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- Title
- Analysis of taxi drivers' driving behavior based on a driving simulator experiment.
- Creator
-
Wu, Jiawei, Radwan, Essam, Abdel-Aty, Mohamed, Abou-Senna, Hatem, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Due to comfort, convenience, and flexibility, taxis become more and more prevalent in China, especially in large cities. According to a survey reported by Beijing Traffic Development Research Center, there were 696 million taxi person-rides in Beijing in 2011. However, many violations and road crashes that were related to taxi drivers occurred more frequently. The survey showed that there were a total of 17,242 taxi violations happened in Beijing in only one month in 2003, which accounted for...
Show moreDue to comfort, convenience, and flexibility, taxis become more and more prevalent in China, especially in large cities. According to a survey reported by Beijing Traffic Development Research Center, there were 696 million taxi person-rides in Beijing in 2011. However, many violations and road crashes that were related to taxi drivers occurred more frequently. The survey showed that there were a total of 17,242 taxi violations happened in Beijing in only one month in 2003, which accounted for 56% of all drivers' violations. Besides, taxi drivers also had a larger accident rate than other drivers, which showed that nearly 20% of taxi drivers had accidents each year. This study mainly focuses on investigating differences in driving behavior between taxi drivers and non-professional drivers.To examine the overall characteristics of taxi drivers and non-professional drivers, this study applied a hierarchical driving behavior assessment method to evaluate driving behaviors. This method is divided into three levels, including low-risk level, medium-risk level, and high-risk level. Low-risk level means the basic vehicle control. Medium-risk level refers to the vehicle dynamic decision. High-risk level represents the driver avoidance behavior when facing a potential crash.The Beijing Jiatong University (BJTU) driving simulator was applied to test different risk level scenarios which purpose is to find out the differences between taxi drivers and non-professional drivers on driving behaviors. Nearly 60 subjects, which include taxi drivers and non-professional drivers, were recruited in this experiment. Some statistical methods were applied to analyze the data and a logistic regression model was used to perform the high-risk level.The results showed that taxi drivers have more driving experience and their driving style is more conservative in the basic vehicle control level. For the car following behavior, taxi drivers have smaller following speed and larger gap compared to other drivers. For the yellow indication judgment behavior, although taxi drivers are slower than non-professional drivers when getting into the intersection, taxi drivers are more likely to run red light. For the lane changing behavior, taxi drivers' lane changing time is longer than others and lane changing average speed of taxi drivers is lower than other drivers.Another different behavior in high-risk level is that taxi drivers are more inclined to turn the steering wheel when facing a potential crash compared to non-professional drivers. However, non-professional drivers have more abrupt deceleration behaviors if they have the same situation.According to the experiment results, taxi drivers have a smaller crash rate compared to non-professional drivers. Taxi drivers spend a large amount of time on the road so that their driving experience must exceed that of non-professional drivers, which may bring them more skills. It is also speculated that because taxi drivers spend long hours on the job they probably have developed a more relaxed attitude about congestion and they are less likely to be candidates for road rage and over aggressive driving habits.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005561, ucf:50277
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005561
- Title
- Website Interactivity as a Branding Tool for Hotel Websites.
- Creator
-
Barreda Davila, Albert, Nusair, Khaldoon, Okumus, Fevzi, Hara, Tadayuki, Ozturk, Ahmet, Bai, Haiyan, Beldona, Srikanth, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The dissertation explored the relationships among Website interactivity, brand knowledge, consumer-based brand equity and behavioral intentions in the context of hotel Websites. Based on an in-depth literature review, a theory-driven model was proposed and ten hypotheses were developed. The dissertation employed an empirical study based on a survey design, and collected data via a marketing company. Respondents who booked a hotel room online using hotel branded Websites in the last 12 months...
Show moreThe dissertation explored the relationships among Website interactivity, brand knowledge, consumer-based brand equity and behavioral intentions in the context of hotel Websites. Based on an in-depth literature review, a theory-driven model was proposed and ten hypotheses were developed. The dissertation employed an empirical study based on a survey design, and collected data via a marketing company. Respondents who booked a hotel room online using hotel branded Websites in the last 12 months were approached to complete the online questionnaire. Four hundred ninety six (496) respondents completed the online questionnaire by answering to questions related to their last hotel booking experience. Analysis was conducted in two phases: (1) Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and (2) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The overall fit of the CFA model and the final SEM model were acceptable, indicating an adequate fit to the data. The results suggested that the two dimensions of Website interactivity, namely system interactivity and social interactivity, positively impacted the components of brand knowledge, and that system interactivity had a stronger impact as compared to social interactivity. Although, social interactivity was not found to have a significant direct effect on brand awareness, the results showed that social interactivity had a significant impact on brand image. Furthermore, the relationship between brand equity and behavioral intentions was positive and significant. The empirical study offered theoretical for utilizing Website interactivity as a branding tool in the hotel context. Additionally, the results provide practical insights into branding strategies, Website development, and behavioral intentions enhancement. Very few studies have empirically examined and incorporated Website interactivity dimensions and brand knowledge with consumer-based brand equity and behavioral intentions. This gap in the literature has been compounded by an absence of empirical studies on Website interactivity as a tool to develop brands and behavioral intentions in the context of hotel Websites. The present dissertation closes this gap in the literature by reporting on a questionnaire of US adult travelers that offered data on those theoretical associations. Conceptually, the results support the influential impact of Website interactivity on brand elements and behavioral intentions.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005302, ucf:50512
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005302
- Title
- Testing for indirect benefits of polyandry in the Florida green turtle.
- Creator
-
Long, Christopher, Weishampel, John, Ehrhart, Llewellyn, Hoffman, Eric, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Behavioral studies in the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) have indicated that promiscuous mating is commonplace. Though it has been shown that there is much variation in the rate of polyandry (females mating with multiple males), the drivers behind polyandry in this species are unknown. It has been speculated, but never demonstrated, that indirect benefits (fitness benefits resulting from offspring genetic diversity) play a role. However, previous tests of this hypothesis have limited scope of...
Show moreBehavioral studies in the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) have indicated that promiscuous mating is commonplace. Though it has been shown that there is much variation in the rate of polyandry (females mating with multiple males), the drivers behind polyandry in this species are unknown. It has been speculated, but never demonstrated, that indirect benefits (fitness benefits resulting from offspring genetic diversity) play a role. However, previous tests of this hypothesis have limited scope of inference due to lack of environmental control. In this thesis, I attempted to study the indirect benefits of polyandry in Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR) green turtles, limiting environmental variation by selecting nests over two week periods in a small subset of the ACNWR. Through the use of highly polymorphic microsatellite markers, I show that 85.7% of ACNWR green turtle females mate with multiple males, the highest rate yet reported for green turtles. I was successful in limiting environmental variation; however, I was unable to make comparisons among nests with one or multiple fathers because of a limited sample size of single father nests. Regardless, my thesis provides preliminary evidence (number of males per nest) that the density of males off Florida's beaches may be relatively high, which is expected to be a driver behind the evolution of polyandry and likely plays a large role both in this population and the prevalence of multiple paternity in green turtles as a whole.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005029, ucf:50010
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005029
- Title
- Learning Collective Behavior in Multi-relational Networks.
- Creator
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Wang, Xi, Sukthankar, Gita, Tappen, Marshall, Georgiopoulos, Michael, Hu, Haiyan, Anagnostopoulos, Georgios, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
With the rapid expansion of the Internet and WWW, the problem of analyzing social media data has received an increasing amount of attention in the past decade. The boom in social media platforms offers many possibilities to study human collective behavior and interactions on an unprecedented scale. In the past, much work has been done on the problem of learning from networked data with homogeneous topologies, where instances are explicitly or implicitly inter-connected by a single type of...
Show moreWith the rapid expansion of the Internet and WWW, the problem of analyzing social media data has received an increasing amount of attention in the past decade. The boom in social media platforms offers many possibilities to study human collective behavior and interactions on an unprecedented scale. In the past, much work has been done on the problem of learning from networked data with homogeneous topologies, where instances are explicitly or implicitly inter-connected by a single type of relationship. In contrast to traditional content-only classification methods, relational learning succeeds in improving classification performance by leveraging the correlation of the labels between linked instances. However, networked data extracted from social media, web pages, and bibliographic databases can contain entities of multiple classes and linked by various causal reasons, hence treating all links in a homogeneous way can limit the performance of relational classifiers. Learning the collective behavior and interactions in heterogeneous networks becomes much more complex.The contribution of this dissertation include 1) two classification frameworks for identifying human collective behavior in multi-relational social networks; 2) unsupervised and supervised learning models for relationship prediction in multi-relational collaborative networks. Our methods improve the performance of homogeneous predictive models by differentiating heterogeneous relations and capturing the prominent interaction patterns underlying the network structure. The work has been evaluated in various real-world social networks. We believe that this study will be useful for analyzing human collective behavior and interactions specifically in the scenario when the heterogeneous relationships in the network arise from various causal reasons.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005439, ucf:50376
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005439
- Title
- EVALUATING THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE AGGRESSIVE DRIVING BEHAVIOR QUESTIONNAIRE (ADBQ).
- Creator
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Gurda, Ajla, Mouloua, Mustapha, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Over the past decade, aggressive driving behavior has become a topic of concern among the public, media, and researchers in the psychological community. Aggressive driving is a problematic pattern of social behavior that is not only a leading cause to motor vehicle accidents, but a serious threat to public safety. One instrument that has been developed to assess aggressive driving behavior is the Aggressive Driving Behavior Questionnaire (ADBQ). The ADBQ is a 20-item paper and pencil...
Show moreOver the past decade, aggressive driving behavior has become a topic of concern among the public, media, and researchers in the psychological community. Aggressive driving is a problematic pattern of social behavior that is not only a leading cause to motor vehicle accidents, but a serious threat to public safety. One instrument that has been developed to assess aggressive driving behavior is the Aggressive Driving Behavior Questionnaire (ADBQ). The ADBQ is a 20-item paper and pencil questionnaire intended to measure a driver's likelihood for engaging in aggressive driving behavior. The ADBQ was developed using a factor-analytic approach that combined five previously developed aggressive driving behavior scales (Brill, Mouloua & Shirkey, 2007). Of the 81 items of the five combined scales, nineteen latent variables were extracted and accounted for 67.4% of the explained variance for the observed responses. The final 20th item was developed by splitting one of the latent variables. A previous study, conducted at Old Dominion University (N = 230) and Michigan Technological University (N = 265), examined the ADBQ's factor structure and internal consistency, and found relatively high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .77) and the identification of six factors using a principal axis factor analysis (Brill & Mouloua, 2011). The ADBQ was also tested in a controlled laboratory environment and found significant evidence that suggest the ADBQ is a valid predictor of aggressive driving behavior in a simulated environment (Brill, Mouloua & Shirkey 2009). The purpose of the present study was to further investigate the psychometric properties of the ADBQ. Based on a sample of 285 undergraduates (170 women and 115 men) from the University of Central Florida, the study examined the internal consistency, predictive and construct validity, and factor structure of the new questionnaire. A principal axis factor analysis with promax rotation yielded four factors, or joint variations between the 20 items, that were inter-correlated with eigenvalues greater than 1. The ADBQ was also found to have high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .86). The four factors were used to form four subscales of aggressive driving behavior that included anger/aggression, speeding/minor infractions, overt expression, and judgment of other drivers. The four subscales were found to correlate with self-reported biographical and driver history data, as well as, gender differences across scales. Additional analyses were conducted using data from the present sample from the University of Central Florida (N = 285) and the data from the previous study from Old Dominion University (N = 230) and Michigan Technological University (N = 265) for a combined sample of 780 undergraduate students. The findings in this present study provided additional support for the consistency, predictive validity, and factor structure of the ADBQ instrument. The Aggressive Driving Behavior Questionnaire proves to be a valuable measure in predicting the likelihood of a person engaging in aggressive driving behavior. The implications for driving behavior assessment, training, and instrument development are also discussed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004210, ucf:44955
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004210
- Title
- AN INVESTIGATION OF THE FACTORS RELATED TO DIRECT CARE STAFFS' KNOWLEDGE OF EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.
- Creator
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Cook, Craig, Martin, Lawrence, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver (HCBS) funds services for people with developmental disabilities in community based group homes. The purpose of the Medicaid HCBS Waiver is to: (1) support alternatives to institutions, (2) promote independence, (3) maximize functioning, and (4) support community integration. Direct care staff members have primary, day to day contact with people with developmental disabilities living in group home settings. Residential agencies for people...
Show moreThe Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver (HCBS) funds services for people with developmental disabilities in community based group homes. The purpose of the Medicaid HCBS Waiver is to: (1) support alternatives to institutions, (2) promote independence, (3) maximize functioning, and (4) support community integration. Direct care staff members have primary, day to day contact with people with developmental disabilities living in group home settings. Residential agencies for people with developmental disabilities have the responsibility to train direct care staff in the use of effective teaching strategies in order to realize the purpose of the Medicaid HCBS waiver. Direct care staff's knowledge of effective teaching strategies will afford people with mental retardation an opportunity for greater independence and help them achieve their maximum potential within the community. This study set out to evaluate what factors were related to direct care staff members' knowledge of effective teaching strategies. The factors investigated include agencies use of evidence based staff training practices, feedback as a performance management strategy, and Certified Behavior Analysts involvement with the training and support of direct care staff. A random sample of 294 direct care staff members who work in 55 different group homes throughout the State of Florida participated in the study. Direct care staff members' average score on the knowledge of effective teaching strategies quiz was 23.31 out of 50 questions. The maximum score achieved was 43. These findings indicated that the direct care staff members generally did not demonstrate knowledge of effective teaching strategies. The findings of this investigation demonstrated a statistically significant positive relationship between direct care staff members who received empirically derived staff training and knowledge of effective teaching strategies. Additionally, the investigation found a statistically significant positive relationship between the behavior analyst involvement and direct care staff members' knowledge about how to teach. The investigation failed to identify a statistically significant relationship between performance feedback and knowledge about how to teach. This research is important to policy formulation as it relates to the efficient and effective delivery of supports for people with developmental disabilities.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- Identifier
- CFE0002832, ucf:48077
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002832
- Title
- How does Jay-customer Affect Employee Job Stress and Job Satisfaction?.
- Creator
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Kim, Gawon, Ro, Hee Jung, Kwun, David, Hutchinson, Joe, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Guest-contact employees interact with various types of customers, and they are often exposed to stressful conditions caused by the deviant, or jay-customers. The purpose of this study is to examine how jay-customer behaviors (customer incivility and customer aggression) affect employees' job stress, and consequently, job satisfaction. Surveys of 210 participants, currently working as guest-contact employees in the hospitality industry, were analyzed for the study. The results of hierarchical...
Show moreGuest-contact employees interact with various types of customers, and they are often exposed to stressful conditions caused by the deviant, or jay-customers. The purpose of this study is to examine how jay-customer behaviors (customer incivility and customer aggression) affect employees' job stress, and consequently, job satisfaction. Surveys of 210 participants, currently working as guest-contact employees in the hospitality industry, were analyzed for the study. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses show a positive relationship between the experience of customer incivility and employees' job stress. Additionally, the results indicate a full mediation effect of employees' job stress on the relationship between customer incivility and employees' job satisfaction. Unfortunately, the study was not able to analyze customer aggression, because the majority of the participants did not report customer aggression. The findings of this study make a contribution to the hospitality service management literature by providing empirical evidence of customer incivility and its negative impact on guest-contact employees. Hospitality managers should acknowledge the existence of jay-customer behaviors and recognize their significant impact on employees' job stress and job satisfaction.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004563, ucf:49223
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004563
- Title
- Provider Recommendation of HPV Vaccination: Bridging the Intention-Behavior Gap.
- Creator
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Landis, Erica, Neuberger, Lindsay, Sandoval, Jennifer, Miller, Ann, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The present study, guided by preproduction formative research principles, employed in-depth interviews and a brief survey with pediatric healthcare providers (N=15) to investigate the consistency between behavioral intention to strongly recommend the HPV vaccine, and implementation of the actual behavior. Specifically, the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction (IMBP) was used as a framework to examine the impact of skills and environmental constraints on that behavioral intention...
Show moreThe present study, guided by preproduction formative research principles, employed in-depth interviews and a brief survey with pediatric healthcare providers (N=15) to investigate the consistency between behavioral intention to strongly recommend the HPV vaccine, and implementation of the actual behavior. Specifically, the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction (IMBP) was used as a framework to examine the impact of skills and environmental constraints on that behavioral intention-behavioral performance relationship. Results suggest providers intend to strongly recommend the HPV vaccine at a high level, but actually recommend the vaccine with a slightly lesser frequency. A thematic analysis of interview transcripts yielded a list of skills (e.g., tact, cultural competence) and environmental constraints (e.g., a lack of policy or school entry requirement, limited time designated for each patient) that contribute to that consistency gap. Additionally, healthcare providers indicated several preferences on training design (e.g., Continuing Medical Education course, delivered by medical and communication professionals) that could be used to inform future message construction. Suggestions for overcoming the environmental constraints reported by providers are presented, and implications for incorporating the emergent skills and preferences into training as a novel strategy for improving provider communication about the HPV vaccine outlined.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006132, ucf:51162
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006132
- Title
- The role perception of Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Japanese hospitality industry: Culture-based characteristics and generational difference.
- Creator
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Negoro, Yoko, Ro, Heejung, Hara, Tadayuki, Gregory, Amy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Although a substantial amount of research on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) has been conducted, little is known about it within the context of the Japanese hospitality industry. While OCB is generally considered to be beyond ordinary job duties (extra-role), some researchers suggest that Japanese employees view OCB as part of their job (in-role). However, theoretical explanation for this phenomenon is still scant. This research aims to examine how culture-based organizational...
Show moreAlthough a substantial amount of research on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) has been conducted, little is known about it within the context of the Japanese hospitality industry. While OCB is generally considered to be beyond ordinary job duties (extra-role), some researchers suggest that Japanese employees view OCB as part of their job (in-role). However, theoretical explanation for this phenomenon is still scant. This research aims to examine how culture-based organizational characteristics (workplace harmony and customer orientation) and generation influence the role perception of OCB among Japanese hospitality employees. An online survey was developed and distributed to hospitality employees working in Japan using snowball sampling and resulting in a total of 303 participants. The results showed that Japanese culture-based characteristics, workplace harmony and customer orientation, positively influenced in-role perceptions of OCB-Altruism and OCB-General compliance. In addition, older generations showed higher in-role perception of OCB-General compliance than Generation Y. This research contributes to OCB literature by examining the impact of culture-based organizational characteristics on the employee's positive behavior that helps increase organizational performance. Workplace harmony and customer orientation in Japanese service organizations have often been noted by researchers, however they are rarely examined. This research contributes to the hospitality service management literature by documenting their impact on OCB through an empirical examination. Lastly, the findings of this study provide hospitality practitioners with a better understanding of employee citizenship behaviors in a collectivistic cultural background so that the results can aid human resources practices, including recruiting and training.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006363, ucf:51524
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006363
- Title
- SHORT TERM EXAMINATION OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SLEEP QUALITY WITH CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER.
- Creator
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Barnes, Demani Barak, Garcia, Jeanette M., Fukuda, David H., University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may not be meeting the recommended amounts of physical activity (PA) or obtain a sufficient amount of sleep, however, few studies have objectively compared PA, sedentary behavior, and sleep quality between typically developing (TD) youth, and youth with ASD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare levels of PA, sedentary behavior, and sleep quality between youth with ASD and TD youth. Twenty-three children with ASD and 12 TD...
Show moreChildren diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may not be meeting the recommended amounts of physical activity (PA) or obtain a sufficient amount of sleep, however, few studies have objectively compared PA, sedentary behavior, and sleep quality between typically developing (TD) youth, and youth with ASD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare levels of PA, sedentary behavior, and sleep quality between youth with ASD and TD youth. Twenty-three children with ASD and 12 TD children wore the Actigraph GT9X accelerometer over seven days and nights to assess activity and sleep. Youth with ASD had significantly greater levels of sedentary behavior (p=.02), and had less sleep efficiency compared to TD youth (p=.0001). Additionally, TD youth were more likely to achieve the recommended levels of PA compared to youth with ASD (p=.003). Results suggest that youth with ASD have poorer health habits compared to TD youth. Interventions should be developed to target health behaviors in youth with ASD.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFH2000490, ucf:45830
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000490
- Title
- THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIORS.
- Creator
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Jaffe, Rachel, Shoss, Mindy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Counterproductive work behaviors are costly behaviors that individuals employ in retaliation to adverse stimuli in the workplace. This study specifically examined the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and counterproductive behaviors, using the variable of control as the mediator. This study also investigated the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and job turnover intentions as well as organizational commitment. Measures for perceived gender discrimination,...
Show moreCounterproductive work behaviors are costly behaviors that individuals employ in retaliation to adverse stimuli in the workplace. This study specifically examined the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and counterproductive behaviors, using the variable of control as the mediator. This study also investigated the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and job turnover intentions as well as organizational commitment. Measures for perceived gender discrimination, control, counterproductive work behaviors, job turnover and organizational commitment were used to survey 97 participants on their workplace experiences and attitudes. It was found that perceived gender discrimination had a significant, positive correlation with counterproductive behaviors, as originally hypothesized. Perceived gender discrimination also had a significant negative correlation with organizational commitment. Control did not significantly correlate with counterproductive work behaviors, meaning it did not function as a mediator between counterproductive work behaviors and perceived gender discrimination, as hypothesized. The intent of this thesis was to examine perceived gender discrimination and control as antecedents of counterproductive behaviors. My findings suggest that perceived gender discrimination is correlated with these negative behaviors, thus promoting the importance of implementing programs to facilitate its reduction.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFH2000198, ucf:45975
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000198
- Title
- THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL CULTURE ON SCIENCE EDUCATION AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY.
- Creator
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Meier, Lori, Boote, David, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This ethnographic case study investigated one elementary school to understand how the school's culture influenced its science curriculum design and instruction. The main data was formal and informal semi-structured interviews with key teachers to understand their values, beliefs, practices, materials, and problems with science instruction. To triangulate these data, the researcher observed classroom practice, school-wide activities, and collected artifacts and documents. Data were...
Show moreThis ethnographic case study investigated one elementary school to understand how the school's culture influenced its science curriculum design and instruction. The main data was formal and informal semi-structured interviews with key teachers to understand their values, beliefs, practices, materials, and problems with science instruction. To triangulate these data, the researcher observed classroom practice, school-wide activities, and collected artifacts and documents. Data were analyzed using a theoretical framework that emphasizes that culture cannot be reduced to beliefs, values, practices, materials or problems, but rather each aspect of culture is interdependent and mutually reinforcing. The main finding suggests that the school's culture is organized to accomplish other curricular goals than effective science education. Science is rarely taught by most teachers and rarely taught well when it is. While the teachers know the rhetoric of effective science education and value it enough to not dismiss it entirely, most value it less than most other subjects and they are not proficient with science instruction and materials. This study builds upon the literature by reiterating that school culture plays a central role in elementary science education, but adds to that literature by emphasizing that culture cannot be reduced to one or a few factors and must be seen as an organic whole.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001412, ucf:47061
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001412
- Title
- COLLABORATIVE CONTEXT-BASED REASONING.
- Creator
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Barrett, Gilbert, Gonzalez, Avelino, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This dissertation explores modeling collaborative behavior, based on Joint Intentions Theory (JIT), in Context-Based Reasoning (CxBR). Context-Based Reasoning is one of several contextual reasoning paradigms. And, Joint Intentions Theory is the definitive semantic framework for collaborative behaviors. In order to formalize collaborative behaviors in CxBR based on JIT, CxBR is first described in terms of the more popular Belief, Desire, and Intention (BDI) model. Once this description is...
Show moreThis dissertation explores modeling collaborative behavior, based on Joint Intentions Theory (JIT), in Context-Based Reasoning (CxBR). Context-Based Reasoning is one of several contextual reasoning paradigms. And, Joint Intentions Theory is the definitive semantic framework for collaborative behaviors. In order to formalize collaborative behaviors in CxBR based on JIT, CxBR is first described in terms of the more popular Belief, Desire, and Intention (BDI) model. Once this description is established JIT is used as a basis for the formalism for collaborative behavior in CxBR. The hypothesis of this dissertation is that this formalism allows for effective collaborative behaviors in CxBR. Additionally, it is also hypothesized that CxBR agents inferring intention from explicitly communicating Contexts allows for more efficient modeling of collaborative behaviors than inferring intention from situational awareness. Four prototypes are built and evaluated to test the hypothesis and the evaluations are favorable. Effective collaboration is demonstrated through cognitive task analysis and through metrics based on JIT definitions. Efficiency is shown through software metric evaluations for volume and complexity of code.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001667, ucf:47198
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001667
- Title
- BLUETOOTH-BASE WORM MODELING AND SIMULATION.
- Creator
-
Xiang, Haiou, Zou, Cliff, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Bluetooth is one of the most popular technologies in the world in the new century. Meanwhile it attracts attackers to develop new worm and malicious code attacking Bluetooth wireless network. So far the growth of mobile malicious code is very fast and they have become a great potential threat to our society. In this thesis, we study Bluetooth worm in Mobile Wireless Network. Firstly we investigate the Bluetooth technology and several previously appeared Bluetooth worms, e.g. "Caribe","Comwar"...
Show moreBluetooth is one of the most popular technologies in the world in the new century. Meanwhile it attracts attackers to develop new worm and malicious code attacking Bluetooth wireless network. So far the growth of mobile malicious code is very fast and they have become a great potential threat to our society. In this thesis, we study Bluetooth worm in Mobile Wireless Network. Firstly we investigate the Bluetooth technology and several previously appeared Bluetooth worms, e.g. "Caribe","Comwar", and we find the infection cycle of a Bluetooth worm. Next, we develop a new simulator, Bluetooth Worm simulator (BTWS), which simulates Bluetooth worm' behaviors in Mobile wireless networks. Through analyzing the result, we find i) In ideal environment the mobility of Bluetooth device can improve the worm's propagation speed, but combining mobility and inquiry time issue would cause a Bluetooth worm to slow down its propagation under certain situation. ii) The number of initially infected Bluetooth devices mostly affects the beginning propagation speed of a worm, and energy issue can be ignored because the new technology can let Bluetooth device keeping work for a long time. iii) Co-channel interference and setting up monitoring system in public place can improve the security of Bluetooth wireless network.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001740, ucf:47313
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001740
- Title
- NETWORK INTRUSION DETECTION: MONITORING, SIMULATION ANDVISUALIZATION.
- Creator
-
Zhou, Mian, Lang, Sheau-Dong, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation presents our work on network intrusion detection and intrusion sim- ulation. The work in intrusion detection consists of two different network anomaly-based approaches. The work in intrusion simulation introduces a model using explicit traffic gen- eration for the packet level traffic simulation. The process of anomaly detection is to first build profiles for the normal network activity and then mark any events or activities that deviate from the normal profiles as...
Show moreThis dissertation presents our work on network intrusion detection and intrusion sim- ulation. The work in intrusion detection consists of two different network anomaly-based approaches. The work in intrusion simulation introduces a model using explicit traffic gen- eration for the packet level traffic simulation. The process of anomaly detection is to first build profiles for the normal network activity and then mark any events or activities that deviate from the normal profiles as suspicious. Based on the different schemes of creating the normal activity profiles, we introduce two approaches for intrusion detection. The first one is a frequency-based approach which creates a normal frequency profile based on the periodical patterns existed in the time-series formed by the traffic. It aims at those attacks that are conducted by running pre-written scripts, which automate the process of attempting connections to various ports or sending packets with fabricated payloads, etc. The second approach builds the normal profile based on variations of connection-based behavior of each single computer. The deviations resulted from each individual computer are carried out by a weight assignment scheme and further used to build a weighted link graph representing the overall traffic abnormalities. The functionality of this system is of a distributed personal IDS system that also provides a centralized traffic analysis by graphical visualization. It provides a finer control over the internal network by focusing on connection-based behavior of each single computer. For network intrusion simulation, we explore an alternative method for network traffic simulation using explicit traffic generation. In particular, we build a model to replay the standard DARPA traffic data or the traffic data captured from a real environment. The replayed traffic data is mixed with the attacks, such as DOS and Probe attack, which can create apparent abnormal traffic flow patterns. With the explicit traffic generation, every packet that has ever been sent by the victim and attacker is formed in the simulation model and travels around strictly following the criteria of time and path that extracted from the real scenario. Thus, the model provides a promising aid in the study of intrusion detection techniques.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000679, ucf:46484
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000679
- Title
- THE EFFECTS OF ECOTOURISM ON POLAR BEAR BEHAVIOR.
- Creator
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Eckhardt, Gillian, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Polar bears spend the majority of their lives on the sea ice, where they gain access to seals and mates. In western Hudson Bay, the sea ice melts for three to four months in the summer, and polar bears there are forced onto land. These bears live on their fat reserves for the duration of the iceless period, until temperatures get colder in the fall and freeze up begins. The aggregation of polar bears near Churchill, Manitoba during the ice free period has led to a thriving tourist industry,...
Show morePolar bears spend the majority of their lives on the sea ice, where they gain access to seals and mates. In western Hudson Bay, the sea ice melts for three to four months in the summer, and polar bears there are forced onto land. These bears live on their fat reserves for the duration of the iceless period, until temperatures get colder in the fall and freeze up begins. The aggregation of polar bears near Churchill, Manitoba during the ice free period has led to a thriving tourist industry, with a large influx of tourists visiting Churchill in the fall in a six to eight week period, yet little is known about the impacts of this industry on the biology of the bears. This study investigated the effect of tourist vehicles and human presence on the behavior of polar bears over the fall of 2003 and 2004. Overall time budgets were estimated for bears, and the behavior of males and females was compared. Females spent significantly less time lying and more time in locomotion than males. Time budgets were also estimated for bears in the presence and absence of tourist vehicles. Bears spent less time lying and more time in a sit/stand position in the presence of vehicles. Air temperature had no significant effect on the time budgets of polar bears. Tundra vehicle approaches were manipulated to determine effects on polar bear behavior, and to investigate any variables that significantly affected response, including habituation. A response was defined as any sudden whole body movement or change in position or behavior at the time of approach. A total of 25% of all bears responded to the experimental vehicle approach. For bears that responded to approach, the average distance at response was 43 m. The average speed of the vehicle was 0.66 ± 0.02 m/s (range 0.23 to 1.15 m/s). Approach variables that significantly influenced the likelihood of response of a bear to an approaching vehicle included angle of approach and vehicle speed. Direct approaches, in which the bear was in the path of the moving vehicle, had a higher probability of eliciting a response than indirect approaches, in which the vehicle stayed to one side of the bear at all times. Higher speeds of the vehicle increased the probability of a response by a bear. Behaviors of the bear that significantly predicted a response were shifting of the body and smacking of the lips. A playback study was conducted to determine the effects of human induced sound on polar bears. There was no significant effect of human sound on polar bears. Results presented here provide the first experimental evidence of variables in the tourist industry that affect polar bear behavior, and the first evidence of behavioral cues predicting a response to vehicle approach.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000544, ucf:46441
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000544
- Title
- TRANSPARENT TEMPLATES OF PRINCIPALS.
- Creator
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Chang, Mary, House, Jess, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This exploration of the personal constructs of principals was intended to reveal the transparent templates they create and attempt to fit over the realities of their world. This study sought to go beyond externally imposed descriptions of the leadership behavior of principals by exploring their personal constructs to discover the meaning that principals ascribe to their leadership behavior in anticipation and interpretation of events. Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory provided the...
Show moreThis exploration of the personal constructs of principals was intended to reveal the transparent templates they create and attempt to fit over the realities of their world. This study sought to go beyond externally imposed descriptions of the leadership behavior of principals by exploring their personal constructs to discover the meaning that principals ascribe to their leadership behavior in anticipation and interpretation of events. Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory provided the conceptual framework for this study. The research questions were addressed through qualitative inquiry. Data were collected in a process that began with full context elicitation, laddering, and triadic analysis, and proceeded to full grid quantitative analysis. Findings from this study may increase the awareness level in the professional community of the meaning that principals ascribe to their leadership behavior. It was recommended that results from this study lead to the development of a process that can be implemented in principal leadership preparation and professional development programs to develop more self-aware, productive, and effective principals (Petri, Lindauer, & Tountasakis, 2000).
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000732, ucf:46606
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000732
- Title
- AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED BIOFEEDBACK FOR STUDENTS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE USE OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED BIOFEEDBACK AND ON-TASK BEHAVIOR.
- Creator
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Aguinaga, Nancy, Cross, Lee, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Using a single-subject multiple baseline design across participants, this study examined the impact of computer-assisted biofeedback to promote engagement of students diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder. The study was conducted in a public school classroom setting. Specifically the on-task behavior during an individualized academic activity was investigated. Three 9-10 year old children participated in the study. In the baseline phase, data was collected on speed to engagement and...
Show moreUsing a single-subject multiple baseline design across participants, this study examined the impact of computer-assisted biofeedback to promote engagement of students diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder. The study was conducted in a public school classroom setting. Specifically the on-task behavior during an individualized academic activity was investigated. Three 9-10 year old children participated in the study. In the baseline phase, data was collected on speed to engagement and percentage of time on-task during an academic activity. A 15-second momentary time sampling procedure was used for a 5 minute session each day of the week for a five week period to measure the participant's engagement. In the intervention phase, the participants completed a three to four minute computer-assisted biofeedback session prior to the academic activity and collection of data on engagement. In addition, data were collected on performance level of the academic activity. Data were also collected on educator and parent perception of generalization of self-regulation of behavior. The data suggest: (a) speed to engagement increased when using a computer-assisted biofeedback program for all participants; (b) time on-task improved over baseline conditions for all participants; (c) academic achievement was impacted by computer-assisted biofeedback for one participant; and (d) educators perceived a generalization of self-regulation of behavior, while parents did not indicate any generalization of self-regulation of behavior occurred in the home environment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001260, ucf:46888
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001260
- Title
- VEGETARIAN, VEGAN, AND PESCETARIAN CONSUMERS AND THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE GREEN MOVEMENT.
- Creator
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King, Cory, Massiah, Carolyn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Entering into the 21st century, sustainable living has become a popular topic of concern for scientists and engineers, politicians, news reporters and individuals alike. Most importantly though, sustainable living has become popular to the modern consumer, and many firms are attempting to understand and cater their efforts to the ecologically conscious consumer. Previous studies have shown that the use of psychographics, as opposed to demographics, result in more significant results that can...
Show moreEntering into the 21st century, sustainable living has become a popular topic of concern for scientists and engineers, politicians, news reporters and individuals alike. Most importantly though, sustainable living has become popular to the modern consumer, and many firms are attempting to understand and cater their efforts to the ecologically conscious consumer. Previous studies have shown that the use of psychographics, as opposed to demographics, result in more significant results that can help firms identify ecologically conscious consumers. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between consumers who identify as pescetarian, vegetarian, or vegan, and their respective participation in the green movement in terms of their pro-environmental attitudes and their purchase behaviors. Consumers' reason for choosing an alternative diet, their relative commitment to the alternative diet, as well as their level of green participation based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale and the Ecologically Conscious Consumer Behavior (ECCB) scale was measure and analyzed. Additionally, a conclusion and discussion of the study, potential marketing implications, and suggestions for future studies will be reviewed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004582, ucf:45195
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004582
- Title
- TRULY ACCOMPLISHED: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF MOTIVATION AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE.
- Creator
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Tucker, Carly, Fritzsche, Barbara, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The purpose of this study was to examine the motivation of individuals to use Truly Accomplished (TA) as a fitness intervention, with or without a social support component. All participants utilized the TA Software as a fitness intervention and received weekly feedback on their progress. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to either participate in the regular TA process or a modified TA process with the addition of a social support component in the form of a social media group....
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to examine the motivation of individuals to use Truly Accomplished (TA) as a fitness intervention, with or without a social support component. All participants utilized the TA Software as a fitness intervention and received weekly feedback on their progress. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to either participate in the regular TA process or a modified TA process with the addition of a social support component in the form of a social media group. Participants in the modified condition posted weekly to a Facebook group page about successes and obstacles they faced and gave feedback to their peers. It was hypothesized that participants, regardless of condition, would show fitness gains in the 6-week study. Also, with the added social support component to TA, participants were expected to have higher levels of self-determination in relation to the three psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, relatedness, and competence) and higher levels of perceived social support. A between-subjects deign was used to measure overall effectiveness, changes in fitness performance (plank, push-ups, wall-sit, step-test) and body composition (BMI, percent body fat), perceived social support, levels of psychological needs satisfaction as it relates to the three basic needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and satisfaction with TA. No significant differences were found between conditions for satisfaction with TA, levels of perceived social support, or levels of psychological needs satisfaction post-intervention. However, a significant increase was found regardless of condition in terms of autonomy and guidance. A significant increase was shown in both the plank and modified push-up post-intervention measure, regardless of condition. Finally, the condition with the added social support had a significantly higher overall effectiveness gain than the condition with no added social support. The practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFH0004782, ucf:45389
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004782
