In this dissertation, a case study approach was used to describe how a wireless local area network (WLAN) was implemented in a classroom of the School of Engineering at Christian Brothers University (CBU). The goal of the research was to increase existing knowledge of this wireless information technology (IT) paradigm in universities. The goal was achieved by documenting the implementation of a prototype IEEE 802.11 b WLAN, collecting data about system requirements, studying design considerations, and documenting equipment needs. In this dissertation report, data collection instruments that elicit user needs, system constraints, and environmental conditions are presented. A high-level system design and detailed steps for implementation are presented. An analysis of WLAN tests and test results are described. Data collected during implementation are organized into three phases of implementation. Phase 1, Enterprise Management (EM), presents data collected about system requirements. Phase 2, Network Engineering (NE), describes the development of network designs. Phase 3, Network Operation (NO), delineates implementation activities for making the network operational, including installation and testing. Additionally, CBU faculty, student, and network support staff were surveyed during the NO phase to determine satisfaction with the network. The results of this assessment were analyzed to determine overall satisfaction of CBU faculty, students, and network support staff with the classroom WLAN implementation.

This study examined student performances, in a comparison between computer-assisted instruction and traditional instruction to determine if there were significantly higher achievement scores by microcomputer users. The purpose was to identify a teaching strategy that would accelerate attainment of mathematics skills needed for the multiplication of whole numbers. Secondary analyses were conducted via post hoc testing to assess interactions within and/or between the treatment and control groups on age, gender and ethnicity. The population for this study was taken from a small, inner-city elementary school with a population of 485 students. The ethnic makeup of the school was White, Non-Hispanic; 23.8% Black, Non-Hispanic; 2.0% Asian/Pacific Islander; and 10.6% Hispanic. Forty percent (40%) of the student population represented the lower level of the economic scale. The study involved two (2) groups of fourth graders and two (2) groups of fifth graders. Each group consisted of thirty students. At each grade level, the control groups learned basic mathematics skills using pencil and paper while students in the treatment groups learned basic mathematics skills using computer-assisted instruction. All students participating in the study were administered a pre and posttest from tests in the currently used mathematics textbook. Student scores, age, gender, and ethnicity were analyzed using an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted on pretest results showing significant differences between variables. The analyses was performed using SPSS, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Recommendations in this study included: (1) follow-up studies conducted to determine the effect of computer assisted instruction on retention of basic mathematics skills, (2) changes in the existing mathematics curriculum for use of computers in the classroom on a daily basis, and (3) further studies to determine the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

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Telecommuting has been lauded as increasing productivity, reducing companies' costs, improving employee retention and recruitment, improving employee morale and various other benefits. Telecommuting has also been lamented about management's loss of control, increased management workload and the difficulty of implementation. After weighing both pros and cons, telecommuting seemingly has more benefits than drawbacks. Yet, it is curious that organizations are slow to adopt it. This study investigated the attitudes of 177 employees and 119 managers toward telecommuting. All of the respondents were employed in the information technology field, had access to, and worked with personal computers in their job. Questionnaires, based on the Duxbury et al. (1987) study, were sent to 200 managers and 400 employees and 296 were returned for a return rate of 49%. This study investigated four areas of telecommuting - the benefits of telecommuting, the drawbacks of telecommuting specific to management and control, the drawbacks of telecommuting career-related, and the drawbacks of telecommuting related to one's personal life. The results indicate that today's employees and managers differ on their perception of the management and control of telecommuters. Specifically, they differ on the variables of a change to organizational management style, the trust and the difficultly of managing telecommuters. This finding is in sharp contrast to the Duxbury et al. (1987) study. The results also indicate that employees and managers have a similar perception toward the benefits of telecommuting. This finding is also in sharp contrast to the Duxbury et al. (1987) study, which found differences in the benefit variables of improved quality of work life, lower job-related stress and increased productivity. Lastly, the results indicate that employees and managers remain concerned about career related aspects of telecommuting and are less concerned about the impact on one's family life. These finding are consistent with the Duxbury et al. (1987) study. The results of this study provide a comparison between employees working in the information technology field and employees working in general industry of a decade ago and provide a framework for future studies.

Wireless ad hoc networks allow spontaneous collaboration and exchange of information using streaming multimedia applications without any wired infrastructure. To do so, streaming video or audio applications require QoS methods that ensure minimal jitter, delay, dropped packets, and maximum throughput during periods of congestion. Standard mobile ad hoc network (MANET) routing protocols do not consider QoS in their algorithms; therefore, these routing protocols do not provide QoS guarantees during periods of congestion. Past research had proposed routing protocols that consider a single QoS parameter such as battery-life, bandwidth capacity, or link quality. However, routing protocols that consider bandwidth or link quality are not able to identify mobile nodes that are experiencing congestion or high resource utilization. Thus, mobile nodes that cause or experience congestion may not have adequate resources to provide routing services. This work proved that updating the MANET Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol to monitor and route based on resource utilization levels improved certain aspects of QoS for streaming multimedia applications. This work modified the Network Simulator 2 program to implement the protocol update and thereby enabled mobile nodes to monitor for congestion using defined thresholds related to jitter, queue capacity, and battery level. Violations of these thresholds indicated congestion and resulted in the use of multi-path routing and route admission control in an effort to manage and avoid congestion. This work compared the simulation results of the updated DSR protocol with the standard DSR protocol, and used simulation scenarios to test basic operations and performance of the protocol update in typical MANETs. The performance metrics of throughput, average end-to-end delay, dropped packets, and jitter were measured using both DSR protocols. The results indicated that the updated DSR protocol consistently produced higher throughputs. Additionally, the updated DSR protocol frequently produced superior jitter values, comparable end-to-end delays, and comparable packet loss at the expense of generating additional routing packets. Finally, this work recommended that future research: explore the impact of battery consumption as related to multi-path routing; explore the monitoring of other resource utilization parameters; and evaluate the use of multi-path routing amongst other MANET routing protocols.

In this study an investigation was conducted that examined the feasibility of establishing the Ontario Police Commission Library catalogue online through a police network that was being newly developed and tested called OMPPAC. The author first reviewed the history behind the Ontario Municipal and Provincial Police Automation Co-operative (OMPPAC) and its connection with 'the Ontario Police Commission (OPC). The investigator made it clear that, although activities in police forces were becoming increasingly more automated, officers did not have online access to any police library either on a provincial or federal level. The researcher suggested that the OPC Library (designed to serve all the municipal forces across the province) be made available to the police through OMPPAC. The researcher then provided a comprehensive literature review that examined articles and books written on police libraries, feasibility studies, online catalogues and good survey design. The final stage, the feasibility study, followed the literature review. For this study, the author informally collected the information that was needed in order to discover how familiar the police were with automation, and what they would have liked to have seen available online. The researcher next addressed the nature of the online database from the perspective of both the potential user and the librarian. A project plan for implementation and a requirements document followed. The researcher then assessed the tangible benefits (e. g. a reduction in the amount of photocopying) and the intangible benefits (e. g. improvements in service to the municipal forces, OPC leadership and a catalogue made available Ministry-wide). The author concluded that, although costs were minimal and that the expertise was certainly available within the Ministry of the Solicitor General, the project would remain on abeyance until the Ontario Police Commission received funding and agreed to proceed with it.

This inquiry is a study of a current implementation of distributed multimedia information and training systems. The World Wide Web (Web) is a primary delivery system for delivering distributed training. The term Web-based Training (WBT) was coined to describe this development (Kilby, 1996). The rapid change in technologies along with the lack of existing studies of the Web as a delivery mechanism for training are primary reasons for this inquiry. The goal of this inquiry is to develop a model to facilitate the design and development of Web-based training for the enhancement of the learner's cognitive experience. This paradigm will be based on previous research reported in the literature and an in-depth case study of the Web Interactive Training (WIT) project underway at the Kennedy Space Center (Metcalf, 1995; NASA, 1995). The WIT project is being held up as an example of well-developed WBT (Hall, 1997). Characteristics of the system and the development process for the WIT system will be explored through a thorough case study research methodology (Whitten, Bentley & Barlow, 1994; Yin, 1994; Hamel, et al., 1994). After the summary and introductory information, background information and literature are presented for validation and corroboration of the findings of the case study inquiry. The case study methodology and implementation for the structure of the results are presented. Expectations of the study and reference materials are also provided. The results of the study are defined as a case study of the WIT project in the context of the Whitten et al. (1994) information system design model. A final assessment of the Phase I implementation is also presented in the results chapter. The successful completion of the project and recognition of the achievement stand as evidence of the validity of this model for the development of WBT. The findings show that WBT can be treated like other software development projects with a full life cycle. Variances from the Whitten et al. model based on unique features of WBT development are also described and generalized. The conclusion presents the limits of a single case study as part of the implications, along with extensive recommendations for further study. Areas of particular interest are real-time WBT technology integration, development of total training solutions that expand the scope beyond a single asynchronous WBT implementation, and the influence of project management techniques on the actual use of the development model. The inquiry is concluded with a summary of the entire work, followed by an extensive reference section.

This study was conducted to determine the use of computer assisted instruction in the high school chemistry lab. The author used the data and information gathered to focus attention on computer use in the science classroom and determined the need for this focus by surveying the science teachers at the study site. The author concluded from the survey 25 percent of the teachers used computer assisted instruction (CAl) frequently, 25 percent used CAl occasionally and 50 percent did not use CAl at all. The two sets of software user in the study for the basis of the development of the computer assisted labs were Chem Lab Evaluation written by Everett Kirshner for Edu Tech Company and. Temperature Plotter software and computer interfaced lab packs by Vernier Software Company. The author evaluated both sets of software using the software evaluation form from the Software Evaluation Exchange Dissemination (SEED). The students participating in this study were the author's two Academic Chemistry classes. The academic level is the middle of the three chemistry levels taught at the study site. Each class consisted of 14 juniors placed in the classes because of scheduling procedures used at the study site. The author instructed each class in 87 minute lab periods once a week over a two month period and covered the same lab material with both classes. However, the experimental group used the computer assisted instructed labs and the control group used the traditionally taught labs. An experimental posttest only design was used in this study and, upon completion of the two month lab instruction period, a posttest taken from the Chem Lab Evaluation software was administered to each group under- normal classroom conditions. There was no significant difference between posttest means. However, the computer assisted instruction group took less time to solve the lab activities.

The purpose of this dissertation was 10 identify the primary factor or factors which influence implementation or non-implementation of telecommuting and the continuation or discontinuation of telecommuting. These factors could be used to develop guidelines to increase success for an organization implementing telecommuting. The literature review indicated that an organization is less likely to successfully implement a telecommuting program if the organization or employee cannot deal with the social issues of telecommuting. The hypothesis is that the analysis and surveys would demonstrate that a successful telecommuting program was based more often on social factors rather than on technical or cost/benefit factors. The telecommuting social factors included such items as; isolation by the employee, lack of or perceived lack of promotions and opportunity, or realization by the telecommuter that they must still employ daycare. The methodologies for research were possible and were completed in a time frame of one year. This included the construction of a questionnaire, identifying the subjects through the use of appropriate sampling techniques that have the required information for telecommuting success factors and are willing to release the information or participate in the questionnaire. The study was casual-comparative that determined the factors of success. The analysis of the data in evolved descriptive and inferential statistics.

This research was motivated to address the problem of solving the difficulty of distinguishing data anomalies and patterns of information within the enormous volume of data generated in audit logs, and to approach or achieve real-time analysis of audit log data in applications and operating systems. The research question was if the employment of data clustering techniques that reduce the volume of audit data, would enable data analysts to approach or achieve real time intrusion detection due to the reduction in audit data. The approach used in this study was to use data mining clustering techniques to develop abstract categories from the audit log data that can be used with the pattern matching techniques already in use or under experimental development. The results of this study clearly demonstrate that the suffix tree algorithm is the fastest in terms of real time processing speed, the most accurate, in terms of producing the fewest false positives, and the best at reducing audit data file size. The objectives of this research were to identify and test a group of algorithms for speed and accuracy in searching audit log data, as well as to determine their ability to distinguish anomalies and patterns. While researchers have developed a number of different algorithms for intrusion detection and pattern matching in databases, the approaches used in these algorithms have not been previously tested to determine their comparability in terms of speed of processing and the accuracy of the results. The methodology that was used in this study involves the assessment of data mining clustering techniques to develop abstract categories from the audit log data that can be used with pattern matching techniques already in existence. The methodology established criteria for the selection of cluster algorithms, resulting in the selection of K-Means, Single Pass, Fuzzy c-means, and Suffix Tree clustering algorithms for analysis. The test procedure was to measure the execution time of the algorithms in clustering datasets. The number of the false positives in the answer for the query is compared against the execution time. The findings determined which of the algorithms produced the greatest accuracy in the shortest amount of time, which indicates which approach is most effective and advanced. A superiority of the suffix tree algorithm was found, followed by the k-means, single pass, and fuzzy c-means.