Studying Undergraduate Course Consideration at Scale

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Rene F. Kizilcec, Cornell University

Version:  View help for Version V1

Version Title:  View help for Version Title Initial upload

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  interview-protocol 01/08/2021 09:21:AM
  r 01/07/2021 03:31:PM
  stata 01/10/2021 06:32:PM
Data Access.txt text/plain 215 bytes 01/07/2021 10:43:AM
README.md text/x-web-markdown 10.9 KB 01/07/2021 10:31:AM

Project Citation: 

Kizilcec, Rene F. Studying Undergraduate Course Consideration at Scale. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-01-10. https://doi.org/10.3886/E130406V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Article Abstract: Elective curriculums require undergraduates to choose from a large roster of courses for enrollment each term. It has proven difficult to characterize this fateful choice process because it remains largely unobserved. Using digital trace data to observe this process at scale at a private research university, together with qualitative student interviews, we provide a novel empirical study of course consideration as an important component of course selection. Clickstream logs from a course exploration platform used by most undergraduates at the case university reveal that students consider on average nine courses for enrollment for their first fall term (<2% of available courses) and these courses predict which academic major students declare two years later. Twenty-nine interviews confirm that students experience consideration as complex and reveal variation in consideration strategies that may influence how consideration unfolds. Consideration presents a promising site for intervention in problems of equity, career funneling and college completion.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms higher education; course consideration; decision making
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2016 – 2019
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; event/transaction data; other

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source US Higher Education Institution
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation student, course

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-01-10]

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