South Fayette x MHCI research report, volume 1

RESEARCH REPORT (Volume 1)

The Research Report is a detailed narrative that outlines our team’s research to understand and reframe the challenges of the existing course selection system at South Fayette High School.
A student shrugging

The Original Brief

Our sponsor, South Fayette School District, tasked us with envisioning a course catalog of the future: a tool they hope will be more current, more usable, more impactful, and more supportive of student success than their current “Program of Studies.”
Program of Studies paper version

The Problem

Valuable but not Valued: The Program of Study (PS) has valuable information, but it’s underutilized by students.
The PS is created by teachers, counselors, and admin. It is the official repository of course information, such as titles, descriptions, and prerequisites. It also intends to communicate information about courses to students and parents. However, in a sample of 17 students intercepted during lunch periods, 11 of them said they were not aware of the PS.
The Paradox of Plenty: While students appreciate the choices available to them, the current form of the course catalog makes the variety a burden.
Even if students do read the PS, they are overwhelmed by 100+ of pages of dense text. Even counselors, who are expert users of the PS, recognize the pain points associated with the density of information. The difficulty of accessing information hinders the ability for students to discover relevant courses and explore their interests.
Our MHCI team working on sorting out data

So where are students actually getting the information they need?

Informal Influence: Informal networks significantly enhance the range of information guiding students' course decisions.
The Program of Studies, along with other formal resources like grade level scheduling assemblies, are only a few of the available sources of information. In addition to course titles and descriptions, students consider teaching style and quality, difficulty level, relation to interests, and more factors when weighing choices. Usage of the documented information seems to vary widely, but almost all students we spoke to used word of mouth to inform their course selection. They talked to peers, family, staff, and more. While students may reap valuable information from others, this strategy can also invite bias, misinformation, and pressure.

The PS is only the tip of an iceberg...

a program of studies iceberg - above the water is formal channels of information, below is informal channels

Summary of problem space

Current Form

Traditional documented course information discourages exploration and burdens students with choice. Despite its value, channels like the Program of Studies are underused due to their format.

Key Information

Informal channels provide students with a wealth of course-related information beyond official channels.

Diverse Stakeholders

Navigating course selection involves diverse stakeholders with interconnected needs: students, teachers, counselors, parents, administrators, and external influences like colleges.

A Changing Future

The education that students receive should reflect the future they are preparing for, and schools need support in doing so.

Given what we know...

Our solution should not just reinforce the current system more efficiently. How can we create something that supports the positive aspects of this environment while reinventing the rest?
A whiteboard with some of the team's brainstorming work on personal communities
Our fictional student, Jordan, waving

Opportunity Areas

We identified four lenses through which we can understand the problem space and respond to our guiding question:
How might we help students make better decisions about course planning and their journey beyond high school?

Support Career Thinking

We believe that by implementing interactive and experiential learning opportunities that bridge the gap between courses, career paths, and real-world contexts, students will be more engaged in exploring these connections.

Find the right courses for you

We believe that student’s current perception of value may limit them from having a holistic educational journey.

Leverage your community

We believe that students who can effectively engage with their community, while remaining true to themselves, will adopt a bigger picture view that will aid decision-making.

Build confidence + Self-Identity

We believe that students who are confident in themselves will make better decisions that feel authentic to them given the information they have, and will be better able to adapt to change, even when those decisions do not work out.

What comes next?

See how we addressed our opportunity areas through design to imagine the future at South Fayette High School.
See OUR design SOLUTIONA journey map, going from the project brief to background research, to understanding course selection, to design opportunities, and finally to imagining the future