BulSU On-Line Students’ Information System and Services Chap1

BulSU On-Line Students’ Information System and Services

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CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction Computers and computer technology have totally changed the face of the world as the twenty-first century starts. It would be hard to find one corner of the society that has not been changed dramatically by computers. Almost anything is run or made by computers like cars and jets were designed on computers, traffic signals are run by computers, most medical equipment use computers and space exploration was started with computers. Most of the jobs today require the use of computers and it would be hard if the computers are not around. The 'mechanical brains' made a huge impact on our society because they are more efficient, save time, and do things that no one could ever have imagined. No doubt, computer is an important thing to people, especially the people who runs the industry, organizations, government and educational institutions. (Aduffy, 2013). Bulacan State University (BulSU) is one of the leading educational institution in Central Luzon was established in 1904 and converted into a university in 1993 by virtue of Republic Act 7665. The University in mandated to provide higher professional/technical and special instruction for special purpose and to promote research and extension services, advanced studies and extension services, advanced studies and progressive leadership. The University has four campuses located in the province of Bulacan. Its seven-hectare main campus is located in the City of


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Malolos, the capital of Bulacan. The external campuses are: Bustos Campus in the town of Bustos, Sarmiento Campus in the City of San Jose Del Monte, the Meneses Campus in the town of Bulakan. As of the first semester of school year 2012-2013, the university has a total enrolled student of 35,198 (Bulacan State Univerity, 2013). BulSU has a Management Information System (MIS) office located at the ground floor of the Engineering Building headed by Engr. Rogelio Pimentel with only 5 staffs. The MIS office is responsible to make relevant information available in a timely fashion that is a necessary resource in organization to support management, operations and decision functions. The MIS serve a basic function as data collection or advance to initiating decision-making itself. One of the services of the MIS extended to all the students of the BulSU is providing a portal to view their grades. In the present set up, only two terminals are available in the MIS office that maybe use by the students in accessing their grade thus creating a very long queue. Because of the big number of BulSu’s students and still increasing, the MIS office is experiencing difficulty in accommodating the students. With those long queues, students tend to go back the next day to view their grades without any assurance that they will no longer wait and during peak transaction times for each new semester, lines are getting longer as well as each student’s waiting and processing time. The university is now implementing a no classcard policy and with that policy, another burden to the students. They are in the situation that they do not know if they pass or fail the subjects they already took since they have to wait to the


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scheduled date of releasing of “Report of Grades” which took some time before releasing. Another thing is, if they have queries to the grades that appeared to the Report of Grades, it will take another time to ask the faculty to re compute, re encode and re post the grade. Usually the registrar, schedule the encoding of grades and sometimes it overlaps with the enrollment period, this would cause the unavailability of the portal to accommodate students to give way to the faculty who will use the computer at the MIS office. There are times that there was discrepancy in the classcard and the grades in the portal. For example, an incomplete grade even completed already, an Incomplete (INC) grade still appeared in the academic program evaluation. With the current process involved and the mounting frustrations and complaints from students, faculty and university personnel alike, there is an urgent need to develop the university’s online student information system. From the cited scenarios, the researcher came up with an idea of creating a student’s information system that will be available on line for easy access to the students anytime and anywhere. This humble proposal may innovate, expedite and lessen the burden to the students accessing their grade. The BulSU On-Line Students’ Information System and Services or simply “SISS” aims to provide an on-line access to students with regards to their records, making the records accessible will let them aware of their academic


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status. SISS will also provide downloadable forms that will minimize the printing costs on the part of the school while providing convenience to the students. Statement of the Problems The general problem of this study is: “How to design and develop an On-Line Students’ Information System and Services” as an innovative way of providing services to the Bulacan State University Students. Specifically, this study sought answers to the following questions: 1. How to design a student’s information system for Bulacan State University that will be available online? 2. How to integrate innovation to the existing system that will provide the following: a. Student b. Student Grades c. Registration d. Faculty schedule e. Subjects Offered f. Class Schedule g. Downloadable forms


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3. What are the tools and software development methodology that is suitable to the proposed system? 4. How to test the performance of the proposed system in terms of data connection? 5. What is the level of acceptability of the system in terms of the following criteria? 5.1 Functionality; 5.2 Reliability; 5.3 Efficiency; 5.4 Maintainability and 5.5 Portability?

Significance of the Study Because of the increasing population of the students on all levels, this study will help the whole BulSU community. This study aims to be of significant to the following: 1. To the BulSu Students The study is significant to the students since the proposed system will provide a fast and easy access to their grades, view all the subjects offered and an accurate generation of list of grades. 2. To Academic Institution


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The study will be significant to the Bulacan State University in bringing about the strengths and weaknesses of the current system. This will brought changes and action to the clamor of the students in waiting in a very long queue since the system will provide a fast, reliable and accurate copy of grades. 3. To the MIS office The study will also be significant to the Management Information Office since they will not be bothered anymore by the students in asking questions about the availability of the kiosk and the MIS staff may maximized their time in attending in other obligations and work. 4. To the Researcher The researcher would also benefit in this study because this will enhance the skills and work performance while inheriting knowledge throughout the development of the system. 5. The Future Researcher The system will serve as an inspiration to those who wanted to develop and improve the existing system. The said idea also serves as a stepping stone in developing a system using different approach. They can also use this research as a reference for whatever study they will be venturing. Further revision of this thesis to improve the system will be intensely promoted for the good of the BulSU community.


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Scope and Delimitations The study will be focus on the design and development of BulSU On-Line Students’ Information System and Services. This study will help to improve the current system and will promote the welfare of the students. The main advantage is its accessibility any time since it is a web based. This study is specifically for Bulacan State University and it will be used to keep track of all the personal and academic information of BulSU’s students managed by the Management Information Office. The system will consist of seven (7) modules that will maintain the records of the students and each student will have a profile in the system and that will contain their personal information, grades, checklist, subjects taken with the corresponding grade and course. The system also has a module for student checklist which will serve as a guide for Evaluator in evaluation process however, the system doesn’t include automatic advising and evaluation of the students. The study will not also include a grading system, calculation of General Weighted Average and generation of student list with good scholastic records. The software development process of the system will be guided using the Software Development Life Cycle. The evaluation will be based on the ISO 9126 Quality Model and will utilize purposive sampling technique. The level of acceptability of the proposed system will be measured using the following criteria: (1) Functionality; (2) Reliability; (3) Efficiency; (4) Maintainability and (5) Portability.


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Proper use for the system should always be done to ensure its functionality and the best performance of the system relies on the correct usage of the system and a periodic maintenance is needed to ensure its functionality the deployment of the proposed system.

BulSU On-Line Students’ Information System and Services Chap1

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