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Title: Cities of Service: A Grounded Theory Exploration of Volunteer Service.
Creator: Hill, Brandy, Martin, Lawrence, Bryer, Thomas, Kapucu, Naim, Wan, Thomas, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This research explores how volunteer service can be both included and impactful in strategies to address local challenges. Prior research would suggest that volunteer service has largely been overlooked when it comes to governmental efforts to solve society's biggest problems, particularly at the local level. Ignoring the potential for volunteer service in problem-solving approaches may hinder the development of effective problem-solving strategies. This research describes the ways cities...
Show moreThis research explores how volunteer service can be both included and impactful in strategies to address local challenges. Prior research would suggest that volunteer service has largely been overlooked when it comes to governmental efforts to solve society's biggest problems, particularly at the local level. Ignoring the potential for volunteer service in problem-solving approaches may hinder the development of effective problem-solving strategies. This research describes the ways cities drive demand for volunteer service. In particular, volunteer service demand can be explained through certain motivational bases(-)economic, aspirational, and need-based(-)together with various feasibility considerations. A grounded theory model for volunteer service demand from the perspective of the city and a generalized logic model for service as a strategy to address local challenges are presented.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004690, ucf:49849
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004690

Title: MULTIOBJECTIVE COORDINATION MODELS FOR MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE PARTS INVENTORY PLANNING AND CONTROL.
Creator: Martinez, Oscar, Geiger, Christopher, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In many equipment-intensive organizations in the manufacturing, service and particularly the defense sectors, service parts inventories constitute a significant source of tactical and operational costs and consume a significant portion of capital investment. For instance, the Defense Logistics Agency manages about 4 million consumable service parts and provides about 93% of all consumable service parts used by the military services. These items required about US$1.9 billion over the fiscal...
Show moreIn many equipment-intensive organizations in the manufacturing, service and particularly the defense sectors, service parts inventories constitute a significant source of tactical and operational costs and consume a significant portion of capital investment. For instance, the Defense Logistics Agency manages about 4 million consumable service parts and provides about 93% of all consumable service parts used by the military services. These items required about US$1.9 billion over the fiscal years 1999-2002. During the same time, the US General Accountability Office discovered that, in the United States Navy, there were about 3.7 billion ship and submarine parts that were not needed. The Federal Aviation Administration says that 26 million aircraft parts are changed each year. In 2002, the holding cost of service parts for the aviation industry was estimated to be US$50 billion. The US Army Institute of Land Warfare reports that, at the beginning of the 2003 fiscal year, prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom the aviation service parts alone was in excess of US$1 billion. This situation makes the management of these items a very critical tactical and strategic issue that is worthy of further study. The key challenge is to maintain high equipment availability with low service cost (e.g., holding, warehousing, transportation, technicians, overhead, etc.). For instance, despite reporting US$10.5 billion in appropriations spent on purchasing service parts in 2000, the United States Air Force (USAF) continues to report shortages of service parts. The USAF estimates that, if the investment on service parts decreases to about US$5.3 billion, weapons systems availability would range from 73 to 100 percent. Thus, better management of service parts inventories should create opportunities for cost savings caused by the efficient management of these inventories. Unfortunately, service parts belong to a class of inventory that continually makes them difficult to manage. Moreover, it can be said that the general function of service parts inventories is to support maintenance actions; therefore, service parts inventory policies are highly related to the resident maintenance policies. However, the interrelationship between service parts inventory management and maintenance policies is often overlooked, both in practice and in the academic literature, when it comes to optimizing maintenance and service parts inventory policies. Hence, there exists a great divide between maintenance and service parts inventory theory and practice. This research investigation specifically considers the aspect of joint maintenance and service part inventory optimization. We decompose the joint maintenance and service part inventory optimization problem into the supplier's problem and the customer's problem. Long-run expected cost functions for each problem that include the most common maintenance cost parameters and service parts inventory cost parameters are presented. Computational experiments are conducted for a single-supplier two-echelon service parts supply chain configuration varying the number of customers in the network. Lateral transshipments (LTs) of service parts between customers are not allowed. For this configuration, we optimize the cost functions using a traditional, or decoupled, approach, where each supply chain entity optimizes its cost individually, and a joint approach, where the cost objectives of both the supplier and customers are optimized simultaneously. We show that the multiple objective optimization approach outperforms the traditional decoupled optimization approach by generating lower system-wide supply chain network costs. The model formulations are extended by relaxing the assumption of no LTs between customers in the supply chain network. Similar to those for the no LTs configuration, the results for the LTs configuration show that the multiobjective optimization outperforms the decoupled optimization in terms of system-wide cost. Hence, it is economically beneficial to jointly consider all parties within the supply network. Further, we compare the model configurations – LTs versus no LTs, and we show that using LTs improves the overall savings of the system. It is observed that the improvement is mostly derived from reduced shortage costs since the equipment downtime is reduced due to the proximity of the supply. The models and results of this research have significant practical implications as they can be used to assist decision-makers to determine when and where to pre-position parts inventories to maximize equipment availability. Furthermore, these models can assist in the preparation of the terms of long-term service agreements and maintenance contracts between original equipment manufacturers and their customers (i.e., equipment owners and/or operators), including determining the equitable allocation of all system-wide cost savings under the agreement.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002459, ucf:47723
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002459

Title: Boots on the Ground: A Participant-Oriented Approach to Program Evaluation.
Creator: Djak, Nikki, Vitale, Thomas, Cox, Thomas, Boote, David, Swan, Bonnie, Goodman, Constance, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Despite best efforts to fully prepare pre-service teachers (PSTs) with the knowledge and skills they will need as educators, many universities nationwide fall short of doing so. Poor or unrelated pre-service preparation of education majors prior to graduation creates disconnects between college coursework requirements and real-world expectations of educators, which decreases the value of these education programs. It also leaves many PSTs entering internship and subsequent first-year...
Show moreDespite best efforts to fully prepare pre-service teachers (PSTs) with the knowledge and skills they will need as educators, many universities nationwide fall short of doing so. Poor or unrelated pre-service preparation of education majors prior to graduation creates disconnects between college coursework requirements and real-world expectations of educators, which decreases the value of these education programs. It also leaves many PSTs entering internship and subsequent first-year employment ill-prepared to handle all of the classroom responsibilities expected of them, which contributes to another nationwide problem: low retention of novice teachers. To address comprehensive preparation of PSTs, professors at one large metropolitan university in the southeastern United States initiated the Boots on the Ground (BotG) program, which exposes PSTs to direct instructional opportunities with K-12 students concurrently with early coursework. Multiple studies have found that closely integrating field experience with coursework is highly influential in increasing both the preparedness of PSTs and their self-efficacy as educators. This study is a mixed methods, participant-oriented program evaluation of the BotG program, meant to explore stakeholders' perspectives on the program's influence and inform improvement. It looks at the affect the BotG program has on perceived preparedness and self-efficacy of PSTs as well as its impact on different stakeholder groups. Study findings indicate that the early exposure to the profession and experience working with K-12 students provided to pre-service teachers who participated in the Boots on the Ground program may provide them with a means to increase perceptions of preparedness and self-efficacy for teaching. Findings also detail the program's influence on other stakeholders, including provision of extra support for the academic and behavioral support of K-12 students. The researcher also suggests implications for education and recommendations for further research.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007171, ucf:52287
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007171

Title: An Exploratory Study of Customer Vulnerability: A Cross-Segment Approach.
Creator: Aiello, Taryn, Severt, Denver, Rompf, Paul, Breiter, Deborah, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of customer vulnerability across varying service industries. While the concept of customer vulnerability has been debated in business, marketing, sociology, and psychology scholarly literature, there has been little research conducted that specifically investigates consumers' perceptions of vulnerability during the service exchange. Specific to this research, customer vulnerability is defined as experiences in which consumers participate in...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to explore the concept of customer vulnerability across varying service industries. While the concept of customer vulnerability has been debated in business, marketing, sociology, and psychology scholarly literature, there has been little research conducted that specifically investigates consumers' perceptions of vulnerability during the service exchange. Specific to this research, customer vulnerability is defined as experiences in which consumers participate in a service exchange with a firm during a time of individual or shared medical, physical, emotional, or spiritual necessity, whether the vulnerability is experienced during the course of the transaction or whether consumers arrive to the firm already immersed in that state. Customer vulnerability is an important concept for research, as the exchanges between service providers and consumers during a time of vulnerability are heightened in emotion and memory. As a result, these exchanges lend themselves to be more likely to become transformative experiences, in that the provider and recipient may be left emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually changed as a result. Therefore, additional focus is needed in this area to understand transformative experiences in service as a result of exchanges between service providers and customers.The explorative study first conducts a critical literature review across disciplines regarding scales that have been used and are considered by the researcher to be important constructs of analysis when exploring vulnerable service encounters. Next, a qualitative investigation of consumer forums is conducted in the air travel, banking, and assisted living industries, which resulted in the finding that similar behavioral attributes within industry, but different behavioral attributes between industries, were needed to cater to consumers experiencing vulnerability. The study is followed by a quantitative investigation of vulnerable service experiences through an application of the identified scales combined with the results of the qualitative investigation across the same three industries. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that two industries' results loaded onto two factors; however, each industry's factors differed due to the nature of that industry. The air travel factors were entitled task humanism and task functionality. The banking factors were entitled maintenance functionality and maintenance humanism. A third factor was revealed within the assisted living facility segment entitled hospitable humanism, along with factors of personal humanism and personal functionality. The study concludes by presenting a discussion of the findings and practical implications for service industry managers, a presentation of the study limitations, and suggestions for future research.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0005291, ucf:50542
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005291

Title: PROTOCOL BASED SCREENING TOOLS TO IDENTIFY SEPSIS PATIENTS TRANSPORTED BY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.
Creator: Moser, Isaiah, Talbert, Steven, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Sepsis is a complicated disorder in which an infection has reached the bloodstream and caused a cascade of events that in time will lead to death. Interventions aimed at identifying sepsis early in its progression are imperative to stopping the process. The purpose of this study is to examine the current state of the literature regarding sepsis screening tools utilized by emergency medical services. A literature review exploring the various tools in place was conducted to see their value in...
Show moreSepsis is a complicated disorder in which an infection has reached the bloodstream and caused a cascade of events that in time will lead to death. Interventions aimed at identifying sepsis early in its progression are imperative to stopping the process. The purpose of this study is to examine the current state of the literature regarding sepsis screening tools utilized by emergency medical services. A literature review exploring the various tools in place was conducted to see their value in predicting sepsis and secondary what the initiation of a sepsis alert has on the patients' outcome. Results found included that sepsis screening tools when in place decrease time to identification, decrease time to antibiotics, increase amount of fluid administration, and overall reduce hospital stay and mortality rate. With these findings educational training for EMS providers and the introduction of generalized protocols are of the upmost importance. Further research is needed to be done to create a consistent tool to be used by all EMS agencies that has a validated predictive value of sepsis.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFH2000155, ucf:46061
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000155

Title: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELORS' VALUES AND LEADERSHIP PRACTICES TO THEIR PROGRAMMATIC SERVICE DELIVERY.
Creator: Shillingford, Margaret, Lambie, Glenn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Professional School Counselors (PSCs) have been called to be leaders for educational reform to support the academic, career, and personal/social development of all students through the coordination and facilitation of their comprehensive, developmental school counseling program (American School Counselor Association , 2005; National Model©). The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the contributions of PSCs' values and leadership practices to their programmatic service...
Show moreProfessional School Counselors (PSCs) have been called to be leaders for educational reform to support the academic, career, and personal/social development of all students through the coordination and facilitation of their comprehensive, developmental school counseling program (American School Counselor Association , 2005; National Model©). The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the contributions of PSCs' values and leadership practices to their programmatic service delivery (counseling, coordinating, consulting, and curriculum). The three constructs and instruments investigated in this study were: (a) Schwartz Value Theory (the Schwartz Value Survey ; Schwartz, 1992), (b) the Leadership Challenge Theory (the Leadership Practices Inventory ; Posner & Kouzes, 1988), and (c) school counselors' programmatic service delivery (the School Counselors Activity Rating Scale ; Scarborough, 2005). The findings of this study contribute to the school counseling, counselor education, and leadership literature. The sample size for this study was 249 certified, practicing school counselors (elementary school, n = 83; middle school, n = 76; high school, n = 74; multi-level, n = 8) in the state of Florida (35% response rate). The participants completed an on-line surveys including a general demographic questionnaire, the SVS (Schwartz, 1992), the LPI (Posner & Kouzes, 1988), and the SCARS (Scarborough, 2005). The statistical procedures used to analyze the data included (a) structural equation modeling (path Analysis), (b) confirmatory factor analysis, (c) simultaneous multiple regression, (d) Pearson product-moment (2-tailed), and (e) Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The primary research hypothesis for the study was that practicing school counselors' values and leadership practice scores would contribute to their levels of programmatic service delivery. The statistical analyses of these data identified several significant findings. The path analysis models testing the contribution of school counselors' values and leadership practices on their service delivery did fit for these data. Specifically, the results indicated that values contributed minimally to the model fit (less than 1%); however, leadership practices made a significant contribution (39%) to the school counselors' service delivery. Additionally, 31% of the participants reported that their current school counseling program was consistent with how they perceive a successful school counseling program should be implemented, yet only 29% of the school counselors reported feeling comfortable in challenging their involvement in non-counseling related duties. Further, although these data indicated that the majority of the school counselors valued self-transcendence (accepting of rules and appreciating others); structural equation modification re-specification procedures revealed that the model fit supported the value type, self-enhancement (self-direction and personal success) as a more significant contributor in promoting leadership practices and effective service delivery. Implications for professional school counseling and counselor education are presented, along with areas for future investigation.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002559, ucf:47653
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002559

Title: A COMPARTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF FOREST MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES IN GENERAL, WITH A FOCUS ON OREGON, NORTH CAROLINA AND FLORIDA.
Creator: kelly , patrick, Kiel, Dwight, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and discuss the evolution of forest management practices in the United States. The paper discusses the trends in forest management that have occurred within the United States in general, and specifically within the western (Oregon) and southern (North Carolina and Florida) United States. The trends discussed include the three (3) to four (4) epochs of management and use that are generally accepted within the forest management literature, with...
Show moreABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and discuss the evolution of forest management practices in the United States. The paper discusses the trends in forest management that have occurred within the United States in general, and specifically within the western (Oregon) and southern (North Carolina and Florida) United States. The trends discussed include the three (3) to four (4) epochs of management and use that are generally accepted within the forest management literature, with the exception of North Carolina that is in the process of a fifth (5). The comparative analysis within the paper discusses the western model of management which tends to be distinctly different from the southern model in terms of regulatory approaches. The western model (i.e. Oregon) tends to be highly regulated, while the southern model is primarily voluntary, and quasi-regulatory in terms of using alternative mechanisms of regulation (i.e. Best Management Practices that regulate water quality). The paper also discusses the role of professionalism within the various forest services in each state, although the regulatory mechanism is the most important explanatory variable. In general, each state's forest services tend to be highly professional with licensing requirements, educational services and cooperative management. The two models are also distinctly different in terms of ownership, with Oregon being owned (nearly 50%) by the public, whereas the southern states are dominated by Nonindustrial Private Forest Owners (NIPF).
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001074, ucf:46770
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001074

Title: AN EXAMINATION OF THE SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAM AT A COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY THROUGH THE LENSES OF PROGRAM THEORY AND INSTITUTIONAL THEORY.
Creator: Duff, Cathy, Tubbs, Levester, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Case study design, employing qualitative research methods, was used to document and examine a mandatory service-learning program at a new, comprehensive, public university. The study examined service-learning from multiple perspectives. Institutional theory provided a framework for examining the influence of the environment on the conceptualization, adoption, and implementation of service-learning. Program theory was used to identify and analyze the program's conceptual underpinnings,...
Show moreCase study design, employing qualitative research methods, was used to document and examine a mandatory service-learning program at a new, comprehensive, public university. The study examined service-learning from multiple perspectives. Institutional theory provided a framework for examining the influence of the environment on the conceptualization, adoption, and implementation of service-learning. Program theory was used to identify and analyze the program's conceptual underpinnings, including goals and objectives, intended outcomes for students, and program processes. Knowledge of how a program is supposed to work is useful for developing assessment questions, evaluating institutional effectiveness, and improving program performance. The study included a review of the history of service-learning at the university. Data were collected during the fall 2005 semester and were analyzed using both process and variance modes. Data sources included the following: 35 documents, which spanned the years 1991-2005; interviews with seven faculty members and four academic administrators; and observations of three meetings of service-learning courses, a Government and Not-for-Profit Service Learning Job Fair, and five meetings where service-learning was a primary topic of discussion. Previous studies served as the basis for the following researcher-developed constructs used to code text across data sources: social/civic outcomes, personal outcomes, learning outcomes, and career outcomes. Findings suggest that the goals and outcomes associated with service-learning found in university documents clustered around social and civic involvement, while outcomes reported by faculty during interviews focused on students' personal development and learning related to course content. In general, university documents contained goals and objectives written in vague language, a finding consistent with previous studies.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0000978, ucf:46691
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000978

Title: A STUDY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL READING TEACHERS AND THE IMPLMENTATIONOF SCIENTIFICALLY BASD READING RESEARCH INSTRUCTION.
Creator: Harper, Virginia, Zygouris-Coe, VIcky, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The literacy mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) swiftly and directly have an impact on reading teachers. The literacy directives of the act constitute a paradigm shift in reading reform, especially at the secondary level. Literacy directives require state and district level administrator's to focus on secondary reading teacher pre and in service training. Effecive secondary reading teachers must be well versed in the foundation sof Scientifically Based Reading Research. Florida...
Show moreThe literacy mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) swiftly and directly have an impact on reading teachers. The literacy directives of the act constitute a paradigm shift in reading reform, especially at the secondary level. Literacy directives require state and district level administrator's to focus on secondary reading teacher pre and in service training. Effecive secondary reading teachers must be well versed in the foundation sof Scientifically Based Reading Research. Florida is among the first states to implement six comptencies of professional development that leads to endorsement in the teaching of reading. Florida teachers of secondary reading are required to earn a reading endorsement. Professional development founded in Scientifically Based Reading Research is a knowledge-driven process. The process requires teachers to be actively engaged in action research that links theory to practice. School districts are to train teachers to implement recommended strategic teaching tools in their classrooms. learning the teaching strategies of reading requires educators to commit time and mental energy to complete a robust professional development track With concern for the success of reading teachers, this qualitative study utilized case studies and the interpretive approach to investigate the question: Will secondary reading teachers implement Scientifically Based Reading Research in the classroom? The research examined the attitudes, reactions, and classroom practices of eight teachers who were assigned to teach secondary reading. data gathering spanned two semesters and an intervening summer in an urban Southwest Florida school district. The results of this dissertation are encouraging but mixed. The researcher discovered that secondary teachers of reading who experienced at least one class of reading professional development were discovering a climate of collaboration, a body of research, and inconstant implementation success. The research also uncovered teacher perspectives of the negative factors of mandated professional development: time pressures, curriculum frustrations, needs for follow-up collaborations and assumptions about administrator neglect.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001169, ucf:46847
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001169

Title: PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF PROMOTING TEACHER AUTONOMY THROUGH THE USE OF LESSON STUDY.
Creator: Leon, Rachel, Wise, William Scott, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The intent of thesis is to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions of using a form of professional development to promote teacher autonomy. Current evidence shows that autonomy is a recurring element desired by American teachers in their profession. However, research advocates for teachers who are initiating and carrying out research in their schools(as a form of professional development) to have the potential to promote autonomy. For American teachers to gain a sense of autonomy in their...
Show moreThe intent of thesis is to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions of using a form of professional development to promote teacher autonomy. Current evidence shows that autonomy is a recurring element desired by American teachers in their profession. However, research advocates for teachers who are initiating and carrying out research in their schools(as a form of professional development) to have the potential to promote autonomy. For American teachers to gain a sense of autonomy in their profession there needs to be a change in the way professional development is directed. One form of professional development that promotes teachers as researchers is Lesson Study. Teachers who participate in lesson study are given the opportunity to research, collaborate, and learn. A sample population of five Pre-service teachers were interviewed to discover their perceptions of using Lesson Study as a means to promote teacher autonomy. The results of this thesis are that lesson study was regarded, by three out of five of the participants, as an effective way to strengthen teacher autonomy. The implications of the results are discussed, and the descriptions and implications of Lesson Study are provided.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFH0004726, ucf:45381
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004726

Title: DICK'S LAST RESORT RESTAURANTS: A UNCONVENTIONAL THEME "BAD SERVICE" BECOMES UNIQUE EXPERIENCE FOR GUESTS.
Creator: Kim, Sunghyeon, Ro, Heejung, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The hospitality industry has focused on increasing customer satisfaction by offering services that are generally described as flawless, courteous, and friendly. Dick's Last Resort restaurants, however, are distinguished by intentionally staged erroneous, obnoxious, and rude services that nevertheless provide a unique experience for customers. This unconventional service theme might work for some customers but not for others. This study focuses on exploring the factors that lead to customer...
Show moreThe hospitality industry has focused on increasing customer satisfaction by offering services that are generally described as flawless, courteous, and friendly. Dick's Last Resort restaurants, however, are distinguished by intentionally staged erroneous, obnoxious, and rude services that nevertheless provide a unique experience for customers. This unconventional service theme might work for some customers but not for others. This study focuses on exploring the factors that lead to customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction at Dick's Last Resort restaurants. In addition, customer satisfaction levels are examined according to gender and location. Using the modified critical incident technique, 518 online reviews were analyzed through a categorization process. The results of this study suggested that "overall theme experience" and "employee performance" are the most important factors in determining customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. However, the findings suggest that there is no satisfaction rate difference by customers' gender and restaurant's location. The study's limitations and managerial implications for future research are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004357, ucf:44999
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004357

Title: AN EXAMINATION OF SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITIES IN A LARGE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Creator: Blair, Kristin, Killingsworth Roberts, Sherron, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This sweeping legislation brought reform to every area of public education by establishing seven performance-based provisions. Supplemental Educational Services is a core aspect of NCLB, designed to meet two of the seven goals: improving academic performance of disadvantaged students and promoting innovative programs. SES tutoring is provided free of charge to parents for students who are eligible for...
Show moreOn January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This sweeping legislation brought reform to every area of public education by establishing seven performance-based provisions. Supplemental Educational Services is a core aspect of NCLB, designed to meet two of the seven goals: improving academic performance of disadvantaged students and promoting innovative programs. SES tutoring is provided free of charge to parents for students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch and that attend a Title I school that has not made Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, for three or more years. The aim of this tutoring is to ensure that all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, have access to tutoring to help improve their academic scores. The purpose of this research was to examine the practices of SES providers in a large metropolitan school district to examine the pedagogical practices, the qualifications of SES providers, and the accountability measures in place to ensure maximum student academic gains. Through an anonymous online survey taken by SES providers, as well as interviewing the SES coordinator in the target district, I was able to gain a clearer understanding of the SES system. My findings are consistent with other key studies across the nation (Munoz, Potter, & Ross, 2008; Rickles & White, 2006); that is, that little accountability among SES providers to districts could result in questionable student academic gains. Because of research such as this, new federal legislation is currently being drafted to issue states waivers from the restrictions of mandatory NCLB Title I budgets, wherein 5 to 15% were allocated to SES tutoring (McNeil, 2011).
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFH0004109, ucf:44884
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004109

Title: EXAMINING THE MORAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN AND THEIR NATURALISTIC DISPLAYS OF EMPATHY THROUGH SERVICE-LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN PRESCHOOL.
Creator: Paris, Elizabeth, Szente, Judit, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Moral development in preschool is a component of social and emotional development, which also includes self-regulation, interpersonal skills, and school readiness. While service-learning has demonstrated significant benefits to the social-emotional development of older students, very little research has examined the effects of service-learning with young children. The purpose of this study was to create an academic curriculum that would provide preschool children (3 to 5 years old) with a...
Show moreMoral development in preschool is a component of social and emotional development, which also includes self-regulation, interpersonal skills, and school readiness. While service-learning has demonstrated significant benefits to the social-emotional development of older students, very little research has examined the effects of service-learning with young children. The purpose of this study was to create an academic curriculum that would provide preschool children (3 to 5 years old) with a developmentally-appropriate approach to service-learning, and determine if such a curriculum had a measurable effect on naturalistic empathy. Children in two classrooms received a preliminary empathy score based on number of empathetic behaviors relative to time observed. Children in the experimental classroom engaged in a series of lesson plans designed to guide their self-selected service-learning project. Participants in the experimental classroom created an intergenerational project that directly served the residents of a nursing home across the street from their school. A subsequent assessment of empathy measured moral development as a result of the service-learning in comparison to the normal growth and development observed in the control classroom. Results indicate if participation in service-learning increases the number of observed empathetic behaviors. Implications and recommendations for further research are also discussed.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFH0003851, ucf:44709
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003851

Title: SELF-DETERMINATION AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS DIAGNOSED WITH ASPERGER'S SYNDROME: A QUALITATIVE STUDY.
Creator: Szentmiklosi, Jillian, Cintron, Rosa, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This qualitative research study investigated the self-determination of community college students diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (AS). Varying levels of self-determination were displayed within each of the five participants. However, despite the unique characteristics and experiences of the participants, five major and two minor themes related to the collegial experiences of these students were revealed. The major themes highlighted were that community college students with AS (a)...
Show moreThis qualitative research study investigated the self-determination of community college students diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (AS). Varying levels of self-determination were displayed within each of the five participants. However, despite the unique characteristics and experiences of the participants, five major and two minor themes related to the collegial experiences of these students were revealed. The major themes highlighted were that community college students with AS (a) enjoyed academic success, (b) found disability services and accommodations important, (c) chose majors based on personal interests, (d) relied on family members for support, and (e) had difficulty developing social connections on campus. The minor themes related to the particular importance of faculty and attendance at a community college to some of the students.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002880, ucf:48030
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002880

Title: UCANFNSH: A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT CREATED TO ENGAGE AND INSPIRE SELF-DETERMINATION IN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES.
Creator: Rosenblatt, Kara, Cross, Lee, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study explored the efficacy of using a virtual college campus to teach self-determination skills to middle school students with learning disabilities. Teaching self-determination skills is considered best practice for students with disabilities as they transition into adulthood. Three measures, a self-determination knowledge measurement scale, a behavior rubric, and 15 multiple choice questions measured self-determination knowledge and skill application ability with 71 middle school...
Show moreThis study explored the efficacy of using a virtual college campus to teach self-determination skills to middle school students with learning disabilities. Teaching self-determination skills is considered best practice for students with disabilities as they transition into adulthood. Three measures, a self-determination knowledge measurement scale, a behavior rubric, and 15 multiple choice questions measured self-determination knowledge and skill application ability with 71 middle school students with learning disabilities. The measures were used to determine whether the students who learned about self-determination skills in the virtual college setting during one training session displayed more knowledge and application of these skills than students who learned about and applied these skills in the natural setting. Empirical data revealed that overall, students made significant gains in their capacity to be self-determined in both natural and virtual settings. Students who participated in self-determination skills training in the virtual college setting displayed significantly more self-determination skills knowledge than the two control groups. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the students who learned in the virtual learning environment were also able to generalize these skills to both home and school settings after only one training session. Recommendations were made for future studies utilizing virtual learning environments to teach students with disabilities self-determination skills and increasing the use of digital media in teacher preparation programs.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002829, ucf:48083
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002829

Title: TOP MANAGEMENT'S PERCEPTIONS OF SERVICE EXCELLENCE AND HOSPITALITY: THE CASE OF DR. P. PHILLIPS HOSPITAL.
Creator: Aiello, Taryn, Severt, Denver, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study investigated service excellence and hospitality in a healthcare setting. It is unique from other hospitality research in that it considers hospitality and service excellence as separate concepts, applicable across industries. Part of the premise of this study explores how hospitality extends past service excellence to create a comfortable and welcoming environment to combat patient anxiety and stress. Furthermore, this is one of the first qualitative studies on the importance of...
Show moreThis study investigated service excellence and hospitality in a healthcare setting. It is unique from other hospitality research in that it considers hospitality and service excellence as separate concepts, applicable across industries. Part of the premise of this study explores how hospitality extends past service excellence to create a comfortable and welcoming environment to combat patient anxiety and stress. Furthermore, this is one of the first qualitative studies on the importance of service excellence and hospitality in the healthcare industry. This case study measured top management's perceptions of service excellence and hospitality within one community-based hospital located in Orlando, Florida. The researcher conducted one-hour interviews with twelve leading managers to gain their opinions of service excellence and hospitality within their organization. Consistent with a thorough review of literature, three conclusions were revealed: 1) there is a strong, but mixed, top management commitment to service excellence and hospitality throughout organization; 2) the terms "service excellence" and "hospitality", when used, were discussed interchangeably as if the two theories were equivalent; and 3) External barriers to the patient experience that were identified included improvement of technology, increased consumerism, quality regulations, and workforce deficits. Internal barriers to the patient experience include communication and inconsistency. The research provided implications to healthcare organizations that are looking to implement practices of hospitality and service management to improve service delivery. Additionally, the study of hospitality outside the industry offers ideas of improvement for hospitality management and organizational researchers. It can also be used as a foundation to formulate additional studies in the area of service excellence and hospitality within the healthcare field, as this research is limited to only top management's views.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002311, ucf:47837
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002311

Title: Reconceptualizing Responsiveness for Network Governance: Insights from Cross-Sector Efforts to Assist the Displaced Population From Puerto Rico in Central Florida.
Creator: Prysmakova, Safiya, Bryer, Thomas, Hu, Qian, Sadiq, Abdul-Akeem, Piccolo, Ronald F, Meek, Jack, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study further expands current knowledge on responsiveness in the public administration field and examines factors that contribute to more responsive public service delivery networks. This research reconceptualized the concept of responsiveness under the lens of New Public Governance as a legitimate democratic public value and answered the following research questions: What constructs constitute to the concept of public service responsiveness? How can public service responsiveness be...
Show moreThis study further expands current knowledge on responsiveness in the public administration field and examines factors that contribute to more responsive public service delivery networks. This research reconceptualized the concept of responsiveness under the lens of New Public Governance as a legitimate democratic public value and answered the following research questions: What constructs constitute to the concept of public service responsiveness? How can public service responsiveness be measured at the network level? Does the complexity of public service provision affect perceived public service network responsiveness? How do collaborative processes across network partners, community support, and resource munificence affect the responsiveness of public delivery networks? The study utilized a multi-method case study approach. The case of the study is focused on the cross-sector efforts in response to the crisis, caused by the massive displacement of the Puerto Rican population to Central Florida after Hurricane Maria. The data was collected using surveys administrated to the displaced population, and interviews conducted with the managers of service delivery organizations. Using quantitative methods, this study developed a valid and reliable model for measuring perceived public service network responsiveness, which is built on the constructs that include the sufficiency of service provision, dignity, clarity of communication and public engagement. The findings suggested that the displaced population that sought a higher number of low complexity services had a more negative perception of public service network responsiveness. The study suggested that negative perception in low complexity service provision can be caused by the low capability of the public service system and low level of public input, and can be characterized as (")consumeristic(") approach. The qualitative findings showed that collaborative processes can affect the responsiveness of public service networks. Increased community support proved to be a positive factor for public service network responsiveness, while a lack of flexible funding is a negative factor for public service network responsiveness.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007852, ucf:52762
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007852

Title: Meeting planner loyalty to convention service managers: An investigation of convention service manager emotional and functional competence in the business-to-business exchange.
Creator: Holm, Michelle, Dickson, Duncan, Muller, Christopher, Severt, Denver, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The current state of literature surrounding the business-to-business (BTB) exchange in the meetings, incentives, conventions, and events (MICE) industry is limited. Likewise, the manner in which meeting planners forge their intentions to repurchase was unknown until the present study was conducted. The following research focused on the role of the hotel convention service manager (CSM) in the BTB exchange with the meeting planner to understand the role they play in the meeting planner's...
Show moreThe current state of literature surrounding the business-to-business (BTB) exchange in the meetings, incentives, conventions, and events (MICE) industry is limited. Likewise, the manner in which meeting planners forge their intentions to repurchase was unknown until the present study was conducted. The following research focused on the role of the hotel convention service manager (CSM) in the BTB exchange with the meeting planner to understand the role they play in the meeting planner's decision to repurchase. Since hotel CSMs have not been assessed in previous literature, one of the major contributions of this study was that it established a set of functional competencies on which to evaluate hotel CSM performance in on-the-job tasks. The current study also introduced an emotional competence evaluation by means of asking meeting planners to evaluate hotel CSMs on well-being, emotionality, self control and sociability, in the face of client interaction. It was found that both forms of competency performance significantly contribute to the planner's perceptions of relationship quality. The current state of the literature was also ambiguous surrounding relationship quality in the BTB exchange. It was well established that relationship quality was most commonly composed of at least two dimensions: trust and commitment. However, because this study investigated the BTB exchange in an individual-individual context, likability was added as a new dimension of relationship quality. The second order factor structure of relationship quality was confirmed, and post-hoc tests revealed that a meeting planner's perceptions of emotional and functional competence in the exchange, appears to hinge on the quality of that relationship, when the meeting planner is evaluating their intentions to repurchase with the property and the hotel CSM. In fact, repeat purchase intentions with the hotel CSM were found to supersede intentions with the property, thereby establishing hotel CSMs as directors of repeat business for their respective employer (property). To accomplish this study's objectives, a mixed-mode methodology was employed. Qualitative analysis was conducted after collecting data via semi-structured interviews and focus groups to establish the functional competencies of hotel CSMs and create a generic scale for assessing those competencies. Quantitative analysis was preceded by a survey composed of five sections: functional competence, emotional competence, relationship quality, repeat purchase intention, and demographics. Data was collected from meeting planners, which resulted in a usable sample of 324 responses. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on functional competence to understand its underlying latent structure. A robust reliability analysis and a priori testing was employed prior to conducing confirmatory factor analyses, which were followed by structural equation modeling to test the proposed theoretical model. The results showed the following. Functional and emotional competence were positively related to relationship quality, respectively. The second order factor structure of relationship quality was established, composed of the following first order factors: trust, commitment, and likability. Finally, perceived relationship quality is positively related to repeat purchase intention with the property and with the hotel CSM. The study offered a number of theoretical and practical implications, and limitations and directions for future research were also discussed in the final chapter.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006688, ucf:51925
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006688

Title: SERVICE QUALITY IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: AN ANALYSIS OF LIBQUAL+™ SCORES AND INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
Creator: Miller, Kathleen, Bozeman, William, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This exploratory study considered the problem of assessing quality in academic libraries. The research question that framed the investigation asked whether service quality scores from the LibQUAL+™ instrument were related to the following college or university characteristics: institutional type, enrollment level, or the level of investment made in libraries. Data regarding Carnegie classification, FTE enrollment, and library expenditures were collected for 159 college and university...
Show moreThis exploratory study considered the problem of assessing quality in academic libraries. The research question that framed the investigation asked whether service quality scores from the LibQUAL+™ instrument were related to the following college or university characteristics: institutional type, enrollment level, or the level of investment made in libraries. Data regarding Carnegie classification, FTE enrollment, and library expenditures were collected for 159 college and university libraries that participated in LibQUAL+™ during 2006. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and regression analyses were calculated and the Bonferroni adjustment was applied to significance levels to compensate for errors caused by repeated calculations using the same data. Several statistically significant relationships were found; notably, negative correlations were found between each of the LibQUAL+™ scores and total library expenditures. The study suggested that higher expectations among library users in large, research libraries led to slightly lower LibQUAL+™ scores. Implications for practice included that survey results should only be used as one component of an assessment strategy, and practitioners might consider the potential role of library marketing or public relations efforts to influence user expectations. Recommendations were made for future research including replicating some aspects of this study with a more representative sample, analyzing respondent comments as well as score data, and exploring whether there are reliable differences in results for different types of institutions or among groups of respondents (students and faculty, or faculty by discipline).
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002007, ucf:47628
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002007

Title: QUERY PROCESSING IN LOCATION-BASED SERVICES.
Creator: Liu, Fuyu, Hua, Kien, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: With the advances in wireless communication technology and advanced positioning systems, a variety of Location-Based Services (LBS) become available to the public. Mobile users can issue location-based queries to probe their surrounding environments. One important type of query in LBS is moving monitoring queries over mobile objects. Due to the high frequency in location updates and the expensive cost of continuous query processing, server computation capacity and wireless communication...
Show moreWith the advances in wireless communication technology and advanced positioning systems, a variety of Location-Based Services (LBS) become available to the public. Mobile users can issue location-based queries to probe their surrounding environments. One important type of query in LBS is moving monitoring queries over mobile objects. Due to the high frequency in location updates and the expensive cost of continuous query processing, server computation capacity and wireless communication bandwidth are the two limiting factors for large-scale deployment of moving object database systems. To address both of the scalability factors, distributed computing has been considered. These schemes enable moving objects to participate as a peer in query processing to substantially reduce the demand on server computation, and wireless communications associated with location updates. In the first part of this dissertation, we propose a distributed framework to process moving monitoring queries over moving objects in a spatial network environment. In the second part of this dissertation, in order to reduce the communication cost, we leverage both on-demand data access and periodic broadcast to design a new hybrid distributed solution for moving monitoring queries in an open space environment. Location-based services make our daily life more convenient. However, to receive the services, one has to reveal his/her location and query information when issuing location-based queries. This could lead to privacy breach if these personal information are possessed by some untrusted parties. In the third part of this dissertation, we introduce a new privacy protection measure called query l-diversity, and provide two cloaking algorithms to achieve both location k-anonymity and query l-diversity to better protect user privacy. In the fourth part of this dissertation, we design a hybrid three-tier architecture to help reduce privacy exposure. In the fifth part of this dissertation, we propose to use Road Network Embedding technique to process privacy protected queries.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003487, ucf:48949
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003487

pre-service teachers (7)	+ -
service-learning (6)	+ -
service learning (5)	+ -
Quality of Service (4)	+ -
Service Quality (3)	+ -

customer service (3)	+ -
education (3)	+ -
self-efficacy (3)	+ -
training (3)	+ -
Culture (2)	+ -
Education (2)	+ -
Florida (2)	+ -
Mathematics (2)	+ -
Pre-Service Teachers (2)	+ -
Service Delivery (2)	+ -
case study (2)	+ -
children (2)	+ -
co-teaching (2)	+ -
coproduction (2)	+ -
customer satisfaction (2)	+ -
emergency medical services (2)	+ -
empathy (2)	+ -
energy (2)	+ -
first-year composition (2)	+ -
game theory (2)	+ -
higher education (2)	+ -
hospitality (2)	+ -
identification (2)	+ -
peer-to-peer (2)	+ -
policy (2)	+ -

ETD Collection (114)	+ -
Honors Collection (18)	+ -

University of Central Florida (132)	+ -
Severt, Denver (7)	+ -
Wan, Thomas (7)	+ -
Chatterjee, Mainak (5)	+ -
Hopp, Carolyn (5)	+ -

Zou, Changchun (5)	+ -
Boote, David (4)	+ -
Vitale, Thomas (4)	+ -
Andreasen, Janet (3)	+ -
Bassiouni, Mostafa (3)	+ -
Bowdon, Melody (3)	+ -
Bryer, Thomas (3)	+ -
Cox, Dr. Thomas (3)	+ -
Hewitt, Randall (3)	+ -
Hua, Kien (3)	+ -
Martin, Lawrence (3)	+ -
Murphy, Kevin (3)	+ -
Murray, Barbara (3)	+ -
Murray, Kenneth (3)	+ -
Ro, Heejung (3)	+ -
Robinson, Edward (3)	+ -
Russell, William (3)	+ -
Sivo, Stephen (3)	+ -
Turgut, Damla (3)	+ -
Zhang, Ning (3)	+ -
Aiello, Taryn (2)	+ -
Anderson, Kim (2)	+ -
Bush, Sarah (2)	+ -
Cintron Delgado, Rosa (2)	+ -
Cintron, Rosa (2)	+ -

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