The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention drawing on the instructional principles of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development Model (SRSD) to support the use of three writing strategies (PREP, TALK and CHECK) combined with the use of assistive technology for post-secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) and writing difficulties. Participants were four students between the ages of 18 and 32, registered with a campus disability service office at a mid-sized western Canadian university. In a multiple-probe, multiple-baseline within-subjects design, participants received intervention support during one-on-one sessions with a writing tutor. Intervention support covered planning, composing and revision processes and the integration of speech-recognition technology into participants’ academic routines. Percentage of non-overlapping data points (PNDs) indicated strong effects for spelling error rate (PNDs = 100), correct word sequences (PNDs = 91.3) and rate of incorrect word sequences (PNDs = 100). Effects were moderate for word count (PNDs = 82.6) and small for punctuation (PNDs = 60) and précis quality (PNDs = 56.5). Results indicate that the intervention was effective for reducing errors in participants’ writing, particularly along the dimensions of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and semantics. Results also indicate that the intervention was strongly effective at increasing the sequences of correct words, and therefore aided participants in generating higher-quality writing assignments to meet the academic demands of university. Implications for educators and psychological service providers working with postsecondary students with disabilities are discussed. / Graduate / 2015-11-06 / 0525 / kellyleemcmanus@gmail.com

Doctor of Education / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Mickey L. Losinski / Students with emotional and behavioral disorders frequently display deficits in reading. One emerging method for addressing these deficits is known as self-regulated strategy development (SRSD). One specific SRSD reading strategy is TWA (Think before reading, think While reading, and think After reading), which teaches students to self-monitor and self-evaluate while reading. The purpose of this study was to determine if TWA is effective in increasing reading comprehension of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders, using a randomized control trial pretest-posttest design. Results suggested no statistical significance between the reading comprehension of the treatment and control group following the intervention. Limitations are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented.

The complex task of reading, understanding, analyzing, synthesizing, and subsequently writing in response to a prompt about multiple texts required by the Common Core writing standards is difficult for many students, especially struggling writers and students with learning disabilities. The majority of elementary teachers report having less than adequate preparation in writing pedagogy and identify writing as the area they feel least prepared to teach. In this multiple probe across participants study, two teachers, a special education teacher and a cooperating general education teacher in whose classroom he worked, served as teacher participants. The special education teacher implemented Self-regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for informational writing citing text-based evidence from two sources following practice-based professional development (PBPD) with small groups of students. Three female and five male fifth-grade African American students teacher-identified as struggling writers or receiving Special Education services for a specific learning disability (LD) participated in the study. Research questions were: To what extent can SRSD be implemented with fidelity in small groups by a special education teacher in an inclusive general education setting? To what extent does SRSD instruction in the informational genre citing text-based evidence improve the writing skills of fifth grade students with LD or those who struggle in writing in terms of (a) analytic quality, (b) evidence of strategy use, and (c) length? To what extent is SRSD considered to be a socially valid intervention for use in inclusive education settings by the participating teachers and students? A teacher survey of classroom writing practices and observations of classroom writing practices were conducted prior to the intervention to contextualize current writing practices. Student writing probes were assessed for plagiarism, academic vocabulary, number of essay elements, evidence of strategy use, and length. Fidelity was collected for writing prompt administration, PBPD, and SRSD. The teacher implemented with high fidelity and rated PBPD favorably both before and after intervention. Following intervention, student analytic quality, evidence of strategy use, and number of words written increased. Instances of plagiarism were decreased following intervention. SRSD was rated high on measures of social validity by both students and teachers.

Students with emotional behavioral disorders (EBD) who have been removed from their regular schools into alternative educational settings (AES) have academic deficits that affect their success in school (Lehr, Tan, & Ysseldyke, 2009); however, few researchers have investigated what strategies work best for this population, especially in the area of math (Schwab, Johnson, Ansley, Houchins, & Varjas, 2016). Two important areas that students with EBD must master to graduate high school are fractions and algebra (Templeton, Neel, & Blood, 2008). Since the research on math interventions for students with EBD in these areas is limited, researchers have suggested examining the math literature for students with learning disabilities (LD) to find potential intervention components. The purpose of the first study was to synthesize the randomized control trials and quasi-experimental intervention research on instructional approaches that enhance the math achievement of students in grades 6-12 with LD. This study used meta-analytic techniques to synthesize the math literature for secondary students with LD. Findings indicated that strategy instruction had a higher effect size (Hedges g= .72) than alternate delivery systems (Hedges g= .23), and the number of Common Core State Standard math practices was a moderator for the effect size of math interventions. Since strategy instruction had a higher effect size, the purpose of the second study was to test the effects of a graphic organizer on the math performance for middle school students with EBD in an AES. This study used a one-group nonequivalent dependent variables design (Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002) with multiple measures in multiple waves to assess the effects of the graphic organizer on the math skills of the students. A repeated measures ANOVA indicated that students significantly improved their math performance on both fractions and algebra using researcher developed measures. Fidelity data indicated that two teachers had low adherence, quality of instruction scores and had low percentages of student engagement. Social validity results indicated that teacher and students found the intervention to be an acceptable intervention.

The diploma thesis deals with a strategic situation analysis of online start-up called Instant Feedback s.r.o. and brings information to strategy planning process of online start-ups in general. The thesis examines the specifics of this process and applies them accordingly in the strategic situation analysis. The outcome of the thesis is an overview of strategy development process by online start-ups mainly useful for young entrepreneurs in online environment.

The master's thesis is focused on development strategy of a small company. First we describe theoretical knowledge, then we form suggestions, based on an analysis of current company state. The thesis also consists of proposals, which lead to better competitive advantage of the company and more efficient execution of product sales.

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Researchers in the field of composition studies have frequently made allusions to musicians when they’ve discussed the role of practice in gaining skill. In doing so, however, they’ve risked making speculative rather than testable claims and separating composition studies from recent insights on practice from other disciplines such as education and music psychology. These fields, I argue, offer testable frameworks with which composition instructors and scholars can teach and study writing practice. Such frameworks are necessary because composition researchers need to supplement qualitative studies of writers and writing with quantitative data to generate replicable tests of teaching methods that may benefit practicing writers. This thesis draws on prior research in composition studies to illustrate the context of its central argument. It then breaks down some of the key assertions about practice that support this context before introducing frameworks from other disciplines that will allow composition researchers to replicate studies of effective writing practice instruction in the first-year college writing classroom. These frameworks or models of practice instruction include self-regulated strategy development and practice sessions conceived as stages of error and mistake management. Supplementing these models are descriptions of a few key activities built on these frameworks for students to practice writing in and outside the classroom. Students need more than instruction in crafting better writing products to become more effective revisers and more expert writers. They also need explicit instruction that teaches them how to engage effectively in repeated, structured practice that imparts the tools they learn to solve writing problems with staying power and flexibility. This instruction is about more than handy tips or exercises; it’s about changing students’ and teachers’ assumptions about writing’s purpose outside the classroom.

One of the proxies for the success of a corporate strategy is firm performance. This is because “performance is a surrogate for the alignment between an organization’s internal processes (strategy, structure, etc) and the external environment.”1 Business excellence therefore hangs together with the attainment of such an alignment. It is two of the processes that support such an alignment between customer and supplier that are the subject of this paper. The processes in question are so called “Key Account Management” (KAM) and competitive intelligence (CI). [... aus der Einleitung] 1 Subramanian R., IsHak S., Competitor Analysis Practices of US Companies, 1998, S.13

<p>E-commerce presents a new format for doing business. It creates an efficient, yet complex, system providing potential time and cost savings. The main question is then how a comprehensive strategy is developed to outline the new process. Whether an MNC can successfully develop an e-commerce strategy or not, depends on their understanding of customers within their global environment and the secure transfer of customer information. They must adjust their company operations to concentrate on identifying sources of customer relationship management, such as segmentation, needs and abilities, benefits, values, buying behaviour and trust aspects. Companies need to differentiate their ecommerce approaches from their competition, in order to enable and motivate their transition to an online system.</p><p>In the case of our methodology, a qualitative, single case study approach of Electrolux Professional Laundry Group was used. Interviews of their customers and sales offices from around Europe determined their understanding and opinions of the closure of warehouses to concentrate on e-commerce within the company. Findings indicate that there is a need to clarify the role of the system, the safety of the customer's information and how it relates to the responsibilities of the sales offices in question. In addition, customers must be carefully researched in order to make the new system congruent with their purchasing preferences and abilities. Once created, a clear model is established to determine their affects on the process of creating a successful e-commerce strategy.</p><p>Due to the increasing presence of e-commerce amongst competition in Electrolux's industry, the need to develop a detailed e-commerce strategy is crucial. Their products and services are some of the highest-rated in the industry, but their e-commerce system needs to be improved to match the standards of their well-known brand name. Therefore, careful development of their e-commerce operations will require detailed attention to every stage of the strategy process.</p>