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Browsing by Author "Lynham, Sue, committee member"

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    Factors influencing access to higher education in La Rinconada, Peru: an ethnographic case study
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Busch, AnneLiese M., author; Jennings, Louise, advisor; Lynham, Sue, committee member; Kuk, Linda, committee member; Sagas, Ernesto, committee member
    Studies show that there is a large gap in participation in higher education between Peru's poorest members of society and their wealthier counterparts despite the existence of 51 public universities located across Peru that are free of cost. Quantitative studies addressing this topic rely on a culture of poverty paradigm and have argued that this discrepancy is due to a lack of culture that prioritizes higher education among Peru's poor. The purpose of this study was to investigate why it is that the poorest segments of the population in Peru overwhelmingly do not pursue higher education despite the existence of tuition-free public universities, to understand the extent to which culture and systemic factors outside their control explain this phenomenon, and to examine how mining families perceive the role of and access to higher education for their children. This study focused on the community of La Rinconada, Peru for three primary reasons: (a) La Rinconada is representative of many illegal mining communities in not just Peru, but Latin America in that it is perceived as a city where low-skilled workers have an opportunity to generate more income working in the mines than by relying on positions that pay minimum wage (now 930 soles per month, which is equivalent to approximately $284); (b) more than 98% of La Rinconada's population is comprised of individuals belonging to the lowest socioeconomic level of Peruvian society; and (c) the population of La Rinconada has nearly quadrupled within the past decade and continues to grow. This study employed an ethnographic case study approach including recording and documenting observations of La Rinconada and Juliaca, the two sites in which the interviews were conducted, and conducting interviews with three separate groups of study participants including 14 teachers, 17 parents employed in a mining-related industry and 10 students. Field notes of all observations were kept and recorded as well as all interviews and conversations with the interview participants following their consent. The interviews were transcribed in Spanish and were then translated into English. Codes and patterns for each of the three groups of interview participants (teachers, parents employed in a mining-related industry, and students) were identified and were used to identify the three resulting themes. The observations I recorded and documented in La Rinconada demonstrate the harsh conditions of day-to-day life for its residents and highlight the extent to which the parents I interviewed are willing to go in order to provide a better life for their children; a life which for most participants included the pursuit of higher education. In the interviews I conducted I identified three themes: acceptance of harsh conditions for more opportunity, importance of higher education and the obstacles to pursuing it and the perceived role of higher education in future success. My findings indicate that for the parents employed in mining-related industries higher education was a priority because of the perceived financial and personal stability it would enable their children to enjoy and the social status and prestige a bachelor's degree would signify for their children because they would now be considered professional as opposed to a laborer. In general, for residents of La Rinconada, financial constraints and distance from institutions of higher education were identified as being the biggest obstacles to accessing higher education. My findings show that despite the fact that half of the individuals I interviewed had not pursued higher education themselves, all of the participants stated that they valued higher education and viewed it as essential to achieving financial and personal stability and they emphasized their desire for their children to pursue higher education.
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    Factors influencing nontraditional students' persistence in online programs for nontraditional students attending a Wisconsin technical college
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Hurtienne, Matthew W., author; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Hogler, Raymond, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Lynham, Sue, committee member
    The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that play a significant part in online students’ intent to persist at a Wisconsin Technical College. Specifically, this project focused on the relationships between intent to persist and the following variables: GPA, academic advising (concern), academic advising (appointment), education usefulness, student satisfaction, commitment, academic stress, outside encouragement from parents/spouse, outside encouragement from employer, outside encouragement from friends, and financial certainty. Data were collected through an online survey of FLEx students at Moraine Park Technical College in Wisconsin. The nontraditional student attrition questionnaire developed by Metzner (1983) and Bean (Metzner & Bean, 1987) was the instrument for the study. The instrument was used to examine the factors affecting intent to persist for both online and face-to-face students. Because the study included factors that the college may not have direct influence over, a separate analysis was conducted for factors that the college can directly affect. The results of this study showed that education usefulness, outside encouragement from employer, outside encouragement from friend, and financial certainty played important roles in online students’ intent to persist for both internal and external college-controllable variables. For face-to-face students, financial certainty, student satisfaction, academic stress, and outside encouragement by parents or spouse were the most important factors in intent to persist for both internal and external college-controllable variables.
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    Online writing research in the upper-division composition classroom: constructions of social engagement and critical dialogue
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Welker, Alyson, author; Jennings, Louise, advisor; Gloeckner, Gene, committee member; Lynham, Sue, committee member; Doe, Sue, committee member
    This dissertation is comprised of three related articles examining social engagement and critical dialogue practices in the upper-division online writing classroom. The three manuscripts are presented with bookend chapters to introduce and discuss the larger research project. The over-arching questions this research asks are: How are teaching and learning supported and constrained in online writing instructional environments? How can constructions of social engagement in the online Writing Arguments classroom support critical learning and critical dialogue? The three articles examine the teaching of writing in an upper-division online writing course, Writing Arguments, which is a rhetorical theory course in composition. This compilation of continually evolving research captures the dual importance of enhancing online education as well as the need to construct social engagement in the online classroom. Additionally, as the Writing Arguments course lends itself naturally to areas of opposition and difference, the final two studies focus specifically on critical dialogue and learning in the online classroom.
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    Situating an occupational therapy curriculum in the local culture and context of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean: an ethnographic case study
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Roberts, William L., author; Hooper, Barb, advisor; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Lynham, Sue, committee member; Wood, Wendy, committee member
    To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document.
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    Socio-spatial experiences of part-time community college faculty
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Winans, Jessica, author; Muñoz, Susana, advisor; Doe, Sue, committee member; Kuntz, Aaron, committee member; Lynham, Sue, committee member
    Nearly half of the undergraduate student population in the United States attends community colleges (Bailey, Jaggars, & Jenkins, 2015), and in serving these students, community colleges rely heavily on part-time faculty (Jaeger & Egan, 2009). The reliance on part-time faculty is typically cost-motivated and a symptom of the neoliberal influences on higher education (Levin, 2007; Saunders, 2008). Part-time faculty often lack resources and support, are poorly compensated, do not receive benefits, and their teaching schedules are inconsistent and unreliable (Caruth & Caruth, 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine the everyday lived experiences of part-time community college faculty through a socio-spatial lens. The research was conducted as a case study and conceptually framed by institutional ethnography and critical geography. Methods included interviews, mental sketch mapping, and document analysis. The combination of methods was entirely qualitative and framed from a constructivist lens. Mental sketch mapping led to reflective spatial narratives that uncovered the ways that part-time faculty influenced and were influenced by spaces. Findings included the limited spaces participants utilized and felt comfortable in at the college, the lengths that they went to support their students, the challenges and barriers faced in teaching and other work including poor classroom and office spaces, and the lack of inclusion, despite the institution's efforts. The ruling relations of the college were evident in individual interactions, uses of space, and institutional policies and processes.
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    The effects of career development planning on employee affective commitment to the organization
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Spritzer, Lindsay, author; Chermack, Thomas, advisor; Lynham, Sue, committee member; Folkstad, James, committee member; Gibbons, Alyssa, committee member
    The importance of employee commitment to an organization is well documented in literature, however, there is a gap in literature of how to increase affective engagement if an employee is not affectively engaged. This study worked with a United States oil and gas company to explore if career development planning would be affective in increasing affective engagement through a quasi-experimental study. The study found that career development planning was beneficial in increasing affective engagement for already affectively engaged employees and for employees who are staying with an organization out of a feeling of obligation as measured by the three-component model (TCM) survey instrument. The results did not appear to be effective for employees who are continuously engaged as measured by the three-component model or for overall commitment as measured by the organizational commitment questionnaire (OCM).
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    Understanding the lived experiences of Dr. Emily Lardner: lessons for the adoption and practice of learning communities in higher education
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Guram, Adrianna M., author; Carlson, Laurie, advisor; Lynham, Sue, committee member; Gupta, Kalpana, committee member; Siller, Thomas, committee member
    The purpose of this biographical narrative study was to understand the experiences of Dr. Emily Lardner, who served as director of the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education from 1996-2017. Utilizing a narrative approach, the research puzzle engaged with in this study was guided by exploring the question, "What can we learn from Dr. Emily Lardner's lived experiences as they relate to learning communities adoption and practice in higher education settings?" Dr. Lardner's description of her life story, transcribed from interviews conducted over the course of four months, forms a narrative highlighting her development as an individual and an academic. The analysis of this narrative reveals the importance of collaborations, creative thinking, and innovation to foster development, adoption, and diffusion in learning communities across the United States. The narrative inquiry became a dialectic knowing, emphasizing learning moments for both Lardner and the researcher. Dr. Lardner's lived experiences provide insights into the individual identities and environmental factors that created opportunities to transition the Washington Center's focus over 20 years—and still influence learning communities today. Researchers are encouraged to explore integrated learning as a conceptual framework for examining learning communities. Furthermore, researchers can re-center their scholarship to give voice to individual practitioners and students.