This case study examined and described how under-served high school students enrolled in medical sciences academy CTE programs (Certified Nursing Assistant [CNA] and Electrocardiogram Technician [EKG]) at two Florida Title I high schools perceive that their career and technical education experience prepared them with the academic and technical skills and knowledge to pursue postsecondary training or higher education; be better prepared to transition into an ever-more complicated economic workplace; and become qualified and competent members of the workforce. The study participants were 53 CTE students (CNA and EKG juniors and seniors from both school sites), four CTE instructors (two CNA and two EKG instructors from both school sites), and three CTE administrators (one assistant principal from both school sites and one district Medical Sciences Specialist Administrator) during the academic school year 2016-2017. There were six major findings and ten sub-themes of this study. The first finding is that CTE programs at these schools provide career exploration and planning opportunities and includes four sub-themes; school-based learning, work-based learning, connecting activities, and need for improvement of CTE programs. The second finding is that CTE programs at these schools offer career relevant curricula and includes three subthemes; school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activities. The third finding is that students enrolled in CTE programs at these schools are offered consistent support and guidance, and includes three sub-themes: instructor support, guidance counselor support, and administrator support. The fourth finding is that the district plays a key role in the strategic planning and management of CTE programs at these schools. The fifth finding is that procedures are in place that make allowances for accountability and assessment of CTE programs at these schools. The sixth finding is the assessment of students’ career decision-making self-efficacy enrolled in CTE programs at these schools. Results indicated that students enrolled in CTE medical sciences academy programs (CNA and EKG) at these schools reported a high degree of career decisionmaking self-efficacy. Moreover, instructors,’ administrators,’ and students’ perceptions of students’ CTE experiences and engagement in career exploration learnings supported their career growth and development. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

One of the ways students with an intellectual disability (ID) can reach their fullest potential is by attending an institution of higher education; too few universities and colleges offer programs for these students. There are over 3,000 universities and colleges throughout the United State, yet only 272 of them offer programs for students with an ID (Think College, 2017). Within the identified programs, there is variation in location, length, goals, and methods (Grigal, Hart, & Weir, 2012). This study used an iterative classification process to first identify the programs serving students with ID located on college campuses, then analyze program websites to determine how they increase selfdetermination (SD). Phase 1 of the study used categorical sorting to identify programs that (a) served students with identified intellectual disabilities who had exited the school system; (b) were located on a college campus; (c) were run by a college; and (d) followed a college semester/quarter calendar. Phase 2 involved reviewing the websites for the programs meeting those criteria to identify self-determination activities and classes. In Phase 3 of the study, an online survey was sent to program administrators to verify and expand the description of self-determination activities. Results of this study show college programs for students with ID promote SD through instruction; however, the teaching methods vary from program to program. SD instruction is delivered by staff, peer mentors, and faculty. Programs measure SD outcomes; however, the tools used vary from program to program, and they are not applied systematically. The examination of college program practices and outcomes is central to further program development. Future research is needed to determine long-term independent living and employment outcomes of students with ID who attend college programs. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study identified factors that affect climate change risk perception in a community college class. The purpose of this research was to determine if students were more influenced by cultural cognition (political affiliation) or science comprehension. Students in an undergraduate level environmental science and biology class were evaluated, using an online survey, for science comprehension level, political affiliation and risk perception at the beginning and end of each course. Data were analyzed to determine improved scientific literacy and any variation in risk perception. The research found that science comprehension did not contribute significantly to increased risk perception and that political affiliation or political views had a more significant effect on risk perception. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Objects in a scene are likely to occlude other objects partially and are itself likely to be partially occluded. A central question, therefore, is how the visual system resolves the resulting surface correspondence problem by successfully determining which surfaces belong to which objects. To this end, a recently developed dynamic grouping methodology has determined whether pairs of adjacent surfaces are grouped (Hock & Nichols, 2012). The grouping of adjacent surfaces, which depends on their affinity state, is indicated by the direction of perceived motion across one surface when its luminance is perturbed. In the current stimuli, which consists of a horizontal surface partially occluded by a vertical bar, dynamic grouping also can occur for nonadjacent surfaces, providing they are linked in two-dimensions by a connecting surface. Results indicate that the dynamic grouping motion is stronger for amodal completion entailing the perceptual grouping of nonadjacent surfaces behind an occluder. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Research shows that there is a disconnect between student and faculty perceptions in a range of areas. One area that has not been researched is comparing student and faculty perceptions regarding desirable and undesirable traits in professors. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify what students perceive are the most and least desirable qualities in professors, and how those qualities affect their overall college experience. This study also identified what professors thought students perceive as the most and least desirable qualities in professors, and how those qualities affect students’ overall college experience. The findings indicate that the largest disparity in perceptions between students and faculty was faculty perception that students rate them based on class rigor and assigned grades, which were two of the least important qualities according to students. The largest similarity that faculty and students agreed upon is that students desire professors who are knowledgeable, passionate, engaging, and able to connect with students. Both groups also perceive that students do not like professors who are boring and monotone. In addition, students and professors agree that students perceive professors as playing an important role in their lives that affect their ability to learn, the grades they receive, and also impact their overall college experience and trajectory in life. The two groups differed when describing how professors’ undesirable qualities can negatively affect students’ emotions and self-confidence. Faculty and students were in agreement in a variety of areas, but they were disconnected in several areas as well. This is a problem as we move into the future. Cox (2009) said, “the traditional college student is no longer the typical college student” (p. 7), especially when it comes to state and community colleges. Professors would benefit from listening to students instead of assuming that their ratings are untrustworthy and based on how hard or easy the class was or what grade they received. The researcher asserts, along with others in the literature, that expertise in content area is no longer good enough to be an effective educator in higher education. Faculty also need to be experts in understanding students. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The reality of changing state and federal policy, as well as the process of program improvement across teacher preparation programs has prompted a line of research into the exploration of an alternative curriculum-based value-added model (VAM). Based upon a thorough review of VAMs as they have been applied to education policy and decision-making, this line of inquiry focused on a curriculum-based approach to increasing our understanding of how the instructional efforts of our candidates affect the learning gains of the K-12 students they teach. Designed to conform to the fundamental principles of evidence-based practice, candidate and program level data for 109 student teachers between 2013 and 2017 were analyzed. Results indicate that variation in K-12 students’ learning gains can likely be attributed to the instructional efforts of our special education teacher preparation program (TPP) completers. Limitations, implications, and directions for future inquiry across policy, practice, and scholarship are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This non-experimental, quantitative study explored the leadership of college professors and the relationship to student assessments of their teaching performance. The leadership constructs under investigation were strategic thinking capacity (cognitive agility) and leader influence actions (behavioral agility), which are rooted in the theories of behavioral and cognitive complexity. Research indicates that cognitive and behavioral agility are two factors that produce more effective results for leaders in varying organizational contexts. However, previous research does not include college professors in those studies. Thus, this study sought to explore professors as classroom leaders and the relationship between college professors’ cognitive and behavioral agility and their students’ perceptions of their teaching effectiveness, if behavioral agility plays a mediating role, and if that relationship is moderated by alterable and unalterable contextual variables. Ninety-two full-time professors from one Florida college participated in the study. The professors’ strategic thinking capacity (cognitive agility) was measured using the STQP, an adaptation of Pisapia and Reyes-Guerra’s (2007) Strategic Thinking Questionnaire (STQTM), and the professors’ leader influence actions (behavioral agility) were measured using the SLQP, an adaptation of Pisapia, Reyes-Guerra, and Yasin’s (2006) Strategic Leadership Questionnaire (SLQTM) with both instruments employing Pisapia’s (2009) framework of strategic leadership. The ‘P’ denotes the ‘professor’ version of the original STQTM and SLQTM. Locus of control orientation as a contextual variable was measured using Spector’s (1988) Work Locus of Control Scale (WLCS). To measure student perceptions of professor effectiveness, the student assessments of courses and faculty were compiled from existing records from Palm Beach State College’s Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRE) website. The data were statistically analyzed using correlational and regression analyses and tested for mediation and moderation effects. The findings of this study revealed that college professors demonstrated the same strategic thinking capacity and leader influence actions as leaders in more traditional leadership roles as measured by the STQP and SLQP. The findings were also consistent with previous studies that found that cognitive agility is a significant predictor of behavioral agility. However, it also found that student perceptions of professor effectiveness as measured by student assessments were not correlated to any of the research variables in this study. Findings and conclusions, as well as recommendations for future research, are presented in the concluding chapter. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Today, drones have been receiving a lot of notice from commercial businesses. Businesses (mainly companies that have delivery services) are trying to expand their productivity in order bring more satisfaction for their loyal customers. One-way companies can expand their delivery services are through the use of delivery drones. Drones are very powerful devices that are going through many evolutionary changes for their uses throughout the years. For many years, researchers in academia have been examining how drones can plan their paths along with avoiding collisions of other drones and certain obstacles in the civil airspace. However, researchers have not considered how the motion path planning can a ect the overall scheduling aspect of civilian drones. In this thesis, we propose an algorithm for a collision-free scheduling motion path planning of a set drones such that they avoid certain obstacles as well as maintaining a safety distance from each other. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This research focuses on how Young Adult (YA) novelists adapt Shakespeare’s plays to address the concerns of a contemporary teenage audience. Through the qualitative method of content analysis, I examined adaptations of the three most commonly read texts in the high school curriculum: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet. The research looked for various patterns in the adaptations and analyzed the choices made by the authors in aligning their texts to or deviating from the original plays. A final chapter addresses practical classroom application in using adaptations to teach the plays to high school students. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Across the US, 22% of Medicare patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of heart failure (HF) will be readmitted within 30-days of discharge. There is no one costeffective process identified to help patients transition home and maintain their own selfcare. The aim of this study is to compare readmission rates, HF knowledge, self-care, and quality of life for patients who transition home from the hospital under the care of a Heart Failure Nurse Navigator (HFNN) with patients who receive usual care. The HFNN is a home health RN with specialized training in HF care. The HFNN visited intervention group (IG) participants once in the hospital, followed by weekly home visits for one month. Control group (CG) participants received usual care, consisting of discharge teaching by their primary nurse and follow-up with their primary care provider (PCP) or cardiologist. Using a sequential mixed methods research design, this experimental randomized controlled trial measured HF knowledge, HF self-care, and HF quality of life (QOL) at enrollment and one month after discharge. Hospital readmissions and/or ED visits were tracked in both groups. IG participants were interviewed using semi-structured questions, findings of which were analyzed using conventional content analysis. There were fewer all-cause hospital readmissions in the IG (3 of 19) than the CG (6 of 21.) CG participants were 2.2 times more likely to be readmitted than the IG participants. [x(1)=.935, p=.334 O.R.=2.2219]. Due to limited enrollment, these results were underpowered and not statistically significant. There was improvement in HF knowledge (p=.06) and HF self-care maintenance (p=.07), approaching significance. HF self-care maintenance improved in both groups, although the IG was not significantly better (p=.48). There was significant improvement in the IG for HF confidence (p=.002) and HF QOL (p<.001). The qualitative findings revealed two main categories from the IG: (1) personal clarification of patient education, especially related to diet, exercise, and medications and (2) feelings of support, reassurance, and safety. The HFNN may be one role to meet the triple aim of improving patient quality care and health outcomes at a reduced cost, especially in areas where a comprehensive HF management program is not available. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection