Navigating academia: Designing and evaluating a multidimensional recommendation system for university and major selection

SOMYÜREK S., Aksoy N.

Psychology in the Schools, cilt.61, sa.9, ss.3748-3769, 2024 (SSCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 61 Sayı: 9
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1002/pits.23255
  • Dergi Adı: Psychology in the Schools
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, ASSIA, IBZ Online, PASCAL, Applied Science & Technology Source, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, Psycinfo
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.3748-3769
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: educational pathway planning, evaluation of recommendation system, occupational personality types, recommendation system, university major selection
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Selecting the right academic major significantly shapes an individual's future career path, making it a longstanding focus of research. The shift to online platforms, accelerated by the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, has transformed counseling and guidance systems. Consequently, developing robust online support systems has become imperative for extending guidance to all students. This article introduces the design, development, and evaluation of “My Future Career,” a multidimensional recommendation system (RS) crafted to aid students in navigating university and academic major selection decisions. The system relies on three key student-driven parameters: central university entrance exam scores, rankings, and occupational personality types, utilizing cosine similarity and normalized distance to align user and item profiles. Following the system's completion, an assessment was conducted using data from real users, revealing an impressive accuracy (hit rate 100%, precision 88%) in recommendations following the inclusion of contextual post-filtering features. The findings not only highlight the system's effectiveness but also underscore the positive user experience, as students express contentment with its ease of use and practical utility. The results emphasize the endorsement of expert's regarding the system's consistency (52%), relevance (96%), and acceptance (96%) in providing recommendations.