Browsing by Author "Quynn, Kristina, committee member"

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An exploratory cross- case study of parent and teacher perspectives on children's kindergarten experiences following play-based early childhood education
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Fyffe, Lisa Ann, author; Davies, Patricia, advisor; Schmid, Arlene, advisor; Quynn, Kristina, committee member; Jennings, Louise, committee member
Play has been the foundational pedagogical approach to early childhood education dating back to the days of Plato (428-347 B.C.E..) and Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.). Yet recent changes in public policy emphasizing academic content mastery at kindergarten entry threaten the tradition of play as the dominant means of learning for young children enrolled in early childhood education centers. Early childhood professionals argue that pedagogy emphasizing approaches to learning, social relationships, and self-management are essential in preschool, and prepare children for subsequent academic instruction. Parents, fearful that their child will not be ready for kindergarten if they are not exposed to academics early on, place pressure on privately funded early childhood centers to provide academic rigor under the guise of school readiness. The desire for children to develop learning readiness through playing stands in contrast to educational reforms priorities of standardized instruction and measurable academic results to support efficacy in early childhood education programs. Early childhood educators, in response to public policy and parental expectations, may design their preschool curriculum with an academic emphasis, thus disrupting the tradition of play as the dominant means of learning for young children. For play to retain its' importance in early childhood education, research will need to demonstrate how play prepares children for kindergarten. This dissertation explores how children fared in kindergarten following play-based early childhood education at a Reggio-Emilia-inspired preschool. The Reggio Emilia-inspired philosophy of early childhood education emphasizes artistic expression, child-led exploration, engaging environments and collaborative relationships to promote children's curiosity and joyfulness with learning (McNally & Slutsky, 2018). Play-based learning is a pedagogical approach to early childhood education grounded in guided play, where the adult curates a learning context towards an educational goal and the child maintains agency and some degree of freedom to explore and discover while learning (Zosh et al., 2018). Cross-case analysis was used to gain a deep understanding of the experiences of four children navigating kindergarten during the Covid-19-affected 2020-2021 school year. Data included: a series of three 1-hour interviews with four mothers and three kindergarten teachers at the onset, midpoint and conclusion of the school year, field visits during remote learning, and artifact collection including work samples and progress reports. The most substantial findings from this longitudinal study center on three main constructs: school readiness, everyday adaptability, and kindergarten performance, which are each addressed in the three manuscripts included in the dissertation. Finally, I situate my dissertation within the Occupation and Rehabilitative Science framework and conclude my dissertation by describing the implications of this dissertation of occupational therapy practice and future scholarship.
Open Access
Anxieties and artificial women: disassembling the pop culture gynoid
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Fabian, Carly, author; Gibson, Katie L., advisor; Hughes, Kit, committee member; Quynn, Kristina, committee member
This thesis analyzes the cultural meanings of the feminine-presenting robot, or gynoid, in three popular sci-fi texts: The Stepford Wives (1975), Ex Machina (2013), and Westworld (2017). Centralizing a critical feminist rhetorical approach, this thesis outlines the symbolic meaning of gynoids as representing cultural anxieties about women and technology historically and in each case study. This thesis draws from rhetorical analyses of media, sci-fi studies, and previously articulated meanings of the gynoid in order to discern how each text interacts with the gendered and technological concerns it presents. The author assesses how the text equips—or fails to equip—the public audience with motives for addressing those concerns. Prior to analysis, each chapter synthesizes popular and scholarly criticisms of the film or series and interacts with their temporal contexts. Each chapter unearths a unique interaction with the meanings of gynoid: The Stepford Wives performs necrophilic fetishism to alleviate anxieties about the Women's Liberation Movement; Ex Machina redirects technological anxieties towards the surveilling practices of tech industries, simultaneously punishing exploitive masculine fantasies; Westworld utilizes fantasies and anxieties cyclically in order to maximize its serial potential and appeal to impulses of its viewership, ultimately prescribing a rhetorical placebo. The conclusion synthesizes each chapter topically and ruminates on real-world implications. Overall, this thesis urges critical attention toward the gynoids' role in oppressive hierarchies onscreen and in reality.
Open Access
The GTA project: graduate teaching assistant development and professionalization as emerging disciplinary scholars and composition instructors
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Halseth, Madeline, author; Palmquist, Mike, advisor; Doe, Sue R., committee member; Quynn, Kristina, committee member
Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) constitute a large portion of the teaching population in Writing Studies and Composition (WSC) programs across the country. Although GTAs have many roles, in WSC they are most often employed as instructors of record in mandatory general education writing courses, including first-year composition courses. While composition GTAs are situated within the English department, they are further positioned as emerging scholars and professionals within a specific disciplinary area under the larger umbrella of English studies, such as creative writing, TEFL/TESL, writing studies, English education, and literature. Consequently, as GTAs progress through their program and develop disciplinary and professional identities, it can be inferred that their pedagogical goals and approaches to the teaching of writing will develop as well. This study builds on research addressing the pedagogical experience and professionalization of GTAs within a context that is shaped by neoliberal values in higher education. This project addresses the two primary questions: (1) How does an English department GTA's disciplinarity and ecologies of influence affect their pedagogical goals and approaches to teaching first-year composition as they progress in their graduate program? (2) How do systems of power within the university impact GTAs' pedagogical goals and approaches to teaching first-year composition and their perception of self-efficacy and empowerment as instructors? To explore these questions, seven composition GTAs participated in a qualitative study that included surveys, interviews, and voice memos. The goal of this study was to map the complex university systems and personal factors that impact composition GTAs' development as disciplinary scholars and composition instructors. Results indicate that as GTAs progress in their disciplinary programs, they begin to approach the teaching of writing from a disciplinary perspective that aligns their disciplinary writing practices with their pedagogical goals and strategies for first-year composition courses. These GTAs are heavily impacted by their disciplinary mentors, cohort, and the complex university systems that they must navigate as they fulfill their roles as graduate students, instructors of record, and emerging disciplinary scholars. WPAs and faculty should consider the critical role of mentoring that GTAs require as they develop into composition instructors in order to support and guide future scholars and instructors in the field of writing studies and composition.