On-line hyperlinked
college/degree/major/specialization curriculum sheets. (5725)
Authors:
S. Speth* - Univ. of Wisconsin P. Barak - Univ. of Wisconsin B. Lowery - Univ. of Wisconsin
Abstract:
Good advising does much more than guide students in course selection but can be very time consuming and cumbersome. Students must take specific courses
according to degree, major, and specialization requirements and then must choose electives from an array of options. This involves juggling a number of separate documents - curriculum sheets, course catalogs, and timetables - in paper and
electronic formats. We developed online hyperlinked curriculum sheets that provide unified information to advisors and students at the click of a mouse. Descriptions of courses required or recommended for each degree are easily viewed; links to online timetables help plan course sequence. An electronic text file containing all UW course information (~ 13,000 courses) is obtained from the Timetable and
Classroom Scheduling office, converted to Excel, and then a spreadsheet macro is run to create an html document for each course. Course files are then linked to online curriculum sheets, where mousing over a course number reveals course title, number of credits, and semester taught. Clicking on a course title opens a popup window containing all course details (description, instructor, credits, planned offering, requirements that the course meets, etc.). In addition, the popup window contains a link to the current semester’s timetable. Response from students and advisors has been favorable.
Speaker Information: Sheri Speth, Univ. of Wisconsin, Univ. of Wisconsin Dept. of Soil Science 1525 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1299; Phone: 608-262-2239;
E-mail: [email protected]
Session Information: Wednesday, November 3, 2004, 2:00 PM-4:00 PM Presentation Start: 2:00 PM (Poster Board Number: 0306)
Keywords: online database; course descriptions; degree requirements; advising