IMO STATE UNIVERSITY OWERRI, PMB 2000

FACULTY OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR TIMETABLE PROCEDURES AND

EXAM DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A TERTIARY
INSTITUTION

BY

REUBEN REX CHIDI

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS DEGREE (MSC) IN
COMPUTER SCIENCE

SUPERVISOR: DR AGBAKWURU O. A.

JULY, 2018
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

My profound gratitude goes to Jehovah the creator of the universe.

This work is a synergistic product of many minds. First I appreciate my
parents, Mr and Mrs Reuben Chidi for their encouragement and for being
ever supportive. My sincere thanks goes to my supervisor Dr. A. O.
Agbkwuru for his thorough assistance with this work and advice. I
appreciate the effort and care of the Head of Computer Science
Department Dr. E. O. Ekwonwune. I appreciate the support of Prof O. A.
Osuagu.
I want to say a thank you to Mr. Ezea Sylvanus, the principal of Merit
International School, Rukpokwu, and to the entire staff of Merit
International School. I appreciate the hospitality of Mr. Green Chiwendu
Obile.
My sincere gratitude to Mr & Miss Ideozu Samuel and Ann Ideozu, I will not
forget the support of Mr & Mrs Vincent and Joy Nwunuchi.
To my siblings Reuben Anita, Reuben Desmond, Reuben Victor, I say thank
you. I appreciate the support, love and contributions of Omega Ugondu
and Heart Isaiah.
I love you all.
 DEDICATION
The work is dedicated to my family
 Abstract
Over the years, admission into the Nigerian tertiary institution has
increased and decrease in founding due to the Current state of the nation’s
economy, it is no longer convenient that examination course scheduling
and question papers be managed manually. Hence the need for a system
to generate a stress free and clash free time table. A system which prints
out a student exam pass. A system which creates an avenue to lecturers to
submit their question without hustle and difficulty and students can pass
complains about course clashes and missing courses. The software will
utilize Rapid Application Development (RAD) Model Approach. The product
will go through Requirement Planning, User Design, Construction, and
Cutover as a series of incremental builds. The system will be developed
with SQL at the backend and python at the front end that runs on MySQL.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………………..………. i
APPROVAL PAGE ………………………………………………………..................... ii
CERTIFICATION………………………………………………………………………. iii
DEDICATION ……………………………………………………………..................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……………………………………………………………... v
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………..... vi
TABLE OF CONTENT ………………………………………………………………... viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY----------------------------------------------------------- 2

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ---------------------------------------------------------- 4
1.3 AIM/OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ------------------------------------------------------- 4
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ----------------------------------------------------------- 5
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS---------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 TIME TABLING--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
2.2 EDUCATIONAL TAMETABLE--------------------------------------------------------------- 8
2.3 QUESTION BANKING-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
2.3.1 WHY QUESTION BANKING------------------------------------------------------- 10
2.4 TEST PAPER GENERATOR…………... ……………………………………..……… 11
2.5 REVIEW OF THE EXISTING QUESTION BANKING SYSTEM ………………...,,. 11
2.6 SCHEDULING…………….. ………………………………………….......................... 12
2.7 SCHEDULING ALGORITMS….……………………………………………………... 13

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEM ANALYSIS

3.1 METHODOLOGY USED……………………………………….. ……………………. 16
3.1.1 RAPID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW……....................... 16
3.1.2 RAPID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT – APPLICATION…………...... 17
3.1.3 RAPID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT – ADVANTAGES……………. 18
3.1.4 RAPID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT – DEMERITS ….,,,…………… 19
3.2 ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM..……………………………......................
3.2.1 OERVIEW OF EXISTING SYSTEM…………………………..................... 20
3.2.2 MODE OF OPERATION…………………………………………………… 21
3.2.3 INFORMATION FLOW------------------------------------------------------------- 21
3.2.4 DEFICIENCIES OF PRESENT SYSTEM---------------------------------------- 22
3.3 EXPECTATIONS OF NEW SYSTEM ------------------------------------------------------- 23
3.4 HIGH LEVEL MODEL OF PROPOSED SYSTEM---------------------------------------- 24

CHAPTER FOUR: SYSTEM DESIGN

4.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE DESIGN ……………………………………………………. 25
4.2 FACTORS CONSIDERED IN SYSTEM DESIGN------------------------------------------ 25
4.3 SYSTEM DESIGN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
4.4 PROGRAM FLOWCHAT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 27
4.5 SPECIFICATION
4.5.1 DATABASE STRUCTURE--------------------------------------------------------- 28
4.5.2 OUTPUT DESIGN-------------------------------------------------------------------- 28
4.5.3 INPUT DESIGN----------------------------------------------------------------------- 28
4.5.4 PROGRAM MODULES------------------------------------------------------------- 30
4.5.5 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------------------------------------------ 32
4.5.6 UNIFIED MODELING LANGUAGE (UML)----------------------------------- 33
4.5.7 CHOICE AND JUSTIFICATION OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE---- 37
4.6 IMPLEMENTATION
4.6.1 HOW TO INSTALL -------------------------------------------------------------- 39
4.6.2 TRAINING OF OPERATORS -------------------------------------------------- 39
4.7 TESTING THE SYSTEM -------------------------------------------------------------------
4.7.1 CHANGE OVER PROCEDURE ----------------------------------------------- 40
4.7.2 REVIEW AND MAINTENANCE OF SYSTEM ---------------------------- 41
4.7.3 FILE SECURITY -----------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 SUMMARY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 43
5.2 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED ------------------------------------------------------------- 43
5.3 CONCLUSION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43
5.4 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE ---------------------------------------------------- 44
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------- 44

REFERENCES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 45
APPENDIX 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48
APPENDIX 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50