Browsing by Author "De Miranda, Michael A., advisor"
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Item Open Access Adelante! From high school to higher education: an analysis of the academic success and persistence of Hispanic students through an expectancy-value framework(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Martinez, Veronica G., author; De Miranda, Michael A., advisor; Carlson, Laurie A., committee member; Chavez, Ernest L., committee member; Gloeckner, Gene W., committee memberThe purpose of this study was to examine relationships between student pre-college academic perceptions with first-year in college academic experiences, specifically in the areas of academic self-efficacy, academic perseverance, and academic engagement, to identify predictors for academic success and persistence in college of Hispanic students. An abbreviated version of the expectancy-value model was utilized as the framework for this study. The guiding question for this study was: Do pre-college experiences and beliefs (expectancies for success) as well as academic engagement (subjective task values) contribute to the academic success (achievement related performance) and persistence to second year (achievement related choice) for first-year Hispanic students? The study sample (n = 271) included students at a public Hispanic-serving institution who completed both the BCSSE and NSSE surveys in the given years of the study. Findings identified several variables as predictors of achievement-related performance and choice. The variables identified for achievement-related performance (academic success) were writing skills, speaking skills, quantitative skills, participation in class discussions, finishing tasks, gender and type of school attended. The variables identified for achievement-related choice (persistence) were writing skills and quantitative skills. Additionally, significant differences were identified by gender for academic self-efficacy and by generation-status and by type of school attended for academic engagement.Item Open Access Exploring the relationships among creativity, engineering knowledge, and design team interaction on senior engineering design projects(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Ibrahim, Badaruddin, author; De Miranda, Michael A., advisor; Gloeckner, Gene W., committee member; Siller, Thomas J., committee member; Makela, Carole J., committee member; Folkestad, James E., committee memberIn the 21st century, engineers are expected to be creative and work collaboratively in teams to solve or design new products. Research in the past has shown how creativity and good team communication, together with knowledge, can impact the outcomes in the organization. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among creativity, engineering knowledge, and team interaction on senior engineering design product outcomes. The study was conducted within the College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Colorado State University. A purposeful sampling of 55 students who enrolled in Mechanical Engineering Design capstone course completed the instruments during this study, which included the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) Figural Form A, and a pre and post Team Climate Inventory. Students were assigned to twelve design project teams at the beginning of the fall term, 2011, and the project outcomes were evaluated in the spring of 2012, during the senior design showcase. Eleven professional engineers and three graduate students were trained to evaluate the senior design outcomes. The students' engineering grade point average (GPA) was used as a proxy to represent engineering knowledge. Descriptive statistics were utilized to describe the sample in terms of their engineering GPA, creativity score, and team interaction score. Correlational analyses were executed to examine the relationships among the constructs of the study. At the design team level, results from this research indicate that there was no statistical significant relationship between the teams' creativity composite score and the design outcome. There was also no statistical significant relationship between the team interaction score and the design outcome. The team composite creativity score had no significant relationship with the team interaction score. The composite of team engineering knowledge had no significant relationship to the team interaction score. At the individual level, the correlation analysis indicated there was no statistically significant relationship between student engineering knowledge and the creativity score. Exploratory data analysis (EDA) was used to assess the interaction of the main constructs on the engineering design outcome. The EDA results indicate that only one team met the hypothesis that a team scored above average on engineering knowledge and creativity, and a positive team interaction climate would expect to score above average on their design outcome score. Two design teams scored above average on creativity and engineering knowledge, and positive team interaction climate yet scored below average on their design outcome, which went against the original hypothesis. One design team scored above average on their design outcome, but scored below average on the other three main constructs of the study. The remaining eight design teams did not show any consistent pattern of relationships among the three constructs and the design outcome score. This research adds to the body of work within creativity, engineering knowledge, and team interaction climate in engineering design, as well as engineering education. The findings suggest that creativity, engineering knowledge, and team interaction climate had little impact on the engineering design outcomes. The limitations and implications of the study and future research are also discussed.Item Open Access Pre-collegiate factors influencing the self-efficacy of first-year college engineering students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Fantz, Todd Donovan, author; De Miranda, Michael A., advisor; Siller, Thomas J., advisorHigh attrition rates in engineering schools and a decrease in the number of students pursuing engineering degrees has led to concerns of a shortage of engineering trained professionals. A shortage would threaten national security, economic competitiveness, and social conditions in the United States. Outreach programs consisting of pre-engineering classes, multi-day engineering programs (camps), school-sponsored engineering extra-curricular programs, and single-day engineering workshops have been funded and designed to recruit and prepare K-12 students to study engineering in college. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of pre-collegiate engineering outreach programs to recruit and prepare future engineering students. Data was collected from 332 first-year engineering students at one university. Students were asked to list and rate their personal engineering experiences and influences to study engineering and their self-efficacy in their engineering courses. Correlation analysis was used to explore linear relationships among demographic factors, pre-collegiate exposure to engineering content, and engineering self-efficacy. Effectiveness of formal and informal pre-collegiate outreach programs and differences between demographic characteristics were examined through regression, ANOVA, and t-test analysis. Results from this research indicate experiences from technology and pre-collegiate engineering programs are a significant source of motivation for students to study engineering. Exposure to engineering content during the pre-collegiate years was also shown to have a positive effect on the students' engineering self-efficacy. In particular, students with formal K-12 technology and pre-engineering coursework had higher self-efficacy scores than those who did not. In addition, students who had hobbies involving computers and programming showed higher self-efficacy scores than the students who did not. Males were found to have statistically significant higher engineering self-efficacy and significantly greater number of pre-collegiate engineering experiences than females. This research adds to the breadth of knowledge about pre-collegiate engineering and technology outreach programs. The data and research findings in this study can inform engineering educators in assessing the effectiveness of pre-collegiate engineering outreach programs to recruit students into engineering programs and prepare them for success.Item Open Access Statistical modeling of caregiver burden and distress among informal caregivers of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Cumming, John McClure, author; De Miranda, Michael A., advisor; Gloeckner, Gene W., committee member; Morgan, George A., committee member; Fruhauf, Christine A., committee memberCaregiver burden and distress have been associated with informal caregivers. Research findings on the specific aspects of the caregiving role that influence burden are mixed. Factors such as amount of time per day giving care and specific characteristics about the disease progression have been linked to caregiver burden and distress. Other findings suggest that caregiver burden and distress may be associated with disease characteristics, but caregiver personality traits are the major factor that influences caregiver burden. The purpose of this study was to use a variety of instruments to assess the relationship between traits that the caregiver comes into the caring situation with (resiliency, social support, spirituality, hope) and caregiver burden, within different caregiving populations. Caregivers giving care to individuals with Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or cancer were the caregiving groups of interest. A convenient sample of 95 informal caregivers completed the battery of instruments through an online survey tool. Differences between the three caregiving samples were assessed in terms of burden and distress. Hierarchical regression models were created to understand the roles gender, time giving care, activities assisted with, resiliency, social support, spirituality, and hope play in predicting caregiver burden and distress. Psychometric properties were assessed on all six instruments used in this study. Cluster analytic techniques were used to cluster caregivers based on a number of attributes to better understand the caregiving population. Results from this research indicate that resiliency, social support, spirituality, and hope significantly predict caregiver burden and distress. Amount of time giving care per day, number of months giving care, and activities that the caregiver assists with did not play a significant role in predicting caregiver burden or caregiver distress. The three caregiving groups were unequal in size, but reported similar levels of burden and distress. Two caregiving clusters were created based on this sample. Caregivers who had higher levels of resiliency, social support, spirituality, and hope (cluster one) were significantly less burdened and distressed than caregivers who reported lower levels of resiliency, social support, spirituality, and hope (cluster two). This research adds to the body of work within caregiver burden and distress. The findings suggest that burden is a factor of different aspects of the caregiver rather than the disease characteristics and progression of the person receiving care.Item Open Access Technological literacy: design and testing of an instrument to measure eighth-grade achievement in technology education(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Castillo, Mauricio, author; De Miranda, Michael A., advisor; Folkestad, James E., advisorThis study was focused on the design and testing of an assessment instrument to measure eighth-grade student achievement in the study of technology. The instrument measured the impact of instruction in technology education to determine if technology education instruction guided by the Standards for Technological Literacy (STL) can enhance students' technological literacy. The assessment instrument designed lo measure technology literacy was reviewed by panel of experts in the field to attain content validity and was pilot-tested before being administered to two groups of eighth-grade students (N=272). The study utilized a two-group post-test only design, a treatment group who had received instruction in technology education in the form a modular instructional delivery classroom and a control group who had not received any formal education in the study of technology. The results of study found that eighth-grade participants taking a technology class performed better (M=15.42, SD=5.42) than those who had no previous technology class exposure (M=14.07, SD=5.25). In comparing the means of the eighth-graders' post-test, there was a significant difference F (1, 270) = 4.40, p=.037, p<.05 detected by the instrument designed and tested in this study. The findings in this study suggest that standards-based modular instruction in technology education enhances students technological literacy-an imperative for success in a world that is increasingly dependent on a technologically literate society.Item Open Access The perception of belonging: Latino undergraduate students participation in the social and academic life at a predominantly white private university(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Valdés Ingelmo, José Joaquin, Jr., author; De Miranda, Michael A., advisor; Chavez, Ernest L., committee member; Jennings, Louise B., committee member; Timpson, William M., committee memberThis study explores the perception of belonging by Latino undergraduate students attending a predominantly White private university by documenting, in their "own voices," the extent of their participation in the social and academic life of the campus. Tinto (1975) suggests that, the process of dropout from college can be viewed as a longitudinal process of interaction between the individual and the academic and social systems of the college during which a person's experiences in those systems (as measured by his/her normative and structural integration) continually modify his goal and institutional commitments in ways which lead to persistence and/or to varying forms of dropout. (p. 94). In addition, other researchers have added to the growing body of literature on students' perceptions of the college environment. Hurtado and Carter (1997) suggest that, "Studying" a sense of belonging allows researchers to assess which forms of social interaction (academic and social) further enhance students' affiliation and identify with the colleges" (p. 328). In addition, Hurtado and Carter stated that, "understanding students' sense of belonging may be the key to understanding how particular forms of social and academic experiences affect these (racial and ethnic minority) students" (p. 324). They also asserted that, "further research is necessary to understand racial and ethnic minority students' views of their participation in college as an important part of the process of engagement in the diverse learning communities of a college" (p. 324). In addition, studies by Allen (1988), Oliver, Rodriguez and Mickelson (1985) and Smith (1988) have indicated that in predominantly White campuses underrepresented students are alienated from the mainstream of campus life. The research approach for this study utilized a phenomenological form of qualitative inquiry. This approach seeks to understand the central underlying meaning or essence of an individual's experience. Themes related to the Latino's students perceptions of socially and academically belonging emerged from the interview data. It is my desire that the emerging insights will serve to help higher education professionals create a welcoming and supportive campus climate for Latino undergraduate students. I believe that a supportive campus climate will result in an increase in the Latino graduation rate. Further, I undertook this inquiry, "not so much to achieve closure in the form of definitive answers to the problems but rather to generate questions that raise fresh, often critical awareness and understanding of the problems" (Schram, 2003, p. 4).