Cloud computing has become a popular buzzword and a trend in the IT industry. With characteristic features of scalable computing resources on-demand, and accessibility on a pay-per-use basis, it has been promoted as the harbinger of good tidings to its subscribers, such as the minimization of in-house IT infrastructures, substantial cost savings, and diminished administrative hurdles, thereby appearing as an appealing outsourcing proposition for non-IT enterprises, such as universities. This paper presents a comparative case study of two universities, one in Australia (UniOz) and one in Sweden (UniSwed). The two universities illustrate examples of how contemporary organisations interpret cloud computing, of drivers behind moving services into the cloud, and of prevailing concerns. Similarities pertaining to drivers for cloud computing are identified at the two cases (seeking scalable computing resources, and the re-allocation of IT resources to focus on core enterprise operations, with an aim to trim costs). This is identified in spite of differences in the culture of respective IT departments. Differences were also identified in terms of student vs. staff driven sourcing of services (email), and early vs. late adoption. The case study also illustrates interesting patterns in terms of the organisational implications of cloud services over time that calls for longitudinal studies. The implication of this paper is three-fold; two cases are consistent with outsourcing theories, they point to a transformation of the status quo, rather than an erosion of the role and influence of the internal IT department, and also reveals gaps in outsourcing theories and a possible future research direction in strengthening the relevant theoretical framework.

Reiki healing is one of several complementary and integrative therapies becoming increasingly prevalent in mental health counseling. It has been identified in the medical field for its usefulness in treating anxiety, depression, distress, and pain but has rarely been studied for its counseling impact on client wellness. I conducted single-case research to explore psychotherapeutic Reiki's (PR's) influence on adult clients' anxiety symptoms and perceived sense of mindfulness and provided analysis of data collected from two assessments administered weekly: the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale-Adult and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Three of the four participants demonstrated significant improvement in both anxiety and mindfulness over the course of the PR intervention. The study revealed potential therapeutic benefits for integrating PR with conventional talk therapy. Included in discussion of study results are clinical implications and importance, suggestions for future research, and limitations.

Researchers have noted the lack of research to guide reading practice for students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Although comprehensive syntheses have identified promising practices and areas for future research, none have evaluated the rigor of studies according to quality indicators. The current study evaluated the extant single-case reading intervention research for this student population according to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards. Thirty studies met article selection criteria, 20 (66.6%) of which had at least one dependent variable that did not meet design standards. Study findings suggest a need for researchers to employ stronger designs and place a greater emphasis on investigating the effects of reading instructional practices in inclusive settings. Overall, two reading interventions were identified as potentially promising: cognitive mapping and a listening while reading accommodation. Furthermore, findings suggest that it may be advantageous to embed behavioral strategies within reading interventions. Study limitations include the exclusive use of single-case design studies and a reliance on visual analysis to determine intervention effectiveness.

SCRDs are gaining ground in the counseling literature. Their flexibility, applicability to practice settings, and ease of interpretation make them an ideal design. Pairing SCRDs with qualitative case study offers the opportunity for a more complete understanding of the phenomenon of interest. This presentation will introduce attendees to this mixed method design. Design elements, as well as benefits and challenges experienced in the conduct of this research design will be explored.

The goal of this dissertation is to not only explain the informing system discipline, but to explore cases from the perspective of the basic tenants of informing systems. The first essay explains what informing science is, the need for a transdiscipline, the channels of the Informing Science Institute informing system, and describes the clients of the ISI. The first essay ends with an analysis of the authors, institutions, and countries of origin for every ISI paper published between 1998 and 2009, as well as reporting interviews with the Editor-In-Chiefs of each ISI journal. The second essay investigates a case study of a last mile broadband initiative. This essay seeks to identify when it is necessary and appropriate for government to intervene in a municipality and provide broadband services. The final essay is an exploration and analysis of The Joint Interagency Field Experimentation event. This event serves as an example of an informing system specifically designed to facilitate structured and unstructured communications between various parties. This research was conducted to assess the nature of participant-impact resulting from attending JIFX, and to consider the consistency of the findings with the predictions of various theoretical frameworks used in informing science.

This thesis examines the argument structures of applicative and causative verbs in Sesotho, and proposes conditions which they must comply with. It is argued that the two conditions in question are in fact general conditions on argument structure rather than restrictions specific to the individual suffixes. The first, the Thematic Hierarchy Condition, which accounts for the unacceptability of unaccusative verbs and experiencer verbs with a Benefactive argument, follows from a universal tendency to have the highest thematic role as the external argument. The second, the Internal Argument Principle, which accounts for the unacceptability of the applicative and causative suffixes with verbs that take two obligatory internal arguments, follows from the fact that basic verbs across languages take no more than two internal arguments. It is argued that this second principle does not follow from Case Theory or Theta Theory. / This thesis also demonstrates that the distinction between structural and inherent Case plays an important role in morphology. It accounts for certain differences between causatives and applicatives, including the unacceptability of causative verbs with an S$ sp prime$ complement and the order in which the applicative and causative suffixes appear.

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Elementary students who demonstrate accuracy and speed in handwriting are better equipped to generate higher quality, longer composition. Unfortunately, students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to encounter significant difficulties with legibility, size, and speed of handwriting. The present study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline design across participants to examine the effects of CASL (Center for Advancing Student Learning) Handwriting intervention on handwriting accuracy and speed for three early elementary students with ASD. The dependent variable was correct letter points (CLP) and error letter points (ELP) as measured on a 90-s sentence copy probe. The intervention was delivered over eighteen, 20-min sessions which included alphabetic knowledge activities, explicit instruction in handwriting, and timed practice with goal-setting, praise, performance feedback, and self-graphing. After starting intervention, all students showed immediate increases in overall handwriting accuracy. Throughout intervention, handwriting accuracy continued to improve for each student, and handwriting speed increased for 2 of 3 students. However, the observed gains fell short of high levels of accuracy needed to achieve fluency as a learning outcome. Results extend prior research on handwriting intervention for students with ASD, the CASL Handwriting Program, behavioral fluency theory, the Instructional Hierarchy, explicit instruction, and timed practice.

Research indicates the potential utility of schools as sites for service delivery of mental health interventions. The application of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) within the school domain is reflected in the child psychotherapy literature. Findings on the use of SFBT in school settings suggest that it may be well suited to school contexts given its time-efficient, goal-directed, and strengths-based behavioral approach. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of SFBT with at-risk youth in an alternative school setting. The researcher utilized a multiple case study design to examine the impact of a 6-session SFBT intervention on adolescent behavioral outcomes. Six students were randomized to one of three baseline conditions and received the SFBT intervention following baseline data collection. Data were obtained from multiple raters at baseline, posttest, and 6-week follow-up. In addition, students completed self-reported ratings at the beginning of each SFBT intervention session. Data were evaluated using non-regression approaches and visual analyses. Preliminary results indicated that four out of six students exhibited reliable change (6-point increase in post-ORS mean scores), and four out of the six students demonstrated clinically significant change (baseline ORS mean scores below the adolescent clinical cutoff of <28). Results also indicated a decrease in total problem behavior scores at posttest for all informants on a normed assessment of emotional and behavioral functioning. Follow-up data were collected for four out of six students, and results suggested that this decrease in ratings was maintained or decreased further across all raters for three out of the four student participants. Overall, preliminary results indicated the potential utility of SFBT with at-risk youth in an alternative school environment. Strengths and limitations of the current study, as well as additional research aims (e.g., impact of therapist alliance, fidelity monitoring in SFBT) and future research areas are also presented.

The efficacy of reading interventions on elementary students’ decoding and word reading skills and reading comprehension has been well-established in the literature. The efficacy of online reading interventions, however, is unknown. This study adapted an in-person reading fluency intervention for synchronous online implementation and examined its effectiveness in a single-case research design. Three struggling readers in grades 2 and 3 participated in an 8-week online reading intervention. Pre-test, post-test, and progress monitoring data were collected and analyzed. The results indicated that the online RAVE-O intervention was effective in increasing the participants’ accurate word reading and decoding skills as well as their reading comprehension. The adapted intervention was implemented with fidelity and maintained its efficacy in an online setting. For struggling readers who cannot access intervention resources in person, an online reading intervention such as the one used in this study could have a positive effect on their reading skills. / Graduate