Syllabus Analysis

Following our user research, we conducted a syllabus analysis to address our first major addition to the site: a course filtering system

Combing through the iSchool’s extensive multidisciplinary courseload was integral to each students’ course registration process. The current Course Offerings page employed a filtering system based on degree program and area of study, but students were reluctant to use this system due to a lack of trust in the filtering mechanism and a desire to explore courses across various disciplines.

We decided to improve upon this filtering system based on the course characteristics students sought out in their selection process. Our final filters were: area of study, deliverables, and skills & topics.

To create our filters for ‘Deliverables’ and ‘Skills & Topics,’ we analyzed 120 syllabi from MSIS courses. We developed a list of six tags to describe the course’s deliverables, and an inventory of 46 relevant skills and topics. We applied these tags to create a functional course filtering system in our final prototype.

Snapshot of syllabus analysis spreadsheet