explain a subject as obtuse as Chinese literature to Americans. Perhaps a cooking metaphor is the best way to think of the play: I will chop up raw Chinese literature, the actors will boil it onstage, the theatregoer will consume the mix, and exit the theatre full of entertaining intellectual nourishment.My experiences directing and producing the finished play will be recorded in a journal as a resource for future directors. I imagine directing the play will be the most challenging aspect of this thesis. How is the play changed when other people interact with it? How will the audience receive it? In addition, Committee Chair Mark Routhier and my thesis Committee Members, Mark Brotherton and Tan Huaixiang, will also give written responses to the play's performances. The play will be performed October 10-13, 2013 in the University of Central Florida's Performing Arts Complex Studio 2 classroom. In the final section I will write a reflection on the entire process. This will serve the dual purpose of giving me a place to collect my thoughts and giving others a special insight to the growth they might experience when producing this play. Foremost among my influences in writing a play with this subject matter are the style and tone of The Reduced Shakespeare Company.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004993, ucf:49548
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004993
- Title
- Institutionalizing Service-Learning as a Best Practice of Community Engagement in Higher Education: Intra- and Inter-Institutional Comparisons of the Carnegie Community Engagement Elective Classification Framework.
- Creator
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Plante, Jarrad, Cox, Dr. Thomas, Robinson, Sandra, Bryer, Thomas, Bowdon, Melody, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Service-learning, with a longstanding history in American higher education (Burkhardt (&) Pasque, 2005), includes three key tenets: superior academic learning, meaningful and relevant community service, and persistent civic learning (McGoldrick and Ziegert, 2002). The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has created an elective classification system (-) Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (-) for institutions of higher education to demonstrate the breadth and depth of...
Show moreService-learning, with a longstanding history in American higher education (Burkhardt (&) Pasque, 2005), includes three key tenets: superior academic learning, meaningful and relevant community service, and persistent civic learning (McGoldrick and Ziegert, 2002). The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has created an elective classification system (-) Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (-) for institutions of higher education to demonstrate the breadth and depth of student involvement and learning through partnerships and engagement in the community (Dalton (&) Crosby, 2011; Hurtado (&) DeAngelo, 2012; Kuh et al., 2008; Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos, (&) Korn, 2007). Community engagement (")is in the culture, commonly understood practices and knowledge, and (CCEC helps determine) whether it is really happening (-) rhetoric versus reality(") (J. Saltmarsh, personal communication, August 11, 2014). The study considers the applications of three Carnegie Community Engagement Classification designated institutions to understand the institutionalization of service-learning over time by examining the 2008 designation and 2015 reclassification across institution types (-) a Private Liberal Arts College, a Private Teaching University, and a Public Research University located in the same metropolitan area. Organizational Change Theory was used as a theoretical model. Case study methodology was used in the present qualitative research to perform document analysis with qualitative interviews conducted to elucidate the data from the 2008 and 2015 CCEC applications from the three institutions. Using intra- and inter-comparative analysis, this study highlights approaches, policies, ethos, and emerging concepts to inform how higher education institutions increase the quality and quantity of service-learning opportunities that benefit higher education practitioners as well as community leaders.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005864, ucf:50852
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005864
- Title
- Evaluating Improvisation as a Technique for Training Pre-Service Teachers for Inclusive Classrooms.
- Creator
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Becker, Theresa, Hines, Rebecca, Beverly, Monifa, Hopp, Carolyn, Hamed, Kastro, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Improvisation is a construct that uses a set of minimal heuristic guidelines to create a highly flexible scaffold that fosters extemporaneous communication. Scholars from diverse domains: such as psychology, business, negotiation, and education have suggested its use as a method for preparing professionals to manage complexity and think on their feet. A review of the literature revealed that while there is substantial theoretical scholarship on using improvisation in diverse domains, little...
Show moreImprovisation is a construct that uses a set of minimal heuristic guidelines to create a highly flexible scaffold that fosters extemporaneous communication. Scholars from diverse domains: such as psychology, business, negotiation, and education have suggested its use as a method for preparing professionals to manage complexity and think on their feet. A review of the literature revealed that while there is substantial theoretical scholarship on using improvisation in diverse domains, little research has verified these assertions. This dissertation evaluated whether improvisation, a specific type of dramatic technique, was effective for training pre-service teachers in specific characteristics of teacher-child classroom interaction, communication and affective skills development. It measured the strength and direction of any potential changes such training might effect on pre-service teacher's self-efficacy for teaching and for implementing the communication skills common to improvisation and teaching while interacting with student in an inclusive classroom setting. A review of the literature on teacher self-efficacy and improvisation clarified and defined key terms, and illustrated relevant studies. This study utilized a mixed-method research design based on instructional design and development research. Matched pairs t-tests were used to analyze the self-efficacy and training skills survey data and pre-service teacher reflections and interview transcripts were used to triangulate the qualitative data. Results of the t-tests showed a significant difference in participants' self-efficacy for teaching measured before and after the improvisation training. A significant difference in means was also measured in participants' aptitude for improvisation strategies and for self-efficacy for their implementation pre-/post- training. Qualitative results from pre-service teacher class artifacts and interviews showed participants reported beneficial personal outcomes as well as confirmed using skills from the training while interacting with students. Many of the qualitative themes parallel individual question items on the teacher self-efficacy TSES scale as well as the improvisation self-efficacy scale CSAI. The self-reported changes in affective behavior such as increased self-confidence and ability to foster positive interaction with students are illustrative of changes in teacher agency. Self-reports of being able to better understand student perspectives demonstrate a change in participant ability to empathize with students. Participants who worked with both typically developing students as well as with students with disabilities reported utilizing improvisation strategies such as Yes, and..., mirroring emotions and body language, vocal prosody and establishing a narrative relationship to put the students at ease, establish a positive learning environment, encourage student contributions and foster teachable moments. The improvisation strategies showed specific benefit for participants working with nonverbal students or who had commutation difficulties, by providing the pre-service teachers with strategies for using body language, emotional mirroring, vocal prosody and acceptance to foster interaction and communication with the student.Results from this investigation appear to substantiate the benefit of using improvisation training as part of a pre-service teacher methods course for preparing teachers for inclusive elementary classrooms. Replication of the study is encouraged with teachers of differing populations to confirm and extend results.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004516, ucf:49273
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004516