5 CONCLUSIONS
We have presented a web application to support the
academic course outlining process in a student-
centered approach. Our aim was to aid the tutor in
outlining her/his courses, and our preliminary results
show that we are in the right track as our users were
satisfied with the developed system. However, as the
design of the database progressed we became aware
that more information could be later extracted from
the data. We presented some first results based on
the user acceptance trial.
According to the ABET guidelines (Felder &
Brent, 2003; ABET 2019-2020) for Engineering
Schools the curricula must be designed with specific
(although abstract) outcomes in mind (top-bottom
approach). Indicatively, the revised student
outcomes, which describe what engineering students
are expected to know and be able to do by the time
of graduation, in terms of knowledge, skills, and
behaviors, are outlined in Baccalaureate and in
Master’s level in ABET 2019-2020 criteria.
Based on our database, we can use a bottom-up
approach and discover abstract outcomes from the
specific ones. Thus, we can aggregate our findings
and find out what generic skills and general learning
outcomes are strengthened by a learning path.
There are multiple directions to follow now. One
is to establish this practice in our University and
extract more information about curricula,
departments and schools within it. This will be a
great decision support tool when redesigning the
curricula. Moreover, we can offer services, in the
form of a recommender system, to the students who
can plan their courses selection based on the skills
they want to enhance.
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