DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOFTWARE FOR TRACKING STUDENT PROFILE

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

A system, with numerous definitions can be literally seen in a computer way as a collection of the hardware and software components of a computer.

According to Stella C. Chiemeke and Franca A. Egbokdara (2006), a system is set of components that interact to achieve a common goal. In another sense, a system is a group of interrelated or intersecting elements forming a unified whole.

A verification system as in this project is an application program used to verify that someone or something rightly and legally belongs to a collection, an organization or an individual. There are different verification system, notably address verification system, adult verification system and card verification system to mention but a few.

Student verification system is used to know whether or not a student is or was a legal and rightly registered student. In this context, it is used to verify that a student belongs/belonged to an institution and to confirm that he/she is properly registered in a particular department running any of the institutions programme.

This student verification system (SVS), also known as DELSU e- Verify is a window based system. It is an electronic and computerized means of verifying someone’s claim of studentship to an institution by means of their matriculation number (Mat No) being input, hence using an output clearly showing the truth or false of his/her claim.

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In this modern age, computers have verified the cause of their existence. The advent of computers in our society caused a lot of criticism  on the danger it poses on the society. Critics of computer and new  techniques express their fear on how computers will displace and replace all human skills thus resulting to mass unemployment. The presence of computer on virtually every field of today’s fast life has proved the critic

wrong as the invention of computers and new technologies continues to create additional jobs for those who identify themselves with computers and new technologies. This make computes partner to human beings in any  fields of human endeavour.

Over the past decades, students identification and verification  has been a major problem in large institutions as documents, certificate and studentship can be forged at a great rate and easy way, using the computer negatively. Forgers fail to know that in this fast moving world, the computer has equally served as an aid to decision making, verification and authentication.

This is because of computers efficiency in terms of speed, accuracy, reliability, cost and security among others.

In recent years, awareness has existed and created in people as it concerned the use of computer in verifying, authenticating and security activities either through web-based (internet) or window-based. Decision support  system  (DSS)  and  others  system  like  management    information

system (MIS) and information system (IS) are used in organization.

Decisions are largely based on experience and principle. The value of every degree is the reputation of the institution and the students produced, hence, the greatest obstacle to any academic institution which is dishonesty and forgery has to be balanced with verification and authentication systems and processes. “In recent times, effort are bring made to build intelligence into computer system, whereby the computer can be used to process large volume of structural and unstructured information for decision making”.  Said Uzoka, 1998.

1.2 STATEMENTS OF THE PROBLEMS

In much higher learning school in the country, they do have data bank that contain all information of every students who are learning in the school. In the case of conflict that do happen in many schools, for the management to fetch out the culprit cause the management  a lot of time and resources. Through the implement at of the new system, it seeks to provide a reliable storage that will contain every information that concern both students and their guardian incase of investigation. It would also solve the problem of mass absence from the class during lecture by keeping the records of students who are in the class day by day.

1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.       The importance of authentic document and certificate can not be overemphasized as the reputations of institution are affected in every counterfeit or forged document or certificate.

2.       To design and implement student tracking system for Delta State University. The system will

•        Prove the authenticity of document and certificate belonging to Delta State University thereby expunging forged and counterfeit certificate and document from circulation.

•        Show the valid and legally registered student of Delta  State University.

•        Prove its supremacy over the existing manual system of verification and identification by using dummy data.

3.       To highlight the importance of verifying and authenticating document and certificates.

1.4     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope and focus of this study is on students’ identification, verification and authentication of document and degrees (certificate) and monitoring of students via the keep of their basic academic information and bio data. Importantly, the student must be students of Delta State University or was a student of Delta State University.

1.5     SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

The use of student information system has the significance effect and this can be enumerated as follows:

To help the school to know the pedigree of all the student admitted into the school.

To create a storage of large volume of data on school records.

To assist the school management for easily identification of students.

To prevents students to involve themselves any havoc happening in the school because of the fear tracking them.

1.6     LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to information gathered from the review of literature and the data collection method used. The proposed system is designed on

.NET frame work. Others limitations to the study include:

1.       The implementation and usefulness of the system by Delta State University and other education might not be accepted.

2.       In availability of the system on the internet, thought others user apart from the administrator can use it with some abstraction upon the purchase of the software and installation there in.

3.       Restricted access to some vital and important data and information.

1.7     ORGANIZATION OF THE RESEARCH

This project is divided into five chapter one gives a generation introduction, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objective (s) of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of the terms.

Chapter two handles introduction, literature review highlighting basic concepts.

Chapter three is deals with system design that handles introduction, research methodology, input/output format, program flowchart.

Chapter four is the system implementation and evaluation phases that handle system design flowchart, choice of programming language, analysis of the modules and implementation.

Chapter five handles introduction, summary, conclusion and recommendation of the research.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Tracking System: It is used for the observing of persons or objects on the more and supplying a timely ordered sequence of respective location data to a model e.g. capable to serve for depicting the motion on a display capability.

Student: A person studying at a university other place of higher education.    

Student Information: Is a student-level data collection system that allows the department to collect and analyze more accurate and comprehensive information.

Student: An institution for educating children or any institution at which institution is given in a particular discipline.

1.9     METHODOLOGY

Software methodology is the set of rules and practices used to create computer software. It is composed of any one of the software development models used together with at least a techniques thus,

METHODOLOGY = SOFTWARE MODEL + TECHNIQUES(S)

An in-depth literature review is done using document review and the internet.

The proposed design will be implemented using MS Visual Studio 2008 tools and Visual Basic as the programming language and MS SQL server 2005 for the database.

The methodology to be adopted for this project is the SSADM (Structured System Analysis and Design Methodology). The SSADM emphasizes on the completing a phase of the software development before proceeding to the next phase and also being able to go back to the other phases in a purely sequential manner. The model used for this project is the RAD (Rapid Application Development model proposed by IBM (International Business Machine) in 1980 and introduced to software community by James Martins through his book Rapid Application Development).

Fig. 1.1 THE SSADM APPROACH

Fig. 1.2 THE RAD MODEL

SSADM and RAD takes a modular approach to this student’s verification system using a best practice guide to ensure the successful implementation of the parts of this project sequentially. The design and testing of the system’s relational database management system (RDBMS) is to confirm the design specification. Therefore the window based graphical user face (GUI) will be integrated to input data into the system’s database. This project starts small and break down the implementation process into modules that are attainable based on the adopted requirement and analysis methodology.