CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Most tertiary institutions, the process of registering all students as members of the institution and the courses they are to offer is largely concentrated into a very short period of time. The registration period takes some time to complete. The purpose of the registration process is to determine which students will be taking courses within the institution, and for the administration to keep its records up-to-date. From the students’ point of view, registration enables them to acquire the necessary authorized membership of the institution, and where relevant, obtain their grant cheques. It is usually the case that students will register for particular courses, or modules, at the same time, and the information collected is used by members of the teaching staff to construct class lists, etc. Registration involved students being registered in a single place within the institution, where they would present a form which had previously been filled in elsewhere by the student and their department.

Presently, there is a dedicated course registration form that is mandatory for students to fill. On the course form, the basic information of the students such as the name, registration number, and other vital details like the academic session, semester courses, course lecturer for the corresponding courses are captured. After filling the form, the students take the course form for signing by the respective course lecturers. The course form serves several vital purposes. For instance, to the department, the course registration form gives vital information about the number of students that have registered for a particular course and for the semester. To the lecturers, it enables them to know the number of students that have registered the course and it also serves as a guide for the effectiveness of delivery of lectures. To the management such as the Exam monitoring committee (EMC), it serves as an index for them to know the totality of students that have registered for that course to enable them know and prepare the examination materials for the course. It also guides the time table committee on the allocation of classrooms for examination when the number of student that have registered is known. It is also necessary to note that if a student have not registered for a particular course, he or she is not legible to write the exams for that course and this will affect the student academically. In addition, during clearance, the course form could be needed for reference purposes.

1.1 Statement of Problem

The following problems were identified in the existing system at the case study:

1. The delay to locate course registration forms.
2. Sorting of files becomes impossible especially when it takes longer years of registration.
3. The old system does not have a unified database.
4. There is no structure that compels students to register all outstanding courses before proceeding to the recent ones.
5. The course registration information is delayed for decision making process that is based on the information needed.

It is in view of the above listed problems that necessitated this research work on the design and implementation of course registration system.

1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to develop a course registration system. The following are the objectives of the study:

1. To develop a software system that will be used to capture course registration form details to a database.
2. To implement a system that will facilitate easy management of course registration records by facilitating querying of the database.
3. To design a system that can be used to easily update course registration records.
4. To design a system that will aid electronic filing of course registration records.

1.3 Scope of the Study

This study covers the automated course registration system for tertiary institutions, a case study of Akwa Ibom state polytechnic, and it is limited to Computer Science Department.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is that it will provide an effective means to capture, store and retrieve student and course information. Management can be presented with instant reports needed pertaining to any student or group of students and the courses registered. The study will also serve as a good reference material for other researchers that need information pertaining to the subject.

1.5 Organization of Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the introduction, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the theoretical background and the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, constraints of the study, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.6 Definition of Terms

Below are some of the terms that need proper definition so as to make the research work understandable.

Course – A program of study or training, especially one that leads to a degree or certificate from an educational institution

Registration – Enrollment process: the process of enrolling at a college or university, choosing courses, and paying fees at the beginning of an academic term

Information – Definite knowledge acquired or supplied about something or somebody, also the meaningful material derived from computer data by organizing it and interpreting it in a specific way

System – A combination of related parts working together to achieve a particular goal.

Management – the organizing and controlling of the affairs of a business or sector of business.

Query – A request for information

Database – A systematically arranged collection of computer data, structured so that it can be automatically retrieved or manipulated.