Los Angeles Pierce College knowledge graph

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  1. One map for nine colleges

    20,139 course records and 1,719 programs, joined by 91,798 connections. Each dot is about 50 course records.

  2. Pierce College’s part of the map

    Courses sit in the middle. Programs, GE areas, subjects, and instructors connect to them directly, and careers connect through programs.

  3. One course: Physics for Engineers and Scientists II

    PHYSICS 102 has 13 connections here. Each one is a stored fact, not a sentence on a web page that has to be found and interpreted.

  4. An old course number still leads here

    PHYSICS 38 became PHYSICS 102. Transcripts and older catalogs still use the old number, so the map keeps the link between them. RENUMBERED_TO

  5. Prerequisites form a path

    MATH 260 to MATH 261 to MATH 262 to PHYSICS 102. Each step is its own connection, so the assistant can follow the whole chain instead of stopping at one page. PREREQUISITE_OF

  6. One course counts in several places

    6 GE areas, 2 programs, and through those programs, 12 careers. A search would need a separate page for each. FULFILLS_GE REQUIRES_COURSE LEADS_TO_CAREER

  7. “What are the prerequisites for PHYSICS 102, and is it transferable?”

    The assistant reads prerequisites, transfer status, and GE areas straight from the map. AI only turns them into a sentence, so it isn’t guessing at them from memory.

Everything in Pierce College’s map

Read each row as a sentence. The last column is the name the system uses for that connection.

Connection types in the Los Angeles Pierce College knowledge graph, with counts
From Connection To How many System name
A subject contains a course 2,862 HAS_COURSE
A course counts toward a GE area 1,193 FULFILLS_GE
A program includes a course 1,000 REQUIRES_COURSE
A program leads to a career 1,394 LEADS_TO_CAREER
An instructor teaches a course 1,292 TEACHES
A course is required before another course 221 PREREQUISITE_OF
A course is recommended before another course 61 ADVISORY_FOR
A course is taken alongside another course 58 COREQUISITE_OF
A course was renumbered as another course 79 RENUMBERED_TO
A program belongs to a program group 159 IN_GROUP
A subject has a free textbook 41 HAS_OPENSTAX_BOOK
A course or program is offered at the college 3,021 AT_CAMPUS
An instructor teaches at the college 640 TEACHES_AT
The college offers a subject 125 OFFERS_SUBJECT
Total connections 12,146

Nine colleges side by side

Course records include retired numbers, which is what lets an old code find its replacement. Each college name opens that college’s page.

Course records, programs, and connections by college
College Course records Programs Connections
East LA College 3,049 298 15,114
Pierce College 2,862 159 12,146
LA City College 2,785 249 12,145
LA Valley College 2,333 226 11,280
West LA College 2,241 224 9,912
LA Trade-Tech College 1,998 187 9,207
LA Harbor College 1,756 110 7,406
LA Mission College 1,615 161 7,905
LA Southwest College 1,500 105 6,683

What stays out of the map

The map holds facts that change slowly. Anything that changes daily is checked at the source when a student asks.

Class schedule
Open sections, times, and rooms come from the live LACCD schedule.
Transfer agreements
Questions about a specific university go to ASSIST.org.
Campus information
Office hours and locations come from a search of the college website.

Numbers read from the live data on . How the assistant works