Work In Progress: A Metro Map-Based Curriculum Visualization for Examining Interrelated Curricula

Prior research has indicated that academic curriculum can be difficult for students to understand: especially for new students or students considering multiple degree programs. Based on the existing curriculum visualization literature, we hypothesize that the visualization of multiple curricula in one diagram might aid students in understanding curricular requirements and analyzing the different course paths they could take to complete a desired degree program. This work in progress describes the design and implementation of a visualization of the degree programs within an engineering college at a large University, where the interrelated web of courses and majors is displayed in the form of a metro map. In this metro map, the course requirements of individual majors are represented by metro 'lines', with each represented by a 'station' on each line. If multiple majors require the same course to complete the degree, then the 'line' representing each major will connect to the 'station' for that course. Through this visualization, we aim to create a tool that students could use to better understand the path of their degree program, and the ways in which their program requirements interact with those of related programs. We describe our methods for collecting course data as well as the design and implementation of the visualization. We close with a proposed set of evaluations for determining the effectiveness of this tool, and describe the limitations involved in creating similar visualizations for additional universities.