Katie Grace
Duncan Park
Will Bernath
Lauren Dungan
Background
The Alliance for Catholic Education is a Notre Dame initiative seeking to support under-resourced Catholic schools across the nation. The PATH program, coordinated by our project client Alec Torigian, has ND-based counselors working with two Catholic schools in the Tucson, Arizona area. These counselors collect academic and social data on their students using an extensive survey on a quarterly basis. Mr. Torigian launched this project in Fall 2022, seeking CS students to produce visualizations of their data collected through this survey so that PATH counselors can easily understand this data when meeting with students. The tool has taken steps to allow the counselors to easily view a complete picture of their students in a full-service user interface.
Fall 2023 Semester
This semester we were tasked with continuing to develop the data visualization tool for the ACE Path program. This tool takes responses from a survey created in Qualtrics that is used to track students’ progression throughout their school careers and create a platform that would allow counselors to view and analyze these results in a user-friendly manner. We were passed down a Tableau workbook that was created from the previous semester’s group and made edits to this workbook to fit the needs and requests of our client. These needs varied over the course of the semester and included tasks such as color coding, creating a notification system, developing a “scholar profile,” and removing duplicate data, among other, smaller tasks. At various points throughout the semester, we would hold meetings with the client to gather feedback on our progress and for them to present new specifications. This communication throughout the semester was incredibly helpful, as it helped to get feedback and ideas from the client directly so that we could understand ways to improve our project. By the end of the semester, we were able to transform a very basic Tableau workbook into a user-friendly visualization tool that included everything the student’s counselor would need to know in an easy-to-read format. Some of the features that we added were color coding, profile alerts, a post-secondary education dashboard, a scholar profile, a system that allows counselors to leave notes on student profiles, linking all pages to each dashboard, cleaning the data, and making our project mobile-friendly. This has resulted in a very successful, functional system that allows each student to be more seen and easier to help. It can display a very extensive survey that each student takes in easy-to-understand visualizations and will overall improve the counselor's ability to help each student.
Reflecting on our teamwork, several key practices stood out and contributed to our success:
Consistent Weekly Meetings were a significant factor. Every team member consistently showed up, which was crucial for our cohesion and progress on the project. We used these sessions not just for catching up but also for strategically planning our week. By setting clear goals, assigning tasks, and planning our sprints, we managed to stay focused and efficient.
Effective Communication Through Group Text was another vital aspect. In between our weekly meetings, we maintained our momentum through our group text. This tool served as more than just a platform for updates; it was where we could flag issues, ask questions, and ensure everyone was on track with their tasks. It was instrumental in keeping us connected and ensuring that we did not overlook any critical details.
Active Engagement with Our Project User, Alec, played a significant role in our project's direction and success. Regular check-ins with Alec were invaluable; he provided not only his perspective but also feedback from actual users of our dashboard. This direct connection to the end-users was crucial in helping us prioritize our tasks and focus our efforts effectively.
Collaboration and Flexibility within the team were vital. Everyone was willing to chip in where needed, which enhanced our team dynamics. We were flexible, adapting to new information or changes in our project scope, and this adaptability proved to be a key element in our success. Our team suggests these key practices for the future.
What Did Not Work in our experience was over-promising on tasks that we had not completed enough research on before agreeing to do it with the client. A specific instance of this occurred with the implementation of the notification system, which was originally supposed to trigger an email to the counselor when a student’s GPA dropped by a certain threshold. We later discovered that this was not possible due to a publishing issue. It is our advice to ensure that you have completed the necessary research before suggesting or agreeing to any work. Another problem that we ran into early on was a difference in interpretation between us and our client, and we would encourage future groups to gather explicit information regarding the features that are to go into the dashboard from the client and present prototypes (Figma, etc) whenever possible.