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CHARACTER EDUCATION: EXAMINING THE PERCEPTIONS OF ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS IN A CENTRAL FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICT
Title
CHARACTER EDUCATION: EXAMINING THE PERCEPTIONS OF ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS IN A CENTRAL FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Creator
Ampel, Jason, Holt, Larry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
While schools are academic institutions to prepare our country's youth for their future, developing a child's character and civic responsibilities is necessary and is often deleted from the explicit curriculum set forth in most school districts throughout the country. This study investigated the perception of character education of teachers in a Central Florida school district, as it related to teacher importance, teacher efficacy, and teacher practice of character education. This...
Show moreWhile schools are academic institutions to prepare our country's youth for their future, developing a child's character and civic responsibilities is necessary and is often deleted from the explicit curriculum set forth in most school districts throughout the country. This study investigated the perception of character education of teachers in a Central Florida school district, as it related to teacher importance, teacher efficacy, and teacher practice of character education. This study investigated the responses of 497 classroom teachers surveyed within one Central Florida school district. The questionnaire used in this study was designed to illuminate teacher perceptions of character education, by examining a teacher's level of importance, efficacy, and practice of character education in their classrooms and schools. The three areas of importance, efficacy, and practice were examined to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference among Central Florida educators based upon demographic variables of a) grades level taught, b) years of experience, c) highest degree attained, d) gender, and e) National Board Certification. The results of this survey, in combination with existing research findings, proved to be beneficial in revealing the ideals and explicit actions that need to be prevalent in public schools today to insure a balance between academics and the development of civic behaviors and positive character values. This study was a step in a effort to depict the voices of all teachers as stakeholders in one Central Florida School district.
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Date Issued
2009
Identifier
CFE0002556, ucf:47642
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002556
AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOTEL EMPLOYEES' PERCEPTION OF GREEN PRACTICES
Title
AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOTEL EMPLOYEES' PERCEPTION OF GREEN PRACTICES.
Creator
Kim, Sun-Hwa, Okumus, Fevzi, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This study examined how employees of the hotel industry perceived green practices. Data was collected from 220 employees working in eight green certified hotels in Orlando. Research results revealed that performance levels of green practices implemented by hotels were lower than the importance levels of those same green practices as perceived by hotel employees. The results of the study illustrated that (1) the employees' perception regarding green practices was not different than one of...
Show moreThis study examined how employees of the hotel industry perceived green practices. Data was collected from 220 employees working in eight green certified hotels in Orlando. Research results revealed that performance levels of green practices implemented by hotels were lower than the importance levels of those same green practices as perceived by hotel employees. The results of the study illustrated that (1) the employees' perception regarding green practices was not different than one of hoteliers in terms of importance and performance, and (2) employees weighted the green practices that were beneficial to them as more important than green practices that required their behavior change. Also, a positive correlation between organizational commitment and green practices detected in this study which suggests that hotel organizations may anticipate positive ramifications of green practices in relation to HR approach when they embrace green practices. Unfortunately, employees' green perceptions at work were not generalized by their demographic characteristics, yet a number of considerable results were garnered from this study. These were (1) employees in operational departments were more green conscious than employees in other departments, (2) generation X was critical about green performance by the hotels, and (3) minorities showed more green concerns than other ethnicities. This study suggests that hotels need to spend more time and effort in communicating their green practice to employees. Training to improve green practices should be versatile and job-specific with strategies developed to motivate the employees to engage in green practices. Overall, this study proposes for hotels simply deploying green practices is not enough. They should carefully plan their green practices by training and motivating employees.
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Date Issued
2009
Identifier
CFE0002908, ucf:47990
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002908
APPEARANCE-DRIVEN MATERIAL DESIGN
Title
APPEARANCE-DRIVEN MATERIAL DESIGN.
Creator
Colbert, Mark, Hughes, Charles, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
In the computer graphics production environment, artists often must tweak specific lighting and material parameters to match a mind's eye vision of the appearance of a 3D scene. However, the interaction between a material and a lighting environment is often too complex to cognitively predict without visualization. Therefore, artists operate in a design cycle, where they tweak the parameters, wait for a visualization, and repeat, seeking to obtain a desired look. We propose the use of...
Show moreIn the computer graphics production environment, artists often must tweak specific lighting and material parameters to match a mind's eye vision of the appearance of a 3D scene. However, the interaction between a material and a lighting environment is often too complex to cognitively predict without visualization. Therefore, artists operate in a design cycle, where they tweak the parameters, wait for a visualization, and repeat, seeking to obtain a desired look. We propose the use of appearance-driven material design. Here, artists directly design the appearance of reflected light for a specific view, surface point, and time. In this thesis, we discuss several methods for appearance-driven design with homogeneous materials, spatially-varying materials, and appearance-matching materials, where each uses a unique modeling and optimization paradigm. Moreover, we present a novel treatment of the illumination integral using sampling theory that can utilize the computational power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) to provide real-time visualization of the appearance of various materials illuminated by complex environment lighting. As a system, the modeling, optimization and rendering steps all operate on arbitrary geometry and in detailed lighting environments, while still providing instant feedback to the designer. Thus, our approach allows materials to play an active role in the process of set design and story-telling, a capability that was, until now, difficult to achieve due to the unavailability of interactive tools appropriate for artists.
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Date Issued
2008
Identifier
CFE0002217, ucf:47913
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002217
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COLLEGE STUDENT SPRING BREAK DESTINATIONS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF TOURISM DESTINATION ATTRIBUTES
Title
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COLLEGE STUDENT SPRING BREAK DESTINATIONS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF TOURISM DESTINATION ATTRIBUTES.
Creator
Tang, Tricia, Choi, Youngsoo, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The tourism industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the world's economy, contributing 9.1% of world GDP and more than 260 million jobs worldwide (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2011). The U.S college student market has emerged as major segment within this sector, generating approximately $15 billion on annual domestic and international travel. Among the various travel patterns of college students, they are most highly motivated for spring break travel, with more than two...
Show moreThe tourism industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the world's economy, contributing 9.1% of world GDP and more than 260 million jobs worldwide (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2011). The U.S college student market has emerged as major segment within this sector, generating approximately $15 billion on annual domestic and international travel. Among the various travel patterns of college students, they are most highly motivated for spring break travel, with more than two million students traveling per season (Bai et al., 2004; Borgerding, 2001; Reynolds, 2004). This research, through surveying college students majoring in hospitality and tourism management, analyzed the significance of college student perceptions of key spring break destination attributes. A total of 281 usable responses were subjected to the Principal Component Analysis that generated six dimensions: Breaking Away, Sun and Beach, Safety and Hygiene, Psychological Distance, Price and Value, and Social Exploration, comprised of 24 key attributes that influence a college spring breaker's destination selection decision. An Importance-Performance Analysis (Martilla & James, 1977) was conducted based on the respondents' assessment of attributes on five of the six dimensions. The results of the IPA allowed comparison of the top four most visited destinations identified by the respondents: Daytona Beach, South Beach Miami, Panama City Beach, and Clearwater Beach/ Tampa. The study findings may provide valuable implications for destination service providers to improve their destination's appeal in this highly competitive and lucrative market. Future research on college spring break groups located in different geographic locations within the country is highly encouraged to better understand the general characteristics of this market.
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Date Issued
2012
Identifier
CFH0004193, ucf:44837
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004193
IMPACT OF LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT ON HOUSE MICE (MUS MUSCULUS) AND RED IMPORTED FIRE ANTS (SOLENOPSIS INVICTA)
Title
IMPACT OF LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT ON HOUSE MICE (MUS MUSCULUS) AND RED IMPORTED FIRE ANTS (SOLENOPSIS INVICTA).
Creator
Abelson, Jesse, Jenkins, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Understanding of mechanisms that limit the abundance and distribution of species is central to ecology. The failure of mechanisms to regulate populations can result in population outbreaks. There have been two outbreaks of house mice in the past decade in central Florida. In my study, I examine the efficacy of landscape management in the form of mowing and plowed soil barriers to limit or prevent outbreaks of house mice in a former agricultural area. House mouse populations were highly...
Show moreUnderstanding of mechanisms that limit the abundance and distribution of species is central to ecology. The failure of mechanisms to regulate populations can result in population outbreaks. There have been two outbreaks of house mice in the past decade in central Florida. In my study, I examine the efficacy of landscape management in the form of mowing and plowed soil barriers to limit or prevent outbreaks of house mice in a former agricultural area. House mouse populations were highly variable, but were unaffected by mowing or plowed soil barriers. Red imported fire ants were ubiquitous in the study area regardless of land management treatments. Control of fire ants did not result in more house mice on treated plots.
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Date Issued
2011
Identifier
CFE0003590, ucf:48899
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003590
Perceptions of Education as an Avenue to Life Course Success: A Study of Millennials
Title
Perceptions of Education as an Avenue to Life Course Success: A Study of Millennials.
Creator
Smith, Patrick, Gay, David, Lynxwiler, John, Wright, James, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
For more than a half a century the role of education and its influence on social mobility and status attainment has been a subject of research. Further more, education has been shown to be an important contributor for success over the life course. Much of the research surrounding status attainment and higher education has dealt with the Baby Boomer cohort. The purpose of the study is to examine education from a perspective that is less talked about to this point. This study uses data gathered...
Show moreFor more than a half a century the role of education and its influence on social mobility and status attainment has been a subject of research. Further more, education has been shown to be an important contributor for success over the life course. Much of the research surrounding status attainment and higher education has dealt with the Baby Boomer cohort. The purpose of the study is to examine education from a perspective that is less talked about to this point. This study uses data gathered by the Pew Research Center and examines a specific age group, current 18-30 year olds (Millennials), to gather a better understanding of their attitudes towards the value of higher education within the current era of the economy, education, and job opportunity. According to the analysis, females report higher odds of feeling that a college degree is important to success later in life. Equally important, results indicate that Blacks have greater odds of perceiving education to be important for success in life. Results also demonstrated that in this particular study, other factors such as income and employment status did not significantly affect respondent's perceptions on the importance of education.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFE0005263, ucf:50572
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005263
Fusing Freight Analysis Framework and Transearch Data: An Econometric Data Fusion Approach
Title
Fusing Freight Analysis Framework and Transearch Data: An Econometric Data Fusion Approach.
Creator
Momtaz, Salah Uddin, Eluru, Naveen, Abdel-Aty, Mohamed, Anowar, Sabreena, Zheng, Qipeng, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
A major hurdle in freight demand modeling has always been the lack of adequate data on freight movements for different industry sectors for planning applications. Freight Analysis Framework (FAF), and Transearch (TS) databases contain annualized commodity flow data. The primary motivation for our study is the development of a fused database from FAF and TS to realize transportation network flows at a fine spatial resolution (county-level) while accommodating for production and consumption...
Show moreA major hurdle in freight demand modeling has always been the lack of adequate data on freight movements for different industry sectors for planning applications. Freight Analysis Framework (FAF), and Transearch (TS) databases contain annualized commodity flow data. The primary motivation for our study is the development of a fused database from FAF and TS to realize transportation network flows at a fine spatial resolution (county-level) while accommodating for production and consumption behavioral trends (provided by TS). Towards this end, we formulate and estimate a joint econometric model framework grounded in maximum likelihood approach to estimate county-level commodity flows. The algorithm is implemented for the commodity flow information from 2012 FAF and 2011 TS databases to generate transportation network flows for 67 counties in Florida. The data fusion process considers several exogenous variables including origin-destination indicator variables, socio-demographic and socio-economic indicators, and transportation infrastructure indicators. Subsequently, the algorithm is implemented to develop freight flows for the Florida region considering inflows and outflows across the US and neighboring countries. The base year models developed are employed to predict future year data for years 2015 through 2040 in 5-year increments at the same spatial level. Furthermore, we disaggregate the county level flows obtained from algorithm to a finer resolution - statewide transportation analysis zone (SWTAZ) defined by the FDOT. The disaggregation process allocates truck-based commodity flows from a 79-zone system to an 8835-zone system. A two-stage factor multiplication method is proposed to disaggregate the county flow to SWTAZ flow. The factors are estimated both at the origin and destination level using a random utility factional split model approach. Eventually, we conducted a sensitivity analysis of the parameterization by evaluating the model structure for different numbers of intermediate stops in a route and/or the number of available routes for the origin-destinations.
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Date Issued
2018
Identifier
CFE0007763, ucf:52384
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007763