last revised 20 August 2010
| CSC 499 | Grinnell College | Summer, 2010 |
| Placing Incoming Students in | ||
| Computer Science, Statistics, and Mathematics | ||
Week index: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 fall
Although the project will evolve over the summer, the following schedule outlines a possible timeline for this project.
| Week | Dates | Activities | Status | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1: | 14-18 June | project overview and orientation | done | Thursday Extra Talk (link) |
| review of policies and procedures | review completed | Policies and Procedures (link) | ||
| discussion of possible use of MySQL, scripting language | done | decision to use MySQL and PHP | ||
| creation of placement database and students table | done | students table created in MySQL | ||
| import of student transcript data into students table | done | table loaded from spreadsheet | ||
| script for insertion of manual placements into students table | done | manual_placements.php script written | ||
| import of student performance data into students table | done | performance_load.php script written | ||
| identification of reports needed from students table | done | reports outline in Week 2 schedule | ||
| import of past student placement data into students table | done | prevplacement2.php script written | ||
| printing table of selected data from students table | first simple report done | include file mysql-connection.inc and script display-students.php written | ||
| review and polishing of schedule | done | timeline expanded and refined for weeks 2-4 | ||
| mechanism for reporting and approach for automated reporting testing of scripts | outline established | identified in Weeks 2-4 of timeline | ||
| Week 2: | 21-25 June | high-level design of new system — prepare outline for CS group presentation | done | Possible placements (link) |
| add target fields to student table for cs, math, and statistics | done | fields added | ||
| script that copies previous placement to current recommendation and current target | done | copyPlacements.php script written | ||
| table of placed vrs. taken courses for CS, for math, for stat by class or all. For each placement/taken box, have rows for A,B,C,D,F,W and columns for -,.,+ | done | script tablePlacedTaken.php written | ||
| develop detailed procedures for restoring student table in database | done | file restoreDatabase.txt script copyPlacements: copies placement field to rec*place and target* field | ||
| include file to print student record in nice format | done | script printRecords.php written | ||
| exploration of LaTeX for generating letters | started | initial LaTeX files run | ||
| specification of letter-generation software | draft written | first-draft for plain TeX(link) | ||
| Week 3: | 28 June-2 July | experimentation with LaTeX for generating letters | done | files 134190.tex, 196855.tex, 228779.tex, 24283.tex, 295809.tex |
| writing of letter-generation scripts | done | script letterPrototype | ||
| listing of students and their records for given placement and given course taken, perhaps given grade, perhaps given class; if given command-line parameters, use them; else prompt for placement, course, grade, class | done | script listCourse.php | ||
| table of recommended placements vrs. target placements | done | script tableRecTarget.php | ||
| listing of students and their records, given recommended and target placements; if given command-line parameters, use them; else prompt | done | script tablePlaceTaken.php | ||
| retrieve student records for students with any specific combination values in given data fields (e.g., all students who were placed in 123 and who received a D) | done | script listAnyCombination.php | ||
| Week 4: | 5-9 July | meet with math faculty to review effectiveness of placements and determine new targets | done | tables of placements versus student
performance produced sample draft letters distributed |
| generate student lists for specific categories of math placement versus performance | lists | lists printed for review | ||
| explore student lists to find possible common factors | work underway | initial patterns are emerging | ||
| polish letter-generation scripts | revision done | sample letters printed for math faculty | ||
| determine data structure(s) for placement rules | done | specification placed on project home page | ||
| write formal grammar for placement rules | draft completed | formal grammar available on project home page | ||
| write sample scripts showing data structure(s) will work effectively for rule-based processing | done | script array.php written | ||
| translate old LISP rules for CS and statistics to new PHP-based rules | done | php files adjSemMath.php, csRules, statRules.php, stdTestRules.php written | ||
| write script that takes PHP-based rules and prints in easy-to-read English-based format | done | script printInEnglish written | ||
| Week 5: | 12-16 July | meet with CS faculty to review effectiveness of placements and determine new targets | careful review accomplished |
sample draft letters to be distributed received feedback on drafts letters updated for CS |
| write draft version of inference engine | draft completed | scripts written | ||
| Week 6: | 19-23 July | test inference engine by comparing recommended placements with what students took for effectiveness study | testing completed | scripts tableForMathAnalysis.php, tableForStatAnalysis.php, tableRecTaken.php |
| identify apparent discrepencies between placement data and transcript data | review completed | placement rules adjusted in CS, math, statistics | ||
| examine student placement in math and student performance to identify proposed rule refinements | review completed | refined rules proposed to statistics, math faculty | ||
| work with stat faculty to review effectiveness of placements and determine new targets | review completed | math rules revised, text of letters refined | ||
| work with math faculty to review effectiveness of placements and determine new targets | review completed | math rules revised, text of letters refined | ||
| Week 7: | 26-30 July | polish inference engine for "true" condition, "add" clause, consistency in 'unknown' specification | update completed | script inferenceDriver.php, inferenceEngine.php revised |
| add SAT2 to placement rules (SATRealMath will be maximum of SAT, SAT1, SAT2) | addition completed | rules added to placementRules.php | ||
| add AdjSemOfMath to placement rules | update completed | placementRules.php updated | ||
| update toEnglish.php to handle expanded rule grammar | done | scripts printInEnglish.php, toEngArray.php updated | ||
| polish, proofread placement letter | detailed review completed | macro files csMacros.sty mathMacros.sty, generalMacros.sty, multipleUnknownPlacements.sty, letterSetup.sty, statMacros.sty, transcriptMacros.sty, unkPlaceMacros.sty updated | ||
| write script(s) to move data from Registrar's spreadsheet to student database table, perhaps via separate, temporary table (script(s) must field names and ordering of fields) | work completed for Registrar's data (still under development for transfer credit) | script loadData.php completed | ||
| send draft sample letters to stat, CS, math faculty | work completed | letters reviewed and sent | ||
| refine letter generator to resolve LaTeX warnings | warnings resolved | macros and scripts updated | ||
| send detailed student placement tables to stat faculty | done | tables sent via email | ||
| write basic html form and php script(s) for Web-based placement application | simple form and script completed | version 0.5 available | ||
| Week 8: | 2-6 August | extensive testing of placement system; feedback received from Ms. Kuiper | done | placementRules.php revised and loading of file script streamlined |
| write script(s) to handle transfer course data for incoming students | done | script loadData.php completed | ||
| add transfer information to generated letters (with limit/warning if more than 4 items) | done | scripts generateLetters.php, generateLettersDetail.php revised | ||
| code review of inference engine and database-update script | done | scripts conditionFunctions.php, generateLetters.php, inferenceEngine.php, loadData.php, ruleFunctions.php, generateLettersDetail.php, inferenceDriver.php, inferenceInteractions.php, placementRules.php updated | ||
| develop user-oriented procedures to aid in the full placement process | draft completed and reviewed | document available to users | ||
| review of placement rules | done | finalized rules installed in placementRules.php | ||
| brainstorm overall design of Web-based placement application | done | initial design outlined,
with menu options for
| ||
| Week 9: | 9-13 August | meet with Math/Stat faculty to manually place students with transfer credit | done | database updated with revised placements |
| run letters for incoming students and their advisors | done | letters distributed Friday afternoon and Monday | ||
| develop draft Web site for placement | preliminary site created | feedback received from two reviewers on draft Web site | ||
| plan and draft Poster | done | listing of topics created | ||
| determine outline of research paper | preliminary listing completed | listing of topics created | ||
| Week 10: | 16-20 August | complete poster | done | posted on MAP index page |
| complete user documentation | done | directions given in run-notes-inferenceSystem.txt | ||
| refine and complete Web interface | done | Web site posted on ~walker/public_html/cs-math-stat-placement/ | ||
| draft paper | sections completed | pieces integrated into an overall document | ||
| Fall 2010 | September / October | planning of MAP presentation | forthcoming | |
| celebrate acceptance of paper | forthcoming |
This timeline will be updated regularly throughout the project.
|
created 22 May 2010 last revised 20 August 2010 |
|
| For more information, please contact Henry M. Walker at walker@cs.grinnell.edu. |