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

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.

Due to the pivotal role of academic major selection in shaping future careers, there is a highlighted need to assist students in making informed decisions. This article introduces a multidimensional recommendation system designed to aid students in making informed decisions about their academic major selections. The results highlight the system's impressive accuracy (100% hit rate, 88% precision), positive user feedback, and expert endorsement regarding both relevance and acceptance.