RULE-BASED EXPERT SYSTEM TO LEAD FRESHMEN STUDENTS IN CHOOSING A SUITABLE COLLEGE MAJOR

Abstract

Choosing a suitable college major is a challenging process for freshman students. This research focuses on switching the process of selecting a college major form the traditional method into a systematic and computerized method by deploying artificial intelligence and an expert system. In order to lead freshman students to a suitable college major, the research proposes to use rule-based expert system with multi-criteria analysis such as student general ability, personality character and market analysis for future careers. Results revealed that the proposed system has provided accurate outcomes based on the knowledge extracted from the domain experts. The outcomes of the proposed system suggested a minimum number of major alternatives, these alternatives were sorted based on the importance of each assessed criteria. Keeping into consideration that the proposed system was found to lead and help freshman students in choosing a suitable college major, but not to replace human experts within the same domain.