DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER LABORATORY

ATTENDANCE RECORDING SYSTEM FOR CICT

November 2023
Chapter I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction and Review of Related Literature
In today’ current education, technology plays a significant role in changing
conventional learning environments. Computer Laboratory is where students do their
laboratory activities. Wherein Attendance recording facility of the users in computer lab
is needed. However, the conventional approaches to managing attendance in these
facilities typically prove to be laborious, mistake-prone, and time-consuming.
Wakchoure et al. (2022) in their research study “Multiple Approach of RFID-
Based Attendance System using IoT”, they stated that the number of people present at a
specific location or event is referred to as attendance. It is indeed a measure of the
number of students/staff inside an institution. The traditional, manual method of marking
attendance, which is a time-consuming task, necessitates more time to prepare, record,
and calculate each understudy’s normal attendance. The traditional method is more prone
to human error and involves an excessive amount of paperwork. Emphasizing the most
recent technological advancements can be beneficial in developing newer systems by
eliminating the disadvantages of traditional methods and focusing on the enhancement of
their advantages.
According to (Rizal et al. 2017) in their study “Smart Attendance System
Applying QR Code” they stated that using pen and paper manually is the conventional
and standard method of recording attendance; yet, this method is thought to be an
inefficient, tedious, and repetitive process. If a class has a large number of students, this
method of taking attendance will result in lost time rather than delivering lectures
properly.
Hendry et. al, (2017) in their study “Smart Attendance System Applying QR
Code”, student’s commitment are determined when they are in class and on time. The
fewer the frequency a student misses a class, the more likely they will do well
academically. The traditional way of taking the attendance is by using pen and paper
manually which is seen as a repetitive and a tedious process. This mode of taking
attendance consumes time instead of delivering lecture efficiently especially if the
population of the class is big.

According to Pandey et al. (2022) in their study “Automatic Attendance

Monitoring System (AAMS)” they stated that manually recording attendance not only
takes longer, but it can also cause distractions in the classroom. The security of all the
data was not guaranteed by this method of recording attendance. In order to manage all
the responsibilities associated with attendance marking, we automated this system by
developing an Automated Attendance Monitoring Application. According to Matilda and
Shahin in the 2019 IEEE international conference on system, computation, automation,
and networking (ICSCAN), pages 1-4, 2019[1], this application is based on facial
recognition technology, which is nothing more than the identification of a specific person
by peculiar features of their faces and serves as a clear identifier of anyone.

At present the computer lab becomes a more integral part of education and it
became the hub of activity. The Staff who needs instructional and technical assistance can
find it in the computer lab. As professionals maintain a computer lab, many things may
fall under jurisdiction from system allocation to monitoring the student’s activities. Here
are some great management ideas to help keep a computer lab run smoothly throughout
the year. The Staff can monitor the client/student systematically. The staff can generate
the student’s lab attendance such as login and logout details. At the same time the server
can analyze the system performance. (Kanna & Keerthi, 2018)

(Koppikar et al., 2019) in their study “IoT based Smart Attendance Monitoring
System using RFID” they stated that Most of the institutional authorities are troubled
with the cumbersome method of maintaining manual attendance of their employees. Also,
they stated that manual process of signing on a paper is prolonged and insecure. An
efficient attendance monitoring system needs to be enforced at such places. Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) based attendance system provides us with a solution that
caters to issues like proxy attendance. This paper describes the design of an RFID based
attendance monitoring system which uniquely identifies each employee/student based on
their RFID tag which is attached to their ID card. This makes the mechanism of recording
the attendance effortless, quicker and protected as compared to conventional method.

According to (Bhavana et al. 2020) in their study, “Computer vision-based

classroom attendance management system-with speech output using LBPH algorithm”,
they stated that in order to evaluate students' progress, daily attendance marking is a
frequent and significant activity in schools and institutions. Processing manual attendance
keeping is challenging, especially when there are many students involved. There are
drawbacks to several automated methods that were created to solve these problems,
including expense, fake attendance, accuracy, and intrusiveness. A smart, automated
attendance system is required to address these issues. Traditional face recognition
systems use techniques to distinguish a face from the input, but the outcomes are
frequently not as exact and accurate as needed. By creating a facial model, the system
described here aims to depart from such established systems and offer a fresh method for
using face recognition to identify students.
In a research study conducted by Zapanta Jr. et al. (2021) entitled “Access
Control and Monitoring: A System for Computer Laboratory” that aims to address the
security issues in terms of the use of the computer laboratories using the barcode
technology in regulating the entry point of the students and logging in the attendance log.
They stated any student can use the computer laboratory even if not enrolled in the
laboratory subject. Some of them take something such as memory, mouse, keyboard, etc.
from the laboratories and change the settings of the workstation. There is no monitoring
or record keeping of students who used the computer unit in the laboratory. If there is a
damaged computer unit or any untoward lost or incidents in the laboratory, there is no
record for the last student user in a particular workstation.
According to the study, “Computer Laboratory Management System for
Improving Teaching & Learning Methods” of (Utekar et al. 2020) that aims to develop
LAN based control system that can monitor the activities of terminal in computer
laboratory. They stated that many applications use online system to interact with the user.
It is because, it has many advantages and helps in effective and efficient manner to
interact with the user. In today’s world application based study is more important for each
and every student, recognizing that requirement for the development of this systems idea
came into existence which will be helpful for teachers, students and institution. The
purpose of this system is to develop LAN based control system that can monitor the
activities of terminal in computer laboratory. The system will be based on student and
teacher’s module. With the help of proposed system, teachers can assign weekly
assignments and can maintain the attendance of the students.
In a research study “AUTOMATIC ATTENDANCE SYSTEM USING
WEBCAM AND RFID” by (Nimitha et al. 2017), they stated that in the majority of
institutions, teachers record student’s attendance on paper-based attendance registers.
This method has a number of drawbacks, including the inability to analyze data because
paper registrations are not uploaded to a centralized system, a reduction in effective
lecture time due to data gathering time, and student false attendance. Every time a student
shows up for class under the current traditional attendance method, they must manually
sign the attendance sheet. As common as it may appear, such a system lacks automation,
which leaves room for a host of potential issues. This includes the time wasted by the
students looking for and signing their name on the attendance sheet; some students may
do this intentionally or accidentally.
 In a study “Attendance and Information System using RFID and Web-Based
Application for Academic Sector” by (Rjeib. et al. 2018), they stated that student’s
attendance have been considered as one of the crucial elements or issues that reflects the
academic achievements and the performance contributed to any university compared to
the traditional methods that impose time-consuming and inefficiency. Diverse automatic
identification technologies have been more in vogue such as Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID). An extensive research and several applications are produced to
take maximum advantage of this technology and bring about some concerns. RFID is a
wireless technology which uses to a purpose of identifying and tracking an object via
radio waves to transfer data from an electronic tag, called RFID tag or label to send data
to RFID reader. The current study focuses on proposing an RFID based Attendance
Management System (AMS) and also information service system for an academic
domain by using RFID technology in addition to the programmable Logic Circuit (such
as Arduino), and web-based application. The proposed system aims to manage student's
attendance recording and provides the capabilities of tracking student absentee as well,
supporting information services include student’s grading marks, daily timetable, lecture
time and classroom numbers, and other student-related instructions provided by faculty
and department staff.
Bhagat et al. (2022) proposed in their study Lab Attendance Using Fingerprint
Sensor an integrated Student Attendance System that incorporates fingerprint technology.
This system suggests a process where various fingerprints of students are captured using
a fingerprint module. These fingerprints are then compared against a dataset to
authenticate student’s attendance. The student whose fingerprint closely matches the data
in the dataset is marked as present for the specific lecture. Furthermore, their study
illustrates how fingerprint recognition can enhance an efficient attendance system,
automatically documenting the presence of enrolled individuals in their respective
locations. Additionally, it maintains a log file to record the entry of each individual in
relation to specific subjects and generates attendance reports.
According to Janbandhu et al. (2017) in their student “Computer Lab
Monitoring System” they stated that the Lab management system is developed to
overcome the problem faced by the lab managing staff. To Monitor a LAN, the
monitoring server is typically connected to a monitor port on the switch. If multiple
Switches are used in an installation, the monitoring Server may need a connection to all
of them. That connection can either be a physical cable, or if your network switches
support it, a LAN specifically configured for monitoring traffic. LAN monitoring project
aims to develop various network utilities which are required to effectively monitor a LAN
network. Project aims to develop an integrated software solution that allows a network
administrator to remotely monitor his LAN network.
Many schools across the Philippines still rely on tedious and time-consuming
methods for monitoring attendance. Some use paper-based systems where students
submit their names and sections, while others employ seating plans to manage large
classes more easily, identifying available seats and assigning them to students. However,
regardless of the method used, collecting attendance data inevitably requires manual
encoding to generate attendance reports. In response to these challenges, (Santos, Balba,
& Rebong, 2021) discussed in (Student Attendance Monitoring and Evaluation System -
IEOM society), the implementation of an Optimization Query Algorithm to enhance
attendance tracking and monitor student punctuality. Computer programs like AMS
(Attendance Monitoring System) are essential educational tools that can enhance student
punctuality and reduce absenteeism. Additionally, these software applications assist
teachers and educators in efficiently and consistently tracking and monitoring student’s
attendance on a daily basis. This algorithm aims to analyze the reasons behind student’s
absences. Based on the results of a conducted survey, it is evident that the proposed
system is well-received by both future users and experts. The survey findings suggest that
the system will be a valuable asset for students, faculty members, and school deans alike.
Additionally, the system incorporates query optimization techniques, such as binary
search, which significantly improves the efficiency of attendance monitoring compared to
traditional methods.

Antonio et al. (2019) in CAMS: CVCITC ATTENDANCE MONITORING

SYSTEM stated that the Attendance Monitoring System, which utilizes an RFID Reader
and Short Messaging Service (SMS), is known as CAMS: CVCITC Attendance
Monitoring System. This system has been carefully examined to ensure high-quality
service for students. It was developed using the Rapid Application Development method
and incorporates an RFID Reader to enhance efficiency and ensure precise attendance
tracking. Furthermore, it offers an additional feature of SMS notifications for the
convenience of parents. The researchers have drawn several significant conclusions from
their study: The system benefits both the school and parents by facilitating the tracking of
student’s attendance, it reduces the time needed for attendance management, parents find
it reassuring as they can conveniently monitor their child's attendance from home or
work, and the system simplifies administrative tasks by automating processes removing
the need for manual intervention.
In addition to, (Agustin, 2020) in his study, Enhancing the students’
monitoring system using RFID through internet of Things stated, in the world of the
Internet of Things (IoT), virtually everything can intelligently interact and communicate.
In essence, the physical world is becoming a vast repository of knowledge interconnected
through IoT. Employing devices capable of passively capturing student’s check-in and
check-out times using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and
transmitting messages via SMS technology is a valuable resource. This ensures that
parents receive confirmation when their child arrives on campus. The administrative
aspect of the system involves overseeing RFID registrations, creating parent accounts,
monitoring time-in and time-out data, and generating corresponding reports. The school
registrar manages SMS notifications related to class cancellations, while the accounting
department is responsible for handling SMS notifications regarding school payments.
Banepali et al. (2019) proposed a “Design and Implementation of Wi-Fi Based
Attendance System Using Raspberry Pi”. The system was developed using Apache
server, MySQL and PHP; and updating the attendance using threshold RSS, Media
Access Control (MAC) address, association. The system uses cutting-edge technologies
such as smart phones and Wireless Access Point (WAP) to automate student’s attendance
in the classroom settings. Four stages are taken to implement the system: Wireless Local
Area Network (WLAN) formation using Raspberry Pi and smart phones; Received Signal
Strength (RSS) threshold determination for each setting. In implementing the database
structure and web interface the Apache server, MySQL, and PHP was used. The system
was tested in several classroom settings including the laboratory room, lecture hall and
tutorial room and obtained more than 94% of accuracy in attendance marking for all
settings.

Kurniawan and Alviana (2019) on “The effectiveness of Smart Workinary for

attendance data delivery and information based paperless system.” Their study aims to
build an information system that can send attendance data automatically and convey
information by reducing paper use. Smart workinary is an information system that is used
to meet the needs of sending attendance data directly and can be used as information.
Paperless is a method used to reduce paper use by storing documents and data digitally
and stored into digital storage. Smart workinary system is built to overcome the
withdrawal of presence data manually from the presence machine and display
information without using paper use. The results obtained by building a smart workinary
system is to be able to quickly and automatically send present data and information that
can be displayed while reducing paper usage. With a smart workinary system that sends
data automatically, there is a reduction of manual activity of taking data attendance and
reduced paper use by 35%. Reducing this activity results in speed, accuracy, and
effectiveness of data processing.

In a research study “Attendance System of Computer Laboratory Assistant in

PT.XYZ Using Wireless Fidelity” by (Sulaiman et al. 2022) they stated that the use of
Android smartphones is becoming increasingly widespread in all walks of life in people's
daily lives. Supported by the development of mobile applications that are so innovative
and varied, is one of the reasons. Mobile application development aims to support almost
all human activities, especially in the world of work, therefore the programmer creates a
presence system using Android-based wireless fidelity (WIFI) at laboratory of PT.XYZ.
At the laboratory of PT.XYZ, they still use manual attendance system for presence of
computer laboratory assistant, so there are several problems like productivity decreases
due to fraud in attendance, namely the help of friends to be present without having to be
present, to data errors. Through wireless fidelity programmers solve problems with
prototype research models and Object Oriented Programming (OOP) methods. The
software development tool is the Unified Modeling Language
(UML). The Applications has made using hash function of encryption on admin
passwords and the user passwords. Both of the encryptions work on private passwords,
even the admin and programmers don't know the contents of the user's password. The
main result of this research is we can provide that there’s a way to make presence system.

In a research study conducted by Dalimbkar et al. (2017) that aims to develop

software in which we are monitoring the live screens of all computers of the labs
remotely and also we can see the status of each and every computer. They stated that the
Remote Monitoring means system administrator can secretly watch computers live
screens and prevent the students from doing other thing instead of study Practical’s, the
status of the computer can be seen. They also stated that the Functionality of the system
is able to see which system is connected in LAN and which system is not in the LAN. It
provides the facility that if computer is connected in LAN then it is indicated by Green
Signal, and if the computer is not connected in LAN is indicated by red signal, and if any
computer is partially damaged then that is indicated by yellow signal. Administrator
System having the Good Graphical User Interface that helps a person to Access remote
system easily and without acknowledged to the student.

The Computer Laboratory facilities of CICT department of Nueva Ecija

University of Science and Technology – San Isidro Campus needs a certain development.
The computer laboratory facilities in CICT Department is where students do their
laboratory activities and interact with the instructors during laboratory sessions. It is
crucial to record the students who use the computer terminals during these sessions due to
the instances of students taking equipment, such as keyboard and mouse, from the
computer laboratory. Manually recording attendance for students using the computer
units in the laboratory is a tedious and time-consuming task for the computer laboratory
facilitator. This approach is prone to errors, data manipulation, and inefficiency.

To address the issues stated in the previous paragraph, the developed Computer
Laboratory Attendance Recording System is relevant to the needs of CICT Department of
NEUST – San Isidro Campus. The developed system will not only streamlines the
recording process of the users of computer laboratories including the users of the
workstations, inside but also significantly reduces the potential for human errors. By
automating the attendance process, this system enhances efficiency and ensures the
integrity of attendance data. It provides a robust solution for CICT Department of
NEUST – San Isidro Campus to manage attendance of the users of computer laboratory
effectively and transparently.

Objectives of the study

The objective of the study is to develop the Computer Laboratory Attendance
Recording System for CICT Department of NEUST – San Isidro campus that aims to
record the attendance of the students and the faculty who utilize the computer laboratory
rooms including the students who use the computer terminals inside. Furthermore, this
study aims to:

1) To keep a record of student who uses the computer terminals in the laboratories.
2) To automate the process of recording the attendance of student and faculty in
computer laboratory, reducing the need for manual attendance tracking.
3) To produce accurate attendance reports of computer lab users.

Conceptual Framework
 Figure 1: Research Paradigm

This framework describes the input, process, and the output of the proposed
system. This design shows how the information that the researcher collected are being
managed and process.
The input box contains the list of software, hardware, and methodology that
served as a requirement for the development of the system. The hardware requirements
needed are computers, LAN network connection, and Windows Server. For the software
requirements needed, Visual studio code will be using as Integrated Development
Environment (IDE) for writing the codes needed to develop the system, other software
requirements needed are XAMPP Control Panel and Internet browsers such as Google
Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc. The process box shows the Agile methodology
process that will be using in the development of the study. In the output box, it contains
the proposed system which is the Design and Development of Computer Laboratory
Attendance Recording System for CICT.
Statement of the Problem
The CICT Department at NEUST - San Isidro Campus currently uses a manual
approach to record the attendance of both faculty members and students using the
computer labs, including those using the workstations there. The computer lab facilitator
uses these recorded entries as crucial records to determine who used a particular
workstation most recently. This is to determine who last used a certain computer
workstation in the event that equipment is lost or misplaced. The previously described
method is laborious, time-consuming, prone to mistakes, and manipulable. To address
these concerns, the developed Computer Laboratory Attendance Recording System for
CICT Department of NEUST – San Isidro Campus is relevant to its needs.
The developed Computer Laboratory Attendance Recording System for CICT
Department of NEUST – San Isidro Campus aims to address these issues by automating
the process of attendance and recording of the users of computer laboratory. The
developed system will improve the record-keeping, and provide a reliable and accurate
attendance report of users of the computer laboratories.

Significance of the Study

This study is deemed significant to the Computer Laboratory of CICT
Department in NEUST-San Isidro Campus especially to the computer laboratory tech
personnel. The developed system provides an accurate, fast, reliable information data
management. The following are the people who will be benifited from the developed
system:
Laboratory Tech Personnel: The laboratory tech perrsonnel will not have
difficulty in recording the attendance of the users of computer laboratory. The computer
laboratory staff can view attendance records of the computer laboratory users using the
system. The computer laboratory staff can download the attendance record of the
computer laboratory users.
 Faculty Members/Teachers: The Faculty Members can view their laboratory
schedule on the system. Faculty members can view attendance of their students and the
current workstation they are using.
Students: During their lab sessions, the students won't have to bother filling
out the lab attendance sheet with their names and the workstations they are currently
utilizing.

Future Researchers: if they want to conduct a similar work, they can use this as
their reference and if the study is successful, it will increase their knowledge and skills to
develop a program that is useful.

Scope and Limitations

The Computer Laboratory Attendance Recording System for CICT Department
of NEUST – San Isidro Campus will have a responsive design using HTML, CSS, and
Javascript to ensure optimal viewing on different screen sizes. The system will have three
(3) different users: Computer Laboratory, Personel CICT Faculty members, and students.

Homepage of the Computer Laboratory Attendance Recording system will

serve as a landing page for new and existing users. The homepage will have a login page
where users can login by entering their credentials and direct the users to their respective
dashboards. For new students, there will be sign-up form where they can create their
account by entering their personal information.

Admin or Computer Laboratory Facilitator Dashboard – The Admin or the

Computer laboratory facilitator can access a dashboard where they can view and
download the attendance records of the computer laboratory users. The admin dashboard
will also have a display where they can view and assign laboratory schedule for faculty
members. The list of computer laboratories and the computer list inside the laboratories
can be accessed in the admin dashboard. Additionally, the admin can view, update,
deactivate, activate, and delete the registered accounts on the system. This will allow for
better management of user information.
 CICT Faculty Members Dashboard – CICT faculty members can access a
dashboard on our system where they can view their laboratory schedules. The faculty
members can also view the name of the students who joined the laboratory session
including the workstations they are currently using.

Students – The students can access a dashboard where they can view the name
of current pc they are using and the time they logged in. The information about the lab
session, including its duration and the name of the subject in which the students currently
are logged in, is also available in student dashboard.

The Computer Laboratory Attendance Recording System for CICT Department

of NEUST – San Isidro Campus stores a list of registered workstations on its databases.
Access to this system is limited to registered workstations located within the computer
labs. The use of Unregistered devices are prohibited from accessing the system when
attempting to log in.