ESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT A DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR STUDENT REGISTRATION IN FACULTY OF SCIENCE OF NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Database Management System for students registration deals with all kind of student details, academic related reports, college details, course details, curriculum, batch details and other resource related details too (Vecchioli, 1999). It tracks all the details of a student from the day one to the end of his course which can be used for all reporting purpose, tracking of attendance, progress in the course, completed semesters years, coming semester year curriculum details, exam details, project or any other assignment details, final exam result etc. The design can facilitate the exploration all the activities happening in the college, even to get to know which faculty is assigned to which course, the current status of a student, attendance percentage of a student and upcoming requirements of a student. The database management system for student registration is an automated version of manual database management system for student registration. It can handle all details about a student (Wright, 1990). The details include college details, subject details, student personal details, academic details, exam details etc. In case of manual system they need a lot of time, manpower etc. Here almost all work is computerized. So the accuracy is maintained. Maintaining backup is very easy. It can do within a few minutes. The system has two type of accessing modes, administrator and user. Database management system for student registration is managed by an administrator. It is the job of the administrator to insert update and monitor the whole process. When a user log in to the system. He/she would only view details of the student. He/she can’t perform any changes (Connors & Valesky, 2006). 

The data generated by organizations are usually created in files for use by different departments/units within the organization. If the data contained in these files are not carefully delineated it is very likely that the same data will appear on several of these files. That is these files would contain redundant data e.g. the University registry file and college or department file would contain the name and address of a student. This would mean that a simple change of address has to be processed in two and probably three or four places, depending on the number of other files on which these data appears. As noted in Vecchioli (1999) organizing and managing student records into a cohesive and efficient system might seem like an impossible task.

The National Open University of Nigeria is a Federal Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institution, the first of its kind in the West African sub-region. It is Nigeria's largest tertiary institution in terms of student numbers and is popularly referred to as 'NOUN'. NOUN does not provide lectures to students in normal classrooms except some certain study centres, primarily due to constraints known to the University alone and the challenges usually faced by a developing tertiary institution. The study centre in Lagos for instance provides lectures to all its Law undergraduates and supplies necessary course materials to all students after the payment of tuition fees. All courses offered have been accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The major problems associated with database management system for student registration include improper registration, late release of students’ results, inaccuracy due to manual and tedious calculation, retrieval difficulties /inefficiency. Hence, it is importance to identify whether the organization of administrative functions in the faculty of science, national Open University of Nigeria is best suited for computerization. However, this study is examining the design and development of a database management system for student registration in faculty of science, National Open University of Nigeria.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of this study:

1. To design and develop a database management system for student registration in faculty of science, National Open University of Nigeria.

2. To examine the advantages of database management system for student registration.

3. To identify the limitations in the development of database management system for student registration.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the process of designing and developing a database management system for student registration in faculty of science, National Open University of Nigeria?

2. What are the advantages of database management system for student registration?

3. What are the limitations in the development of database management system for student registration?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The following are the significance of this study:

1. The outcome of this study will educate on the design and development of a database management system for student registration in faculty of science, National Open University of Nigeria.

2. This research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will cover the process of designing and developing a database management system for student registration in faculty of science, National Open University of Nigeria

1.7 LIMITATIONS  OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.