placement for success synthesizing & streamlining students’ course placement aacrao technology...
TRANSCRIPT
Placement for SuccessSynthesizing & Streamlining Students’ Course Placement
AACRAO Technology ConferenceJuly 16, 2013
Presented by:
Matthew McLaughlin Manager, Admissions & Testing, Technical Lead
Michael Szela ERP Systems Technical Manager
Harper College, Palatine, IL
Harper College• Located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago
• Serves 535,000 residents
• 27,419 annual unduplicated headcount
• 39% over age 25
• 50% plan to transfer; 20% pursuing career program; remainder upgrading skills/personal enrichment
• Strategic Plan focused on Student Success & Completion
• Member of Achieving the Dream Network
The Stakes Have Never Been Higher• Only 24% of high school graduates - intending to go to college - meet all
four ACT benchmarks of College readiness.
• Less than 25% of students who enroll in community colleges will earn an associates degree in less than three years.
• Adelman (2006) confirms that students who place into developmental courses are less likely to complete college than those who are not
Sources: *Time is the enemy. Complete College America – 2011**Claiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s future - 2012
Agenda
• The Presenting Need
• Characteristics of the Solution> Student Composite Report> Placement Logic Enhancement
• The Tools and Technique Used
The Presenting NeedIncrease in people needing placement, but systems in which to facilitate the process and outcome of testing were not streamline or efficient.
Placement for Success Initiative
Placement for Success
INPUTS RESULTS
RECEIVING
Students receive results i.e. test scores,
course grades, etc.
PROJECTAdmissions
Redesign
PROJECTSTUDENT
COMPOSITE REPORT
PROJECTWeb Based
Appt.Making
PROJECTMandate Dev.
Course Enrollment
Value FEEDBACK
Performance FEEDBACK
PROJECTMTH/ENG
Course Eligibility
PROCESS
Students demonstrate ENG/RDG/MTH knowledge via
COMPASS, ACT or course completion
The Problem
CollegePlacement
Policy
SAAADMS
SGASTDN
SPACMNT
SOAHOLD
SOATESTSHACRSE
SFAREGS
Not just about COMPASS….
ACT
Previous College Courses
COMPASSHS
COMPASS
HSFinal Exam
Waivers
DualCredit
Courses
Course Eligibility
Upper Level Courses = Easy Prerequisites
…..Not so much for ‘gatekeeper’ courses
ENG 101
Reading
Writing
MTH 101+: Two Domains to Satisfy
HSGeo.
Compass Geo.
ACTMath
Expired ACT Math
MTH 070
Transfer Course
CompassMath
ACTMath
HS MTH 080 Final
MTH080
Transfer Course
G E O M E T R Y O P T I O N S
M A
T H
O P
T I
O N
S
13 Combinations
ENG 101: Two Domains to Satisfy
R E A D I N G O P T I O N S
W R
I T
I N G
O P
T I
O N
S
14 Combinations
ACT Reading
COMPASSReading
CounselorWaiver
RDG 099 ESL 073 Transfer Course
ENG 101EligibilityGenerator
ACTWriting
COMPASSWriting
ENG 100
ESL 074
TransferCourse
ELIGIBLITY GENERATOR BUTTON
Yes, you are eligible to take ENG 101.OUTCOME
Solution #1Putting it all together
Student Composite Report
Student Composite Report
Solution #1 – Student Composite Report
Student Composite Report
Solution #1 – Student Composite Report
Student Composite Report
Solution #1 – Student Composite Report
Student Composite Report
Solution #1 – Student Composite Report
Student Composite Report
Student Composite Report
Student Composite ReportWish List
Would like a Name Search feature or automatic
population of ID from SIS system.
Solution #2Addition of Logic
Math & English Course Eligibility
•Provide students access to their repository of test scores and previous ENG/MTH coursework
•Automatically synthesize all various data elements that influence Math and English/Reading course eligibility
•Provide special emphasis when students do not place at a gatekeeper course
Project Strategies
Logic Enhancement
Requirements
1. Real Time
2. Single Source of Data
Logic Enhancement
Logic Enhancement
Solution #2 – Placement Logic Enhancement
Isolates the domain(s) keeping them from college-level. Uses Logic from SMAAREA.
Graphic only displays when someone is not at the college-level.
Logic Enhancement
Uses highest term on course search for:- Determining Courses to List- Determining What Prerequisite to Use
Uses logic pulled from SCADETL for categorization
Logic comes from assessing SMAAREA’s attached to course on SCAPREQ.
Logic Enhancement
Logic Enhancement
Logic Enhancement
Developmental Course Requirement Reinforcement on SSB Registration
Performance Feedback
Logic Enhancement
vs.
Solution #2 – Shed Light On….
Observations & Encounters• Courses ‘on the books’, but not offered
• Inconsistent prerequisite rule writing: Can you get into lower level courses or not?
• Upper level English courses that had no prerequisites
• Different courses with the same course title
• Optional Pathways vs. Prescriptive Pathways
Logic Enhancement Summary•Available to staff and students
• Logically groups raw Test Score History
• Identifies Math and English/Reading courses someone is eligible to take – not what they should take
• Identifies what domain(s) is keeping someone from college level
•A pictorial diagram of how to move through the developmental sequence is displayed only for those not at the college-level.
The Magic
Tools & Techniques Used
It’s Not Magic…• Any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable from magic. -- Arthur C. Clarke
But It Also Isn’t…•Ellucian Banner XE (Extensible Architecture)•Banner Horizon•Banner 9.x•Groovy or Grails
What is it?•Banner 8.6 (was 8.5.3) on Oracle Database 11g• Java EE 6 (formerly known as J2EE)•Oracle Weblogic Application Server 11g•Web Browser Based UI▫Tested with IE, Firefox, and Chrome
•Read-only▫No changes to the Banner Database▫Not “locked in” to a Banner Version
Java EE Overview• Java EE provides facilities for a three-tier architecture•Users interact with applications via a web browser
(presentation layer)•Application specific “Business Logic” on the server
provides the API, the “behavior” of the application (application layer)
•Applications on the server access data from databases (database layer)
Java EE Overview• Java EE provides facilities for a three-tier architecture
Web Browser
Presentation Layer
Application Layer (Business
Logic)
Database LayerDatabase
The Presentation Layer•Uses Java Server Faces (JSF) technology to define the
web pages of the application• JSF combines XHTML syntax and access to
application data•Several Ajax-based component frameworks exist and
provide advanced web page controls
The Application Layer•This is all the logic for solution #2•Business logic needed to mimic the behavior of CAPP
prerequisite checking• Load the rules from SMAACAA and evaluate each
rule with the student’s history
The Database Layer•Uses the Java Persistence API (JPA) 2.0• JPA is an Object – Relational data model•Uses simple Java Objects (POJOs) to represent rows
in database tables• Instead of complicated SQL queries, relationships can
be represented with collections within an object•Details are handled by the application server
Questions
Thank You!
Matthew [email protected]
Michael [email protected]
.
© 2013 Ellucian. All rights reserved.
Observations & Encounters• Courses ‘on the books’, but not offered
• Inconsistent prerequisite rule writing: Can you get into lower level courses or not?
• Upper level English courses that had no prerequisites
• Different courses with the same course title
• Optional Pathways vs. Prescriptive Pathways
SolutionAdd logic to only display courses currently available on the course search.
Observations & Encounters• Courses ‘on the books’, but not offered
• Inconsistent prerequisite rule writing: Can you get into lower level courses or not?
• Upper level English courses that had no prerequisites
• Different courses with the same course title
• Optional Pathways vs. Prescriptive Pathways
ObservationInconsistent Prerequisite Coding RE: Philosophy about getting into Lower Courses
Student A: MTH 080 Placement Student B: MTH 060 Placement
Observations & Encounters• Courses ‘on the books’, but not offered
• Inconsistent prerequisite rule writing: Can you get into lower level courses or not?
• Upper level English courses that had no prerequisites
• Different courses with the same course title
• Optional Pathways vs. Prescriptive Pathways
ObservationDifferent Course; Same Title
Observations & Encounters• Courses ‘on the books’, but not offered
• Inconsistent prerequisite rule writing: Can you get into lower level courses or not?
• Upper level English courses that had no prerequisites
• Different courses with the same course title
• Optional Pathways vs. Prescriptive Pathways
ObservationCOMPASS Score Reports are Incomplete