Aligning Add-On Courses with Student Needs and Career Goals through Recommendation Systems: A Survey-Based Analysis

Abstract: Add-on courses in higher education can bridge skill gaps and enhance student employability, yet students often struggle to identify offerings aligned with their backgrounds, interests, and career goals. In higher education, add-on courses play an important role in improving students’ skills and employability. However, students often face difficulty in selecting suitable courses from a wide range of options. The research paper highlights the importance of add-on courses in higher education for improving student skills and employability. The study proposes a recommendation system to guide students in selecting appropriate courses. The system’s design is based on the analysis of student preferences for delivery modes, course formats and career aspirations which helps to provide insights for developing flexible, relevant, and student-centric programs. Overall, the research suggests that academic institutions should design flexible and industry-aligned add-on programs to meet student expectations.

Keywords: Add-on courses, Higher Education, Recommendation System, K-means Clustering, Collaborative Filtering