We are engaging in a large-scale analysis of student success metrics related to curricular complexity to analyze its impact on student time to degree. Curricular Complexity provides a way to analyze the impact of course sequences and required credit hours on a student’s successful progression through the curriculum and their time to degree. Research has shown that curricular complexity is directly related to time to degree; reducing curricular complexity should therefore reduce time to degree for students. This project is designed to analyze our current degree programs, determine their impact on student time to degree, and result in recommendations for reducing curricular complexity (which should in turn reduce time to degree and improve 4-year graduation rates).
Evaluation Plan and measures: The Curricular Analytics project is expected to be a long-term project with multiple points of evaluation and assessment. Key evaluation metrics and processes include:
- Analyze and map all Georgia Tech undergraduate degree programs using curricular complexity tools (complete)
- Analyze relationship between curricular complexity and time to degree (in progress)
- Analyze relationship between curricular complexity and retention in major (in progress)
- Collaborate with College of Engineering (CoE) faculty and administration to examine curricular chains and suggest ways to reduce curricular complexity (in progress)
- Implement learning community to train CoE faculty on curricular complexity concepts and data analysis (scheduled for April 2024)
Once meaningful changes have been made to curricular pathways in CoE, we will then track the impact of these changes on student progress.
KPIs:
- Four-year graduation rates for CoE students
- Student time to degree completion for CoE students
- Curricular complexity reduction for targeted CoE degree programs
Baseline measure (for each KPI):
- Four-year graduation rates for students matriculating in CoE 56.3% for the Fall 2019 cohort; this is slightly lower than the previous cohort year’s grad rate, but still an overall increase. We will use 57% as our baseline (average of 2018 & 2019 4-year CoE grad rates)
- On average, students who graduate do so in 8.1 Fall/Spring semesters; the number is slightly higher for CoE students (8.2 semesters). For this project, we will use 8.2 semesters as the baseline.
- We will use a baseline of curricular complexity of 361 (average of all CoE majors) and degree program length 129 credit hours (average of all CoE majors).
Current/most recent data (for each KPI):
- CoE 4-year grad rate for 2019 FTFT cohort is 56.3%
- Average time to degree is 8.1 semester for all grads; 8.2 Fall/Spring semesters for CoE majors
- CoE majors vary between 126-131 credit hours, with 129 as average.
Goal or targets (for each KPI):
- Our goal is to achieve 4-year graduation rates similar to those of our peer institutions. We currently have lower 4-year grad rates than all of our peers, so we are targeting rates that would put us in range with the average of our peers.
- Average time to degree goal is four years (8 Fall/Spring semesters)
Reduce average CoE curricular complexity to <300 and degree program length to =<126 credit hours.
We have mapped all 39 undergraduate degree programs using the curricular analytics metrics and are currently working with two additional institutions to analyze their Engineering program curricular complexity in relationship with student success metrics with a particular focus on time to degree.
March 2024: OUE leaders invited to share developing student success strategy and analytics with the CoE faculty involved in the Tri-University Learning Community.
April 2024: Tri-University Learning Community meeting with all 3 institutions at UC, San Diego.
August 2024: Georgia Tech sent representatives from OUE and CoE to the Lamborn-Hughes Institute hosted by the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU) at Colorado State University. The Institute is dedicated to the proposition that superior undergraduate education and student success require innovative student-centered approaches and collaborative partnerships across units. During the three-day immersive planning session with the other Tri-University stakeholders, the future direction for the multi-institution collaborative was charted.
Fall 2024: Ongoing development of strategy proposal with CoE faculty
Curricular changes are often not quick changes and require input and approval.
