Browsing by Author "Kees, Nathalie, committee member"
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Item Open Access Experiences of persistence in business education: a retrospective phenomenological analysis of African American alumni(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Allen, Aswad A. A., author; Kuk, Linda, advisor; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Scott, Malcolm, committee member; Anderson, Sharon, committee memberThis qualitative study examined the lived experiences of African American undergraduate business degree alumni from a predominantly White research institution located in the Rocky Mountain region. As national demographics continue to shift (U.S. Department of Education, 2012), developing diverse talent through business education will continue to be a workforce priority. Also with an increased number of business degrees being awarded, understanding the barriers and supports experienced by diverse business students are becoming more important. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the influences and obstacles leading to business degree attainment and employment or graduate study. This study, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, contained in-depth interviews from ten African American business degree alumni who graduated 2-8 years prior to being interviewed. The overarching question for this study, "What were the "lived experiences" of African American alumni from an undergraduate business degree program during their educational and subsequent education and employment pursuits," was directed by the following four primary research questions: (1) What are the experiences of African American alumni which have led to graduation and employment? (2) What barriers did participants confront during their undergraduate and subsequent education and employment pursuits? (3) What were the support systems that African American alumni experienced during their undergraduate and employment journey? and (4) How did the experiences of persistence inform participants' decisions and actions following graduation (as they pursued either graduate school or employment)? Through data analysis, three major themes emerged: (1) meaningful connections, (2) building relationships, and (3) decisions to continue. Research findings from this study concluded the participant's ability to overcome social, academic, and cultural barriers was achieved by a series of "personal choices" focused on seeking out, engaging, and developing "relevant" personal and institutional supports.Item Open Access Exploding heads, doing school and intangible work: an ethnographic case study of first year education doctoral students becoming education researchers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Meyer-Parsons, Beatrice, author; Banning, James, advisor; MacPhee, David, advisor; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Most, David, committee memberThere is limited research concerned with how education doctoral students become education researchers, what Labaree (2003) described as "the peculiar problems of preparing education researchers." This is an ethnographic case study of a cohort of first year education doctoral students in a qualitative research classroom for the purpose of better understanding how they are becoming education researchers and "scholars of the discipline," able to guide both practice and policy. In this study, students described feeling met by the instructor with respect and developing new perspectives and actions by taking on the role of qualitative researcher. However, students also described experiencing "exploding heads" as they attempted to meet time constraints, competing demands within the program and in connection with commitments to family, work and other, personal projects. Within this culture of contradictions students engaged in strategies to manage their "exploding heads": they were "doing school" and "doing the intangible work" of becoming education researchers by strategies of self. "Getting the work done" and meeting instructor requirements were ways of "doing school". Negotiating commitments and resources (e.g., time away from family); making schoolwork "personal"; identifying as "certain kinds of people" (e.g., teacher); and/or identifying/dis-identifying with other students, faculty or valued persons were strategies of the self. Based on these students' descriptions, an ecological typology of students was developed: "savvy" students (who were "doing school"); "working from the self" students (who were actively fashioning selves); and "disconnecting students." For (future) education doctoral students the study suggests possible challenges, such as the ability to value contradictions as opportunities for expanding perspectives and taking new actions, as well as the need to actively engage in the intangible work of finding means for continuity and confirmation of self. In terms of classroom teaching, an action, paradoxical pedagogy is suggested to provide a "becoming space," an ecology that can create opportunities out of contradictions. From an organizational perspective the study suggests that schools of education consider curriculum, program requirements and faculty talk as areas to provide messages and niches for students who are actively looking to identify and connect their selves while becoming education researchers.Item Open Access International students at community colleges: how are their needs being met?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Anayah, Bernadette, author; Kuk, Linda, advisor; Davies, Timothy, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Young, Deborah, committee memberAn emerging trend today is the increased enrollment of international students at community colleges. International students look to American community colleges as a stepping stone to achieving an education that might otherwise be beyond their reach. They are attracted to the community college by the lower tuition costs, opportunities for guaranteed transfer to a four-year university, and the opportunity to study at a variety of geographical locations throughout the United States. California is one of the most popular destinations for international students in the United States. In 2011, more than 23,000 international students were enrolled in California's 112 community colleges. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of international students at selected California community colleges and explore how they perceive their needs and expectations are being met. Twenty nine international students from 19 countries were interviewed at seven California community colleges with small, medium, and large international student programs. The phenomenological interview was used as the primary method of data collection. The interview questions were open-ended and allowed the participants to discuss the wide and varied nature of their experience as international students at community colleges. Through the use of an interpretive phenomenological approach to qualitative research, five thematic structures were identified: Reasons, Academic Experience, Social Experience, Cultural Experience, and Problems and Solutions. The essence of the phenomenon of the international student experience at the community college is identified as: The Stepping Stone.Item Open Access Investigating links between family factors and adolescent authenticity(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Siler, Katherine Lovisa, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Zimmerman, Toni, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee memberThis study used Kernis and Goldman's (2006) conceptualization of authenticity to examine family level factors associated with adolescent authenticity. Previous research has indicated that adolescence is an important developmental period to examine authenticity. Studies have suggested that family level, and marital factors may predict adolescent authenticity. It was hypothesized that adolescent authenticity would be associated with parent authenticity, parent-adolescent relationship quality, and marital equality. It was anticipated that adolescent authenticity would be predicted by interactions between relationship quality and parent authenticity, as well as interactions between gender ideology and marital equality. Adolescents (n = 153) completed questionnaires about authenticity and relationship quality; mothers (n = 98) and fathers (n = 98) completed questionnaires about authenticity, gender ideology and perception of marital inequality. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine hypotheses. Adolescent authenticity was significantly associated with father's authenticity and parent-adolescent relationship quality. However, the multivariate analysis indicated that mother-adolescent relationship quality was the only significant predictor of adolescent authenticity. Future research should use a longitudinal study design with a larger sample size. Studies should examine child's perceptions of parent authenticity, parent-adolescent conflict and indirect effects of parent gender ideology on adolescent authenticity.Item Open Access Musical auditory discrimination and perception of Mandarin Chinese tones in Taiwanese children with cochlear implants(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Chen, Ming-Ling, author; Thaut, Michael H., advisor; LaGasse, A. Blythe, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee memberA relationship between auditory perception of speech and music for English speakers with hearing loss has been found in previous studies. When they more accurately discriminated stress and accent patterns in English, they also had better musical rhythm perception. However, people who speak a different language from English may show dissimilar results. The purpose of this study was to find out if performance on the melodic and rhythmic tests of the Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) were significantly and positively related to performance of the Mandarin Chinese tonal test in the Mandarin Lexical Neighborhood Test (M-LNT). Twenty-six Taiwanese children between the ages of 10 to 12 participated in this study. All of them were wearing cochlear implants due to their hearing loss. During this study, each participant took three auditory tests, which were the melodic, rhythmic and Mandarin Chinese tonal tests. The results showed that in these Taiwanese participants, when they more accurately discriminated either the melodies or the rhythms on the PMMA, they also recognized Mandarin Chinese tones in M-LNT better. Furthermore, the performance of the melodic auditory perception on the PMMA significantly predicted the performance on the Mandarin Chinese tonal recognition in the M-LNT. Gender difference in this study was not a significant factor. These findings support the importance of melodic and rhythmic auditory training for Mandarin Chinese tonal discrimination and speech and language learning.Item Open Access Organ donation and the teenage perspective: factors to consider regarding consent(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Hodgson, Margie Cisneros, author; Makela, Carole, advisor; Buchan, Victoria, advisor; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Quijano, Louise, committee memberThe purpose of this study was to understand the factors that teenagers consider when granting consent to become an organ donor for the first time. Ninety-seven participants completed a 31-item survey that included areas of knowledge, source of information, personal experience, willingness, and consent. Least square means and Chi-square were used to compare groups (e.g., experimental/control, pre-survey/post-survey) regarding consent. Other variables that were explored included; gender, ethnicity, religion, grade point average, and parent level of education. The intervention consisted of basic information regarding organ donation, a video entitled No Greater Love, and small group discussion regarding various donor/recipient scenarios. Findings indicated that increased knowledge does not always lead to consent, nor does knowing a donor (living or deceased) or someone on the waitlist influence consent among adolescents. The results suggested that teenagers do not have a good understanding of the topic of organ donation nor do they see themselves as living donors. Teens may not fully understand the implications and ramifications of their decision to be a donor when receiving a driver’s permit or license for the first time. This study brought to light factors that teens take into consideration when deciding to become an organ donor.Item Open Access Road to leadership: experiences of Saudi women in higher education(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) AlDoubi, Suzan Hassan, author; Anderson, Sharon K., advisor; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Kuk, Linda, committee member; Albert, Lumina, committee memberThe purpose of this narrative study was to explore the stories of Saudi women leaders about their experiences in accessing leadership positions in higher education. In addition, this study sought to offer Saudi women leaders the opportunity to talk about their social roles and gender stereotypes they were expected to uphold in their efforts to access and perform their leadership positions in higher education. The sampling consisted of six Saudi women leaders in higher education. Thematic analysis was used as a mean of analyzing the data. The findings of this study indicated that Saudi women leaders accessed leadership positions in higher education after they attained their doctoral degree. For the social roles and gender stereotypes women leaders encountered in the workplace when interacting with men, the emerged themes were men's role, women leader's double bind, and women leaders' feminine characteristics. The result of interacting with women revealed, women leaders being enemies of other women, supportive, or situational actions. Additional findings were discussed. Moreover, some implications and recommendations for further research were discussed.Item Open Access Sung versus verbal directives with young adults diagnosed with autism(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Koszczuk, Katrina Marie, author; LaGasse, Ashley Blythe, advisor; Davis, William, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee memberAutism Spectrum Disorder is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder characterized by deficits in three main areas: social interaction, communication, and an intense resistance to change which could include repetitive, self-stimulatory behaviors according to the American Psychiatric Association (2000). The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2012) defines a receptive language disorder as exhibited by an inability to understand the words of others, difficulties enacting verbal directives, and deficits in thought organization. These deficits can cause individuals to have difficulties while participating in school, home, and social situations, and may lead to problem behaviors. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2012) has linked receptive language disorders with other disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder (Hoch, 2012). Because this is a largely unexplored area, research is needed to find and support therapeutic techniques addressing deficits in receptive language. Three young adult males between the ages of 14 and 22 with a primary diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder were recruited by flyer and word-of-mouth from Northern Colorado. This study employed a multiple baseline across participants with repeated measures design. There were a total of 6 experimental observations with each research subject. Behavioral coding was utilized to determine if there were any mean time differences between the sung and verbal directive conditions. Because data was coded separately by the researcher and research assistant, Pearson's r was used to test inter-rater correlation through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (IBM Corporation, 2012). Pearson's r = + 0.997 signifying a positive correlation between the two coders. A Repeated Measures of Analysis of Variance was applied using SAS software to test for statistical significance between the verbal and sung conditions (SAS Institute Inc., 2011). The RM ANOVA yielded no statistically significant results. However the p value of the statistic, p = 0.0769, was very close to the p value set for the present study, p < 0.05. A power analysis revealed that if an average of 10.2 seconds with a standard deviation of 6.8 seconds remained constant after recruiting a total of 7 volunteer participants, then statistical significance could be reached. Even though statistical significance was not reached, trends in the data were discussed. Overall there was a decrease in time between the verbal and sung conditions for each participant. However, this trend was not clear and variability was seen among the participants throughout the sung observations after separating and plotting the data on bar and line graphs. Future researchers should increase the sample size and eliminate inherent study design flaws to thoroughly test if there is a difference between the verbal and sung directives.Item Open Access Techno-humanity paintings: art as social commentary in the digital age(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Luna, Charles, author; Sullivan, Patrice, advisor; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Kokoska, Mary-Ann, committee member; Martell, Christine, committee memberMy thesis paintings utilize narrative to convey social commentary related to humanity in the Information Age. During the early part of the new millennium, I have found the social assimilation of digital media tools and systems, along with the collective beliefs and behaviors associated with them, to be both fascinating and disconcerting. Through my art I endeavor to express the paradoxical relationship between the established social benefits of information technology (IT) and its questionable effects on humanity. The work allegorically mingles the socially normalized with the absurd suggesting implicit dissonance underlying explicit harmony. The atypical integration of personal imagery with both historical and contemporary iconography is designed to evoke divergent contextual associations of the subject matter. Through these conceptual mechanisms the work encourages reflection regarding the cultural influence of IT in society.Item Open Access The role of women's identification with math and academic major in women's susceptibility to stereotype threat and stereotype lift(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Deviyanti, Devi, author; Canetto, Silvia Sara, advisor; Hernandez, Paul, advisor; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Troup, Lucy, committee memberA stereotype threat (ST) occurs when individuals underperform in a domain, for example in math, as a result of exposure to a relevant negative stereotype. Women engaged in math-intensive tasks can experience ST when negative stereotypes about women's math ability are made salient, via for example, test instructions that allege superior math performance by men. Evidence regarding the role of ST test instructions on women's math performances has been mixed (e.g., Bell, Spencer, Iserman, & Logel, 2003; Schmader, 2002). While prior studies found that women underperform in ST conditions that emphasize the validity of a math test (i.e., when a math test is presented as indicative of math ability), no study has included a condition in which the validity of a math test is downplayed (i.e., "test not indicative of math ability" conditions). Studies examining conditions alleging men's superiority in math (i.e., "men perform better than women" conditions) have not included conditions that presented a math test as indicative of math ability (Cadinu, Maass, Frigerio, Impagliazzo, & Latinotti, 2003; Johnson, Bernard-Brak, Saxon, & Johnson, 2012). Additionally, it is unclear which women are most vulnerable to math ST conditions. While ST is found to have greater impact on women who are highly identified with math relative to women with low identification with math (e.g., Aronson, Quinn, & Spencer, 1999), there is also evidence that women in math-intensive majors (e.g., engineering) have lower susceptibility to math ST than women not in math-intensive majors (e.g., psychology) (Crisp, Bache, & Maitner, 2009; Croizet et al., 2004). Furthermore, the roles of identification with math and academic major have been researched independently. The present study examines the roles of women's identification with mathematics and college majors on their susceptibility to math underperformance under two ST conditions, one related to the validity of the math test and the other involving comparisons in math performance between women and men. Women (n = 847), of whom 231 were in math-intensive majors and 616 were not in math-intensive majors at a large Mountain West state university, completed the Identification with Math Scale and reported their college majors five to seven days before completing a mathematics test. They were then randomly assigned to one of six math ST conditions in a 2 (Validity of Math Test Variable: test indicative of math ability, test not indicative of math ability) × 3 (Women-Men Math Performance Differences Variable: men perform better than women, no mention of differences in math performance, or women perform better than men) factorial design experiment. It was hypothesized that women in the "men perform better than women" condition would underperform relative to women in the "no mention of differences in math performance" condition. It was also hypothesized that women high in identification with math who were assigned to the "test indicative of math ability" condition would experience greater math underperformance than women in the "test not indicative of math ability" condition. A significant interaction between the Women-Men Math Performance Differences Variable and the Identification with Math Variable was found. Women high in identification with math in the "men perform better than women" condition scored significantly lower than women in the "no mention of differences in math performance" condition. No such difference in performance was observed for women low in identification with math. Women in the "women perform better than men" condition performed better than women in other conditions regardless of their identification with math. This study's findings suggest that women who strongly identify with math may be especially vulnerable to ST, consistent with past findings (e.g., Steinberg, Okun, & Aiken, 2012). In support of findings from past studies (e.g., Johnson et al., 2012), this study also demonstrates that to do well in math tests women may benefit from exposure to information explicitly contradicting female math incompetence stereotypes. Current study's findings have implications for intervention programs with highly math-identified women.Item Open Access Transformation: the impacts of an intercultural exploration on preservice teachers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Aguilar, Christine June, author; Timpson, William, advisor; Cross, Jennifer, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee member; Makela, Carole, committee memberThis action research study focuses on the impacts of an Intercultural Exploration project on 52 preservice teachers enrolled in sections of Schooling in the United States course at Colorado State University in the School of Education. Goals of the course include the intention that students will exhibit increased multicultural awareness and cross-cultural competence as applied to school settings. To inform the study, a review of the literature on multicultural education, intercultural theory, and transformational learning was conducted. The Intercultural Exploration project provided students the opportunity to explore their biases and areas where they lacked understanding of cultural groups, beliefs, and practices. Students spent four hours in a formal or informal setting focusing on one of their biases or lack of understanding. Students wrote essays to describe why they choose their projects, their feelings before and after the experience, how they developed their beliefs and how the project may impact their future personal and professional behaviors. A five level Transformational Rating was developed to assess student transformation based on reported beliefs before and after the project and predicted future personal and professional behaviors. Using the Transformational Rating Students rated their experience and the instructor/researcher rated each experience based on essay responses. The average rating by the instructor/researcher was 3.71 and the average rating by the students was 3.16, indicating that there was a transformation in at least two areas: beliefs, predictions of personal behavior, and professional behavior. Projects were themed by the instructor/researcher as religion (16), behavior (10), mental/physical status (8), socioeconomic status (5), social groups/organizations (3), sexual orientation (3), careers (3), current issues (2), and ethnicity/culture (2). Reasons students chose their projects were because they wanted to explore their own bias (27) or saw opportunities to learn/understand other perspectives (24). Students reported that their beliefs prior to the project were developed due to upbringing (18), media (11), negative experiences (8) and other (6). As a final step, students presented their projects and were asked to discuss the impacts of presenting to and listening to their peers. Following presentations, students said they felt the impact of sharing the Intercultural Exploration though uncomfortable at times, helped them to further understand and articulate their beliefs, while others felt it was an opportunity for their peers to get to know them better. After listening to their peers present, students expressed they enjoyed listening to the variety of presentations. Students also said they learned from their peers and developed a greater awareness of intercultural issues. Students noted they felt a close connection to their peers and some were surprised at the number of religious focused projects. The majority of students was positively impacted by the Intercultural Exploration and experienced a transformation as measured by pre and post beliefs and predicted future personal and professional behaviors. Students were impacted positively by sharing and listening to the Intercultural Exploration. Additional research could focus on replication of the study in other locations to compare results, variations on the project, and a more detailed Transformational Rating. Observing students in their first teaching assignments and examining long-term impacts might provide information for future training of preservice teachers in multicultural competence.Item Open Access Women in science's family and career expectations, intentions and decisions: how do they evolve over the graduate and early career years?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Stevens, Sarah, author; Canetto, Silvia Sara, advisor; Gibbons, Alyssa, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee memberA wide body of research has documented that women drop out of science at each successive stage of education and career, a phenomenon known as the leaky pipeline (Goulden, Frasch & Mason, 2009). This phenomenon is especially evident in Atmospheric Science (ATS), a group that loses women at a higher rate than other geoscience fields (NSF, 2013). One reason for this loss is the stress of education and career on family planning and vice versa (Thiry, 2011). This conflict is particularly intense for women in dual-career relationships, perhaps related to a socialized pressure to prioritize their relationships over their careers (Canetto, Trott, Thomas, & Wynstra, 2012; Larocque, 1995). One limitation of prior studies is that they are cross-sectional. No previous research has longitudinally examined the work and family choices and experiences of female ATS graduate students. This study will do so by investigating how female graduate students in ATS think about commitment to one's partner and make decisions about job location.