Factors Affecting Selection of Elective Courses: The Use of Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model

Abstract

Elective course selection has always been a serious and important decision making process for students in institutions.  The study of Multi Criteria Decision Making Model (MCDM) for the selection of elective course is put together with the aim of lending a helping hand to the students. It comprises the main MCDM methods, the problem of selecting an elective course, the survey about the problem, the method which is selected to be implemented, the implementation and the results. In this study, we determine the criteria of this problem for graduate students while deciding on the elective courses. A total of 13 different criteria have been established, including 5 main criteria. In this direction, a questionnaire study was conducted as required by the multi-criteria decision-making analysis method decided in the light of the examined articles. This survey study was answered by graduate students. The responses were evaluated by the "Super Decisions" program and priorities were determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The survey was applied to graduate students, and it was found that the two most important criteria of the graduate students were 28.03% of the curriculum and 20.42% of the faculty members. This study aims to prove a mathematical method for a real-life situation which can help people make their decisions accurately. It will help students who are indecisive and hesitates while selecting an elective course.