Creating Reports

Creating a report in Mapademics is a straightforward process that guides you through selecting your data and configuring display options. This guide walks you through each step of the report creation workflow.

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Opening the Configuration Sheet

To begin creating a report, click the Configuration button in the top-right corner of the Report Designer. This opens the Configuration Sheet, a side panel on the right side of your screen where you’ll build your report step by step. The Configuration Sheet features a sidebar with navigation tabs and a main content area that changes based on your selections. As you configure your report, the preview area on the left updates automatically to show your report taking shape.

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Step 1: Select Your Report Type

The first step is always choosing what type of report you want to create. The Report Type tab is always enabled and should be your starting point. Click on one of four report type cards to select it:

• Occupation Crosswalk - View labor market data for selected jobs
• Job Skill Contribution - Analyze how your curriculum stacks up against job requirements
• Section Comparison - Compare skill coverage across sections
• Skill Comparison - Analyze skill coverage across courses

Once you select a report type, the Configuration Sheet automatically enables only the tabs relevant to that report type. For example, if you select Occupation Crosswalk, only the Job Selection and Display Settings tabs become available.

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How to Select Data

After choosing your report type, you’ll need to select the data you want to analyze. Depending on your report type, you’ll use one or more of these selection tabs: Course Selection, Job Selection, and Skill Selection.

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Understanding Selection Tabs

Each selection tab provides flexible ways to find and select items:

• Search functionality to quickly find specific items
• Pagination controls to browse through large lists
• Checkboxes for selecting individual items or groups
• Selection Summary showing all currently selected items
• Clear All button to remove all selections at once

As you make selections, they appear in the Selection Summary card at the top of the tab, with individual remove buttons for each item.

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Course Selection

The Course Selection tab provides three different ways to select courses, depending on how you want to organize your analysis.

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Manual Selection Mode

Manual Selection lets you browse and search all courses in your organization. How to use it:

1. Switch to the Manual Selection tab
2. Use the search box to filter courses by name or code (e.g., “BIO 101” or “Introduction”)
3. Check the box next to each course you want to include
4. Use the header checkbox to select/deselect all courses on the current page

Best for: Creating reports with specific courses you’ve identified, regardless of their program or credential affiliation.

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By Program Mode

By Program mode shows your courses organized hierarchically by the programs they belong to. You can expand programs to see their courses and select at either level. How to use it:

1. Switch to the By Program tab
2. Use the search box to find specific programs
3. Click the arrow icon next to a program name to expand and view its courses
4. Check a program’s checkbox to select all courses in that program at once
5. Or expand the program and select individual courses within it

Best for: Analyzing entire programs or comparing how specific programs prepare students for careers. Visual indicators:

• Programs show how many courses they contain (e.g., “12 items”)
• The checkbox shows three states:
  • Checked: All courses in the program are selected
  • Indeterminate (dash): Some courses in the program are selected
  • Unchecked: No courses in the program are selected

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By Credential Mode

By Credential mode organizes courses by stackable credentials, perfect for analyzing micro-credentials, certificates, or specialized pathways. How to use it:

1. Switch to the By Credential tab
2. Use the search box to find specific credentials
3. Click the arrow icon to expand a credential and view associated courses
4. Check a credential’s checkbox to select all its courses at once
5. Or expand and select individual courses within the credential

Best for: Analyzing stackable credentials, certificate programs, or specialized career pathways.

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Working with Course Selections

Regardless of which selection mode you use, all your selected courses appear in the Selection Summary at the top of the tab. From there you can:

• Review what you’ve selected at a glance
• Remove individual courses by clicking the X button on their badge
• Clear all selections by clicking the “Clear All” button to start over

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Job Selection

The Job Selection tab lets you choose which jobs to include in your report. You can select from three sources of job data.

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Program Jobs Mode

Program Jobs mode shows jobs automatically matched to your academic programs based on CIP codes and labor market alignment. How to use it:

1. Switch to the Program Jobs tab
2. Browse or search for programs
3. Expand a program to see its matched jobs (with SOC codes)
4. Select entire programs or individual jobs within them

Best for: Analyzing how programs align with their intended career pathways based on established CIP-to-SOC mappings.

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SOC Jobs Mode

SOC Jobs mode provides access to all Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) jobs in the national database, with complete labor market data. How to use it:

1. Switch to the SOC Jobs tab
2. Use the search box to find jobs by SOC code or job title
3. Select individual jobs or use the header checkbox to select all visible jobs
4. Navigate through pages to explore different occupational areas

Best for: Creating custom job comparisons across any occupations, whether or not they directly align with your programs.

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Your Jobs Mode

Your Jobs mode displays custom jobs you’ve created in your organization, typically representing specific employer positions or local job opportunities. How to use it:

1. Switch to the Your Jobs tab
2. Search for custom jobs by name
3. Select the jobs you want to include in your analysis

Best for: Analyzing alignment with specific employer partners, local job markets, or unique positions not well-represented in national SOC data.

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Job Selection Summary

Like the Course Selection tab, the Selection Summary at the top shows all selected jobs with the ability to remove individual selections or clear all at once.

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Skill Selection

The Skill Selection tab appears only for Skill Comparison reports. It lets you focus your analysis on specific skills rather than analyzing all skills across selected courses.

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Manual Selection Mode

Manual Selection lets you browse and search the complete skills library. How to use it:

1. Switch to the Manual Selection tab
2. Search for skills by ID or name
3. Check the boxes next to skills you want to analyze
4. Use pagination to browse through the complete skills library

Best for: Analyzing specific skills you’ve identified as priorities, such as key employability skills or skills relevant to specific career pathways.

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By Category Mode

By Category mode organizes skills into hierarchical categories (e.g., Technical Skills, Soft Skills, Industry-Specific Skills), making it easier to select related skills together. How to use it:

1. Switch to the By Category tab
2. Expand skill categories to see the skills they contain
3. Select entire categories or individual skills within them
4. Use the search to find specific categories or skills

Best for: Analyzing groups of related skills, such as all technical skills or all communication skills, without needing to select them individually.

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Report-Specific Display Settings

After selecting your data, the final step is configuring how your report displays information. Display settings are unique to each report type and appear in the Display Settings tab.

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Occupation Crosswalk Display Settings

Labor Market Region: Choose which geographic area’s labor market data to display:

1. Region Type - Select from:
   • National - United States aggregate data (automatically uses code 99)
   • State - Individual state labor markets
   • MSA - Metropolitan Statistical Area data for specific metro regions
2. Region Code - If you selected State or MSA, choose the specific region:
   • For states: Select from the dropdown of all U.S. states
   • For MSAs: Search and select from available metropolitan areas

What this affects: Median wages, employment figures, annual openings, and job growth projections will reflect your selected region’s labor market conditions.

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Job Skill Contribution Display Settings

View Options: Choose how to visualize the alignment between your courses and job requirements:

1. Courses as Columns (Skills Gap View)
   • Skills appear as rows
   • Courses appear as columns
   • Each cell shows whether the course addresses that skill
   • Includes a column showing overall skill progress
   • Best for: Identifying which skills need more curriculum coverage
2. Courses as Rows (Build-Up Table)
   • Skills appear as columns
   • Courses appear as rows
   • Summary row shows cumulative skill coverage
   • Best for: Seeing how each course contributes to overall preparation
3. Contribution Chart (Build-Up Chart)
   • Bar chart with skills on the x-axis
   • Course contributions stacked on the y-axis
   • Visual representation of cumulative skill building
   • Best for: Presenting program value to stakeholders visually

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Section Comparison Display Settings

Grouping Options: Choose how to group sections for comparison:

1. Course Sections - Compare all sections of selected courses to each other
   • Groups by course, then compares sections within each course
   • Best for: Identifying differences in how sections of the same course teach skills
2. Instructors - Compare all sections taught by each instructor
   • Groups by instructor, showing how their teaching approaches differ
   • Best for: Faculty development and understanding instructor-specific approaches

View Options: Choose how to display the comparison:

1. Heat Map - Visual color-coded matrix showing skill intensity
   • Darker colors indicate higher proficiency levels
   • Easy to spot patterns and outliers at a glance
   • Best for: Quick visual identification of strengths and gaps
2. Bar Chart - Side-by-side bar chart comparison
   • Each section/instructor shown as grouped bars
   • Precise numerical comparisons
   • Best for: Detailed quantitative analysis

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Skill Comparison Display Settings

Skill Comparison reports currently use a standard table format showing which courses teach which selected skills, along with proficiency levels expected. Display settings for this report type focus on data organization rather than visualization alternatives.

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Completing Your Report

Once you’ve selected your data and configured display settings, your report is complete. The preview area shows your finalized report with live data. What to do next:

1. Review the preview to ensure the report shows what you need
2. Adjust selections by returning to any tab to modify courses, jobs, or skills
3. Change display settings to view your data from different angles
4. Save your report so you can regenerate it later with updated data
5. Export to Excel for offline analysis or sharing
6. Generate an embed code to display the report on external websites

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Creating Reports Efficiently

Here are some strategies for efficient report creation: Start Simple: Begin with a small selection of courses or jobs to understand how the report works, then expand your analysis. Use Hierarchical Selection: When analyzing entire programs or credentials, use By Program or By Credential modes to select many courses at once rather than individually. Leverage Search: Use search functionality to quickly find specific items rather than scrolling through long lists. Preview Continuously: Keep an eye on the preview area as you make selections to ensure the report is developing as expected. Save Incrementally: Save your report after major configuration steps so you don’t lose work if you need to close the browser. Experiment with Views: Try different display settings to find the most effective way to communicate your findings.

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Common Report Creation Scenarios

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”I want to show students what jobs they can get with our Computer Science program”

1. Select Occupation Crosswalk report type
2. Go to Job Selection → Program Jobs
3. Expand “Computer Science” and select all matched jobs
4. In Display Settings, choose your State for local labor market data
5. Save as “CS Program Career Pathways"

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"I need to identify skill gaps between our Business courses and accounting jobs”

1. Select Job Skill Contribution report type
2. Go to Course Selection → By Program → Expand “Business” → Select accounting-related courses
3. Go to Job Selection → SOC Jobs → Search “accounting” → Select relevant positions
4. In Display Settings, choose Courses as Columns view to highlight gaps
5. Save as “Accounting Curriculum Gap Analysis"

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"I want to compare how different instructors teach the same Introduction to Psychology course”

1. Select Section Comparison report type
2. Go to Course Selection → Manual Selection → Search “PSY 101” → Select it
3. In Display Settings, choose Instructors grouping
4. Choose Heat Map view for quick visual comparison
5. Save as “PSY 101 Instructor Comparison"

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"I need to see which courses cover critical thinking skills”

1. Select Skill Comparison report type
2. Go to Course Selection → By Program → Select programs to analyze
3. Go to Skill Selection → Manual Selection → Search “critical thinking” → Select related skills
4. Review which courses teach these skills and at what proficiency levels
5. Save as “Critical Thinking Coverage Analysis”

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Next Steps

Now that you know how to create reports, learn what to do with them:

Saving, Embedding, and Exporting Reports

Learn how to save reports for reuse, generate embed codes for websites, and export data to Excel

Understanding Report Types in Detail

Dive deeper into each report type, including interpretation guidelines and best practices

Report Designer Introduction

Review the Report Designer interface and core concepts