LeanClust — User Guide (Vignette)

Author

LeanClust Team

Published

August 24, 2025

1 Overview

LeanClust is a teacher-friendly Shiny dashboard for weekly student clustering and monitoring.
This guide explains how to use the app (the methodology is covered in a companion article).

App URL: https://your-shiny-host.example.com/LeanClust

LeanClust has two modes:

  • Example mode — Runs on the embedded dataset so you can explore immediately.
  • Dynamic mode — Upload your own CSV; LeanClust performs DTW + Ward.D2 clustering (k = 4) per week.

A language toggle (🇹🇷 / 🇬🇧) in the navbar switches the full UI between Turkish and English.

2 Modes

2.1 Example Mode

  • In the left sidebar, Data Source is Example Data (default).
  • Pick a Selected Week to synchronize visuals across pages.
  • Explore the pages in order: Cluster Table → Transitions → Cluster Summaries → Developers.

2.2 Dynamic Mode

  • In the left sidebar choose Dynamic Data, upload your CSV, then click Analyze.
  • Column prefix conventions (case-insensitive):
    • id* — Student identifier (exactly one column required)
    • wk* — Week label (exactly one column required)
    • at* — Attendance/activity/engagement features (0+ columns)
    • sc* — Score/assessment features (quiz, midterm, final, etc.; 0+ columns)

Minimal CSV example:

id_student,wk_label,at_reading,at_practice,sc_quiz,sc_midterm S001,Week 1,0.8,0.6,, S001,Week 2,0.7,0.5,65, S001,Week 5,0.6,0.7,,72 S002,Week 1,0.4,0.3,, S002,Week 2,0.5,0.4,55, S002,Week 9,0.6,0.5,,60 —

3 UI Tour

LeanClust uses a top navbar with four pages and a persistent left sidebar.

3.2 Page 1 — Cluster Table

What you see on app start
A wide table with Student ID rows and Week columns. Each cell is a colored band representing the cluster for that week.

Controls and actions:

- ① Search box — type a Student ID to filter rows (partial text supported).
- ② Week slider — selects the last highlighted week; earlier weeks remain color-filled.
- ③ Legend — fixed cluster names/colors: Reserved, Peripheral, Engaged, Strategic.

How to use:

1. Enter a Student ID in ① to focus on a learner.
2. Move ② to change the last highlighted week.

3.3 Page 2 — Transitions (Sankey)

Two Sankey diagrams visualize cluster transitions:

  • ① Left diagram: From Week → (To Week − 1).
  • ② Right diagram: From Week → To Week.
  • Colors — nodes/links match the four cluster colors used across the app.

How to use:

1. Set From Week and To Week in the sidebar.
2. Compare ① (pre-final) with ② (final).

If To Week is the first week, ① will be empty by design.

3.4 Page 3 — Cluster Summaries

Per-cluster summary cards for the Selected Week:

  • ① Variables to Display — choose metrics (labels are prettified).
  • ② Card header — cluster name (color-coded).
  • ③ Count badge — number of students in the cluster.
  • ④ Metric rows — mean values of selected variables.

Changing Selected Week updates all cards.

3.5 Page 4 — Developers

This page lists the developers of the application, their contact details, and provides a link to the GitHub repository. You can easily access the GitHub repository by clicking the button.

4 Cluster Labels & Colors

LeanClust consistently uses the following labels and colors across all visuals:

  1. Reserved Performers — #0072B2
  2. Peripheral Passers — #D55E00
  3. Engaged Achievers — #F0E442
  4. Strategic Achievers — #009E73

5 Quick Start Checklist

  1. Open LeanClust: https://your-shiny-host.example.com/LeanClust
  2. Example mode (default): pick a Selected Week and explore pages 1→4.
  3. Dynamic mode: upload a CSV following id* / wk* / at* / sc* prefixes and click Analyze.
  4. Use From/To Week to inspect Transitions; adjust Selected Week for Summaries.
  5. Toggle 🇹🇷 / 🇬🇧 for instant bilingual UI.