Increasing demands for accountability from both the public and the government have resulted in increasing pressure for higher education professionals to use data to support their choices. There is significant speculation that professionals at all levels of education lack the knowledge to implement data-driven decision making. However, empirical studies regarding whether or not professionals at four-year postsecondary institutions are utilizing data to guide programmatic and policy decisions are lacking. The purpose of this exploratory study was to explore the knowledge and habits of undergraduate admission professionals at four-year colleges and universities regarding their use of data in decision making. A survey instrument was disseminated and, the data collected from the instrument provided empirical information, which serves as the basis for a discussion about what specific knowledge admission professionals at four-year institutions possess and how they use data in their decision making. The instrument disseminated was designed specifically for this study. Therefore, before the research questions were addressed, Rasch analysis was utilized to evaluate the validity and reliability of the survey instrument. Data was then used to determine that undergraduate admission professionals perceived themselves as using data in their decision making. The results also indicated admission professionals feel confident in their ability to interpret and use data to in their decision making.

The use of data to drive or inform the decision making process is gaining traction in education. In response to the data driven decision making shift, an emerging group of scholars are beginning to discuss how the data movement in education may be viewed using a critical race theory (CRT) framework. With a focus on implications for racial equity, this study explores the ways and to what degree data are valued or practically applied in the decision making process in Manitoba. Participants for this qualitative research study include ten Manitoban school superintendents. Drawing attention to the ways in which data-driven practices like all other practice in education, are not neutral acts, this study looks to contribute to the growing research area on Canadian data-driven decision making and CRT. Findings from this study indicate that school divisions in the province of Manitoba are increasingly driven by data that privileges Western or colonial ways of knowing. Some recommendations for further research include, using achievement data to resist racial oppression, exploring the dangers of Gap Talk, and looking at whether data literacy includes notions of power and privilege. / February 2017

Estudar as fontes utilizadas nas notícias de jornalismo guiado por dados (JGD) é a proposta desta dissertação. Para tanto, revisita as classificações de fontes trabalhadas por teóricos da área e situa o contexto atual, derivado de transformações sociais e tecnológicas, sob a perspectiva de sociedade em rede e do jornalismo em rede. O foco do estudo está em descobrir quais fontes são acionadas em notícias do JGD, que emerge neste cenário a partir dos anos 2000. Analisa um corpus constituído por 60 notícias veiculadas nos jornais O Globo, The New York Times e La Nación, como veículos tradicionais, e Nexo, FiveThirtyEight e Chequeado, como veículos nativos. A partir do cruzamento entre a teoria e o estudo empírico, propõe a classificação de tipos de fontes nas notícias de JGD. São eles: arquivo documental, estatística e reprodução. Por meio dessa classificação, busca preencher uma lacuna no quadro teórico sobre fontes, superficialmente discutido no jornalismo até então, trazendo o uso de documentos como protagonista neste cenário. / Studying the news sources used in data-driven journalism (DDJ) practices is the proposal of this dissertation. The theoretical approach includes classifications of news sources already discussed in journalism studies. Considering the contemporary context, which is modified by social and technological transformations, this study operates from the networked society and network journalism perspectives. The main point is to detect the use of journalism sources in news developed by DDJ techniques, which emerges in this scenario during the 2000’s. It analyzes 60 news records published by O Globo, The New York Times and La Nación, as traditional media, and Nexo, FiveThirtyEight and Chequeado, as the native ones. Combining the theory and the empirical study, it proposes a classification by types of sources of DDJ news: documentary file, statistics and reproduction. Through this classification, it aims to fulfill a gap found in the theoretical sources approach, which is superficially discussed in journalism until now, bringing the use of documents as a protagonist in this scenario.

Este trabalho tem o intuito, de apresentar alguns conceitos, relativos à identifi cação de sistemás, tanto lineares quanto não linearep, além da ideia de referência virtual para, em conjunto com a teoria de projeto "de controladores baseados em dados, propor uma forrha de projeto de controladores não lineares baseados em identificação de sistemas. A utilização de referência virtual para a obtenção dos sinais necessários para a caracterização do controlador ótimo de um sistema e utilizado no método VRFT (Virtual Reference Feedback Tuning). Este método serve como base para o desenvolvimento da proposta deste trabalho que, em conjunto com a teoria de identificação de sistemas não lineares, permite a obteriçãci do controlador ótimo que leva o sistema a se comportar como especificado em malha fechada. Em especial optou-se pela caracterização do controlador utilizando estrutura de modelos racional, por esta ser uma classe bastante abrangente no que - diz respeito à quantidade de sistemas reais que ela é capaz de descrever. Fara demonstrar o potencial do método proposto para projeto de controladores, são apresentados ecemplos ilustrativos em situações onde o controlador ideal consegue ser representado pela classe de modelos, e quando isso não é possível. / This work aims to present some concepts related to linear and nonlinear system identification, as well as the •concept of virtual reference that, together with data based controller design's theory, provides design framework for nonlinear controllers. The Virtual Reference Feedback Tuning method (VRFT) is used as a basis for the current proposal, where we propose to unite nonlinear system identification algorithms and virtual reference to obtain the ideal controller: the one which makes the system behave as desired in closed loop. It was choosen to model the controller as a rational model due the wide variety of practical systems that can be represented by this model structure. For rational system identification we used an iterative algorithm which, based on the signal from input and output of the pIant, allows to identify the parameters of the pre defined controller structure with the signals obtained by virtual reference. To demonstrate the operation of the proposed identification controller methodology, illustrative examples are presented in situations where the ideal controller can be represented by the class of modeIs, and also when it is not possible.

The focus of this study was a comparison between the perceptions of school-based licensed educators in Title I and non-Title I schools in Northeast Tennessee as measured by the TELL Tennessee Survey and each school’s overall composite TVAAS score. The factor variables were professional development, instructional practices and support, teacher leadership, and school leadership. This dissertation was a quantitative study of teachers’ perceptions of data-driven professional learning and TVAAS composite scores. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the difference between teachers’ perceptions of data-driven professional development and student TVAAS data. An independent samples t-test was used to evaluate the difference between teachers’ perceptions and poverty levels, as determined by Title I status. The dependent variable was the response to the TELL Tennessee survey questions by Northeast Tennessee school-based licensed educators. Research indicated no significant difference in Northeast Tennessee teachers’ perceptions of professional learning as measured by the TELL Tennessee survey in the dimensions of professional development, instructional practices and support, and teacher leadership as related to TVAAS composite scores. The research found a significant difference in teachers’ perceptions in the dimension of school leadership as related to TVAAS composite scores. There were no significant differences in teachers’ perceptions as measured by the TELL Tennessee survey in the dimensions of professional development, instructional practices and support, teacher leadership, and school leadership between Title I and non-Title I schools.

abstract: In the artificial intelligence literature, three forms of reasoning are commonly employed to understand agent behavior: inductive, deductive, and abductive.  More recently, data-driven approaches leveraging ideas such as machine learning, data mining, and social network analysis have gained popularity. While data-driven variants of the aforementioned forms of reasoning have been applied separately, there is little work on how data-driven approaches across all three forms relate and lend themselves to practical applications. Given an agent behavior and the percept sequence, how one can identify a specific outcome such as the likeliest explanation? To address real-world problems, it is vital to understand the different types of reasonings which can lead to better data-driven inference.   This dissertation has laid the groundwork for studying these relationships and applying them to three real-world problems. In criminal modeling, inductive and deductive reasonings are applied to early prediction of violent criminal gang members. To address this problem the features derived from the co-arrestee social network as well as geographical and temporal features are leveraged. Then, a data-driven variant of geospatial abductive inference is studied in missing person problem to locate the missing person. Finally, induction and abduction reasonings are studied for identifying pathogenic accounts of a cascade in social networks. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Computer Science 2019

The increasing intensity and frequency of precipitation in recent decades, combined with the human interventions in watersheds, has drastically altered the natural regimes of water and sediment transport in watersheds over the whole contiguous United States. Sediment-transport related concerns include the sustainability of aquatic biology, the stability of the river morphology, and the security and vulnerability of various riverine structures. For the present context, the concerns are related to the acceleration of upland erosion (sediment production) and in-stream sediment-transport processes that eventually lead to sediment accumulation at culverts (structures that pass streams under roadways). This nuisance has become widespread in many transportation agencies in the United States, as it has a direct bearing on maintaining normal culvert operations during extreme flows when these waterway crossings are essential for the communities they serve. Despite the prevalence of culvert sedimentation, current specifications for culvert design do not typically consider aspects of sediment transport and deposition. The overall study objective is to systematically identify the likelihood of culvert sedimentation as a function of stream and culvert geometry, along with landscape characteristics (process drivers of culvert sedimentation) in the culvert drainage area. The ideal approach for predicting sedimentation is to track sediment sources dislocated from the watershed, their overland movement, and their delivery into the streams using physical-based modeling. However, there are considerable knowledge gaps in addressing the sedimentation at culverts as an end-to-end process, especially in connecting the upland with in-stream processes and simulating the sediment deposition at culverts in non-uniform, unsteady flows, while also taking into account the vegetation growth in culverts’ vicinity. It is, therefore, no surprise that existing research, textbooks, and guidelines do not typically provide adequate information on sediment control at culverts. This dissertation presents a generalizable data-driven framework that integrates various machine-learning and visual analytics techniques with GIS in a web-based geospatial platform to explore the complex environmental processes of culvert sedimentation. The framework offers systematic procedures for (1) classifying the culvert sedimentation degree using a time-series of aerial images; (2) identifying key process-drivers from a variety of environmental and culvert structural characteristics through feature selections and interactive visual interfaces; (3) supporting human interactions to perceive empirical relationships between drivers and the culvert sedimentation degree through multivariate Geovisualization and Self-Organizing Map (SOM); and (4) forecasting culvert sedimentation potential across Iowa using machine learning algorithms. Developed using modular design and atop national datasets, the framework is generalizable and extendable, and therefore can be applied to address similar river management issues, such as habitat deterioration and water pollution, at the Contiguous US scale. The platform developed through this Ph.D. study offers a web-based problem-solving environment for a) managing inventory and retrieving culvert structural information; b) integrating diverse culvert-related datasets (e.g., culvert inventory, hydrological and land use data, and observations on the degree of sedimentation in the vicinity of culverts) in a digital repository; c) supporting culvert field inspections and real-time data collection through mobile devices; and d) hosting the data-driven framework for exploring culvert sedimentation drivers and forecasting culvert sedimentation potential across Iowa. Insights provided through the data-driven framework can be applied to support decisions for culvert management and sedimentation mitigation, as well as to provide suggestions on parameter selections for the design of these structures.

本研究旨在探討高中職校長資訊使用環境對資料導向決策之影響，剖析不同背景變項與學校變項知覺高中職校長資訊使用環境與資料導向決策的差異情形，探討資訊使用環境對資料導向決策的關係，並根據研究結論，提出建議供有關單位參考。為達上述研究目的，本研究採用問卷調查法，以全國513 所高中職校長為研究對象，共寄發問卷327 份，回收有效問卷272 份，有效回收率為83.18％。本研究採用SPSS 18.0 for Windows 和LISREL 8.80 統計套裝軟體進行分析，獲得以下結論： 一、高中職校長知覺資訊使用環境和資料導向決策為中高程度。 二、不同性別、年齡、校長年資、學校規模和學校歷史之高中職校長在知覺資訊使用環境及運用資料導向決策上，並無顯著差異。 三、不同學校類別之高中職校長運用資料導向決策上，沒有顯著差異。 四、不同教育程度之校長知覺資訊使用環境及運用資料導向決策上，具有顯著差異。 五、不同學校類別之校長知覺資訊使用環境上，具有顯著差異。 六、不同學校歸屬之校長知覺資訊使用環境及運用資料導向決策上，具有顯著差異。 七、本研究建構之模式經過結構方程模式檢定獲得支持，高中職校長資訊使用環境對資料導向決策具有正向顯著的影響。 最後依據上述研究結論，提出具體建議，以作為教育行政機關、高中職校長行政參考運用。 關鍵詞：資訊使用環境、資料導向決策 / This study aims to discuss the effects of the information use environment of high school principals on data-driven decision-making. This study analyzed variables with different backgrounds and school-related variables to perceive the different situations of the information use environment of high school principals and their data-driven decision-making, and discussed the relationship between information use environment and data-driven decision-making. Based on the results, suggestions are proposed for relevant departments as the references. To achieve the research purposes, the study adopted questionnaire survey, and treated 513 high school principals as the research subjects. A total of 327 questionnaires were distributed, and 272 effective samples were retrieved, with a valid return rate of 83.18%. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 for Windows and LISREL 8.80. The results are as follows: 1. The perception level of the information use environment of the principals and their data-driven decision-making are medium-high. 2. The gender, age, seniority, school size or school history of the principals makes no significant difference of the perception of the information use environment of the principals and their application of data-driven decision-making. 3. Among the principals of different school types, there is no significant difference of the principals’ application of data-driven decision-making. 4. Among the principals with different educational levels, there are significant differences of the perception of the information use environment of the principals as well as their application of data-driven decision-making. 5. Among the principals of different school types, there are significant differences of the perception of the information use environment of the principals. 6. Among the principals from different schools, there are significant differences of the perception of the information use environment of the principals and their application of data-driven decision-making. 7. The study was verified by Structural Equation Modeling and the effects of the information use environment of the high school principals on data-driven decision-making appear to be positive and significant. Based on results, the study provides practical suggestions as the administrative references and application for educational and administrative departments, as well as high school principals. Keywords: information use environment, data-driven decision-making

本研究旨在探討新北市國民中學資訊使用環境與資料導向決策的現況，剖析不同背景變項與學校變項知覺資訊使用環境與資料導向決策的差異情形，探討資訊使用環境對資料導向決策的關係，並根據研究結論，提出建議供有關單位參考。為達上述研究目的，本研究採用問卷調查法，以新北市95所國民中學之主任、組長為研究對象，共寄發問卷568份，回收有效問卷468份，有效回收率為82.39％。本研究採用SPSS 17.0 for Windows和LISREL 8.80統計套裝軟體進行分析，獲得以下結論： 一、新北市國民中學行政人員知覺資訊使用環境、資料導向決策為中高 程度。 二、學校規模、學校歷史、學校屬性對行政人員在知覺資訊使用環境 與資料導向決策，沒有顯著差異。 三、男性行政人員知覺資訊使用環境高於女性行政人員，男性行政人員 知覺資料導向決策高於女性行政人員。 四、年齡對行政人員知覺資訊使用環境有顯著差異；對知覺資料導向決 策，則無顯著差異。 五、具有研究所教育程度之行政人員知覺資訊使用環境和資料導向決策 高於大學教育程度之行政人員。 六、服務年資越短之行政人員在知覺資訊使用環境高於服務年資越長之行 政人員；服務年資對知覺資料導向決策沒有差異。 七、任職不同處室行政人員知覺資訊使用環境整體及各層面均無顯著差 異，任職總務處行政人員知覺資料導向決策高於教務處、學務處、輔 導處。 八、資訊使用環境對資料導向決策具有正向且顯著的影響。 最後依據上述研究結論，提出具體建議，以作為教育行政機關、國中學校行政及未來研究參考運用。 關鍵詞：資訊使用環境、資料導向決策 / The purpos of this study are to explore the current situation of junior high schools’ information use environment and data-driven decision-making, analyze the different background variables and school variables on the different perception of information use environment and data-driven decision-making, discuss the relationship between information use environment and data-driven decision-making, and propose recommendations to relevant institutions based on the research conclusions. To achieve these purposes, this study used the questionnaire survey method, and the directors and administrative heads from 95 junior high schools in New Taipei City were chosen as the subjects for this study. A total of 568 questionnaires were distributed, and resulted in 468 valid return questionnaires. The effective rate was 82.39%. Then, for this study, SPSS 17.0 for Windows and LISREL 8.80 statistical software were used for analysis and the following conclusions were obtained: 1.The level of school administrators’ perception of information use environment and data-driven decision-making is ranked mid to high level. 2.The school size, school history and school classification have no significant affect on the administrators’ perception of information use environment and data-driven decision-making. 3.Male administrators have a higher level of perception of information use environment than female administrators. Male administrators also have a higher level of perception of data-driven decision-making than female administrators. 4.The age of the administrators significantly affects the level of their perception of information use environment, but does not significantly affect the level of their perception of data-driven decision-making. 5.Administrators with graduate school education levels have a higher level of perception on information use environment and data-driven decision-making than administrators with only college degree education levels. 6.Administrators with shorter terms of service have higher levels of perception on information use environment than administrators with longer terms of service. However, the terms of service had no significant effect on the administrators’ level of perception of data-driven decision-making. 7.There is no significant difference in different administration offices in the level of perception of information use environment, but the level of perception of data-driven decision-making in the administrators of the office of general affairs is higher than those of the office of academic affairs, student affairs and counselors’ office. 8.Information use environment has a significant and positive impact on data-driven decision-making. Finally, based on the above research conclusions, specific recommendations are proposed and submitted as references and applications for educational administration institutions, junior high school administration offices and future research. Keywords: information use environment, data-driven decision-making

本研究旨在探討國民中學校長資訊使用環境對資料導向決策之影響，並了解校長個人背景是否分別對其資訊使用環境及資料導向決策之實踐造成差異，並根據研究結論，提出建議供有關單位參考。為達上述研究目的，本研究採用問卷調查法，針對臺灣地區北部與中部九縣市（宜蘭縣、基隆市、臺北市、新北市、桃園縣、新竹縣、新竹市、苗栗縣、臺中市）公立國民中學校長為研究對象，採普查方式進行。共寄發問卷357份，回收有效問卷292份，有效回收率為 81.8％。本研究採用 SPSS 17.0 for Windows和AMOS 7.0統計套裝軟體進行分析，獲得以下結論： 一、臺灣地區北部與中部九縣市公立國民中學校長資訊使用環境的運作情形與資料導向決策的運用頻率，均為中高程度。 二、不同性別、主任經歷、教育程度、學校規模、學校歷史、學校地區之校長在資訊使用環境的運作情形上，沒有顯著差異。 三、不同主任經歷、年齡、校長年資、學校歷史、學校地區之校長在資料導向決策的運用頻率上，沒有顯著差異。 四、不同性別、教育程度之校長在合作夥伴關係與區域政治領導此一構面的知覺上有差異。 五、不同年齡、教育程度、校長年資、學校規模之校長在資料分析技巧此一構面的知覺上有差異。 六、不同學校規模之校長在學校願景領導、學校教學領導此二構面的知覺上有差異。 七、本研究建構之模式經過結構方程模式檢定獲得支持，校長資訊環境對資料導向決策具有正向顯著的影響。 最後依據上述研究結論，提出具體建議，以做為教育行政機關、國民中學學校行政參考運用。 / This study aimed to explore the current situation of the junior high schools’ principals’ influence of information use environments on data-driven decision-making, to analyze the perception of information use environments and data-driven decision-making, to analyze different background variables and school variables’ on the different perception of information use environments on data-driven decision-making, and to discuss the effect of information use environments on data-driven decision-making. Based on the research conclusions, the specific recommendations were proposed for the relevant institutions for references. To achieve these purposes, this study used questionnaire survey method. The principals of public junior high schools in the middle and the northern Taiwan, including Ilan County, Keelung County, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyung County, Hsinchu County , Hsinchu City, Maoli County,and Taichung City, as the study objects. A total of 357 questionnaires were distributed, with 292 valid questionnaires. The effective rate was 81.8%. In this study, SPSS 17.0 for Windows and AMOS 7.0 statistical software were used for analysis and obtained the following conclusions: 1. The rate of the operation of information use environments and data-driven decision-making is high. 2. There is no significant difference in different gender, the directors’ experience, education level, school size, school history and school location in principals’ information use environments. 3. There is no significant difference in different ages, directors’ experience, principal serving years, school history and school location in principals’ data-driven decision-making. 4. There are significant differences in different gender and education level in the perception of principals’ leadership in collaborative partnerships and larger-context politics. 5. There are significant differences in different age, education level, principal severing year and school size in data analysis skills. 6. There are significant differences in different school size in principal’s leadership in school vision and leadership in school instruction. 7. The model constructed in this study was supported through structural equation modeling test. Information use environments of principals have a significant positive impact on data-driven decision- making. Finally, based on the above research conclusions, specific recommendations were proposed as references and applications for educational administration and junior high school administration.