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Title: A BLUEPRINT FOR PLANNING AND DESIGNING STAGED-AUTHENTIC HERITAGE ATTRACTIONS IN SMALL ISLAND NATIONS.
Creator: Lasten, Earney, Pizam, Abraham, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this largely qualitative study was to develop a blueprint for planning and designing a staged-authentic heritage tourist attraction for small island nations. Data were gathered and analyzed in three phases. In Phase I, existing and potential supply, demand, and external variables associated with staged-authentic heritage attractions were identified, and a preliminary planning model and conceptual framework was developed. In Phase II, the model was refined. A blueprint...
Show moreThe purpose of this largely qualitative study was to develop a blueprint for planning and designing a staged-authentic heritage tourist attraction for small island nations. Data were gathered and analyzed in three phases. In Phase I, existing and potential supply, demand, and external variables associated with staged-authentic heritage attractions were identified, and a preliminary planning model and conceptual framework was developed. In Phase II, the model was refined. A blueprint containing seven major questions and 26 sequential steps was developed. In Phase III, the blueprint was tested using focus groups and an online tourist survey in the Caribbean region (Aruba) in order to determine the extent to which it could be useful to those responsible for the development of staged-authentic heritage tourist attractions. It was concluded that (a) the devised blueprint is appropriate and effective for planning and designing a staged-authentic heritage attraction for small island nations, (b) the seven questions and 26 steps developed to support the methodological flowchart ensure attention to essential activities and events in the planning and designing of a staged-authentic heritage attraction, and (c) continuous collaboration among all stakeholders is required in planning and designing staged-authentic heritage attractions so as to ensure commitment of those who would be contributors, supporters, and developers of the project. Implications for the use of the blueprint and for staged-authentic heritage attractions were offered. Also presented were recommendations for future research.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003450, ucf:48406
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003450

Title: INTEGRATING UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING THROUGH CONTENT VIDEO WITH PRESERVICE TEACHERS.
Creator: Aronin, Sara, Dieker, Lisa, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Given current legislation to ensure education for students with disabilities and that institutions of higher education are required to use universal design for learning (UDL) principles, the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of video modeling on preservice teachers' knowledge, understanding and application of the three principles of UDL. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to control or experimental groups to determine if video embedded with UDL principles impacted...
Show moreGiven current legislation to ensure education for students with disabilities and that institutions of higher education are required to use universal design for learning (UDL) principles, the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of video modeling on preservice teachers' knowledge, understanding and application of the three principles of UDL. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to control or experimental groups to determine if video embedded with UDL principles impacted their thinking. Specifically, pre and posttest information of knowledge and understanding as well as self-perceived ability to teach students with disabilities using UDL was analyzed. In addition preservice teacher created lesson plans were analyzed for application of UDL principles after viewing the video intervention. Quantitative analyses were conducted to compare pre and posttest scores of the control group (n = 41) and experimental group (n =45). The quantitative analyses of knowledge, understanding and self-perceived ability to use UDL were mixed. The results of this investigation were consistent with current research that teacher application of a skill requires more than a one-shot intervention.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002816, ucf:48115
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002816

Title: HAVE YOU HEARD? PREDICTORS OF HPV AWARENESS AMONG A RANDOM SAMPLE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Creator: Arrastia, Meagan, Rivera, Fernando, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: College students have been identified as at high risk for contracting Human Papillomavirus (HPV) due to engaging in risky behaviors, such as binge drinking and unprotected sex. Before preventative measures like vaccination and condom usage can be promoted, awareness must be evaluated. A random sample of 438 college students was surveyed on their awareness of HPV using both paper and online surveying methods. Using binary logistic regression, HPV awareness was predicted using demographic...
Show moreCollege students have been identified as at high risk for contracting Human Papillomavirus (HPV) due to engaging in risky behaviors, such as binge drinking and unprotected sex. Before preventative measures like vaccination and condom usage can be promoted, awareness must be evaluated. A random sample of 438 college students was surveyed on their awareness of HPV using both paper and online surveying methods. Using binary logistic regression, HPV awareness was predicted using demographic measures. The majority of the sample reported having heard of HPV before. Sexually active respondents and females were significantly more likely to report awareness. Non-whites and first-generation college students were also more likely to report awareness. These demographic predictors will help identify groups needing educational and HPV intervention programs. Implications and further research is discussed.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002640, ucf:48208
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002640

Title: 2008 EMISSIONS INVENTORY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA.
Creator: Ross, Jessica, Cooper, Dr. C. David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: An emissions inventory of VOCs, NOx, and CO2 was conducted for three central Florida counties Orange, Seminole, and Osceola (OSO) for calendar year 2008. The inventory utilized three programs: MOBILE6, NONROAD2005, and EDMS (Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System) to model on-road mobile, non-road mobile, and airport emissions, respectively. Remaining point and area source data was estimated from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the U.S. Environmental...
Show moreAn emissions inventory of VOCs, NOx, and CO2 was conducted for three central Florida counties Orange, Seminole, and Osceola (OSO) for calendar year 2008. The inventory utilized three programs: MOBILE6, NONROAD2005, and EDMS (Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System) to model on-road mobile, non-road mobile, and airport emissions, respectively. Remaining point and area source data was estimated from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) 2008 emissions inventory. The previous OSO emissions inventory was done in 2002 and in the six years between inventories, there have been changes in population, commerce, and pollution control technology in central Florida which have affected the region's emissions. It is important to model VOC and NOx emissions to determine from where the largest proportions are coming. VOCs and NOx are ozone precursors, and in the presence of heat and sunlight, they react to form ozone (O3). Ozone is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the FDEP. The current standard is 75 parts per billion (ppb) and Orange County's average is 71 ppb. A new standard (which will likely be about 65 ppb) is being developed and is scheduled to be announced by July 2011. If OSO goes into non-attainment, it will need to prepare a contingency plan for how to reduce emissions to submit to the FDEP for approval. The 2008 inventory determined that approximately 71,300 tons of VOCs and 59,000 tons of NOx were emitted that year. The majority of VOCs came from on-road mobile sources (33%) and area sources (43%), while the majority of NOx came from on-road mobile sources (64%) and non-road mobile sources (17%). Other major sources of VOCs included gasoline powered non-road mobile equipment (lawn and garden equipment), consumer solvents, cooking, and gasoline distribution. With the numbers that could be determined for CO2 emissions, on-road mobile and point sources were responsible for 93%. Of the point source CO2 emissions, almost all of it (87%) came from one large coal-fired power plant in Orange County.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003703, ucf:48834
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003703

Title: Coordinated Optimal Power Planning of Wind Turbines in an Offshore Wind Farm.
Creator: Vishwakarma, Puneet, Xu, Yunjun, Kapat, Jayanta, Kauffman, Jeffrey, Behal, Aman, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Wind energy is on an upswing due to climate concerns and increasing energy demands on conventional sources. Wind energy is attractive and has the potential to dramatically reduce the dependency on non-renewable energy resources. With the increase in wind farms there is a need to improve the efficiency in power allocation and power generation among wind turbines. Wake interferences among wind turbines can lower the overall efficiency considerably, while offshore conditions pose increased...
Show moreWind energy is on an upswing due to climate concerns and increasing energy demands on conventional sources. Wind energy is attractive and has the potential to dramatically reduce the dependency on non-renewable energy resources. With the increase in wind farms there is a need to improve the efficiency in power allocation and power generation among wind turbines. Wake interferences among wind turbines can lower the overall efficiency considerably, while offshore conditions pose increased loading on wind turbines. In wind farms, wind turbines' wake affects each other depending on their positions and operation modes. Therefore it becomes essential to optimize the wind farm power production as a whole than to just focus on individual wind turbines. The work presented here develops a hierarchical power optimization algorithm for wind farms. The algorithm includes a cooperative level (or higher level) and an individual level (or lower level) for power coordination and planning in a wind farm. The higher level scheme formulates and solves a quadratic constrained programming problem to allocate power to wind turbines in the farm while considering the aerodynamic effect of the wake interaction among the turbines and the power generation capabilities of the wind turbines. In the lower level, optimization algorithm is based on a leader-follower structure driven by the local pursuit strategy. The local pursuit strategy connects the cooperative level power allocation and the individual level power generation in a leader-follower arrangement. The leader, could be a virtual entity and dictates the overall objective, while the followers are real wind turbines considering realistic constraints, such as tower deflection limits. A nonlinear wind turbine dynamics model is adopted for the low level study with loading and other constraints considered in the optimization. The stability of the algorithm in the low level is analyzed for the wind turbine angular velocity. Simulations are used to show the advantages of the method such as the ability to handle non-square input matrix, non-homogenous dynamics, and scalability in computational cost with rise in the number of wind turbines in the wind farm.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005899, ucf:50896
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005899

Title: The Russian Connection: How Russia Became a Leader in the World's Human Trafficking Market.
Creator: De Mauro, Anthony, Mousseau, Demet, Dolan, Thomas, Boutton, Andrew, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis assesses how the history of the USSR and its collapse affected the human trafficking market. By conducting a historical analysis of the Soviet Union, key aspects of Soviet society were determined that allowed for the human trafficking market to establish and operate extremely lucratively; a focus on some of the established factors of human trafficking including corruption, law enforcement, the economy, organized crime, and the dissolution of the Soviet government. While this...
Show moreThis thesis assesses how the history of the USSR and its collapse affected the human trafficking market. By conducting a historical analysis of the Soviet Union, key aspects of Soviet society were determined that allowed for the human trafficking market to establish and operate extremely lucratively; a focus on some of the established factors of human trafficking including corruption, law enforcement, the economy, organized crime, and the dissolution of the Soviet government. While this thesis highlights the historical factors of Russian human trafficking, this thesis does not determine why human trafficking exists beyond the surface exploitation that human trafficking consists of. This thesis also does not explore or explain why Russian human trafficking continues to exist for nearly twenty-five years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This thesis does conclude that the history of the Soviet Union is almost tailor made for the purposes of human trafficking, with the combination of organized crime, an economy that constantly struggled, a government that was full of corruption and focused on too many endeavors, and a population that faced starvations, a lack of material goods, and political persecution all contributed to Russia having a large supply (population) of victims to be potentially exploited.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006450, ucf:51444
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006450

Title: Total Ownership Cost Modeling of Technology Adoption Using System Dynamics: Implications for ERP Systems.
Creator: Esmaeilian, Behzad, Karwowski, Waldemar, Mollaghasemi, Mansooreh, Xanthopoulos, Petros, Ahram, Tareq, Kincaid, John, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Investment in new technologies is considered by firms as a solution to improve their productivity, product and service quality and their competitive advantages in the global market. Unfortunately, not all technology adoption projects have met their intended objectives. The complexity of technology adoption along with little consideration of the long term cost of the technology, are among the factors that challenge companies while adopting a new technology. Companies often make new technology...
Show moreInvestment in new technologies is considered by firms as a solution to improve their productivity, product and service quality and their competitive advantages in the global market. Unfortunately, not all technology adoption projects have met their intended objectives. The complexity of technology adoption along with little consideration of the long term cost of the technology, are among the factors that challenge companies while adopting a new technology. Companies often make new technology adoption decision without enough attention to the total cost of the technology over its lifecycle. Sometimes poor decision making while adopting a new technology can result in substantial recurring loss impacts. Therefore, estimating the total cost of the technology is an important step in justifying the technology adoption. Total Ownership Cost (TOC) is a wildly-accepted financial metric which can be applied to study the costs associated with the new technology throughout its lifecycle. TOC helps companies analyze not only the acquisition and procurement cost of the technology, but also other cost components occurring over the technology usage and service stage. The point is that, technology adoption cost estimation is a complex process involving consideration of various aspects such as the maintenance cost, technology upgrade cost and the cost related to the human-resource. Assessing the association between the technology characteristics (technology upgrades over its life cycle, compatibility with other systems, technology life span, etc) and the TOC encompasses a high degree of complexity. The complexity exists because there are many factors affecting the cost over time. Sometimes decisions made today can have long lasting impact on the system costs and there is a lag between the time the decision is taken and when outcomes occur. An original contribution of this dissertation is development of a System Dynamics (SD) model to estimate the TOC associated with the new technology adoption. The SD model creates casual linkage and relationships among various aspects of the technology adoption process and allows decision makers to explore the impact of their decisions on the total cost that the technology brings into the company. The SD model presented in this dissertation composes of seven sub-models including (1) technology implementation efforts, (2) workforce training, (3) technology-related workforce hiring process, (4) preventive and corrective maintenance process, (5) technology upgrade, (6) impact of technology on system performance and (7) total ownership cost sub model. A case study of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system adoption has been used to show the application of the SD model. The results of the model show that maintenance, upgrade and workforce hiring costs are among the major cost components in the ERP adoption case study presented in Chapter 4. The simulation SD model developed in this dissertation supports trade-off analysis and provides a tool for technology scenarios evaluation. The SD model presented here can be extended to provide a basis for developing a decision support system for technology evaluation.?
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004836, ucf:49686
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004836

Title: Understanding the beliefs and attitudes of mid-career secondary school teachers toward teacher evaluation and its effect on their professional practice: A mixed method phenomenological study.
Creator: Booth, William, Gill, Michele, Taylor, Rosemarye, Hutchinson, Cynthia, Mullins, Mark, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this mixed-method phenomenological study is to understand the beliefs and attitudes that mid-career secondary school teachers have regarding the teacher evaluation process and its effect on their professional practice. Mid-career secondary school teachers (defined as having between 14-21 years of classroom experience) from Bayview Public Schools were selected to participate. A total of 152 mid-career secondary school teachers completed an electronic survey. Additionally, a...
Show moreThe purpose of this mixed-method phenomenological study is to understand the beliefs and attitudes that mid-career secondary school teachers have regarding the teacher evaluation process and its effect on their professional practice. Mid-career secondary school teachers (defined as having between 14-21 years of classroom experience) from Bayview Public Schools were selected to participate. A total of 152 mid-career secondary school teachers completed an electronic survey. Additionally, a total of 9 participants took part in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework used to guide the study was the theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1988; 1991) and Bandura's theory of self-efficacy (1977). The quantitative results from the electronic survey were used to augment qualitative data collected from interviews with willing participants.The interviews with study participants were analyzed for emerging themes. In all, a total of nine emerging themes came to light through the analysis of interview data. The data revealed areas of concern regarding the current method of evaluating teachers in Bayview Public Schools. A presentation of the findings with regard to the theoretical framework, literature, and practice were presented. Furthermore, a list of recommendations was provided addressing the specific concerns of participating teachers. In conclusion, recommendations were also made concerning future research that might continue to add to the body of knowledge concerning teacher evaluation.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005765, ucf:50077
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005765

Title: Bio-inspired, Varying Manifold Based Method with Enhanced Initial Guess Strategies for Single Vehicle's Optimal Trajectory Planning.
Creator: Li, Ni, Xu, Yunjun, Lin, Kuo-Chi, Bai, Yuanli, Behal, Aman, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Trajectory planning is important in many applications involving unmanned aerial vehicles, underwater vehicles, spacecraft, and industrial manipulators. It is still a challenging task to rapidly find an optimal trajectory while taking into account dynamic and environmental constraints. In this dissertation, a unified, varying manifold based optimal trajectory planning method inspired by several predator-prey relationships is investigated to tackle this challenging problem. Biological species,...
Show moreTrajectory planning is important in many applications involving unmanned aerial vehicles, underwater vehicles, spacecraft, and industrial manipulators. It is still a challenging task to rapidly find an optimal trajectory while taking into account dynamic and environmental constraints. In this dissertation, a unified, varying manifold based optimal trajectory planning method inspired by several predator-prey relationships is investigated to tackle this challenging problem. Biological species, such as hoverflies, ants, and bats, have developed many efficient hunting strategies. It is hypothesized that these types of predators only move along paths in a carefully selected manifold based on the prey's motion in some of their hunting activities. Inspired by these studies, the predator-prey relationships are organized into a unified form and incorporated into the trajectory optimization formulation, which can reduce the computational cost in solving nonlinear constrained optimal trajectory planning problems. Specifically, three motion strategies are studied in this dissertation: motion camouflage, constant absolute target direction, and local pursuit. Necessary conditions based on the speed and obstacle avoidance constraints are derived. Strategies to tune initial guesses are proposed based on these necessary conditions to enhance the convergence rate and reduce the computational cost of the motion camouflage inspired strategy. The following simulations have been conducted to show the advantages of the proposed methods: a supersonic aircraft minimum-time-to-climb problem, a ground robot obstacle avoidance problem, and a micro air vehicle minimum time trajectory problem. The results show that the proposed methods can find the optimal solution with higher success rate and faster convergent speed as compared with some other popular methods. Among these three motion strategies, the method based on the local pursuit strategy has a relatively higher success rate when compared to the other two.In addition, the optimal trajectory planning method is embedded into a receding horizon framework with unknown parameters updated in each planning horizon using an Extended Kalman Filter.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0005023, ucf:49986
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005023

Title: Bio-Inspired Cooperative Optimal Trajectory Planning for Autonomous Vehicles.
Creator: Remeikas, Charles, Xu, Yunjun, Kassab, Alain, Lin, Kuo-Chi, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: With the recent trend for systems to be more and more autonomous, there is a growing need for cooperative trajectory planning. Applications that can be considered as cooperative systems such as surveying, formation flight, and traffic control need a method that can rapidly produce trajectories while considering all of the constraints on the system. Currently most of the existing methods to handle cooperative control are based around either simple dynamics and/or on the assumption that all...
Show moreWith the recent trend for systems to be more and more autonomous, there is a growing need for cooperative trajectory planning. Applications that can be considered as cooperative systems such as surveying, formation flight, and traffic control need a method that can rapidly produce trajectories while considering all of the constraints on the system. Currently most of the existing methods to handle cooperative control are based around either simple dynamics and/or on the assumption that all vehicles have homogeneous properties. In reality, typical autonomous systems will have heterogeneous, nonlinear dynamics while also being subject to extreme constraints on certain state and control variables. In this thesis, a new approach to the cooperative control problem is presented based on the bio-inspired motion strategy known as local pursuit. In this framework, decision making about the group trajectory and formation are handled at a cooperative level while individual trajectory planning is considered in a local sense. An example is presented for a case of an autonomous farming system (e.g. scouting) utilizing nonlinear vehicles to cooperatively accomplish various farming task with minimal energy consumption or minimum time. The decision making and trajectory generation is handled very quickly while being able to consider changing environments laden with obstacles.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0005053, ucf:49978
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005053

Title: Problems of the development of the U. S. S. R: Draft of the thesis of the International left opposition on the Russian question.
Creator: Trotsky, Leon, Lewitt, Morris, Shachtman, Max
Date Issued: 1931
Identifier: 367857, CFDT367857, ucf:5364
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FCLA/DT/367857

Title: MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FIT FOR ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE.
Creator: Diaz, Rey, Kotnour, Timothy, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The present study identifies the dimensions and variables using prior research within each of the constructs under the management systems, fit and, organizational strategy, structure, lifecycle and performance. The constructs from the research model were defined with a combination of direct, calculated and coded measures. Context analysis for each case categorized management systems design into either prescriptive or descriptive. The selected performance measures have been extensively...
Show moreThe present study identifies the dimensions and variables using prior research within each of the constructs under the management systems, fit and, organizational strategy, structure, lifecycle and performance. The constructs from the research model were defined with a combination of direct, calculated and coded measures. Context analysis for each case categorized management systems design into either prescriptive or descriptive. The selected performance measures have been extensively investigated in the research fields associated with organizational management. The study uses the multiple case study design with cross-sectional data spanning from 1991 to 2005 and involving 19 aerospace companies in the United States. A priori hypothesized relationships between the constructs were tested with Mann-Whitney procedures for differences between mean ranks associated with organizational performance measures. The results from Mann-Whitney tests suggest that there exist significant differences in organizational performance from fit factors between a management system design and the organization. Present study defined organizational performance measures for analysis in terms of Return on Assets, Return on Equity and Return on Investment. When compared to a prescriptive management system design, a descriptive management system design was associated with higher levels of organizational performance. Cases with a fit state were found to score significantly higher than cases with unfit state suggesting that a correct fit state is associated with higher levels of organizational performance. A fit state was associated with higher levels of performance when each of the organizational factors for strategy, structure and lifecycle were aligned to management system design. Study results suggest equifinality as cases reached a particular fit state with differing combinations of fit factors. The study contributes to the field with interpretation of a fit model and key relationship between management systems and performance providing the base for future research efforts associated with management systems, organizational factors and the fit between them.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001574, ucf:47111
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001574

Title: OPTIMIZING THE LEVEL OF CUSTOMIZATION FOR PRODUCTS IN MASS CUSTOMIZATION SYSTEMS.
Creator: Spahi, Sami, Hosni, Yasser, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Mass customization (MC) was developed to capitalize on the combined benefits of economies of scale and economies of scope. Balancing the tradeoffs involved in an MC system warrants the determination of the degree or the extent of customization. Most of the literature views the degree of customization as how early or how far the customer is integrated in the production cycle, which is defined as the order decoupling point. In this study we are addressing the degree of customization from a...
Show moreMass customization (MC) was developed to capitalize on the combined benefits of economies of scale and economies of scope. Balancing the tradeoffs involved in an MC system warrants the determination of the degree or the extent of customization. Most of the literature views the degree of customization as how early or how far the customer is integrated in the production cycle, which is defined as the order decoupling point. In this study we are addressing the degree of customization from a product structural perspective. There are two objectives in this research. The first is to develop a unit of measurement for the degree of customization of a product in an MC system. The second is to construct an optimization model to determine the level of customization that would best satisfy the organizational goals. The term "Magnitude of Customization" (MOC) has been introduced as a measuring unit for the degree of customization on a customization scale (CS). The MOC is based on the number of module options or the extent of customizable features per component in a product. To satisfy the second objective, an analytical model based on preemptive goal programming was developed. The model optimizes the solution as to how far an organization should customize a product to best satisfy its strategic goals. The model considers goals such as increasing the market share, and attaining a higher level of customer satisfaction, while keeping the risk or budget below a certain amount. A step-by-step algorithm is developed for the model application. A case study of an aluminum windows and doors company is used to verify and validate the model. A double panel sliding window is selected as the subject of our study. Information related to company goals and objectives vis-à-vis customization is gathered, through interviews and questionnaires, from the upper management including Operations, Marketing, and Finance Departments. The Window design and technical information are collected from the Manufacturing Department. The model and its solution provided specific recommendations on what to customize and to what degree to best satisfy primary strategic goals for the organization. Results from the model application shows that the company is able to meet the five goals that they had identified with two goals having a deviation of 4.7% and 6.6% from the targets. To achieve the stated goals, the model recommends an overall degree of customization of approximately 32.23% and delineates that to the component and feature levels. For validation, the model results are compared to the actual status of the company and the manufacturer's recommendation without prior information about the model outcome. The average difference, for attaining the same goals, is found to be 6.05%, at a standard deviation of 6.02% and variance of 36.29%, which is considered adequately close. The proposed model presents a framework that combines various research efforts into a flexible but encompassing method that can provide decision-makers with essential production planning guidelines in an MC setup. Finally, suggestions are provided as to how the model can be expanded and refined to include goal formulations that accommodate potential MC systems and technology advances. To the best of our knowledge, this research is a pioneer in quantifying customization in an MC environment and relating it to the organizational goals through modeling and optimization.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002197, ucf:47902
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002197

Title: Faculty Perceptions and Use of Web 2.0 Tools in Saudi Arabian Higher Education.
Creator: Alashwal, May, Campbell, Laurie, Hartshorne, Richard, Bai, Haiyan, Cox, Thomas, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study investigated factors that predict Saudi Arabian faculty members' intentions to adopt and use Web 2.0 tools and to assess faculty's awareness of the educational benefits of Web 2.0 tools to supplement classroom instructions in higher education. One hundred and three faculty members (34 male and 69 female) from a large university in the Western region of Saudi Arabia participated in the web survey. The framework and model for explaining and predicting the contributing factors towards...
Show moreThis study investigated factors that predict Saudi Arabian faculty members' intentions to adopt and use Web 2.0 tools and to assess faculty's awareness of the educational benefits of Web 2.0 tools to supplement classroom instructions in higher education. One hundred and three faculty members (34 male and 69 female) from a large university in the Western region of Saudi Arabia participated in the web survey. The framework and model for explaining and predicting the contributing factors towards the decision to adopt and use of Web 2.0 tools was the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB). The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was utilized to analyze data collected from the web survey. Results indicate that positive attitudes and perceived usefulness are significant predictors of Saudi Arabian faculty members' intentions to use Web 2.0 tools. Moreover, findings indicate that Saudi Arabian faculty members intend to use Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and social networking in their future classrooms to improve students' learning, student-student interaction, student-faculty interaction, and students' writing ability. Research implications for administrators and higher educational institutions indicate that professional development programs could be designed based on the significant predictors in the DTPB to support a successful integration of Web 2.0 tools in higher education.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007424, ucf:52695
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007424

Title: A Survey of Investing and Retirement Knowledge and Preferences of Florida Preservice Teachers.
Creator: Thripp, Richard, Hartshorne, Richard, Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie, Hoffman, Bobby, Jahani, Shiva, Mottola, Gary, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: New teachers are facing lower pay and less generous retirement benefits than the prior generation, yet their financial and retirement knowledge, concerns, and preferences have received little attention. To investigate these areas, the author developed a 39-item survey instrument and administered it to 314 preservice teachers in undergraduate teacher education courses at the University of Central Florida, who were primarily female elementary and early childhood education juniors and seniors...
Show moreNew teachers are facing lower pay and less generous retirement benefits than the prior generation, yet their financial and retirement knowledge, concerns, and preferences have received little attention. To investigate these areas, the author developed a 39-item survey instrument and administered it to 314 preservice teachers in undergraduate teacher education courses at the University of Central Florida, who were primarily female elementary and early childhood education juniors and seniors ages 18(-)25. Florida public employees are offered an unusual choice between a traditional pension plan and a defined-contribution plan similar to a 401(k) in which they can select their own investments, and 54% of surveyed preservice teachers preferred the 401(k)-like plan structure. However, their preferences may be ill-advised, given that in a mock portfolio allocation exercise intended to assess retirement investing sophistication, preservice teachers directed more than half their retirement money to low-risk money market and bond funds, which will likely underperform stocks over several decades. Furthermore, they anticipated that low salaries will impede their ability to save for retirement. For comparison, the survey was also administered to 205 U.S. college students or graduates ages 18(-)25 on the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform for $1.00 each. Worrisomely, preservice teachers had significantly lower financial knowledge and retirement investing sophistication. These findings suggest a need for financial education targeting Florida preservice teachers, particularly given that the Florida Retirement System substantially cut its benefits in 2011.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007868, ucf:52793
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007868

Title: ORGANIZATIONAL SAFETY CULTURE AND IDIVIDUAL SAFETY BEHAVIOR: A CASE STUDY OF THE TURKISH NATIONAL POLICE AVIATION DEPARTMENT.
Creator: Uryan, Yildirim, T. H. Wan, Thomas, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Human related accidents in high-risk industries amount to a significant economic hazard and incur tremendous damages, causing excessive operational costs and loss of life. The aviation industry now observes human-related accidents more frequently than in the past, an upswing attributable to cutting-edge technology usage and the complex systems employed by aviation organizations. Historically, aviation accidents have been attributed to individual unsafe behavior. However, contemporary accident...
Show moreHuman related accidents in high-risk industries amount to a significant economic hazard and incur tremendous damages, causing excessive operational costs and loss of life. The aviation industry now observes human-related accidents more frequently than in the past, an upswing attributable to cutting-edge technology usage and the complex systems employed by aviation organizations. Historically, aviation accidents have been attributed to individual unsafe behavior. However, contemporary accident causation models suggest that organizational-level factors influence individual safety performance, as human-related accidents take place in an organizational context. The present study examines the formation of organizational safety culture and influence on individualsÃ‚Â' safety behavior in a police aviation environment. The theory of planned behavior guides the study model in explaining individual variability in safety behavior via organizational safety culture. The study conceptualized organizational safety culture and individual safety behavior as multidimensional constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for each latent construct to validate the construct validity for each measurement model. Organizational safety culture was observed via safety climate facets, which contained four subcomponents including individual attitude, group norms, management attitude, and workplace pressures. Individual safety behavior contained violation and error components observed by self-reported statements. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the study hypotheses. Utilizing a sample of 210 employees from the Turkish National Police Aviation Department, a 53-item survey was conducted to measure individualsÃ‚Â' safety culture perceptions and self-reported safety behaviors. The results suggest that individual safety behavior is significantly influenced by organizational safety culture. Except for the relation between workplace pressures and intention, all suggested relations and correlations were statistically significant. The four-factor measurement model of organizational safety climate fit reasonably well to the data, and most correlations between the safety climate components were significant at the .05 level. IndividualsÃ‚Â' self-reported error behavior is positively associated with age, and individualsÃ‚Â' self-reported violation behavior is positively associated with years of service. Overall, along with organizational safety culture, age and service-year variables accounted for 65% of the variance in intention, 55% of the variance in violation behavior, and 68% of the variance in error behavior. Lastly, no significant difference manifested among pilots, maintenance personnel, and office staff according to their self-related safety behaviors. The findings have theoretical, policy, and managerial implications. First, the theory of planned behavior was tested, and its usefulness in explaining individualsÃ‚Â' safety behavior was demonstrated. The survey instrument of the study, and multi-dimensional measurement models for organizational safety climate and individual safety behavior were theoretical contributions of the study. Second, the emergence of informal organizational structures and their effects on individuals indicated several policy implications. The study also revealed the importance of informal structures in organizations performing in high-risk environments, especially in designing safety systems, safety policies, and regulations. Policy modification was suggested to overcome anticipated obstacles and the perceived difficulty of working with safety procedures. The influences of age on error behavior and years of service on violation behavior point to the need for several policy modifications regarding task assignment, personnel recruitment, health reports, and violation assessment policies. As well, managerial implications were suggested, including changing individualsÃ‚Â' perceptions of management and group attitudes toward safety. The negative influence of anticipated obstacles and the perceived difficulties of safety procedures on individual safety behavior pointed out managementÃ‚Â's role in reducing risks and accidents by designing intervention programs to improve safety performance, and formulating proactive solutions for problems typically leading to accidents and injuries.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003190, ucf:48587
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003190

Title: CREATING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND USE MIX, NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC REALM ENGAGEMENT AND NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL CAPITAL.
Creator: Burns, William, Korosec, Ronnie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This research provides a confirmatory based analysis which begins with the planning concept of land use mix and explores its explanatory affect upon resident perceptions of their built environment in terms of proximity of recreation and retail destinations within their neighborhood public realm. This research further explores the residentÃ‚Â's potential inclination to access these destinations by non motorized active travel modes of walking or bicycling. This research...
Show moreThis research provides a confirmatory based analysis which begins with the planning concept of land use mix and explores its explanatory affect upon resident perceptions of their built environment in terms of proximity of recreation and retail destinations within their neighborhood public realm. This research further explores the residentÃ‚Â's potential inclination to access these destinations by non motorized active travel modes of walking or bicycling. This research examines the relationship between the propensity for active travel within the neighborhood public realm and levels of resident active engagement (walking and bicycling) and passive engagement (sitting on the front porch) in the neighborhood public realm. This research then examines the relationship between public realm engagement and levels of neighborhood social capital. There are two overarching types of community design patterns, the traditional design pattern, which generally provides higher levels of land use mix and the conventional suburban design pattern, which generally provides lower levels of land use mix (primarily single use). Since the end of World War II, virtually all of the Florida landscape has been developed with the conventional suburban design pattern. In the past ten years, several planning based initiatives have been undertaken by regional planning advocacy and academic organizations which examine differing outcomes associated with the implementation of traditional versus suburban design patterns. Specifically, these studies sought to understand how these different design patterns would translate into the development of existing undisturbed uplands and wetlands. Two major studies, the Penn Design Study (2004) sponsored by the University of Central Florida Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies and the Ã‚Â"How Shall We GrowÃ‚Â" (2006) study sponsored by MyRegion.org in association with the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, provided scenarios associated with future growth outcomes over the next fifty years within the seven county Central Florida region. These study initiatives concluded that the conventional suburban pattern should no longer be implemented in order to reduce future adverse impacts to FloridaÃ‚Â's environment. These studies supported the implementation of a more traditional pattern of growth, with its higher levels of compactness, mixed land uses and connectivity, as the preferred form of future land development. They demonstrated that traditional design forms would reduce the amount of impacted undeveloped land and also reduce the amount of public service costs associated with lower levels of compactness and land use mix. Although the aforementioned studies provide a very informative evaluation from an environmental perspective, they do not extend their differing potential growth scenarios to a Ã‚Â"healthy communitiesÃ‚Â" perspective. This research endeavors to begin to fill that gap through evidence based research using a confirmatory model approach that addresses relationships between phenomena that may be indicative of healthy communities. This study identifies the phenomena of outdoor neighborhood public realm engagement, primarily in the form of physical activity (walking and bicycling) and socializing in the public realm, and neighborhood level social capital, and their potential relationship with higher and lower levels of land use mix. This research posits a pathway mechanism, using structural equation modeling, to better grasp their possible relationships. This research seeks to add evidence based research to the public policy discussion pertaining to the type of future land development patterns that will be advocated by citizens and public policy makers by providing a fuller evaluative resource that includes a discussion of Ã‚Â"healthy communitiesÃ‚Â" in terms of outdoor physical activity and social interaction.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003515, ucf:48948
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003515

Title: DRAMA + MATH = DRAMATH.
Creator: Bryson, Lucy, Weaver, Earl, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Arts-Across-the-Curriculum is gaining popularity in the field of education as arts programs are being cut from schools and teachers look for ways to incorporate art in their classroom. Most of these teachers have minimal formal arts training, but recognize the importance of introducing their students to various fine arts disciplines. These educators seek opportunities to learn new ways to bring arts to their students and may bring teaching artists into their classrooms to teach students or...
Show moreArts-Across-the-Curriculum is gaining popularity in the field of education as arts programs are being cut from schools and teachers look for ways to incorporate art in their classroom. Most of these teachers have minimal formal arts training, but recognize the importance of introducing their students to various fine arts disciplines. These educators seek opportunities to learn new ways to bring arts to their students and may bring teaching artists into their classrooms to teach students or teachers. The clear connection between drama and the core subjects of history and literature allow teaching artists to easily create units utilizing both curriculum areas. Mathematics does not present clear connections to drama and the prevalence of mathematics anxiety, especially in the arts, prevents connections from being made. As an educator, theatre artist and lover of mathematics, Arts-Across-the-Curriculum provides me a opportunity to meld these together as a way to help young people find excitement in their education. Partnering with a fourth grade teacher, I developed a unit of lesson plans using playwriting as a way to understand word problems that was user-friendly for a teacher with no arts training. The Dramath Unit was integrated into the class as part of regular curriculum taught by the participating classroom teacher. Based on feedback from the participating teacher, I revised the unit for future use.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003618, ucf:48871
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003618

Title: EXPLOITING OPPONENT MODELING FOR LEARNING IN MULTI-AGENT ADVERSARIAL GAMES.
Creator: Laviers, Kennard, Sukthankar, Gita, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: An issue with learning effective policies in multi-agent adversarial games is that the size of the search space can be prohibitively large when the actions of both teammates and opponents are considered simultaneously. Opponent modeling, predicting an opponent's actions in advance of execution, is one approach for selecting actions in adversarial settings, but it is often performed in an ad hoc way. In this dissertation, we introduce several methods for using opponent modeling, in the form of...
Show moreAn issue with learning effective policies in multi-agent adversarial games is that the size of the search space can be prohibitively large when the actions of both teammates and opponents are considered simultaneously. Opponent modeling, predicting an opponent's actions in advance of execution, is one approach for selecting actions in adversarial settings, but it is often performed in an ad hoc way. In this dissertation, we introduce several methods for using opponent modeling, in the form of predictions about the players' physical movements, to learn team policies. To explore the problem of decision-making in multi-agent adversarial scenarios, we use our approach for both offline play generation and real-time team response in the Rush 2008 American football simulator. Simultaneously predicting the movement trajectories, future reward, and play strategies of multiple players in real-time is a daunting task but we illustrate how it is possible to divide and conquer this problem with an assortment of data-driven models. By leveraging spatio-temporal traces of player movements, we learn discriminative models of defensive play for opponent modeling. With the reward information from previous play matchups, we use a modified version of UCT (Upper Conference Bounds applied to Trees) to create new offensive plays and to learn play repairs to counter predicted opponent actions. In team games, players must coordinate effectively to accomplish tasks while foiling their opponents either in a preplanned or emergent manner. An effective team policy must generate the necessary coordination, yet considering all possibilities for creating coordinating subgroups is computationally infeasible. Automatically identifying and preserving the coordination between key subgroups of teammates can make search more productive by pruning policies that disrupt these relationships. We demonstrate that combining opponent modeling with automatic subgroup identification can be used to create team policies with a higher average yardage than either the baseline game or domain-specific heuristics.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003914, ucf:48720
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003914

Title: Examining the Role of Music Streaming Motives, Social Identification, and Technological Engagement in Digital Music Streaming Service Use.
Creator: Bolduc, Heidi, Kinnally, William, Neuberger, Lindsay, Rubenking, Bridget, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: According to the Nielsen Music 360 Research Report, 67% of all music consumers in the United States used digital music streaming services to listen, discover, and share music online in 2014 (The Nielsen Company, 2014). As such, communications scholars and music industry professionals are beginning to recognize the importance of understanding the factors that influence digital music listener behavior. Therefore, this study proposes an expanded theory of planned behavior model (TPB) by...
Show moreAccording to the Nielsen Music 360 Research Report, 67% of all music consumers in the United States used digital music streaming services to listen, discover, and share music online in 2014 (The Nielsen Company, 2014). As such, communications scholars and music industry professionals are beginning to recognize the importance of understanding the factors that influence digital music listener behavior. Therefore, this study proposes an expanded theory of planned behavior model (TPB) by incorporating music streaming motives, social identification, and technological engagement into the original TPB model framework in an effort to gain a better understanding of people's intentions to use digital music streaming services as well as the amount of time spent listening to them. Results suggest that both the original TPB and expanded TPB models can be successfully applied within the context of digital music streaming service use. Specifically, attitudes as well as convenience emerged as positive contributors to intention to use digital music streaming services, while entertainment along with social identification, technological engagement, and behavioral intention emerged as positive contributors to streaming behavior. Additionally, information seeking and pass time emerged as negative contributors to these two behavioral outcomes. However, adding these additional components only improved the overall ability of the expanded model to predict streaming behavior. Both models also explained a larger percentage of intention to use digital music streaming services as compared to total time spent listening. As a result, this study implies the practical importance of understanding the fundamental differences between what drives listener intentions to use digital music streaming services as compared to what drives the actual amount of time listeners spend using digital music streaming services.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006266, ucf:51037
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006266

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