Abstrac
This thesis addresses the critical challenges faced by Nigerian universities in managing extensive and diverse data while catering to various user categories with distinct access needs. The primary goal is to develop a robust, portable, and user-friendly course registration and result processing system that seamlessly integrates different components like registration and academics. The research delves into methodologies such as Structured Systems Analysis and Design (SSADM) and Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOADM) to create an efficient system. The methodology chapter emphasizes the importance of a systematic approach in the software development process. It highlights SSADM's document-led approach and contrasts it with more agile methodologies like OOADM, aiming to enhance system quality and productivity. The study's findings underscore the efficacy of an e-registration system in freeing up time, reducing manual efforts, and improving user perception. However, to optimize the system, additional measures such as institutional internet access, enhanced portal management, and expanded features like result accessibility and chat facilities are deemed necessary. The project results in an automated registration portal for Open and Distance Learning Institution students, utilizing PHP for process automation. While this revolutionizes student reporting by replacing manual calculations with electronic ones, it also presents challenges, requiring extensive coverage due to PHP's vast capabilities. The conclusion emphasizes the significant potential an online registration portal holds for the university's advancement, but it underscores the need for careful management and adaptation to rapidly evolving technological innovations. Recommendations include expanding portal functionality, addressing portal management issues, ensuring reliable internet access, implementing structured feedback loops, staying updated with technological advancements, providing comprehensive training and support, and allocating resources for sustained portal maintenance and upgrades.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The field of information technology has improved tremendously in the past decade with the invention of all kinds of new technologies for example e-commerce, e-learning, e-business, and e- registration to mention a few.
In this technological era of education and doing business, information is considered to be an important asset for any academic institution. The availability of student’s data and feedback can help an educational institution to align its business processes according to the needs of its students and stakeholders. The effective management of these data can help institutions reach out directly to their students and stakeholders and also streamline its activities.
Commitments towards the success of tertiary education can be achieved through innovations such as updating of information, continuous enrolment, e-payment, and online student registration and result processing as well. This innovative approach helps pioneer many of the conveniences of students.
Many events have demonstrated that successful results processing system in institutions helps to recognize the needs of students users and match them with relevant contents and university objectives. We are now in the age of knowledge is power and content is king. This phrase is often used in reference to any business conducted with speed, accuracy and integrity on the internet. People want to access information about institutions or corporation on a 24/7 basis. They also expect reliable, functional fast and user friendly services and any institution that provides such services have higher success rates.
These benefits of electronic transactions are also felt in the academic institutions. It can be applied in the areas of student’s online result processing in tertiary institutions. This system will offer among other things effective students service and stream and create a better relationship between students and the university system. The course registration and result processing system being proposed, if developed will have a site and will be accessed using any browser such as Internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Chrome etc.
This project work on the design and implementation of result processing system for a tertiary institution is aimed at the modern way of addressing the concerns raised by students, in order to maintain an efficient service delivery system. Such concerns raised are inaccurate handling of registration and student records, with also the overall view of improving efficiency in the registration and result processing systems and processes.
A course registration and result processing system which is electronically driven, is a system that could easily manage its student data efficiently while also providing added bonuses, with its main goal being to ease the transfer of information between students and the university authority. It simplifies the registration process through a system that is web-enabled, user-friendly wizard and digitizes all supporting documents using intuitive process and tools. An electronic registration site can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, mostly these sites are portals. Pena-Lopez, (2009) describes a web portal as a site that functions as a point of access to information on the World Wide Web and portals that present information from diverse sources.
The education system requires a tremendous amount of data and documentation, and the proposed electronic based result processing solution allows an institution to focus less on processing paperwork and more on what matters most such as meeting the educational needs of their students by having a cost-efficient, secure registration process system that allows for easy access to students files. Furthermore, intranets and portals are supposed to provide an infrastructure through which end-users can gain effective access to information sources needed to assist in daily tasks such as effective decision making, planning and research (Brakel, 2003).
Many institutions in Nigeria have been somewhat quick to recognize the powerful transformational potential of computer based system and have developed and implemented their own. One of such is the portal of National Open University of Nigeria. Broadly one could argue that as an institution with increasing student numbers, operating in a society with an increasing desire for instant access to information, it needs to carefully consider new ways in which it can interact more effectively and efficiently with its students (Brown 2000; Twigg and Obinge 1997).
At the National Open University of Nigeria, students are given admission to study various course courses, leading to graduate and post graduate qualifications. Students must pass and obtain the minimum university admission requirements of the SSSCE/WASSCE examination in order to qualify for admission.
An enrolled student is expected to register and pay their school fees. In most cases, enrolling and having to register a new student involves some manual processes which delay processes for the university and more especially the students. Student’s registration is done by students through the school portal, which currently has numerous problems.The following are the problems inherent with the current system.
Insufficient utilities in handling student’s registration.
Inability of students to remotely register and access their registration number immediately.
Inconsistencies in the availability of the portals, due to overload and interruptions.
Students spend too much time in processing their registration and worse, this can only be done with their physical presence on campus for verification and due diligence by staff.
The current system needs to be updated because in most cases students have problems with their registration.
Some students cannot access their records. More importantly the records in some students portals are inconsistent and not correct.
Furthermore, the results of students are not accurately reported, which creates conflicts between students and university authority.
The new system will enable all students to effectively register for courses and also get accurate records of their results.
Essentially, the idea of having an effective and efficient result processing system is to ensure a convenient and user friendly students records processing system. This is to enable students save their time, money, and obtain as well as submit their information at the shortest possible time. In addition, students can access, updated and process relevant academic information anytime, anywhere according to their preference, provided it is within the stipulated time period.
It is in this regard that this study is on the design and implementation of students result processing system for students of the National Open University of Nigeria.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Database of information is vital in today’s educational system with respect to examination result processing. This has become a very vital issue as students spend so much time trying to know the number of credit units registered for the semester and results for each semester. This problem has lead to time wasting, inaccuracy of results and even open to fraud. Cases of missing results have been recorded thereby making examination processing more difficult and untimely.
There has been this problem of too much work for the staff in various Study Centers, the staff in the Head of Office are faced with the difficulty of reconciling students registration details and examination results. At times sorting out a particular students details takes time. The inability of students to remotely register and access their Matriculation numbers immediately is a common problem that needs urgent attention. Inconsistencies in the availability of the portals for students registration and result, due to overload and interruptions is also a major problem.
These complaints and the delay in the preparing of this students examination result have been the major concerns among others. Therefore, this has intensified the need to design an effective and efficient system which will go a long way in tackling these problems and proffering solutions, at the same time accelerate result processing processes in the university.
1.3 Research Motivation and Goals
The greatest challenge of today’s information system design is to provide users with the required functionality needed for the organization which, in many cases, happens not to be possible or requires huge resources including money, time and highly skilled personnel.
Information systems of many Nigerian Universities suffer from some of the following challenges:
- Ineffective management of the large amounts and different types of data
- Inability to cater for different user categories with various access privileges and restrictions
- Lack of related components that need to be integrated together such as registration and academics.
- Lack of robust, portable and extensible components that support efficient data management.
Therefore the objective of this research is to develop a robust course registration and result processing system with a single integrated data store that overcomes these limitations and more.
1.4 Research Question
The study is set up to answer the following question:
Can an information system be developed for Nigerian Open University of Nigeria, that is robust, portable, extensible and user-friendly?
1.5 Research Objectives
The objectives of the research undertaken in this thesis is to design and implement a course registration and result processing systems that is;
- is robust, portable and user-friendly
- makes it easier for stakeholders (managers, staff and students) to carry out their normal activities
- improves efficiency of delivering university services
- includes a student's prompt access to course registration and examination results.
- that is compatible and easily accessible to other academic systems, solutions and platforms.
1.6 Methodology
The following are the proposed steps needed for the realization of this research work.
- Literature review to determine best practice in modern information system design
- Develop the architecture of the proposed course registration and result processing system
- Implement the the course registration and result processing system.
- Deploy the course registration and result processing system in pilot Study Centres of the University.
- Collect feedback from students' users
- Analyze user-feedback against research objectives
1.7 Significance of the study
The main significance of this work is the design and implementation of a course registration and result processing system that will significantly improve efficiency of a university’s daily operations. The application is to be tested over a list of more than ten thousand (10,000) undergraduate students from various departments and faculties for three academic sessions. It will also capture the list of all members of staff both academic and non-academic staff of National Open University of Nigeria.
