Meeting 1 - 2019-10-30

Owned by Eric Jansson
Last updated: Nov 15, 2019
2 min read

Agenda

  1. Introductions
  2. Review of SIG Goals
  3. Known Issues
  4. “Unknown Issues” and Use Cases
  5. Planning

Notes

Discussion was by issue raised in the slides.

Issue #1: it was noted that there were many different versions of GPAs possible, and that it was probably not possible to capture these variations by a predefined number of properties, such as weighted/unweighted. For example, some GPAs can be defined as calculations of a subset of course work (e.g. "last 3 math courses"), or sometimes courses are excluded from GPA calculations. As such, the identity of a GPA is probably not derivable only from top-level properties. 

Issue #2: it was agreed that this association is problem (one member characterized it as a "nightmare"). It was reflected that another layer could be the solution. 

Issue #3: it was agreed that this is a problem. The current subject list was also observed to be small.

Other: a number of other issues and concerns was raised: 

  • A more complete academic record is likely needed. Other indicators (distinctions, badges, service records, etc.) find their way onto transcripts.
  • An exchange mechanism that focuses on a complete student transcript was cited as a need. Right now, the APIs offer only data that must be joined by a reading API client to get the entire transcript (captured as  DATASTD-1411 - Getting issue details... STATUS )
  • Sometimes there are codes associated with course transcripts to provide other indicators. A common one would be "AP"; also in some cases courses are flagged to indicate exclusion from GPA calculations.
  • It would be good to move letter grades to a descriptor so that they can be validated more easily (these are not open-ended).
  • A transcript image might also be helpful.
  • The application of transcript data to graduation requirements is another key use case/concern.

Materials