Degree Navigator 2.0

Inspiration

Existing UBC degree navigator is dated (copyrighted 2004), slow, and hard to read. This is significant and problematic for students, as reading course requirement and tracking credits needed towards degree is central to university academics.

What it does

Parse student exam results and present student's academic credits progress towards the degree in a modern, legible, clean interface.

How we built it

Built using React.

Challenges we ran into

The courses a student is registered in is not public information, and we don't have access to UBC's internal data. Hence we had to come up with a workaround by getting the students to copy and paste their grades and parsing the pasted grades based on clever observation of patterns in the exam grade. Deciphering course requirements which often have a lot of exceptions and writing a backend based on the rules is also tough.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

How our project could be a solution to those who have trouble with using the old existing degree navigator, a sentiment shared by many of the students and mentors we talked to during the hackathon.

What we learned

Writing a complicated backend quickly, as well as prototyping a project in limited time.

What's next for Degree Navigator 2.0

Currently the grades that students can copy and paste does not include all the credits the student has. Tackling this problem will require talking to UBC and potentially integrating our solution. As an added benefit we can access the student from UBC directly so students no longer has to copy and paste their data.

Currently the navigator only works for Computer Science major, we plan to support more degrees.

We plan to consult with UBC academic advisors to tackle their needs with the degree navigator, as well as to refine the information and tips about credits requirement in the navigator.