Spring 2019
Letter Group Algorithm
An algorithm that makes the college course registration process fairer for students.
An algorithm, programmed in Python, that makes the course registration process fairer for students, specifically at Allegheny College. The project includes lists of sample students for testing and writing about the algorithm's function.
This algorithm takes Allegheny College's registration system and changes it in an attempt to make it fairer for students. At Allegheny at the time of this project's completion, the order students are allowed to register for courses is determined by class seniority (with seniors registering first and freshmen registering last). Then within each class students are split into eight letter groups, which are randomly organized to determine who registers first within each class. This means that some students could be forced to register last, or close to it, multiple semesters in a row.
With this in mind, our team decided to make an algorithm that would fix this process. More specific information about the algorithm and how it functions can be found in this document.
Markus Spiske