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Online course Registration System PROJECT PROPOSAL DOCUMENT

NAME: ADM NO: E-mail: UNIT NAME: UNIT CODE: SUPERVISOR: PROJECT

This project is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements governing the award of Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology

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Contents

Contents...........................................................................................................................................2 Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................3 Background..................................................................................................................................3 Problem statement........................................................................................................................4 Justification..................................................................................................................................4 Access..........................................................................................................................................4 Records Management...................................................................................................................5 Features........................................................................................................................................5 Benefits........................................................................................................................................5 Considerations..............................................................................................................................5 Project scope ...............................................................................................................................5 System......................................................................................................................................5 Technology..............................................................................................................................5 Environment.............................................................................................................................5 Chapter 3: Literature Review...........................................................................................................6 Case Study 1....................................................................................................................................7 Case Study Background...........................................................................................................7 Course Registration System Problem Statement.........................................................................7 The Role of Tools........................................................................................................................7 Project Summary..........................................................................................................................8 The Inception Phase.....................................................................................................................8 Business Goals and Needs.......................................................................................................8 Case Study 2....................................................................................................................................8 Problem Statement.......................................................................................................................8 Use Case Model...........................................................................................................................9 List of Use Cases (grouped by actors).....................................................................................9 Use Case Descriptions (brief)..................................................................................................9 Register for Courses Use Case...............................................................................................10 Chapter 3: Methodology................................................................................................................11 2

3PROPOSAL DOCUMENT ........................................................................................................................................................12 Research methods to be used.....................................................................................................12 Questionnaires........................................................................................................................12 Interviews...............................................................................................................................13 Observations..........................................................................................................................13 Resources required for the project.............................................................................................13 Hardware platform.................................................................................................................13 Software platform..................................................................................................................14 Choice of programming tools....................................................................................................14 Project schedule.........................................................................................................................14 Conclusions................................................................................................................................15 References..................................................................................................................................15 Bibliography..........................................................................................................................15

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background

4PROPOSAL DOCUMENT Pls write something about cooperative Bank and the training school and the link between the two Problem statement There is a widespread agreement that the policy in course registration is very complicated, costly, take-time, and inconvenient to both Co-op Staffs and the institution offering the courses. This is due the fact that at the beginning of each semester/ training session, the institutuions has to pause or delay some activities to spend time for course registration of the Co-op Staffs. Some staffs have to prepare for offering courses list (including selecting courses and inviting lecturers ), print it out, and deliver the registration form to each Co-op Staff. After around one week, all Co-op Staffs registration form will be returned. And the staffs have to input Co-op Staffs registration information to files. They also have to check manually whether the registration form of each Co-op Staff is legal or not basing on some conditions such as prerequisite course, maximum and minimum number of credits allowed to register If there is anything wrong or Co-op Staffs want to add or drop the courses, everything in the above process has to be restarted. And sometimes some papers are lost when documents are moved from one place to another place; both Co-op Staffs and institution have to spend time for retrieving necessary information and approve it. However, it is impossible to do that in some cases. In addition, managing Co-op Staffs academic history are also thorny issues. Mistakes can occur anytime. Co-op Staffs transcript management is also another issue. When Co-op Staffs want to have transcript to see their academic history, they have to wait at least two weeks to receive it from tutors. Those are some typical examples for the inconvenience and complication of the current course registration policy. They lead institutions to the decision of building Online Course Registration System to improve effectiveness, reduce time and cost in course registration process. Justification Access

On line registration is easier and more efficient. Rather than holding a registration day in an auditorium, with paper forms and manual filing, the on line system allows co-op staff to browse a list of courses at an educational institution's web site. They can then choose and register for their courses without having to appear in person. 4

5PROPOSAL DOCUMENT Records Management

An on line course registration system can capture and store course registrations in real time. These records are used to determine when a course is full, and for assessing the demand for a specific class and instructor.

Features Online registration websites can provide more details and often include graphic and multimedia information for registrants. Most registration websites are database systems that automate the collection, tabulation and reporting of registrant information.

Benefits
Online registration offers round-the-clock access to the registration process. It also allows students to access registration data in real time. They can review registration requests as they occur and prepare for events accordingly. Considerations The benefits of online registration are greater for larger events that occur on a regular basis. The cost of developing a registration system, or of using a registration vendor, should be weighed against the cost of using a manual system for smaller or less frequent events. Project scope System This project focuses on Course Registration System for Co-operative Bank staff. Technology We will be using a webbased technology with php as the programming language and Mysql as the back end database Environment This project will be tested at Co-op Bak management centre . 5

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Chapter 3: Literature Review Several registrations systems are used in the universities and colleges, some of them support the online registration features and some do not. Some of these systems were purchased by local or international software companies, and some are developed internally by the software development teams in the computer centers each in the relevant university or college. What makes this registration system almost distinguished when compared to others, is that its a Special-Purpose Registration System. First of all, the system is explicitly used to enroll students to the training center, here, courses are grouped into Supervisory skills 6

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Pressentation skills Induction / teller Debt collection

Case Study 1
Case Study Background Course registration at the local university is currently done by hand. Students fill out forms that contain their course selections and return the forms to the registrar. Clerks then enter the selections into a database and a process is executed to create student schedules. The registration process takes from one to two weeks to complete. The university decided to investigate the use of an online registration system. This system would be used by professors to indicate the courses they would teach, by students to select courses, and by the registrar to complete the registration process.

Course Registration System Problem Statement

At the beginning of each semester students may request a course catalogue containing a list of course offerings for the semester. Information about each course, such as professor, department, and prerequisites will be included to help students make informed decisions. The new on-line registration system will allow students to select four course offerings for the coming semester. In addition, each student will indicate two alternative choices in case a course offering becomes filled or canceled. No course offering will have more than ten students. No course offering will have fewer than three students. A course offering with fewer than three students will be canceled. Once the registration process is completed for a student, the registration system sends information to the billing system, so the student can be billed for the semester. Professors must be able to access the on-line system to indicate which courses they will be teaching. They will also need to see which students signed up for their course offering. For each semester, there is a period of time that students can change their schedules. Students must be able to access the on-line system during this time to add or drop courses. The billing system will credit all students for courses dropped during this period of time.

The Role of Tools

Any software development method is best supported by a tool. This book uses the tool Rational Rose 4.0. Rational Rose is organized around the architectural views - use case, logical, 7

8PROPOSAL DOCUMENT component and deployment. This case study will map the steps of the process into the views contained in the tool.

Project Summary
This system will have a short inception phase during which prototyping is used to select the database. The use case diagram is started in the inception phase and matured in the elaboration phase. By the end of the elaboration phase, an architectural iteration is complete. The system is evolved in the construction phase in two iterations. The process components of requirements analysis, design, implementation and test are used in all phases of the project lifecycle.

The Inception Phase

Business Goals and Needs The first question to address is the need for a new registration system. Does the University have the resources needed to design and implement the new system? In addition to the assessment of need for the system, the risks posed by the new system are elaborated. In the case of an on-line registration system, one of the major risks is the ability to store the information in a manner that is easily and quickly accessible by all. For the purposes of this case study it was decided that the new system should be built. Prototypes were completed to address the database risks.

Case Study 2

Problem Statement
At the beginning of each semester students may request a course catalogue containing a list of course offerings for the semester. Information about each course, such as professor, department, and prerequisites will be included to help students make informed decisions. The new on-line registration system will allow students to select four course offerings for the coming semester. In addition, each student will indicate two alternative choices in case a course offering becomes filled or canceled. No course offering will have more than ten students. No course offering will have fewer than three students. A course offering with fewer than three students will be canceled. Once the registration process is completed for a student, the

9PROPOSAL DOCUMENT registration system sends information to the billing system, so the student can be billed for the semester. Professors must be able to access the on-line system to indicate which courses they will be teaching. They will also need to see which students signed up for their course offering. For each semester, there is a period of time that students can change their schedules. Students must be able to access the on-line system during this time to add or drop courses. The billing system will credit all students for courses dropped during this period of time.

Use Case Model

List of Use Cases (grouped by actors)

Student--someone who is registered to take courses at the University. o Register for courses. Professor--someone who is licensed to teach at the University. o Select courses to teach. o Request course offering roster. Registrar--someone who is responsible for the maintenance of the Registration System. o Generate course catalogue. o Maintain professor information. o Maintain student information. o Maintain curriculum. Billing System--external system that bills students each semester. o No use cases

Use Case Descriptions (brief)

Register for courses o The use case is started by the student. It provides the capability to create, review, modify, and delete a course schedule for a specified semester. All pertinent billing information is sent to the Billing System. Request class roster o This use case is started by the professor. It provides the capability to request a printed list of all students assigned to a specified course offering. Select courses to teach o This use case is started by the professor. It provides the capability to select, review, modify, and delete a list of courses to teach for a specified semester. Maintain professor information o This use case is started by the registrar. It provides the capability to create, review, modify, and delete professor information. Maintain student information o This use case is started by the registrar. It provides the capability to create, review, modify, and delete student information. Maintain curriculum 9

10PROPOSAL DOCUMENT This use case is started by the registrar. It provides the capability to create, review, modify, and delete a list of course offerings for a given semester. Generate catalogue o This use case is started by the registrar. It provides the capability to generate a catalogue containing a list of course offerings for a specified semester.
o

Register for Courses Use Case Flow of events: This use case begins when the student enters the student id number. The system verifies that the student id number is valid and prompts the student to select the current semester or a future semester. The student enters the desired semester. The system prompts the student to select the desired activity:

Create a schedule. Review a schedule. Change a schedule: o Delete a course. o Add a course.

The student indicates that the activity is complete. The system will print the student schedule and notify the student that registration is complete. The system sends billing information for the student to the billing system for processing. Alternate flow If an invalid id number is entered, the system will not allow access to the registration system. If an attempt is made to create a schedule for a semester where a schedule already exists, the system will prompt for another choice to be made. Create a Schedule The student enters 4 primary course offering numbers and 2 alternate course offering numbers. The student then submits the request for courses. The system then: 1. Checks that prerequisites are satisfied for the requested course. 2. Adds the student to the course offering if the course offering is open. Alternate flow If a primary course offering is not available, the system will substitute an alternate course offering. Review a Schedule The student requests information on all course offerings in which the student is registered for a given semester. The system displays all courses for which the student is registered including course name, course number, course offering number, days of the week, time, location, and number of credit hours.

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11PROPOSAL DOCUMENT Change Schedule - Delete a Course The student indicates which course offerings to delete. The system checks that the final date for changes has not been exceeded. The system deletes the student from the course offering. The system notifies the student that the request has been processed. Change Schedule - Add a Course The student indicates which course offerings to add. The system checks that the final date for changes has not been exceeded. The system then: 1. Verifies that the maximum course load for the student has not been exceeded. 2. Checks that prerequisites are satisfied for the requested course. 3. Adds the student to the course offering if the course offering is open.

Chapter 3: Methodology In my project, I have used waterfall model. This model is used when requirements are well defined and reasonably stable, and in my project Online course Registration system all the requirements are well defined. The waterfall model, sometimes called the classic life cycle, suggests a systematic, sequential approach to software development that begins with customer specification of requirements and progresses through planning, modeling, construction and deployment, culminating in on-going support of the complete software. I have defined activities and represented them into seperated process phases. All the stages overlap and fed information to each other. It is not a simple linear model but involves a sequence of iterations of development activities.

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12PROPOSAL DOCUMENT This model is appropriate for my project as I had ample of time for designing it, so the time constraints were not there. This model generally takes more time to complete the software life cycle as when a stage completes it is signed off and development goes onto the next stage.

Research methods to be used The main research techniques used to collect data was Questionnaires, Interviews and Observation. Questionnaires Questionnaires are an inexpensive way to gather data from a potentially large number of respondents. This is an alternative to use of interviews and observation and has its advantages over other forms of data collection. I used this method because I wanted collect similar data from all personnel of this department and also save time unlike in use of interviews. The questionnaire was well structured and entailed the following categories of questions: Contingency questions a question that is answered only if the respondent gives a particular response to a previous question. This avoids asking questions of people that do not apply to

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Matrix questions - Identical response categories are assigned to multiple questions. The questions are placed one under the other, forming a matrix with response categories along the top and a list of questions down the side which is an efficient use of page space and respondents time. Closed ended questions - Respondents answers are limited to a fixed set of responses. Open ended questions - No options or predefined categories are suggested. The respondent supplied their own answer without being constrained by a fixed set of possible responses.(Content Management System Team, 2006)

Interviews I had an opportunity to interact with some of the senior management staff and other members of staff thus giving me a first hand experience on the situation at hand. I used the top-down approach i.e. interviewing the management followed by users of the system. Each of these persons interacts with the system at different levels thus facing different problems thus justifying the reason to interview each individually. From the interviews I was able to understand various individual problems that users experience. Observations This involves experiencing or witnessing the users using the existing system to perform their tasks. This method helped me to gain an inside view of the current system. This method is advantageous because I gathered data and refined it directly in the interaction. Resources required for the project Hardware platform P3 computer with the following specifications: 1.6 GHz processor 1 GB RAM 160 GB Hard disk 13

14PROPOSAL DOCUMENT Software platform The software used was as follows: PHP Language. MYSQL Used to design the back end database. Microsoft Word 2003 for documentation. UML to draw the Use Case Diagrams.

Choice of programming tools Visual studio 2010 was chosen as the programming language because of the following: Convenience Versatility It is easy to use even to the beginners. It provides a user friendly platform for both coding and designing of forms and summary reports. Powerful It provides powerful tools such as Visual Component Manager, package and deployment wizard, visual modeler add source code control. Project schedule Task Project idea Proposal presentation Preparing Proposal documentation Working on system requirement System design Activity Description Coming up with a project idea Proposal doc acts as a tentative summary of the proposed system highlighting the scope, objectives and justification for the system Data analysis to identify the needs for the system- evaluation of current system for example Design of the system as it would like to the user- involves use of dataflow diagrams 14 4 weeks 4 weeks System requirement specification documentation System design specification documentation Duration 1 week 1 week Deliverable Project idea Proposal presentation doc Proposal document

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Development Testing Implementation and user training Preparation of user manual Preparation of final documentation

Actual coding Performance of module, integrated and system testing Involves deploying the system to the intended client- to test for its live performance User manual is the document to help the user e.g. configure and

5 weeks 2 week 2 weeks

Progress report Test plan documentation Implementation plan documentation

2 week

User manual

run the system effectively later on. Final documentation gives the 1 week overall content about the software and includes details of all the above deliverables

Final documentation plus the software

Conclusions With a system like this Online course registration system, co-op bank management centre will be able to efficiently keep records of courses and staff applying for the course. By the end of the project I should have achieved the following Development of a system that automates the application functions like courses serch and back end administration Development of a system that provides security to private data Development of a system that can be implemented in the real world.

References Bibliography 1. Let Us C by Yashavant Kanetkar 2. Computer Science, C++ by Sumita Arora 3. The Complete Reference, C++ by Herbert Schildt Software Engineering by Roger S. Pressman 4. Kemu past Library Projects 15

16PROPOSAL DOCUMENT 5. Kemu Library

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