Web-Based Student Result Management System: October 2018
Web-Based Student Result Management System: October 2018
Web-Based Student Result Management System: October 2018
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Abstract: The technological development and impact of computers and internet on our lives
that has been verified over time affected various sectors of activity. And almost every task
today is being run through computers. Getting information and quickly turning it into a product
that consumers want is the essential key to staying in business and all of this is done nowadays
using computers and applications or information systems. And the education system is
undeniably the backbone of the society, it focusses at preparing the young talents for the future.
However, currently the process of students’ result management and declaration at the Catholic
University of Mozambique, is performed manually with extensive human intervention, the
students’ results are generated through a spreadsheet application and then printed on a paper,
attached to a wall for declaration and then stored. The current research aims at creating a web-
based student result management system, reducing time, effort and improving security. The
methodology adopted for the elaboration of the research is based on qualitative study. The
research results in the development of a multi-user system, based on web technology with
MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectural pattern and developed using Java programming
language with Apache Tomcat Server and MySQL Database Management System support.
1 Introduction
The impact of computers and internet, on our lives today is probably much more than
we really know. Getting information and quickly turning it into a product that
consumers want is the essential key to staying in business and all of this is done
nowadays using computers and applications or information systems.
And the information systems will continue to change businesses and the way we
live. Many corporate leaders are using technology to manage every aspect of their
organization, from product creation to customer service.
It has brought evolution in almost every field, it changed the ways of teaching,
administration of activities such as e-learning, e-library and online portals where
teachers and students communicate, and sharing of information has never been better.
Student result declaration and management are amongst the most important
activities within a university or any educational institution, since all other activities
depend on it. Hence implementing an information system can be declared a
significance result.
The main objective of this research is to enhance and automate the management and
declaration of students’ results using a computerized system.
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intervention. The students’ results are generated through a spreadsheet application and
then printed on a paper, attached to a wall for declaration and then stored.
Despite having an application that generates the result, it is not very effective as
the system consumes a lot of time and human resources in performing various tasks, it
is costly, it lacks data security and efficiency. And at present, the institution needs an
advanced and computerized environment. And once implemented, it will minimize all
the problems mentioned.
1.2 Scope
The study aims at developing and implementing a web-based student result
management system for the Catholic University of Mozambique, replacing the old
manually done paper work and to minimize the security issues and the problems it
possesses.
The proposed is a multi-user system, developed using Java programming
language with Apache Tomcat Server and MySQL DBMS (Database Management
System) support.
The system is confined to and intended for the students. They possess privileges
to check their results after he/she is provided with a specific username and password
for a secure login. The entire system is managed by a system administrator, who
possesses the full control of the system, to read, write and execute the results and to
assign privileges to teachers and students. And the teachers have the privilege to
assign the students’ marks, through which, a result will be generated automatically
and each student will have access to their results only, using their respective account.
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2 Literature Review
According to Freund et al. (2017), nowadays people interact directly with technology
in fields such as education, government, finance, retail, entertainment, health care,
science, travel, publishing, and manufacturing.
And they also state that, educators and teaching institutions use technology to
assist with education. Most equip labs and classrooms with laptops or desktops. Some
even provide computers or mobile devices to students. Many require students to have
a mobile computer or mobile device to access the school’s network or Internet
wirelessly, or to access digital-only content provided by a textbook publisher.
And educators may use a Course Management System (CMS), sometimes called
a Learning Management System (LMS), which is a software that contains tools for
class preparation, distribution, and management. For example, through the course
management system, students access course materials, grades, assessments, and a
variety of collaboration tools.
Many schools offer distance learning classes, where the delivery of education
occurs at one place while the learning occurs at other locations. Distance learning
courses provide time, distance, and place advantages for students who live far from a
campus or work full time.
Referencing Wallace (2015), the LMS is an information system used to track
student progress, and manage educational records. Many offer other features, such as
online registration, assessment tools, collaborative technologies, and payment
processing. They also offer tools for creating or importing content.
And she also states that, people are so accustomed to social networking and other
web applications that it is an easy step to build these tools into an online platform or
environment.
And referencing Wundenberg (2015), LMS characterizes a complex, often web
based software system which pools multiple task specific subprograms under a shared
User Interface (UI).
These subprograms support, for instance:
• Allocation and organization of learning content for different learning scenarios;
• School administration;
• Information management;
• Online school business related communication.
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Teleformar, WebCT) should be seen as an opportunity for institutions to develop
learning materials, online courses, tests and evaluations, databases and to online
monitor students’ progress.
Furthermore, Wundenberg (2015) states that, an LMS also has to represent a
number of characteristics to satisfy the stakeholders’ needs:
• User friendly, intuitive design and self-explanatory functionalities;
• Adequacy for the users’ levels of experience and knowledge;
• High system robustness against data-loss or system failure;
• High data security standards;
• Easy accessibility;
• System flexibility for institutions’ individual configurations and concept
adaptations.
According to Foreman (2018), an LMS differs from other information systems
and it has its own features that allows schools and institutions to manage users and
courses and administer the system.
• The user management features of an LMS include user account creation,
authentication, user profiles, and roles and permissions.
• The course management includes managing lessons and assignments, post a
course syllabus, learning goals, and schedule, provide interactive activities such as
surveys, quizzes, and polls, upload and download multimedia course materials,
conduct web conferences, send instructor-student messages and messages among
students and establish student groups.
• The academic features are those that require special permission and, generally,
are not accessible to students. They include class rosters and gradebooks, reports,
analytics and statistics, and tools for developing courses and lessons in the system.
Moreover, the current research focuses on the section where the professors and
students are registered into the system and are enrolled in respective subjects,
allowing the professors, to grade the students and monitor their progress. And allows
the students to view their own progress or results on each enrolled course.
3 Research Methodology
A research methodology is the elaboration of a clear strategy for gathering evidence,
including the specific data collection methods to be used, the kinds of evidence to be
collected, and the approach for analysing the evidence (Darian-Smith & McCarthy,
2017). It is the path to solve a research problem. Hence it must be planned according
to the objectives of the study.
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3.2 Data Collection Method
Refers to the methods used to obtain and gather all the required data and information
for the execution of the current research. The data was collected using both, by
primary data collection methods as well as secondary sources.
Primary data are the original data that has been collected specially for the purpose
in mind. And data collected from the original source using one or more of the primary
data collection methods such as, interviews, observations, surveys, etc. (Darian-Smith
& McCarthy, 2017). In the current research most of the information were gathered
through primary sources. And the methods that were used to collect the primary data
are: on site observation, structured interview and document analysis.
Secondary data is the one that was collected and that has already been analysed
by someone else other than the user. This means that huge data sets are already out
there, either completely unanalysed or ready to be analysed in new and creative ways.
Furthermore, many of these data sets are inexpensive or freely available to
researchers. And for an average scholar, doing secondary research on existing data
can be more convenient, much faster, and less expensive than trying to do one’s own
primary research to collect new data (Darian-Smith & McCarthy, 2017). And the
secondary data was collected through: books, thesis and internet or Web.
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4 System Analysis
Systems development is mainly done in two phases, namely, system analysis and
design. And this chapter focuses on analysing the research data and describing a
logical view of the whole process, by modelling the data analysed in the form of
diagrams to visualize the design and specifications of the system in an object-oriented
manner.
The analysis phase answers the questions of who will use the system, what the
system will do, and where and when it will be used. During this phase, the research
team investigates any current system(s), identifies opportunities for improvement, and
develops a concept for the new system (Dennis, Wixom, & Tegarden, 2015).
Referencing Valacich and George (2017), because analysis is a large and
involved process, it is divided into two main activities to make the overall process
easier to understand:
• Requirements determination: a factfinding activity.
• Requirements structuring: an activity that creates a thorough and clear description of
current business operations and new information processing services.
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And the following are the non-functional requirements of the current system:
[NFR01] – The system should be developed based on web technology.
[NFR02] – The system should be in Portuguese language.
[NFR03] – The system should be implemented using Java programming language;
[NFR04] – The system should be able to connect and perform operations on DBMS
MySQL.
[NFR05] – The system should be able to work on any web browser.
[NFR06] – The system should be available for use 24 hours per day, 365 days per
year.
[NFR07] – Only administrators can manage professors’ and students’ account and
subjects’ records.
[NFR08] – The system should have a user-friendly UI.
[NFR09] – The system should use Apache Tomcat v8 or higher as the Application
Server.
[NFR10] – The system should be executed on JDK v8 or higher.
[NFR11] – The system should support multiple simultaneous users’ access at all
times.
[NFR12] – The system should have a higher level of security, restricting access to
some functionalities according to users’ role.
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Figure 1: Use Case Diagram
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Fig. 2. Activity Diagram – Assign Grades
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Fig. 3. Sequence Diagram – Check Results
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Fig. 5. Sequence Diagram – Update Grade
5 System Design
The purpose of the analysis phase is to figure out what the business needs and right
after system analysis, started system design whose purpose is to decide how to build
the same system. And according to Dennis et al. (2015), system design is the
determination of the overall system architecture, consisting of a set of physical
processing components, hardware, software, people, and the communication among
them, that will satisfy the system’s essential requirements. During the initial part of
design, the business requirements for the system are converted into system
requirements that describe the technical details for building the system.
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Fig. 6. Class Diagram
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5.3.1 Normalization
For the logical database design, a process called normalization was used, which is a
way to build a data model that has the properties of simplicity, non-redundancy, and
minimal maintenance. And according to Valacich and George (2017), “Normalization
is a process for converting complex data structures into simple, stable data
structures.”
The database of the current system went through the second normal form and
third normal form of normalization. A relational table is already in first normal form.
Hence the normalization begins with the second normal form. And normal forms
beyond third normal form exist, but they rarely are used in business-oriented systems.
Normalization is based on functional dependency, which is a constraint between
two attributes in which the value of one attribute is determined by the value of another
attribute.
For example: suppose there is a USER table with the following attributes: ID,
name, password and level. Here the ID attribute uniquely identifies the name attribute
of USER table because if the user id is known, the user’s name associated with it can
be told.
Second normal form is satisfied if any one of the following conditions apply:
• The primary key consists of only one attribute (such as the attribute ID in
relation USER).
• No nonprimary key attributes exist in the relation.
• Every nonprimary key attribute is functionally dependent on the full set of
primary key attributes.
For example, the following table is not in 2NF:
STUDENT (UserID, Name, Password, Level, SubjectID,
description) The functional dependencies in this relation are the
following: UserID – Name, Password, Level
UserID, SubjectID – description
The primary key for this relation is the composite key UserID, SubjectID.
Therefore, the nonprimary key attributes Name, Password, and Level are functionally
dependent on only UserID but not on SubjectID. STUDENT table has redundancy,
which results in problems when the table is updated.
And now to convert a relation to second normal form, the relation is decomposed
into new relations using the attributes, called determinants, that determine other
attributes; the determinants are the primary keys of these relations. STUDENT table is
decomposed into the following two relations:
USER (UserID, Name, Password, Level)
Subject (SubjectID, description)
And the third normal form (3NF) is satisfied if: It is in second normal form and there
are no functional dependencies between two (or more) nonprimary key attributes (a
functional dependency between nonprimary key attributes is also called a transitive
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dependency). For example: consider the relation PROFESSOR (ProfID, SubjectCode,
description)
The following functional dependencies exist in the PROFESSOR relation:
ProfID – ProfID, SubjectCode, description (ProfID is the primary key)
SubjectCode – description (Each subject has a unique description)
It is noticeable that PROFESSOR is in second normal form because the primary
key consists of a single attribute (ProfID). However, description is functionally
dependent on SubjectCode, and SubjectCode is functionally dependent on ProfID. As
a result, there are data maintenance problems in PROFESSOR.
These problems can be avoided by decomposing PROFESSOR into the two
relations, based on the two determinants. These relations are the following:
SUBJECT (SubjectCode, description)
PROFESSOR (ProfID, SubjectCode)
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Fig. 7. Entity Relationship Diagram
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The Fig. 11 displays the administrator account section where, students account
can be managed.
The Fig. 12 depicts the section where the administrator can assign subjects to
professors. The administrator can select the professor from the dropdown options,
then the system shall generate a list of subjects that the professor is already assigned
to. And can further assign more subjects which is not included in the assigned
subjects list, by selecting a particular subject from another dropdown options
generated, which only contains, not assigned subjects.
And the Fig. 13 displays the student’s page where the results are declared. And
possesses a button that permits the student print the same results.
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Fig. 10. Grades Assigning Page
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Fig. 12. Subject Assigning Page
6 System Implementation
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The implementation or coding of the proposed system was performed using Java
programming language which is based on the object-oriented paradigm. It organizes
the system in modules or classes within their respective packages. And has become a
popular approach not only in the field of programming but for system analysis and
design.
The current system was implemented based on the software architecture standard,
MVC, which describes its three layers. The information flow of this system, using the
MVC standard highlights in the View layer, that is, the client section where
information or resources are requested from the system. The Controller layer is
responsible for receiving the requests and then processing and directing them to the
Model layer in charge of satisfying the request by retrieving the information from the
database. Then it passes the information obtained, to the Controller which delivers the
response to the View and finally displays the information to the client, through the
browser.
7 Conclusions
The present research was based on the computerization and the implementation of a
sophisticated Web-Based Student Result Management System for the Catholic
University of Mozambique. The main objective was to enhance and automate the
management and declaration of students’ results using a computerized system. A
well-defined, efficient, controlled and managed information system or software based
on web technology storing, processing and providing information through the
internet.
And the objectives were achieved by following a process model such as system
analysis, design and system implementation. The system analysis was composed of
two activities, requirement determination and structuring. The first activity focused on
the collection of data or requirements through structured interview, work environment
observation and by collecting procedures and other written documents. And the latter,
performed the modelling of the collected data and processes, transforming it into
UML diagrams with the aid of a UML modelling tool, Astah into a graphically
understandable manner. Just as structured analysis uses DFDs (Data Flow Diagrams)
to model data and processes, systems analysts use UML to describe Object Oriented
systems, on which the current system is based. UML is independent of any specific
programming language and can be used to describe business processes and
requirements generally. Finally, the implementation or coding of the proposed system
was based on the software architecture standard, MVC using Java programming
language, which is based on the object-oriented paradigm.
8 Future Work
In near future, the system interface could be improved, with more attractive,
interactive and meaningful images; Enhance the system with an email and SMS
(Short Message Service) or email notifications; Enhance the current system by
computerizing almost all of the services provided by the institution (online exams,
enrolment, library and others), turning it into a complete LMS; And evolve the system
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by developing several versions through users’ feedback, if a complete solution has not
been worked out.
Acknowledgements
Immense gratitude to the colleagues from Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM)
– Faculty of Engineering, who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the
research.
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