# SDA-Vis: A Visualization System for Student Dropout Analysis Based on Counterfactual Exploration
## 4 SDA-Vis: Visual Design and Overview  
SDA-Vis is a specific counterfactual system that helps users analyze student dropouts based on explanations. This system allows users to identify the causes of dropouts and generate synthetic non-dropout options that could help to mitigate any factors that might create a dropout risk in a student. Aiming to address the analytical objectives described in Section 3.1, we built SDA-Vis by combining some dedicated views on exploring student dropout patterns based on counterfactuals. Table 2 details the relations between the set of views (rows) and the analytical objectives (columns). These visual resources allow the analyst to filter and visualize the features of students and the dropout counterfactuals. In addition, SDA-Vis relies on interactive functionalities that allow significant insights to be extracted during the exploration process. The system's resources, functionalities, and interaction overview were demonstrated in the video accompanying this manuscript as Supplementary Material. Figure 3 shows the SDA-Vis system and its components. The main resources are: 1 histograms to represent the distribution of students' characteristics, 2 a projection to represent the probabilities for students based on the model threshold, 3 a projection to represent the counterfactuals and their probabilities, 1 counterfactual exploration to represent the synthetic values, 2 a table showing all real dropout students' values, and 1 a visualization of the impact of some counterfactuals on a certain group of students. **Feature Distribution Bars view. ** Our first component, depicted in Figure 3, summarizes the distribution of values for each feature from the predicted dropout students (AO1). Additionally, this view enables the analyst to select a subset of features to limit its use as the input for the remaining exploration process. **Dropout Analysis dual view. ** Exploring potential dropout students' information to support decision-making is not a trivial task. Various patterns can be revealed by analyzing one student at a time, but also by analyzing groups. A major challenge is suggesting feasible solutions that enable educational institutions to support decision-making processes and \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **AO1** & **AO2** & **AO3** & **AO4** & **AO5** & **AO6** \\ \hline Feature Distribution Bars view & ✓ & & & & & \\ Student Projection view & & ✓ & & & & \\ Counterfactual Projection view & & & ✓ & & & \\ Counterfactual Exploration view & & & & ✓ & & \\ Table view & & & & ✓ & ✓ & \\ Impact view & & & & ✓ & ✓ & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Analytical objectives and their related visualization tools. Figure 3: SDA-Vis system: a set of linked visual resources enabling the exploration of dropout students’ information and their counterfactual explanations. 1 Feature Distribution Bars view, 2 Student Projection view, 3 Counterfactual Projection view, 4 Counterfactual Exploration view, 5 Table view, and 1 Impact view. reduce dropout rates. To fulfill a requirement, we propose a dual-view component to guide our analysis, described as follows:  
* _Student Projection (SP) view._ Once the features have been selected from the first view, potential dropout students are mapped into a 2D visual space, considering these variables. This view aims to explore the students' information based on certain metrics. It is placed in the inner left region of our interface, as shown in Figure 3**. ** Additionally, this view enables the analyst to find a specific student or group of students by using different metrics on the _y-axis_ or to select a subset by drawing different shapes in the design space. Analogously to traditional classification models, we can consider this space the \"dropout region\", where all students are at risk of dropping out (AO2). * _Counterfactual Projection (CP) view._ One primary requirement for our work is to seek and propose different ways to avoid student dropouts.