Browsing by Author "Quick, Don, advisor"
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Item Open Access Associate Degree nursing graduate perceptions of the influence of service learning on transition to clinical practice(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Smith-Stillson, Kathy, author; Quick, Don, advisorThe 2007 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a need for more than one million new and replacement nurses by 2016, while higher education continues to be challenged to find methods of producing graduate satisfaction, accompanied by successful transition from college to the workplace. Some nursing programs are meeting the challenge by utilizing a 1970s teaching strategy partnering experiential learning and community service-service learning, allowing students to work side-by-side with practicing medical professionals to meet community needs for nursing practice. Although success of this pedagogy has been documented with increasing frequency by Baccalaureate Nursing programs, Associate Degree (AD) program outcomes have only been described anecdotally, if at all, in research. Furthermore, even anecdotal accounts on any level have involved the reflections of student nurses, faculty and employers. Nowhere in the literature have reflections been documented of AD registered nurses who had experienced service learning as students. Using a qualitative basic interpretive design, this research sought to capture the meaning AD prepared RNs attributed to the service learning experience as it related to transition from the Associate Degree nursing program to the practice setting. This study used focus groups and interviews to explore the perceptions of Associate Degree prepared registered nurses whose nursing program included service learning educational experiences. In response to open-ended questions, fifteen participants shared their perceptions of what transpired as each worked in a community free clinic with nurse practitioners to meet clinical coursework requirements. Six themes were identified from participant responses. Three of the themes were intrinsic to the study: skill development, heightened awareness, and increased civic responsibility. Three additional themes went beyond the transfer of learning themes: professional inspiration, satisfaction, and success. In light of the findings related to participant responses, additional research of both a qualitative and quantitative nature is recommended. Research of this nature is warranted both with graduates of Associate Degree nursing programs where service learning was part of the curriculum and with graduates of Baccalaureate Degree nursing programs where service learning was part of the curriculum.Item Open Access Community college online learning administrators: how they make sense of their journey(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) DeKorte, Jodene, author; Quick, Don, advisorThis study examined the journey of community college online learning administrators. A phenomenological approach was used to answer the primary question of what is the essence of the life and professional experiences that influenced these administrators in their work. Ten participants from across the country were interviewed in relation to their experiences as online learning administrators. Participants were chosen as those having two to ten years experience as an online learning administrators at a community college with a student body of no more than 15,000 students. Data was collected through two in-depth interviews using a broad open-ended question interview format. Analysis revealed that there were five main themes. First, barriers were the experiences or items that were difficult for the participants in their current position. Second, actions, were described as how the participants work in their current positions and how they see themselves leading. The third theme, observation of leadership, discusses what characteristics of leadership the participants have seen in superiors and how they view those people to be good or poor leaders. Fourth, working with groups, describes how the participants work with groups not only within their institutions but also within their community and state areas. Finally, current position, deals with the day-to-day details of the participants' jobs and their decision making process. One overarching phenomenon came out through all the main themes and subthemes, the essence of, people matter. Research of distance learning leadership is not as complete as other topics in administrative issues; more studies are needed around the connections from administrative actions to student success and what role administrators play. Additionally, a grounded theory study to determine a possible leadership style specifically focusing on the essence of people matter and online learning may help grow this area for future leaders. Finally, this study and further research may help community colleges in selecting the best candidates with the paramount skills for these types of positions for online learning.Item Open Access Examining the impact of Chickering's seven principles of good practice on student attrition in online courses in the community college(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Tirrell, Timothy, author; Quick, Don, advisorAs online enrollments escalate in colleges and universities across the country, so does concern about student attrition rates in these courses, or students who drop, fail or are administratively withdrawn from the course. There is an abundance of literature addressing student success in online courses and much of this focuses on using constructivist learning theories to create learning experiences that engage the student. Also emerging from the literature is the Seven Principles of Good Instructional Practice by Checkering and Gamson as an accepted rubric for evaluating effective online instruction. This study focuses on whether the use of instructional strategies as measured by the Seven Principles of Good Practice has an effect on student attrition rates in online courses. Full and part time faculty at three community colleges in Virginia who taught at least one online course in the last three semesters completed an online survey to determine the extent they use instructional strategies reflecting the constructivist-based Seven Principles of Good Practice in their online courses. Scores from the survey were then compared to the attrition rates in their courses. Results indicated both groups strongly used instructional strategies reflecting the seven principles of good practice in their online courses and there was observed in the reported use between full and part time faculty, although full time faculty scores ranged a bit higher while part-time faculty scores tended to cluster towards the middle. When the results for the principles are examined individually rather than as a set, both groups scored weaker on principles reflecting innovative instructional strategies. However, no relation between the extent to which faculty reported using those instructional strategies and student success as measured by attrition rates could be found. Also the study results support the need for further research controlling for certain variables which are discussed in the conclusion of the study.Item Open Access Factors affecting course satisfaction of online Malaysian university students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Khalid, Nasir M., author; Timpson, William M., advisor; Quick, Don, advisor; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Unnithan, N Prabha, committee memberCourse satisfaction in online learning has grown into a concern among online educators, in order to prevent students from dropping, withdrawing, or otherwise leaving their course of study online. Researchers have established three main factors that have an influence on online students' course satisfaction: social, teaching, and cognitive presence. Adapting the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, this study investigated the association between these presences and other possibly related factors, and their influence on students' course satisfaction with online courses just completed at a University in Malaysia. Concurrently, it also attempted to weigh these constructs and variables according to their impact on course satisfaction. Results show that all presences and age were significantly associated with course satisfaction. Also, course satisfaction was found to differ by gender, undergraduate and postgraduate students but was not by core and elective courses. Teaching presence, social presence, and age were found to be significant predictors of course satisfaction when statistically analyzed by a series of two-step hierarchical linear regressions.Item Open Access Global e-learning: a phenomenological study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Rao, Sudendra R., author; Quick, Don, advisor; Banning, Jim, committee member; Venneberg, Don, committee member; Athey, Susan, committee memberThere is a strong sense that the educational processes must change, if for no other reason than to keep up with a rapidly emerging information-based society. As the need for learning and knowledge has outstripped what is possible using conventional learning methods, e-Learning may allow us to respond more effectively. The new generations of e-Learning technologies that allow interactive knowledge construction and provide richer learning environments have been gaining increased global acceptance. This qualitative study with an interpretative phenomenological approach indicated the evolution, current status and anticipated future advances of e-Learning among academia, corporations and the governments across developed and developing countries. The data was collected through in-depth interviews with subject matter experts. With e-Learning interventions rapidly becoming organization's response to continuous learning and change in the new economy, this study provided evidence that e-Learning is a growing global phenomenon and if the potential is turned into reality, e-Learning will be transformative. The shortening product development cycle, lack of skilled workforce, increasing global competition and a shift from the industrial to the knowledge economy and the fast-paced advances with the related technology, e-Learning is here to stay and could be the answer to tomorrow's learning needs.Item Open Access Lived experiences of nontraditional African-American female students in a community college(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Mauney, Angela y., author; Timpson, William, advisor; Quick, Don, advisor; Austin, Miguelita, committee member; Tungate, Susan, committee memberThe purpose of this study was to describe the phenomenon of nontraditional African-American women's experiences in community college. This research study included the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology, which attempts to make sense of participants' major life experiences. Ten African-American women participants had in-depth face-to-face interviews. The study examined how their experiences and educational goals were affected by jobs, families, and educational barriers. Additionally, the study explored the participants perceptions of what community colleges were doing to address their concerns. Overall, the results showed that the nontraditional African-American women participants were determined and resilient in their educational pursuits. Primarily, many of the participants had been out of the educational environment for some time and this was one of the main obstacles they had to overcome. The participants were resigned to take non-credit remedial courses at the community college for several years, before taking credit hour courses. The findings suggest that although there were some educational support systems, several of the participants were not aware of the scope of benefits available at the community college. The study's findings show the importance for nontraditional African American females to understand the support of the community college, their own family support, and the support of their faith or belief system. This study fills a gap in the literature concerning grandparents' needs in classes, online mentors, and costs of remedial classes. Work Placement Program (WPP) for Community Colleges is one program that might foster a support system which would allow students a one-hour credit the first and second year at no cost. In addition, the WPP would allow community colleges to assist nontraditional students with additional financial resources.Item Open Access Millennial community college student: understanding their natural use of technology for learning(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Natali, Dennis J., author; Quick, Don, advisor; Timpson, Bill, committee member; Foley, Jeffrey, committee member; Luft, Greg, committee memberStudents of the millennial generation are generally noted as being born between 1982 and 2002. For the purpose of this study, the term - Millennial - will be considered to be the proper generational title based on the work of Howe and Strauss (2000). This study explored the natural use of technology for academic learning through the interviewed experiences of millennial students who attend community college because one area missing from the literature is the millennial community college student's voice. There are several reports of demographic statistics, but rigorous qualitative research discovering the millennials self-description of why they use technology in academia is missing and has become the driving force for this study. Using the constructivist approach of grounded theory, this study proposed a realistic theory to academia for more effective content delivery. There were nine salient findings evinced from the interviews. The findings indicate a relationship between the requirements of classwork and their need for technology to fulfill those requirements. Findings also discovered that most millennial community college students have been using educational software since elementary school. Additionally, online education is quickly becoming an integral function of the twenty-first century collegiate landscape and the students are taking advantage of this capability because of the role-conflict that prevents full-time university attendance. An interesting finding reveals how the students use a variety of technology and a range of methods in how they access online classwork content. But to perform these required classwork assignments, the millennial community college student must have quality access to the internet. This study concluded with the recommendation that academia would achieve greater utility from reducing distractions and increasing bandwidth and nodes of their Wi-Fi access so that they will have a more reliable and stronger signal to accomplish their required online academic tasks.Item Open Access Operationalizing successful strategic planning processes in a high performing community college(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Garstecki, Marcus, author; Jennings, Louise, advisor; Quick, Don, advisor; Walters, Jack, committee member; Hall, Bruce, committee memberThis study assessed the effectiveness of the strategic planning processes in a high performing community college. Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI) in Watertown, South Dakota was identified as a high performing institution based on earning the 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The study utilized a qualitative, single site, case study to provide insight into the elements that led to a successful strategic planning process. The data collection included interviews with twenty-three employees including faculty, staff, and administration. A document analysis of relevant planning documents was conducted, as well as an observation of the college's strategic planning session, and observation of the institution's strategic planning and Aspen Prize related artifacts. The results of this study provide strategic planners insight into how a high performing institution created and successfully implemented a strategic plan. Four a priori codes, or main themes, were developed prior to the study to guide my research. These four themes included: employee perceptions of strategic planning, employee participation in the strategic planning process, implementing the strategic plan, and linking budgets and resources to support the strategic plan. Within these themes, findings suggest that the following factors contributed to successful planning efforts at LATI. Theme One indicated that an inclusive planning process that values employee engagement and a positive culture throughout the institution generated extensive support for the planning process. Theme Two indicated support for a cross-represented group of employees and external stakeholders in the process and most importantly, valuing the input received from those participants. The results from Theme Three indicated several steps that led to successful implementation: conducting an annual planning process, assigning responsibility to the initiatives that comprise the plan, utilizing committees or teams implement the initiatives, communicating the details of the strategic plan to the campus community through multiple methods, and regularly assessing the plan. Theme Four discusses the ongoing resource allocation process that occurs throughout the fiscal year that supports the strategic plan. The research also explored the impact of winning the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence on the institution and how the Aspen process impacted the strategic planning process.Item Open Access Predictors of strategic influence among college sports public relations directors in college athletic departments: the impact of managerial orientation and leadership personality trait, skill, and style(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Moore, Joseph H., author; Quick, Don, advisor; Hallahan, Kirk, advisor; Gloeckner, Gene, committee member; Champ, Joseph, committee member; Cunconan, Terry, committee memberThe College Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA) noted the need for PR directors to be held in higher esteem and to have more strategic influence in their athletic departments. This dissertation sought to provide some information to help CoSIDA accomplish its goal. Participants were drawn from the entire membership of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). An online survey to which 273 college sports public relations directors responded investigated current demographic characteristics as well their perceptions of strategic influence within college athletic departments in the U.S. The survey was drawn from the works of Berger and Reber in 2006, Blake and Mouton in 1985, Broom and Smith in 1979, Northouse in 2007, Richmond and McCroskey in 1990, and Stoldt in 1998. The survey results suggested the modern college sports public relations director is male, 30-49 years old, has a bachelor's degree in journalism or communications, and most likely makes $35-$45,000. Participants identified most closely with the media relations role, had a responsive (versus assertive) personality, were more developed in technical (versus conceptual or human/relational) leadership skills, and possessed a task-oriented (versus relationship-oriented) leadership style. Respondents reported exercising moderate amounts of influence and that they rank second only to compliance officers in terms of their influence on athletic directors. Respondents varied in their opinions but generally thought their influence had increased and were largely satisfied with the influence they exert. The strongest predictors of strategic influence were serving in the manager (versus technician) role, being male, directly reporting to the athletic director, and having frequent contact with the AD. Assuming a publicity producer role (versus manager role) was negatively correlated with strategic influence. College sports public relations directors who are more assertive (versus responsive), who have developed conceptual leadership skills (versus technical or human/relational), and who have a relationship-oriented (versus task-oriented) leadership style believe they have more of a chance of gaining a seat at the decision-making table. The study concluded college sports PR directors who develop skills as strategic communicators and managers are more likely to gain influence in the future. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.Item Open Access The integration of music with reading concepts to improve academic scores of elementary students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Lyons, Linda M., author; Quick, Don, advisorThe purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of an integrated music curriculum on human learning, focusing on reading achievement. To determine if this technique would make a difference, an experimental design was employed, with a measurement of growth rate in reading skills. The curriculum was delivered, via recorded DVD lessons, to 49 second graders. The majority of the students participating in the study were either Caucasian (50%) or Hispanic (37.5%). One class received the intervention, and one was designated as a wait-list control group which received the intervention during the second half of the semester. This design allowed all students to receive the intervention and added to the effective sample size (N = 56), thereby increasing the power of this research. A nationally-normed, standardized reading achievement test, the Predictive Assessment of Reading (PAR), administered before and after each intervention, was the primary instrument used to assess gains in reading achievement levels. A comparison of pretest-posttest gain scores revealed that students in the intervention groups, on average, scored significantly higher on all six subtests of the posttest. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between the control group and the combined intervention groups on the gain scores of one subtest. A comparison of the two separate intervention groups with the control group showed that the overall F's for two of the six PAR subtests were significant. Simple effects post hoc analyses also revealed that Hispanic students in the intervention groups had significantly higher picture recognition gain scores than Hispanic students in the control group. The researcher believes that this holistic music intervention contains many of the elements of brain-compatible learning, and positively affected the outcome of reading achievement scores. Bringing music into the classroom enabled students to connect ideas being introduced in the music lessons, with concepts taught in their other classes. Through integrated lessons, students developed active listening skills, phonemic awareness, language and graphing skills. Teachers reported that students were engaged in the process and found it memorable. This is substantiated by the finding that gains were made on all subtests, by the intervention groups.Item Open Access The nature of the relationship between anxious youth, spirituality, and factors of risk(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Erickson, Doreen Austin, author; Quick, Don, advisorResearch suggests youth anxiety increases the chance of risky behaviors and academic difficulties, whereas spirituality moderates. To confirm these findings, this research investigated the nature of spirituality and trait anxiety on at-risk factors in high school youth. The Intrinsic Spirituality Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Risk Factors Assessment for School Youth were administered to 105 youth attending a public high school in US Mountain West Region. Analyses of variance ANOVA and covariance ANCOVA statistics revealed that there was a significant inverse relationship of spirituality and a significant positive relationship of trait anxiety to total risk. When spirituality and trait anxiety were examined together, spirituality had a marginal moderating effect on the significant relationship of trait anxiety to total risk. Race/Ethnicity was found to be a significant predictor of total risk from the variables studied. The results of this research confirmed the findings of previous research. Limitations of this study, implications of this study, suggestions for counselors and educators, and recommendations for future research are provided.Item Open Access To what extent do managers use transformational leadership practices in Yemeni governmental and financial audit organizations(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Sawie, Aish Ahmed Hussein, author; Davies, Tim, advisor; Quick, Don, advisor; Gloeckner, Gene, committee member; Hall, Bruce, committee memberThe purpose of this study was to examine the managers' transformational leadership practices in Yemeni governmental and financial audit organizations. In addition, the study examined the manager-employee relationship as reflected by the comparison of managers and employees' perceptions of the managers' transformational leadership practices. Furthermore, the study attempted to determine whether or not there are differences between the technical and supportive work groups and among the five specialized divisions of the organization on managers and employees' perceptions of the managers' transformational leadership practices. A survey research design was employed to collect the data from 43 managers and their 206 employees using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) survey instrument. Findings indicated that there was statistically significant difference between the scores of managers and employees on all their perceptions on the managers' five transformational leadership practices. The employees rated their managers at lower scores than the managers' scores. Findings indicated that managers and their employees scored the highest on managers' leadership practices of "Enabling Others to Act" and "Encouraging the Hear." The managers and employees scored the lowest on "Inspiring a Shared Vision" and "Challenging the Process." "Modeling the Way" score was in between the two ends. The study findings suggest that there is a gap between managers and employees on the managers' transformational leadership practices and that Yemeni government organizations should bridge the gap by providing a well-designed leadership development programs. This can provide managers with the awareness and importance of transformational leadership practices to create and promote a strong relationship between managers and employees.Item Open Access Using computer mediation, peer review, and a writing process in a Japanese second language writing class(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Kibler, Ronald L., author; Timpson, William, advisor; Quick, Don, advisor; Flahive, Douglas, committee member; Carlson, Laurie, committee memberThe writing process approach has become an increasingly popular method of writing instruction in "English as a Foreign Language" (EFL) classrooms. However, in traditional, teacher fronted classrooms it is difficult to provide students with maximum opportunities and support to fully engage in the writing process approach. This quantitative study analyzed archival data collected from a Japanese university EFL composition course that used a combination of computer mediation and peer response and evaluation to maximize the amount of time the participants spent being engaged in the writing process approach. It was possible to examine four outcomes related to the course: writing improvement, engagement, motivation, and writing achievement. The analysis first addressed whether the methods of the course lead to writing improvement by looking at the differences between pre and post-tests to measure writing improvement in terms of the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of students’ short essay writing. The results of paired t-tests showed that there was a statistically significant increase in complexity and fluency, but not accuracy. Then the analysis then looked at the association between writing improvement (CAF), engagement, motivation, and writing achievement, using correlations and a hierarchical multiple regression. The results showed that there was a statistically significant, positive correlation between accuracy and writing achievement, a statistically significant negative correlation between linguistic self-confidence motivation and writing achievement, and that accuracy was a statistically significant predictor of writing achievement. This study has practical implications for second language (L2) writing classrooms. Primary among these are the potential for using computer mediation to facilitate peer learning. It allowed for high levels of writing intensity and seamless, transparent movement through the various stages of the writing process approach. In this study the combination of computer mediation, peer work, and writing process made it possible for the teacher to step aside, allowing the students to engage in social constructivist learning that supported positive learning outcomes.Item Open Access Wunderkammers, photographs, and growing up Southern: a visual semiotic analysis of self-identity through autoethnography(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Ownby, Terry D., author; Quick, Don, advisor; Geiger, Wendy, committee member; Banning, James H., committee member; Anderson, Sharon K., committee member; Dickinson, Greg, committee memberBy using the civil rights era within a segregated South as a cultural backdrop for this dissertation, I explored the construction of self-identity through narrative text and photographs in the form of a visual autoethnography. Specifically, this study had a two-fold mission: First to explore my self-identity in relation to my Southern culture through narrative text and photographs as primary data; and second, to apply a combined-methods approach in order to paint a complete and holistic portrait of my self-identity construction. Using an overarching notion of Barthesian visual semiotics, I have taken a combined-methods approach by using traditional ethnographic research techniques to produce an autoethnographic narrative with a critical visual methodology in order to draw meaning from a university gallery showing of my photographic exhibition titled: Wunderkammer: Specimen views of my postmodern life . The resultant analyses of narrative text and photographs revealed an underlying sub-text of significant racial encounters as well as several social and institutional ideological issues that contributed to my self-identity construction and acculturational journey. Implications from this particular methodological design indicate usefulness not only in photography programs, but also in allied disciplines such as communication, cultural and media studies, education, sociology, or anthropology. This study contributes its voice to the conversations about autoethnography and self-identity construction through researcher-participant generated photographs.