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Title: PERCEPTIONS OF HOMELESSNESS AND STRATEGIES FOR RECEIVING SERVICES AMONG THE FLORIDA HOMELESS.
Creator: Young, Rebecca, Mishtal, Joanna, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Homelessness is a complex problem replete with profound social distress and suffering, but with few adequate solutions. The homeless are a marginalized population particularly vulnerable to structural forces and policy decisions, including lack of affordable housing, unemployment, systemic inequalities, and lack of adequate social safety net. Perspectives of homeless people are understudied in anthropological scholarship which tends to focus on service providers, with comparatively less...
Show moreHomelessness is a complex problem replete with profound social distress and suffering, but with few adequate solutions. The homeless are a marginalized population particularly vulnerable to structural forces and policy decisions, including lack of affordable housing, unemployment, systemic inequalities, and lack of adequate social safety net. Perspectives of homeless people are understudied in anthropological scholarship which tends to focus on service providers, with comparatively less attention on homeless people themselves who are commonly subjected to medicalizing and criminalizing discourses. Using ethnographic research methods, including participant-observation and interviews with homeless people who pursue food pantry services at Hope Helps Non-profit organization in Oviedo, Florida, this paper examines the experiences of homeless people in Florida, where the issue of homelessness has been acute and is often depoliticized in public discourses. Specifically , it focuses on coping strategies of homeless people in Oviedo, and ways in which they understand their life circumstances and secure necessary services. Findings demonstrate that the Florida homeless view reasons for their homelessness as primarily economic, but rarely critique policies behind low wages or unaffordable housing. The narratives also show that the homeless in this study obtain resources through networking, and despite use of assistance services, view themselves as independent, active agents. Results of this research have potential to improve the way social services for the homeless are structured, and to inform policy relevant to homeless in Florida. Furthermore, this research brings attention to a marginalized problem and population, and considers how particular discourses function to maintain a structurally inadequate system.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFH0004626, ucf:45286
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004626

Title: Constituting Rhetorical Agency in a Feminist Discursive Space.
Creator: Raynor, Ella, Scott, Blake, Jones, Natasha, Brenckle, Martha, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis details an analysis of a project called Exposing the Silence in order to learn about agency and discursive space. This gallery for traumatic birth stories serves as a relevant site for better understanding how women are constituting their experiences with embodied autonomy and rhetorical dis/empowerment and how they come together to visually and discursively form a feminist space online. I completed a rhetorical analysis of the birth narratives and of an interview with Lindsay...
Show moreThis thesis details an analysis of a project called Exposing the Silence in order to learn about agency and discursive space. This gallery for traumatic birth stories serves as a relevant site for better understanding how women are constituting their experiences with embodied autonomy and rhetorical dis/empowerment and how they come together to visually and discursively form a feminist space online. I completed a rhetorical analysis of the birth narratives and of an interview with Lindsay Askins, one of the creators of Exposing the Silence.My study finds that a dyadic relationship between embodied autonomy and rhetorical agency exists while women negotiate power constructs during their traumatic obstetric experiences. When their rhetorical agency was diminished, so was their embodied autonomy. While they asserted agency during the traumatic experience, loss of agency is the main reason for their feelings of trauma. However, they work to re-assert rhetorical agency by sharing their narratives in the discursive space. The discursive space of the website is feminist because it promotes the rhetorical agency of its users and provides the opportunity for its users to socially construct that agency.My study contributes to the rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM) through its focus on how women constitute their embodied autonomy and rhetorical agency when speaking about an experience in which they lost some amount of both. I especially contribute an interpretation of how rhetorical agency, a discursive assertion of agency, can interact with agency itself, or embodied autonomy, without being the same entities. This project also contributes to RHM through its focus on how an online feminist visual-discursive space is socially constructed by its occupants and creators to assert rhetorical agency.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007238, ucf:52238
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007238

Title: EFFECTS OF IT GOVERNANCE ON INFORMATION SECURITY.
Creator: Wu, Yu, Saunders, Carol, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This dissertation is composed by three essays that explore the relationship between good IT governance and effective information security services. Governance steers and verifies performance of fiduciary duties, through the implementation of proper governance mechanisms. With a focus on information security, this essay presents three categories of governance mechanisms – process-based, structural, and relational. When properly instituted, they work together to ensure that IT understands...
Show moreThis dissertation is composed by three essays that explore the relationship between good IT governance and effective information security services. Governance steers and verifies performance of fiduciary duties, through the implementation of proper governance mechanisms. With a focus on information security, this essay presents three categories of governance mechanisms – process-based, structural, and relational. When properly instituted, they work together to ensure that IT understands business requirements for information security and strives to fulfill them. An explanation is offered about the efficacy of those mechanisms, based on an agency theory perspective that views IT as an agent for business. The two underlying causes for agency problems are goal incongruence and information asymmetry between the agent and the principal. Governance mechanisms help to reduce both goal incongruence and information asymmetry. Hence, they lead to desired outcomes. A theoretical framework is presented and empirical tested.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001965, ucf:47435
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001965

Title: AN EXAMINATION OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH WORD WORK WITH ELEMENTARY STUDENTS TRANSFERS TO AUTHENTIC READING AND WRITING PRACTICES.
Creator: Chappell, Rebecca A, Gelfuso, Andrea, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The intent of this thesis is to seek understanding of how word work lessons with children can transfer to their authentic reading and writing practices. Research has shown that when word work is embedded into a balanced approach to teach literacy, it works well and quickly. However, other research shows that word work did not transfer into the students� authentic writing because the connection between word work and writing was not made explicit to the students. The gap in the literature is...
Show moreThe intent of this thesis is to seek understanding of how word work lessons with children can transfer to their authentic reading and writing practices. Research has shown that when word work is embedded into a balanced approach to teach literacy, it works well and quickly. However, other research shows that word work did not transfer into the students� authentic writing because the connection between word work and writing was not made explicit to the students. The gap in the literature is that far less is known about how word work transfers to authentic reading and writing. In my study, I engaged in word work lessons, guided reading lessons, and reading response lessons with four second grade students over the course of three weeks. All lessons were video recorded and became data for this study. Data were analyzed deductively by locating critical teaching moments that were taken advantage of. Findings include three different types of prompts being used by the teacher to take advantage of critical teaching moments. Results from this study have implications for educators, namely how they can be more intentional with their phonics and guided reading instruction, so that word work instruction can transfer to authentic reading and writing practices.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFH2000063, ucf:45508
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000063

Title: SECURITY DESIGN THAT ADDRESSES AGENCY CONFLICTS AND INFORMATION ASYMMETRY.
Creator: Tewari, Manish, Schnitzlein, Charles, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study focuses on the role of structured derivative securities to meet diverse corporate financing objectives in the light of agency theory and asymmetric information. The focus is on the nonconvertible callable-puttable fixed-coupon bonds. The primary objective is to discern the marginal role of the put and put-deferred features in addressing the agency issues and asymmetric information. A sample of (159) securities issued over the period (1977-2005) are examined using Merton's (1974...
Show moreThis study focuses on the role of structured derivative securities to meet diverse corporate financing objectives in the light of agency theory and asymmetric information. The focus is on the nonconvertible callable-puttable fixed-coupon bonds. The primary objective is to discern the marginal role of the put and put-deferred features in addressing the agency issues and asymmetric information. A sample of (159) securities issued over the period (1977-2005) are examined using Merton's (1974) structural contingent claims valuation model. The put option as well as the deferred put option incorporated in these securities is found to mitigate the asset substitution issue. It is also found that these contract features provide considerable insurance against the asymmetric information about the firm's downside risk. Specifically, the effects of asset substitution are mitigated because the put option reduces sensitivity of the security's value to the changes in the firm's volatility. Prior to this study, this effect was believed to be driven primarily by the conversion feature in the convertible bonds and the preferred stocks. In addition, the long-term performance of the underlying common stock indicates systematic negative performance for the protracted periods both prior and subsequent to the issuance, yet it is found that this decline in the equity value has only a limited negative impact on the security.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002424, ucf:47756
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002424

Title: A Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of Successful Women in Science Fields.
Creator: Hall, Jonathan, Butler, Malcolm, Freeman, Tonjua, Boote, David, Morrison, Deb, Blank, William, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Girls and women face several forms of gender-based biases and discrimination in the science community. These issues create difficult circumstances for them to develop positive science identities. Since these difficult circumstances exist, science education and sociology researchers have used a deficit model to learn about their experiences, achievements, and attitudes. Understanding the experiences of successful women in science offers insight into how women can navigate the challenges...
Show moreGirls and women face several forms of gender-based biases and discrimination in the science community. These issues create difficult circumstances for them to develop positive science identities. Since these difficult circumstances exist, science education and sociology researchers have used a deficit model to learn about their experiences, achievements, and attitudes. Understanding the experiences of successful women in science offers insight into how women can navigate the challenges presented by the science community and how science educators can support them. However, research studies that explore the experiences of successful women in science are scant. Therefore, the objective of this study was to learn about the experiences of successful women who are professionals in science fields. Twelve participants engaged in three semi-structured interviews. Findings showed that participants had access to and support in authentic science experiences. They developed a passion for science that was supported by a self-selected support system. Advancement in workplaces that were often dominated by males required a sophisticated understanding of organizational norms. This advancement required strategic agency in how they spent their time and the relationships that they built. Two differences in experiences were found that were based on race. The first difference based on race was that Black and Hispanic participants experienced racial and ethnic discrimination. The second difference was that Black and Hispanic participants discussed the centrality of their faith to their work in every interview. These findings provide insight for the science community. Science methods instructors could educate pre-service teachers about how participants navigated gender-based challenges in science communities. Furthermore, the stories of these women could structure lessons that cover inclusion and equity. For industry, all employees should adhere to professional standards and mentors should be relatable to their mentees.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007186, ucf:52283
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007186

Title: Neither Teacher nor Scholar: Identity and Agency in a Graduate Teacher's Life.
Creator: Pierson, Caitlin, Wheeler, Stephanie, Edwards, Dustin, Scott, Blake, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis examines how graduate student teachers (GTA's) employ agency in order to establish and perform professional identities. Understanding agency as interactional, performative, and acting in a way (")unintended by power(") (Butler, 1997, p. 15), this thesis examines the spatial practices and performances of a graduate student teacher through a mixed methods approach combining video recordings with autoethnography.This project begins by using Lefebvre's (1991) social imaginary to...
Show moreThis thesis examines how graduate student teachers (GTA's) employ agency in order to establish and perform professional identities. Understanding agency as interactional, performative, and acting in a way (")unintended by power(") (Butler, 1997, p. 15), this thesis examines the spatial practices and performances of a graduate student teacher through a mixed methods approach combining video recordings with autoethnography.This project begins by using Lefebvre's (1991) social imaginary to examine the potent arguments being made to and about GTA's from their shared office, using visual rhetorical analysis to examine how this space communicates ideas of identity and place that work at rhetorical purposes counter to the performances GTA's are employing within that space. Exploring how GTA's respond to the social imaginary within space, this thesis conducts an analysis of the tactics employed, using De Certeau (1984) as a framework. Graduate student teachers use spatial practices and performances to make do with the space and the power allotted to them; however, they employ key tactics such as altering body position and vocal tone to turn interactions with students and with each other into dynamic moments for the production of agency.Finally, this thesis argues that, while GTA's use tactics and spatial practices to negotiate the performances and spaces allotted to them, their agency is temporal and limited. Departmental investment in relationships with GTA and integrating them further into the life of the department through apprenticeship can bolster the tenuous agency of the GTA.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007235, ucf:52232
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007235

Title: Correlates to Police and Correctional Burnout: An Exploratory Study.
Creator: McDonald, James, Holmes, Stephen, Adams, Kenneth, Wolf, Ross, Addelston, Judi, Goltz, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study builds on the small but growing body of research examining the antecedents and effects of burnout on police and corrections officers. A review of the extant literature on burnout in general and on the literature exploring police and correctional officer burnout in particular identified several variables that contribute to the social-psychological condition of burnout. The variables identified in the literature review were grouped according to biographical factors (gender, race...
Show moreThis study builds on the small but growing body of research examining the antecedents and effects of burnout on police and corrections officers. A review of the extant literature on burnout in general and on the literature exploring police and correctional officer burnout in particular identified several variables that contribute to the social-psychological condition of burnout. The variables identified in the literature review were grouped according to biographical factors (gender, race/ethnicity, and age), biographical stressors (marital status and level of education), organizational factors (occupational field, agency size, tenure, and rank), workplace stressors (recent promotions, transfers or discipline, and perceptions of fairness in promotions, discipline, and transfers), or life-event stressors. This study utilized the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) to assess burnout. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) developed by Holmes and Rahe (1996) was used to identify life-event stressors. The sample for this study was drawn from police and correctional officers attending professional development training at a regional criminal justice training center in Central Florida. Of the 577 students surveyed, 417 remained in the sample after duplicates were eliminated. A multi-stage analysis, which included analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent sample t-tests, and ordinary least squared techniques (OLS), was conducted to explore the influences of different correlates of burnout on police and correctional officers. Multiple one-way ANOVA models and independent sample t-tests were run first, followed by several stages of multiple regression analysis. In the initial OLS regression models, only the variables for biographical factors, biographical stressors, and occupational factors were entered in the models. In following stage, workplace stressors were added to the regression models, followed by the addition of life-event stressors into the final regression models. The correlates of burnout found to be most significant included race/ethnicity, agency size, and perceptions of fairness in promotions and discipline. Of the correlates that were significant, race/ethnicity and perceptions of fairness were the most noteworthy, since the data indicated White/Caucasian officers experienced greater levels of burnout than minority officers, a finding that appeared related to an officer's perceptions of fairness in promotions and discipline. In addition, a statistically significant difference in professional efficacy scores was detected between officers from smaller agencies (99 officers or fewer) and officers from the largest agencies (1,000 officers or more). The findings from this study seem to suggest that burnout may be influenced by perceptions of fairness in promotional and disciplinary processes, which may be confounded by an officer's race/ethnicity. To address this matter, police and correctional agency administrators might want to consider designing promotional and disciplinary procedures that stress transparency and emphasize merit-based outcomes rather than equality-based outcomes. With regard to agency size, administrators from small agencies should consider steps that make the job more rewarding to their officers so they are less susceptible to burnout.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004215, ucf:49016
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004215

Title: Engaging and Enacting Writing in First-Year Composition: Re-Imagining Student Self-Efficacy in Writing.
Creator: Tripp, Mary, Wardle, Elizabeth, Pigg, Stacey, Scott, John, Slomp, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: According to educational theory, learning to write necessitates self-belief that one is capable of performing required tasks. This belief is called self-efficacy, a component of human agency. Students who enter First-Year Composition (FYC), are often unaware of the writing challenges that lie ahead, and many educational psychologists posit that self-efficacy beliefs are the most important factor in meeting these writing challenges. While socio-cognitive theory shapes views of self-efficacy in...
Show moreAccording to educational theory, learning to write necessitates self-belief that one is capable of performing required tasks. This belief is called self-efficacy, a component of human agency. Students who enter First-Year Composition (FYC), are often unaware of the writing challenges that lie ahead, and many educational psychologists posit that self-efficacy beliefs are the most important factor in meeting these writing challenges. While socio-cognitive theory shapes views of self-efficacy in education literature, to date, measures of self-efficacy in writing have focused only on the individual cognitive beliefs as they influence writing performance outcomes. However, current research in writing studies as well as posthuman theories of agency point to a broader, more contextually-bound view of agency for writing as emergent and enacted in socially constructed systems.This dissertation challenges the current view of self-efficacy as it is described in the educational literature as well as the ways in which self-efficacy in writing is measured, suggesting instead that self-efficacy beliefs and learning to write are deeply contextualized. In this dissertation, I examine student self-efficacy in writing using the lens of activity theory, not only as a set of stated individual beliefs but also as belief-in-action measured as images on writing maps, subtle shifts in language and talk about writing, as well as changes in writing practices. More importantly, I examine the agency that is constructed in the social system of FYC classrooms which may only later become internalized individual beliefs about abilities to write. My study suggests that self-efficacy beliefs are not bound by inside the head as belief about performing certain rules for writing, but instead self-efficacy beliefs about writing are emergent and enacted and bound to particular writing systems. Lingering feelings of agency forworking in particular systems can move with students to similar systems; however, strong beliefs about writing as fixed and rule-bound can actually hinder how much students learn in FYC. The evidence suggests that self-efficacy in writing may be better theorized as writing efficacy, emergent agency for writing that strengthens as participants become engaged in working toward the motives of a writing system.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004447, ucf:49336
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004447

Title: Sharing Aloha on the mainland: Cultural Identity and Connecting to Heritage through Commercial Luau Shows in Central Florida.
Creator: Hoback, Brittany, Howard, Rosalyn, Matejowsky, Ty, Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The Polynesian luau is one of the most well-known examples of cultural tourism. As such, it has accrued plenty of criticism, from issues of authenticity to primitivizing stereotypes and bodily framing. Lost in these critiques, however, are the voices of Polynesian performers who have chosen to participate in this form of cultural presentation. Based on ethnographic research with Polynesian performers employed in tourist luau shows in Orlando, Florida, from 2012 to 2014, I argue that not only...
Show moreThe Polynesian luau is one of the most well-known examples of cultural tourism. As such, it has accrued plenty of criticism, from issues of authenticity to primitivizing stereotypes and bodily framing. Lost in these critiques, however, are the voices of Polynesian performers who have chosen to participate in this form of cultural presentation. Based on ethnographic research with Polynesian performers employed in tourist luau shows in Orlando, Florida, from 2012 to 2014, I argue that not only are performers presenting their culture in a way that is meaningful for them and their audience, but that they are also using their employment as a way of connecting to their cultural heritage and reifying their cultural identity. By looking at performers' perspectives within cultural tourism, scholars can perceive the agency those performers use to assert their cultural identity and connection to their heritage.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005505, ucf:50359
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005505

Title: Cuba versus CIA.
Creator: Light, Robert E., Marzani, Carl
Date Issued: c1961
Identifier: 2683735, CFDT2683735, ucf:5122
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FCLA/DT/2683735

Title: FRAMEWORKS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICYMAKING IN BRAZIL AND CHILE: A COMPARATIVE POLICYMAKING ANALYSIS OF THE BELO MONTE AND HIDROAYS�N DAMS.
Creator: Vogan, Robert J, Wilson, Bruce M., University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: A global proliferation of large dam construction since the 1950s has been accompanied by scientific research challenging the benefit of these projects while drawing attention to their numerous negative environmental and social impacts. The institutions that assess the costs and benefits associated with large dam proposals, creating policies either approving, altering, or disapproving them, collectively form what is known as a policymaking framework. Examining these frameworks allows observers...
Show moreA global proliferation of large dam construction since the 1950s has been accompanied by scientific research challenging the benefit of these projects while drawing attention to their numerous negative environmental and social impacts. The institutions that assess the costs and benefits associated with large dam proposals, creating policies either approving, altering, or disapproving them, collectively form what is known as a policymaking framework. Examining these frameworks allows observers to trace policies through outlined decision-making processes and can help to reveal inherent biases within those systems that may impact policy outcomes. Often, divergent policy outcomes, like the those observed in the cases of the Belo Monte dam in Brazil and HidroAys�n dam in Chile, are a result of variations in the environmental policymaking frameworks of the deviating cases. The subjects of this study present similar arrangements of costs and benefits but resulted incongruous policy outcomes, specifically that the HidroAys�n dam was not built while the Belo Monte dam is currently under construction. Existing bodies of literature outlining the environmental policymaking frameworks of Chile and Brazil fail to fully address the influence of external variables, including presidential influence, corruption, and electoral politics, on these cases. This project synthesizes an outline of the environmental policymaking frameworks of Chile and Brazil from existing literature and uses the divergent cases of the Belo Monte and HidroAys�n dams to provide evidence for the incorporation of these external variables to better understand the incongruous policy outcomes these frameworks produce.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFH2000129, ucf:46011
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000129

Title: AN INTERSECTIONAL COMPARISON OF FEMALE AGENCY IN TONI MORRISON'S SULA AND WANG ANYI'S SONG OF EVERLASTING SORROW.
Creator: Lynton, Jordan, Bell, Kathleen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The opportunities created by the end of the Mao Era and legislature promoting the rights of African Americans and women in the mid-twentieth century allowed women of both cultures to break further into the literary scene and negotiate their own sense of agency through their work. Although Western feminism also grew rapidly throughout this period, its ethnocentric centering of gender prevented it from being a reliable lens with which to analyze the work of Chinese and African American women...
Show moreThe opportunities created by the end of the Mao Era and legislature promoting the rights of African Americans and women in the mid-twentieth century allowed women of both cultures to break further into the literary scene and negotiate their own sense of agency through their work. Although Western feminism also grew rapidly throughout this period, its ethnocentric centering of gender prevented it from being a reliable lens with which to analyze the work of Chinese and African American women who experienced issues of race, class, and gender simultaneously. This caused Western feminists to evaluate the work of Chinese and African American women from a perspective of privilege and misrepresented the cultural, social, and political influences that impacted their agency. Thus, this paper seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the intersectional paradigm as a comparative lens with which to analyze the construction of female characters in mid-twentieth century Chinese and African American fiction in place of a Western feminist lens. To this effect, it will apply the intersectional lens to Toni Morrison's Sula (1973) and Wang Anyi's Song of Everlasting Sorrow (2008) specifically, to determine how this research paradigm can be used to reveal the identities the female protagonists construct and their opportunities for agency. This paper hopes to increase discourse on the applications of intersectionality in literature as a tool for better understanding the literature of women of color.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004436, ucf:45124
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004436

Title: ATTRIBUTIONS OF BLAME IN A HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION SCENARIO.
Creator: Scholcover, Federico, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis worked towards answering the following question: Where, if at all, do the beliefs and behaviors associated with interacting with a nonhuman agent deviate from how we treat a human? This was done by exploring the inter-related fields of Human-Computer and Human-Robot Interaction in the literature review, viewing them through the theoretical lens of anthropomorphism. A study was performed which looked at how 104 participants would attribute blame in a robotic surgery scenario, as...
Show moreThis thesis worked towards answering the following question: Where, if at all, do the beliefs and behaviors associated with interacting with a nonhuman agent deviate from how we treat a human? This was done by exploring the inter-related fields of Human-Computer and Human-Robot Interaction in the literature review, viewing them through the theoretical lens of anthropomorphism. A study was performed which looked at how 104 participants would attribute blame in a robotic surgery scenario, as detailed in a vignette. A majority of results were statistically non-significant, however, some results emerged which may imply a diffusion of responsibility in human-robot collaboration scenarios.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFH0004587, ucf:45224
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004587

Title: Rebirth of the Renaissance Man: Creating Actor Agency through Ensemble Theatre.
Creator: Grassett, Kody, Ingram, Kate, Thomas, Aaron, Reed, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Contemporary models of educational and commercial theatres espouse the belief that theatre is the true collaborative art form: one in which artists of different talents, training programs, and experiences can come together to briefly create something more significant than themselves. However, as the theatre has moved into the twenty-first century, the ensemble nature that is so unique to theatrical performance is frequently abandoned for a streamlined top-down structure of theatre making, one...
Show moreContemporary models of educational and commercial theatres espouse the belief that theatre is the true collaborative art form: one in which artists of different talents, training programs, and experiences can come together to briefly create something more significant than themselves. However, as the theatre has moved into the twenty-first century, the ensemble nature that is so unique to theatrical performance is frequently abandoned for a streamlined top-down structure of theatre making, one in which monetary, scheduling, and efficiency concerns inhibit the true creation of an ensemble. For multi-faceted theatre artists who have interest and talents in more than one field of the theatre, the current reigning structure of theatrical creation can seem restrictive, even reductive to their creative potentials. In this thesis, I explore a revived form of theatrical creation centered around the concept of the total ensemble artist, or the modern-day equivalent to the Renaissance man, an artist and student of many different passions. By developing a model of theatrical creation that allows and encourages an actor's agency in the creative process, I hope to show that the ensemble approach to theatre making, in which actors must work together to create and support a production in intimate and challenging ways, is beneficial and necessary to both theatre artists and the audiences that come to view theatrical productions. Rather than being limited to the confines of the categorized and structured model of commercial theatre, these artists will be able to work together to create individualized, meaningful stories on stage that allow the theatre to remain influential, relevant, and representational of our collective experiences.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006943, ucf:51667
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006943

Title: Rewriting Patriarchal Norms in Academia: Invitational Rhetoric in a Crowdsourced Survey.
Creator: Molko, Rachel, Wheeler, Stephanie, Rounsaville, Angela, Jones, Natasha, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This thesis seeks to understand the how texts are constructed to forward feminist communicative objectives through a case study of Dr. Karen Kelsky's "A Crowdsourced Survey of Sexual Harassment in the Academy.(") In this research, sexual harassment is understood as(&)nbsp;an act of power, sexual in nature, enacted by faculty or staff (employed or contracted in different capacities) in their relations with other faculty or staff, who are often lower ranking.(&)nbsp;By adopting invitational...
Show moreThis thesis seeks to understand the how texts are constructed to forward feminist communicative objectives through a case study of Dr. Karen Kelsky's "A Crowdsourced Survey of Sexual Harassment in the Academy.(") In this research, sexual harassment is understood as(&)nbsp;an act of power, sexual in nature, enacted by faculty or staff (employed or contracted in different capacities) in their relations with other faculty or staff, who are often lower ranking.(&)nbsp;By adopting invitational rhetoric as a theoretical framework, this thesis examines the way(&)nbsp;Dr. Karen Kelsky's crowdsourced survey creates the space to articulate and elevate often(&)nbsp;suppressed(&)nbsp;personal testimony regarding sexual harassment.(&)nbsp;By welcoming, and then displaying, narratives that have been deliberately silenced over the course of history, Kelsky's spreadsheet showcases a collective consciousness surrounding sexual harassment in academia. The current scholarship surrounding feminist communicative praxis highlights the importance of the written personal narrative as meaning-making and as a reflective practice, especially through the medium of journaling. However, this research examines how texts can employ personal testimony to co-create meaning as a mode of resistance. In particular, Kelsky's artifacts create a space that privileges and displays situated knowledge about sexual harassment that has been otherwise obfuscated. By conducting a feminist(&)nbsp;rhetorical analysis, this thesis argues that Kelsky's artifacts perform invitational rhetoric that mediates situated knowledge surrounding sexual harassment in the academic workplace.(&)nbsp;Reflection and dialogue shape the nature of storytelling as evoked by the survey, which are approached by this thesis as feminist communicative praxes that are activated throughout engagement with the artifacts.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007228, ucf:52229
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007228

Title: JOB SATISFACTION AND VALUE PRIORITIES OF COUNSELORS IN PRIVATE PRACTICE AND AGENCY SETTINGS.
Creator: Cunningham, Laura, Daire, Andrew, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Counselors can work at a variety of locations (Vacc & Loesch, 2000). Yet very little is known about each setting (King, 2007) and what type of counselors would have an optimum fit. Burnout is a pervasive issue in counseling (Lawson, 2007) and providing good-fit information could lessen turnover and burnout from the counseling field. The primary purpose of this study included investigating the differences between job satisfaction and value priorities of counselors in private practice and...
Show moreCounselors can work at a variety of locations (Vacc & Loesch, 2000). Yet very little is known about each setting (King, 2007) and what type of counselors would have an optimum fit. Burnout is a pervasive issue in counseling (Lawson, 2007) and providing good-fit information could lessen turnover and burnout from the counseling field. The primary purpose of this study included investigating the differences between job satisfaction and value priorities of counselors in private practice and agency settings. The overarching theoretical framework included Frank Parsons' (1909) 'goodness of fit' theory, which is a person-organizational fit theory for job satisfaction. Schwartz Value Theory (Schwartz, 1992, 1994) provided the trait of the person under investigation: value priorities. The use of global and facet measures of job satisfaction provided the 'good-fit' measure (Brief & Weiss, 2002). The final analysis included one hundred and thirty-five counselors, with seventy-two agency counselors and sixty-three private practitioners. Counselors completed two assessments and a survey in a descriptive correlational design. Two methods of group and e-mail administration produced a 98.7 % and 33% response rates, respectively. The data collection instruments included: The Schwartz Value Survey (SVS; Schwartz, 1992), the abridged Job Descriptive Index (aJDI; Stanton et al., 2002), the abridged Job In General Scale (aJIG; Russell et al., 2004), and the Counselor History Questionnaire (Cunningham, 2009). The statistical procedures used to analyze the data included two one-way MANOVAs and four standard multiple regressions. Post- hoc analysis included ANOVA for five subscales on the aJDI measure. The three research questions included; (a) Are there any differences between job satisfaction between counselors in private practice and agency settings? (b) Are there any differences between value priorities of self-transcendence and self-enhancement between counselors in private practice and agency settings?, and (c) Are there any relationships among the variables of job satisfaction and value priorities of counselors in private practice and agency setting? The first research question was supported, with private practitioners reporting statistically significant higher levels of job satisfaction on two measures, with 12.9 % of the variance explained by the model. Furthermore, the results of the post-hoc included private practitioners reporting statistically significant higher ratings on the aJDI subscales of Work and Income, and Agency counselors reporting higher scores on the Supervision subscale. The second and third research questions were not supported; as there were no differences in value priorities of counselors in private practice and agency. Furthermore, no predictive relationships existed among the variables of work location, value priorities, and job satisfaction. The data suggested that private practitioners experienced a higher level of job satisfaction than their counterparts in agency settings. Furthermore, the non-significant results of value priorities suggested that counselors, as a whole, possess similar value priorities which are not altered by different work settings. Implications for counselors and counselor educators were presented, along with areas of future research.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003334, ucf:48434
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003334

Title: Site-Embedded Professional Development as a Means to Increase Teachers' Sense of Efficacy: Lessons from a Middle School Quasi-Experimental Study.
Creator: Roy, Melissa, Gill, Michele, Allen, Kay, Hutchinson, Cynthia, Dehlinger, Robin, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to provide site-embedded professional development and coaching support to middle school teachers in an attempt to increase their sense of efficacy for teaching even the most difficult students. The entire faculty (64 teachers) at Jordan Ridge Middle School participated in this intervention. The theoretical framework used to guide this study was conceptual change theory (Pintrich, Marx, (&) Boyle, 1993); specifically, Gregoire's (2003) Cognitive...
Show moreThe purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to provide site-embedded professional development and coaching support to middle school teachers in an attempt to increase their sense of efficacy for teaching even the most difficult students. The entire faculty (64 teachers) at Jordan Ridge Middle School participated in this intervention. The theoretical framework used to guide this study was conceptual change theory (Pintrich, Marx, (&) Boyle, 1993); specifically, Gregoire's (2003) Cognitive-Affective Model of Conceptual Change (CAMCC) informed the design and interpretation of the intervention. A 33-item adaptation of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES, Tschannen-Moran and Hoy, 2007) served as a quantitative measure and was administered to teachers at Jordan Ridge Middle School as a pre- and post- test. The same measure was administered to teachers at a neighboring school with similar demographics as a post-test to serve as a comparison. Additionally, qualitative data were gathered in the form of survey open response questions as well as monthly end-of class reflections in order to further illuminate the quantitative findings. The study's findings indicate that providing targeted, responsive, collaborative professional learning opportunities to teachers in the context of their own school may favorably influence their sense of efficacy. This study has practical and theoretical implications for the ways in which K12 teachers are provided opportunities for professional learning and growth.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006383, ucf:51538
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006383

Title: Navigating Sociotechnical Power Structures: Dynamics of Conflict in World of Warcraft's Player versus Player Events.
Creator: Root, Rachael, Mishtal, Joanna, Matejowsky, Ty, Underberg-Goode, Natalie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: As a result of technological advancement and exponential increases in global access, cross-disciplinary research has recently turned to digital online video games. Most anthropological research within this area has centered around player self-identification, gender construction, and gaming communities. Yet many interactions occur at nodes of dynamic conflict where agentic players navigate intersections of power, which are unaddressed in the scholarly corpus. By utilizing ethnographic methods...
Show moreAs a result of technological advancement and exponential increases in global access, cross-disciplinary research has recently turned to digital online video games. Most anthropological research within this area has centered around player self-identification, gender construction, and gaming communities. Yet many interactions occur at nodes of dynamic conflict where agentic players navigate intersections of power, which are unaddressed in the scholarly corpus. By utilizing ethnographic methods in World of Warcraft's player versus player events, I examine resources, relationships, and tools that underpin player actions and understandings. My findings reveal layered and dynamic patterns of sociotechnical conflict. Players' geographical location impacts access to infrastructure while hardware and software constrain in-game action in fundamental and inescapable ways. Player versus player events add additional restrictions and create fluid situations where players continually negotiate fluctuating social tensions while event-dependent dispersions of power fluctuate between groups and individuals. Players become leaders by legitimizing power in contextually unique ways, and competing imaginaries generate conflicts that are interpreted through game-specific subjectivities. In exploring these occurrences and utilizing theoretical explanations within World of Warcraft contexts, this research contributes to disciplinary understandings and discussions addressing conflict, leadership, and power, and to methodological techniques utilized in virtual world study. By foregrounding how players navigate power differentials in conflict situations, this research informs broader conceptions of how individuals and groups manage social disputes within and outside digital social events, informs game design, and has policy implications for resolving virtual world conflicts in real world courts.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006172, ucf:51140
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006172

Title: Examining Emotional Responses to Effective Versus Ineffective Virtual Buddies.
Creator: Ingraham, Kathleen, Gunter, Glenda, Boote, David, Taylor, Rosemarye, Hughes, Charles, Proctor, Michael, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of virtual character design on user emotional experience and user behavior in a simulated environment. With simulation training increasing in popularity as a tool for teaching social skills, it is essential that social interactions in virtual environments provide authentic opportunities for practice (Swartout et al., 2006). This study used Interactive Performance Theory (Wirth, 2012) to examine the effect of designing a virtual...
Show moreThe purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of virtual character design on user emotional experience and user behavior in a simulated environment. With simulation training increasing in popularity as a tool for teaching social skills, it is essential that social interactions in virtual environments provide authentic opportunities for practice (Swartout et al., 2006). This study used Interactive Performance Theory (Wirth, 2012) to examine the effect of designing a virtual buddy character with ineffective traits instead of effective or expert traits. The sample population for this study (n = 145) consisted of first year university students enrolled in courses in the fall of 2013 at the University of Central Florida. Data on participant emotional experience and behavior were collected through questionnaires, researcher observations, and physiological signal recording that included participant heart rate and galvanic skin response. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, and qualitative thematic coding of participant verbal behavior and written responses. Results of the analysis revealed that participants who interacted with an ineffective virtual buddy character had statistically significant higher averages of verbal statements to the antagonist in the simulated environment and statistically significant lower perceptions of antagonist amiability than participants who interacted with an effective virtual buddy. Additionally, participants who interacted with a virtual buddy of the opposite gender gave statistically significant higher ecological validity scores to the simulated environment than participants who interacted with a virtual buddy of the same gender. Qualitative analysis also revealed that participants tended to describe the female buddy character with more ineffective traits than the male buddy character even though effective and ineffective design conditions were equally divided for both groups. Further research should be conducted on the effect of virtual buddy character design in different types of simulation environments and with different target audiences.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005633, ucf:50220
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005633

agency (13)	+ -
Agency (2)	+ -
collaboration (2)	+ -
improvisation (2)	+ -
power (2)	+ -

resistance (2)	+ -
rhetoric (2)	+ -
self-efficacy (2)	+ -
teacher agency (2)	+ -
ACLU (1)	+ -
ADABTS (1)	+ -
ADDIE (1)	+ -
AOA (1)	+ -
Acculturation (1)	+ -
African American Literature (1)	+ -
Agent (1)	+ -
Agent-Causal (1)	+ -
Agent-Cause (1)	+ -
Al-Qaeda (1)	+ -
Alternate Possibilities (1)	+ -
Alternative Possibilities (1)	+ -
American Civil Liberties Union (1)	+ -
Angle of Arrival (1)	+ -
Anthropomorphism (1)	+ -
Automatic Detection of Abnormal Behaviour and Threats in crowded Spaces (1)	+ -
Avatars (1)	+ -
Brickstream (1)	+ -
Burnout (1)	+ -
CALEA (1)	+ -
CFAA (1)	+ -

ETD Collection (16)	+ -
Honors Collection (7)	+ -
PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (1)	+ -

Cuba (1)	+ -
United States (1)	+ -

University of Central Florida (23)	+ -
Matejowsky, Ty (3)	+ -
Boote, David (2)	+ -
Jones, Natasha (2)	+ -
Mishtal, Joanna (2)	+ -

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