This study evaluated a new Integrated Science Learning Environment (ISLE) that bridged the gaps between the traditionally separate classroom, field trip, and information technology milieus. The ISLE model involves a multi-faceted design to address the three basic forms of learning: acquisition of knowledge, change in emotions or feelings, and gain in physical or motor actions or performance. A holistic approach to teaching at the university level encompassed a step-wise, cumulative strategy that reinforced all scales of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (Personal Relevance, Uncertainty of Science, Shared Control, Critical Voice, and Student Negotiation) and minimised the potentially detrimental effects of information overload and non-linear processing. By addressing individuals and recognising limitations, the same conceptual and logistical frameworks were applied to teachers and to students uniformly in the classroom and in the field. This key factor of the ISLE program broadened all participants’ horizons and enabled them to see their role within the ‘big picture’. Thus, the common elements (knowledge) and basic components (understanding) in each realm became evident and the power of transfer for both content and concept was realised. A process approach to information technology provided a logical and meaningful mechanism for continuously scaling the program perspective from the classroom setting to the unique global environment of the World Wide Web. The final product of the ISLE program (virtual field trip) was constructed by linking the elements common to the supporting learning environments (university classroom, field trip, and information technology) at their basic levels: newness, massiveness, and appropriateness. / A combination of qualitative methods and quantitative measures provided insight into the field trip milieu and evaluation of the near- and far-term effects of exposure to constructivist pedagogy answering the general question of whether changing teachers’ learning environments might affect a change in their respective students’ learning environments. Quantitative assessment through learning environment dimensions, attitude scales, and concept map analyses was supported by qualitative data derived from reflective field journals, interviews, and observations to investigate the impact of the emergent model. Data were collected from classroom teachers and their students to assess the impact of the ISLE program in terms of promoting a constructivist classroom learning environment, teachers’ attitudes toward information technology, and teachers’ conceptual development. School teacher and student subgroups were compared in terms of the teachers’ university/field trip program experience and content background. To this end, three new versions of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) were shown to be valid and useful in secondary schools and graduate university courses in Texas. Data from 1079 students in 59 classes in north Texas were subjected to principal components factor analysis confirmed the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, and the ability to distinguish between different classes and groups for the comparative student form (CLES-CS). Descriptive statistics supported the usefulness of the comparative teacher (CLES-CT) and adult (CLES-A) forms. Administration of these versions of the same instrument was used to characterise the learning environment of the ISLE university/field trip program, as well as the public/private school classrooms. / Further analysis and interpretation of these data suggest that the ISLE program was effective in terms of the degree of implementation of constructivist teaching approaches in the teachers’ school classrooms as assessed by teachers’ perceptions of the learning environment of their current classroom environment relative to other classes taught by them previously and students’ perceptions of the learning environment of their classroom environment relative to classes taught by other teachers in their school classrooms. Additional data suggest that the ISLE program was effective in terms of teachers’ perceptions of the university/field trip learning environment; changes in teachers’ attitudes to information technology; and teachers’ conceptual development. When an ANOVA was used to compare students’ perceptions of THIS and OTHER classes, statistically significant differences were found for some CLES scales. In particular, students whose teachers had attended the ISLE program (THIS) perceived higher levels of Personal Relevance and Uncertainty of Science in their classrooms relative to the classrooms of other teachers in the same schools (OTHER). From a practical point of view, this study documents a new model for improving learning and understanding in the field of education, specifically science education. Participation in the ISLE program provided a tangible opportunity for teachers to gain organised knowledge to make practical changes in their school classrooms. From a research point of view, this study makes a unique contribution to the field of learning environments by evaluating a comprehensive professional development program that used information technology to initiate teacher change from the central perspective of the learning environment. / Development and validation of the CLES-CS contributes to a useful range of instruments for a variety of classroom contexts within the burgeoning field of learning environments research. The real world is where theory and practice come together and science becomes relevant, making sense that leads to understanding. The conceptual and logistical frameworks of the ISLE model seamlessly merged theory and practice with science and education through effective applications of information technology to create a rich learning environment. Virtual field trips, based on the ISLE model, can enable the principles of student-centred inquiry and constructivism to be practised for the benefit of all styles and ages of lifelong learners.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-124). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-124). Also available on the Internet.

No description available.

<p> In 2009 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law. As part of ARRA, the HITECH Act set aside $29 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentives for healthcare organizations. To collect these incentives, healthcare organizations must install an electronic health record (EHR) system and achieve <i>meaningful use.</i> Implementation of an EHR must be completed by 2015 in order to acquire any of the incentives available. Small medical practices consisting of one to five physicians are finding it easier to implement a <i>cloud-based</i> EHR system due to minimal upfront costs and no need for technical capabilities within the medical practice. This study was done using a modified Delphi technique developed by Roy Schmidt to find critical success factors for the implementation of electronic health record systems within a centralized computing services structure. For purposes of this study a centralized computing services structure was considered a <i> cloud</i> or <i>cloud-based</i> environment. </p><p> This study found that the top five critical success factors for the implementation were the following: (1) EHR Training &ndash; implementing a strong training / education process for EHR users; (2) Usability &ndash; practical application of EHR features in a real medical office setting; (3) Reliability &ndash; Specifically high levels of redundancy and system availability. If the system is down, patient safety is a risk, and that is an unacceptable norm; (4) Strong clinical representation in the project to ensure workflows, processes and education needs are met; (5) Support services such as deployment / implementation services, help desk, and online support. Of these five factors, four are actually related to usability of the system, and not necessarily strictly based on implementation. This leads us to believe that the success of an implementation is reliant upon user perception based on system usage.</p>

<p> The growth of mobile phone use has paralleled increased reports of identity theft. Identity theft can result in financial loss and threats to a victim's personal safety. Although trends in identity theft are well-known, less is known about individual cell phone users' attitudes toward identity theft and the extent to which they connect it to cell phone use. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how cell phone use is affected by attitudes toward privacy and identity theft. The study was based on social impact theory, according to which people's attitudes and behavior are affected by the strength and immediacy of others' attitudes and behavior. The research questions concerned the extent to which participants connected cell phone use with decreasing privacy and increasing cybercrime, how the use of biometrics affected cell phone users' attitudes and behavior, and what steps can be taken to reduce the misuse of private information associated with cell phone use. Data collection consisted of personal interviews with representatives from 3 groups: a private biometrics company, individual cell phone users who earn more than $55,000 a year, and individual cell phone users who earn less than $55,000 a year. Interviews were transcribed and coded for themes and patterns. Findings showed that interviewees were more likely to see identity theft as a problem among the public at large than in the industries in which they worked. Participants recommended a variety of measures to improve cell phone security and to reduce the likelihood of identity theft: passwords, security codes, voice or fingerprint recognition, and encryption. The implications for positive social change include informing government officials and individual users about the use and abuse of cell phones in order to decrease violations of privacy and identity theft while still promoting national security.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, San Francisco, 2010. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 71-05, Section: B, page: . Adviser: Robert H. Miller.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4023. Adviser: Christine Jenkins. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-229) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> Organizations of all sizes are targets for a cyberattack. Undetected data breaches result in the catastrophic loss of personally identifiable information (PII) causing considerable financial and reputation harm to organizations, while also imposing a risk of identity fraud to consumers. The purpose of this study was to consider the impact that undetected data breaches have on organizations with an additional focus on shortening the gap between the time of data breach and the time of detection through manual protocol analysis and intrusion detection system (IDS) solutions. This research reviewed the available literature detailing the effects of undetected data breaches on organizations as well as the advanced exploitation of protocols and anomaly detection through manual protocol analysis and IDS. </p><p> Manual protocol analysis provides situational anomaly detection when compared to baseline network traffic, but implies privacy concerns and does not allow timely detection of most cyberattacks. Automated IDS stream-based flows allow quicker detection of cyberattacks. Network flow-based IDS misses hidden attacks due to lack of a data payload requiring manual analysis instead, while host-based IDS adversely affects the performance of the host computer, but successfully identifies anomalies based on known signatures. This study recommended a complementary defense-in-depth solution which employs manual protocol analysis and both host-based and network-based IDS solutions as a viable strategy for reducing the time between data breach and time of detection. This study additionally recommended that security operation center personnel and IT departments should receive protocol analysis training to support manual detection against a known network traffic baseline.</p><p>

This thesis conducts a critical investigation into digital literature—a genre of literary expression that is integrated with, and articulated using, digital computing systems and infrastructures. Specifically, it presents a framework for evaluating the expressive capacities of this genre as it relates to particular conceptions of knowledge-making in the contemporary technocultural environment. This framework reveals how the generation of critical knowledge concerning digital literature, as crystallised through a reader’s material engagements with specific works, enacts a ‘performative’ conception of knowing and being, in which the observable world is treated as emerging in the real time of practice—as being articulated through the entanglement of human and nonhuman agencies, rather than existing as a fixed array of passive, unchanging primitives. Digital literature is presented subsequently as a model of this greater performative vision—as a means of evaluating the structures and processes that manifest it, particularly within digital systems, and for assessing its practical and political implications for art and culture more broadly. In so doing, this thesis aims to justify the value of engaging digital literature from a standpoint that is more expressly political, contending not only that these texts are revealing of key processes shaping digital activities, artefacts, and environments, but are enacting alternative vectors of thought and practice concerning them.