Browsing by Author "Kaiser, Leann, advisor"

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Open Access
Accessibility and inclusion in higher education: an inquiry of faculty perceptions and experiences
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) McGinty, Jacqueline M., author; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Kaiser, Leann, advisor; Folkestad, James, committee member; Scott, Malcolm, committee member
Although there are an increasing number of students with disabilities attending institutions of higher education, the graduation rate for students with disabilities lags behind that of non-disabled college students attending similar institutions. College faculty members produce academic content, determine learning outcomes, and determine assessment protocol. As primary gatekeepers of academic achievement, college faculty members are instrumental in the provision of academic accommodations for students with disabilities. Faculty members in the College of Engineering and in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Colorado State University were invited to participate in answering a survey on accessibility and academic accommodations for students with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to identify faculty issues and concerns regarding accommodations for students with disabilities and to make suggestions that lead to increased faculty utilization of accessible learning materials. This research intends to improve the learning environment for students with disabilities by recommending and disseminating inclusive teaching practices to improve accessibility of higher education so that all students can acquire the same information and participate in the same activities in a similar manner as students without disabilities.
Open Access
An examination in the role culture plays in the acceptance of e-learning at a global organization
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Reed, Jaclyn, author; Kaiser, Leann, advisor; Gloeckner, Gene, committee member; Quick, Don, committee member; Switzer, Jamie, committee member
One of the biggest challenges a global company faces when implementing e-learning is overcoming the cultural differences of its employees. Hofstede's Power Index Scale is a means to study how culture can impact an organization. In high-power-distance cultures, employees look to leaders as authorities and expect an uneven distribution of power. In low-power-distance cultures, employees see themselves as equal to and as powerful as the leaders. The population for this study was members of the Sales and Marketing and Human Resources departments at a global technology company with offices representing different national cultures and power distance levels. The purpose of this study was to determine how national culture, as measured by power distance, affects e-learning acceptance using the technology acceptance model as a framework. This nonexperimental, associational, comparative research study was a way to examine how a global company with employees representing different national cultures and varying levels of power distance accept e-learning based on perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, behavioral intention, and actual usage of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Answering the two research questions entailed determining whether there were correlations and/or differences between power distance, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, behavioral intention, and actual usage. This study used a survey to test the original TAM across multiple geographic locations. A Spearman's rho statistic and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to answer the research questions. The findings of the study support TAM as a reliable model but did not find a significant correlation between PDI scale and perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, or behavioral intention but was weakly correlated to actual usage. The researcher had access only to Sales and Marketing and key members of Human Resources within a technology company. The participants represented were from developed counties with relatively strong e-learning market shares. Future researchers may want to explore the study in developing countries and may want to explore links between technology companies, self-efficacy, and their impact on e-learning acceptance.
Open Access
An exploration of the lived experiences of senior-level community college followers in the co-creation of the leadership process
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Newton, Bryan D., author; Kaiser, Leann, advisor; Doe, Sue, committee member; Hegeman, Diane, committee member; Quick, Don, committee member
Community colleges are in the midst of an unprecedented leadership crisis precipitated by large numbers of its presidents retiring, new political, financial and regulatory demands for presidents to oversee and the lack of robust succession planning to fill leadership vacancies. At the same time followership has become of interest in higher education and leadership studies as failures in followership at colleges and universities have brought negative attention, and emerging theories of followership have evolved. As new leaders take the helm at community colleges, more research is needed on how leaders and followers work together to lead these institutions of higher education that educate almost half of the undergraduates in the United States. This study's purpose was to explore how senior-level followers co-create leadership with their community college presidents. The sole research question asked was what were the lived experiences and followership behaviors of community college senior-level followers in the co-creation of the leadership process with their supervisor presidents. Senior-level followers at community colleges in the state of Maryland with at least three years' experience participated in this qualitative study. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilized as the methodology for this research. The findings resulted in four superordinate themes comprising deference to the president, informed and interactive decision-making, vision and mission and respectful relationships. The superordinate themes were developed from eight emergent themes including role of the president, final decisions, planning and information gathering, conversation and collaboration, supporting the president's vision, common belief in mission, trust and honesty and integrity. The study provided recommendations on ingraining followership in community college presidential selection processes, adjusting the competencies of community college presidents to include followership, changing leadership development programs to incorporate the development of leaders and followers in the leadership co-creation process and strengthening employee performance evaluations to measure leader and follower effectiveness in leadership co-creation. Suggestions for future research were identified including using different sample populations, reversing the research to account for the lived experiences and followership behaviors of presidents, strengthening homogeneity among participants to better understand the lived experiences and behaviors of community college vice presidents and utilizing quantitative approaches to further explore the leadership process in community colleges.
Open Access
Fashion thinking: 3D simulation software, cognition, and critical thinking
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Saadatian, Katelyn Campbell, author; Kaiser, Leann, advisor; Morris, Kristin, committee member; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Aragon, Antonnette, committee member
This dissertation comprises three articles that collectively explore the cognitive and critical thinking processes involved in fashion design within virtual environments, with a particular focus on 3D simulation software. The first article establishes the theoretical foundation by introducing the THREAD framework, which highlights the integration of critical thinking and design cognition, emphasizing the hybrid nature of digital and physical workflows. THREAD identifies seven key tenets of design cognition and critical thinking: problem-solving, reflexivity, individual agency, tacit knowledge, spatial visualization, haptic memory, and creativity. The second article presents an empirical study investigating how undergraduate fashion design students engage in critical thinking while using 3D simulation software utilizing think aloud protocol methodology. Findings reveal that students exhibit reflexivity, creativity, and independent decision-making but often struggle to balance digital autonomy with deeper design analysis. The flexibility of CLO 3D fosters risk-taking yet sometimes leads to reactive rather than strategic choices. The third article examines the cognitive processes of fashion designers working in virtual environments through semi-structured artifact interviews. Key insights include the role of tacit knowledge in developing design intuition, the enhancement of spatial visualization through real-time adjustments, the engagement of haptic memory despite the absence of physical touch, and the impact of digital tools on creativity and exploration. Notably, gamification within CLO 3D encourages experimentation and risk-taking but necessitates structured reflection to maintain design depth. Synthesizing these findings, the dissertation identifies three overarching insights. First, 3D fashion thinking is inherently hybrid, blending physical and digital processes. Second, designers must develop novel cognitive strategies to adapt to digital materiality. Third, gamification is reshaping creativity within virtual design environments. Through this research, the original THREAD framework has been revised to incorporate new dimensions of virtual fashion thinking. The concept of haptic memory has been expanded to include material perception, recognizing the cognitive strategies designers employ to assess digital representations of materials. Creativity is now understood as inherently linked to playful exploration, emphasizing the role of gamified experimentation in fostering design innovation. Emotional and motivational engagement has been introduced as a crucial factor, highlighting the psychological dimensions that sustain creative momentum in virtual design. Reflexivity has been refined into two distinct levels: reactive reflexivity, which involves immediate, real-time adjustments, and strategic reflexivity, which encompasses deeper, conceptual design analysis. Additionally, perceptual adaptation has been identified as a key cognitive shift required when transitioning from physical to virtual workflows, addressing the need for designers to interpret digital materials without tactile feedback. The research contributes to the evolving discourse on virtual fashion education and practice, offering insights into how designers navigate and innovate within emerging digital spaces.
Open Access
How managers perceive coaching their direct reports for performance improvement: a phenomenological study
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Barry, Karla, author; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Kaiser, Leann, advisor; Gupta, Kalpana, committee member; Buchan, Victoria, committee member
This study was conducted to discover if coaching direct reports for performance improvement was currently happening in organizations. Using the qualitative interpretative phenomenology analysis methodology, eight participants were interviewed. The participants represented four organizations and had managerial experience ranging from four to 44 years. Participants were interviewed and presented the ten most frequently cited competencies from managerial coaching literature on cards for them to organize into a representation of their coaching process. The data analysis process encompassed data reduction and analysis of each interview that then produced emergent themes. The findings included the emergence of three superordinate themes: coaching categories for successful coaching, use of coaching competencies in performance coaching, and performance coaching and management style. Other findings included all participants using a progressive type of performance coaching. They each had unique uses of the coaching competencies and they identified some as overarching, foundational, or most important. Lastly, the participants all maintained that coaching for performance improvement was a large and integral part of their management style. Some of the implications of the study include: (a) progressive coaching is a process that can be adapted, taught, and implemented in organizations today; (b) less formal coaching conversations are happening regularly and should be encouraged; (c) consistency of coaching is important to the success of the direct reports (d) and metrics are important when coaching for performance improvement and they should be clearly established. This study demonstrates that managers coaching their direct reports for performance improvement is happening and successful.