Articulation Research System: A New Direction in Curriculum Evaluation. User's Manual.

This user's manual explains the Articulation Research System (ARS), which was created by Santa Fe Community College, and its database. As introductory material notes, the ARS was designed to: (1) follow former community college students through their bachelor's degree programs in the Florida State University System (SUS); (2) compare student performance in community college coursework with related upper-division coursework; (3) be usable by other Florida community colleges using varying student record formats; and (4) be usable by curriculum evaluation administrators. After the manual's introduction covers the background and hardware requirements of the system and provides an overview of the ARS and the use of the manual, the next section describes the three ARS files: the ARS database, community college history files, and SUS files. The following section focuses on the program, format, and documentation libraries of the ARS. After a description of operating procedures for adding and changing data, obtaining special reports, and maintaining the ARS libraries, the manual examines the Curriculum Evaluation Product, which permits the comparison of performance in community college and upper-division courses. The final sections focus on system output, ad hoc reporting, and ARS catalogued procedures. Appendices present student history data elements, provide a non-technical explanation of operating ARS, review the ARS data elements, and present the Statewide Course Numbering System for discipline areas. (KL)