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An experimental data management system has been designed, developed, and implemented in this dissertation. The system satisfies the requirements specifications of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education. The university in this study has installed some learning management systems and assessment systems, such as Banner®, Canvas®, TracDat®, and Taskstream® (university’s name is omitted for anonymity purposes). These systems individually do not perform the necessary data analysis and data management to generate appropriate reports. The system developed in this study can generate more metrics and quantitative measures for reporting purposes within a shorter time. These metrics provide credible evidence for accreditation. Leadership is concerned with improving the effectiveness, efficiency, accountability, and performance of educational programs. The continuity, sustainability, and financial support of programs depend on demonstrating the evidence that they are effective and efficient, that they meet their objectives, and that they contribute to the mission and the vision of the educational institution. Leadership has to employ all means at its disposal in order to collect such evidence. The data management system provides comprehensive data analysis that can be utilized as evidence by the leadership to accomplish its goals. The pilot system developed in this research is web-based and platform independent. It leverages the power of Java® at the front-endand combines the reliability and stability of Oracle® as the back-end database. It has been tested on-site by some members of the departmental faculty and one administrator from the Dean’s Office in the School of Education. This research is a mixed methods study with quasi-experimental treatment. It is a single case experimental study. There is no control group. The sample chosen is a convenient sample. The results of this study indicate that the system is highly usable for assessment work. The data analysis results generated by the system are also actionable. These results assist by identifying gaps in student performance and in curriculum and instruction practices. In the future, the system developed in this dissertation can be extended to other departments in the School of Education. Some implications are provided in the concluding chapter of this dissertation.

Computerized data visualization and analysis tools, especially Geographic Information Systems (GIS), constitute an important part of today&amp / #65533 / s water resources development and management studies. In order to obtain satisfactory results from such tools, accurate and comprehensive hydrography datasets are needed that include both spatial and hydrologic information on surface water resources and watersheds. If present, such datasets may support many applications, such as hydrologic and environmental modeling, impact assessment, and construction planning. The primary purposes of this study are production of prototype national hydrography and watershed datasets for Turkey, and development of GIS-based tools for the analysis of local water quality and quantity data. For these purposes national hydrography datasets and analysis systems of several counties are reviewed, and based on gained experience / 1) Sub-watershed boundaries of 26 major national basins are derived from digital elevation model of the country by using raster-based analysis methods and these watersheds are named according to coding system of the European Union, 2) A prototype hydrography dataset with built-in connectivity and water flow direction information is produced from publicly available data sources, 3) GIS based spatial tools are developed to facilitate navigation through streams and watersheds in the hydrography dataset, and 4) A state-of-the art GIS-based stream flow and water quality data analysis system is developed, which is based on the structure of nationally available data and includes advanced statistical and spatial analysis capabilities. All datasets and developed tools are gathered in a single graphical user-interface within GIS and made available to the end-users.

In this thesis an ionospheric tomographic algorithm called Multi-Instrument Data Anal- ysis System (MIDAS) is used to reconstruct electron density profiles using the Global Positioning System (GPS) data recorded from 53 GPS receivers over the South African region. MIDAS, developed by the Invert group at the University of Bath in the UK, is an inversion algorithm that produces a time dependent 3D image of the electron density of the ionosphere. GPS receivers record the time delay and phase advance of the trans- ionospheric GPS signals that traverse through the ionosphere from which the ionospheric parameter called Total Electron Content (TEC) can be computed. TEC, the line integral of the electron density along the satellite-receiver signal path, is ingested by ionospheric tomographic algorithms such as MIDAS to produce a time dependent 3D electron density profile. In order to validate electron density profiles from MIDAS, MIDAS derived NmF2 values were compared with ionosonde derived NmF2 values extracted from their respective 1D electron density profiles at 15 minute intervals for all four South African ionosonde stations (Grahamstown, Hermanus, Louisvale, and Madimbo). MIDAS 2D images of the electron density showed good diurnal and seasonal patterns; where a comparison of the 2D images at 12h00 UT for all the validation days exhibited maximum electron concentration during the autumn and summer and a minimum during the winter. A root mean square error (rmse) value as small as 0.88x 10¹¹[el=m³] was calculated for the Louisvale ionosonde station during the winter season and a maximum rmse value of 1.92x 10¹¹[el=m³] was ob- tained during the autumn season. The r² values were the least during the autumn and relatively large during summer and winter; similarly the rmse values were found to be a maximum during the autumn and a minimum during the winter indicating that MIDAS performs better during the winter than during the autumn and spring seasons. It is also observed that MIDAS performs better at Louisvale and Madimbo than at Grahamstown and Hermanus. In conclusion, the MIDAS reconstruction has showed good agreement with the ionosonde measurements; therefore, MIDAS can be considered a useful tool to study the ionosphere over the South African region.