Methodology for Collecting and Encoding Information about TPI Applicants
Abstract Generated abstract
This paper describes a methodology introduced at Tomsk Polytechnic Institute in 1968 for collecting, coding, storing, and processing detailed information on applicants. It motivates the system by the needs of admissions statistics, administrative reporting, analysis of admissions procedures, future use of student data, and investigation of relationships between school performance, entrance examinations, and later academic results. The authors propose an 80-column punched-card format compatible with accounting and punching equipment and the institute’s Ural-11B computer, using decimal codes for 28 applicant characteristics, including demographic data, prior education, examination results, enrollment outcomes, transfers, social activity, sports participation, work experience, and language study. The approach was tested in 1968 on information from more than 7,000 applicants, and the authors report that the coding method proved convenient for this task.
Full Text
METHODOLOGY FOR COLLECTING AND ENCODING INFORMATION ON TPI APPLICANTS
A. M. MALYSHENKO, V. E. SAPRYKIN
(Presented by the scientific seminar of the Department of Automation and Telemechanics)
Information on applicants to the institute is collected, as a rule, for the purpose of subsequently solving the following main tasks:
1) for statistical analysis of the applicant contingent;
2) for providing up-to-date information to the rector’s office and other interested subdivisions of the institute concerning the applicant contingent;
3) for preparing the final report to the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education on the new intake of first-year students;
4) for identifying shortcomings in the organization of admission of first-year students;
5) for accumulating initial information about future students for its subsequent use during the student’s studies at the higher educational institution by the dean’s office, the educational administration, and public organizations;
6) for assessing correlations between students’ academic performance at school, their results in the entrance examinations, and their subsequent studies at the institute, with the aim of developing recommendations for further improvement of the rules for admission to higher educational institutions.
The collection, storage, and processing of detailed information on all applicants to such a large higher educational institution as Tomsk Polytechnic Institute (TPI) are impossible without the use of modern computing equipment.
This article describes the methodology for collecting and encoding information on applicants that has been used at TPI since 1968.
A standard 80-column punched card (GOST 6198-52) was chosen as the principal medium for information on applicants. This makes it possible to use 80-column accounting-and-punching equipment for processing the collected information, as well as the Ural-11B universal digital computer available at the institute. At the same time, this punched card ensures the collection and storage of information on applicants according to a sufficiently large number of characteristics.
At present, information is entered onto punched cards according to 28 characteristics—indicators of the applicant. For these purposes a decimal code is used. For ease of reading, the list of characteristics used and the rules for encoding the information are summarized in the table given below.
Table 1
| Coded attributes (personal data) | Number of columns used | Number of columns used | Attribute code | Perforation rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Personal file number (examination sheet number of the applicant) | 11 | 1–2 3–5 6–7 8–11 |
code of the first letter of the surname serial number for the first letter of the surname code of the chosen faculty serial number in the faculty |
in the absence of a digit, “0” is punched in the highest-order position |
| Sex | 1 | 12 | male—1 female—2 |
|
| Year of birth | 2 | 13–14 | the last two digits are punched | |
| Place of birth | 2 | 15 16 |
district of the USSR (according to the special appendix) rural locality—0 urban » —1 |
|
| Nationality | 2 | 17–18 | coded according to the special appendix | |
| Party affiliation | 1 | 19 | non-party—0 member of the VLKSM—1 candidate member of the CPSU—2 member of the CPSU—3 |
|
| What educational institution he/she completed | 1 | 20 | day school—1 school for working and rural youth—2 technical school or other SSUZ—3 VUZ—4 |
|
| How he/she completed the educational institution | 1 | 21 | medalist—1 5% of graduates of technical schools—2 others—3 |
|
| Year of completion of the educational institution | 2 | 22–23 | the last two digits are punched | |
| Location of the educational institution completed | 2 | 24 25 |
district of the USSR (according to the special appendix) rural locality—0 urban » —1 |
|
| Social status | 1 | 26 | workers and children of workers—1 collective farmers and children of collective farmers—2 employees and children of employees—3 |
|
| Total work experience by the time of admission to TPI | 1 | 27 | no experience—0 experience of less than two years—1 demobilized from the SA and Navy—2, experience of two years or more—3 |
|
| Referral by enterprises | 1 | 28 | scholarship holders—1 others—0 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selected form of study | 1 | 29 | day—1 evening—2 correspondence—3 |
|
| Selected specialty | 4 | 30—33 | the code of the specialty is encoded according to the Nomenclature of specialties of higher educational institutions of the USSR | |
| Grades from the certificate of secondary education 1. Russian language 2. literature 3. algebra 4. geometry 5. history 6. general history 7. social science 8. physics 9. astronomy 10. chemistry 11. biology 12. geography 13. foreign language 14. drafting 15. labor training |
15 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 |
34—48 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 |
enter the grade received in the corresponding column | if there is no grade in any subject, “0” is punched in the corresponding column |
| Admission to the entrance examinations | 1 | 49 | admitted—0 not admitted: incomplete documents—1 negative characterization—2 for health reasons—3 for immoral behavior—4 at own request—5 for family reasons—6 because of insufficient work experience after technical school—7 |
|
| Applicant’s examination group | 3 | 50—51 52 |
stream number group number |
if there are no digits in the higher-order place, “0” is punched. |
| Grades received in the entrance examinations: 1. mathematics, written 2. mathematics, oral 3. physics 4. chemistry 5. Russian language and literature |
5 1 1 1 1 1 |
53—57 53 54 55 56 57 |
the grade received is entered in the corresponding column | if examinations are missed, “0” is punched in the corresponding columns. |
| Enrollment in the institute | 1 | 58 | enrolled—1 not enrolled: a) did not pass the competition—2 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b) unsatisfactory grade — 3 c) for immoral conduct — 4 enrolled as a candidate — 5 |
||||
| Enrollment in a study group | 5 | 59—60 61 62 63 |
faculty code specialty number in the faculty year of admission (last digit) group index |
|
| Transfer to another faculty | 1 | 64 | did not transfer — 0 transferred: a) before the beginning of examinations — 1 b) during examinations — 2 c) after examinations — 3 |
|
| Previous number of the personal file of an applicant transferred to another faculty | 6 | 65—66 67—70 |
code of the previous faculty serial number of the applicant in that faculty |
|
| Social work | 2 | 71—72 | encoded according to the special appendix | |
| Participation in sports | 2 | 73—74 | encoded according to the special appendix | the sport in which the best results were achieved is indicated. |
| Sports qualification | 1 | 75 | encoded according to the special appendix | |
| Length of work experience in the specialty | 1 | 79 | none — 0 less than two years — 1 more than two years — 2 |
|
| Which foreign language he/she studied | 1 | 80 | encoded according to the special appendix |
The convenience of the indicated method of encoding was verified in 1968 during the collection of information on more than 7,000 applicants admitted to the institute that year.