Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 3(8): 707-712, 2011
ISSN: 2040-7467
© Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2011
Received: March 21, 2011 Accepted: July 02, 2011 Published: August 30, 2011
707
The Design and Implementation of Student Academic Record
Management System
A.A. Eludire,
Department of Computer Science, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji Arakeji,
Osun State, Nigeria
Abstract: A number of problems associated with student academic record management include improper
course registration, late release of students’ results, inaccuracy due to manual and tedious calculation and
retrieval difficulties/inefficiency. In most cases the data generated by academic institutions are usually created
in non-delineated files for use by different departments/units within the institutions with the same data
appearing on several of these files. This means that a simple change of address would have to be processed in
two and probably three or four places, depending on the number of other files on which these data appears. The
development of database concept is the answer to these problems where the amount of redundant data is
reduced and the possibility that data contained on a file might be inaccurate because they were never updated.
This paper discusses the design and implementation of a student registration and course management database
application with Microsoft Access 2003. It also discusses the issues of selecting appropriate database model,
interface design, system deployment and maintenance. A projection of record growth in relation to student
population and system requirement was carried out in the study. Finally it discusses the applicability of the
system in academic institutions.
Key words: Database, keys, query, relation, records, tables
INTRODUCTION
The data generated by organisations are usually
created in files for use by different departments/units
within the organisation. 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.
Other problems associated with course system
management include:
C Improper registration
C Late release of students’ results
C Inaccuracy due to manual and tedious calculation
C Retrieval difficulties /inefficiency.
The question now is to identify which of these school
administrative functions are best suited for
computerization (Connors and Valesky (1986). The
development of the concept of database is the answer to
this question where the amount of redundant data is
reduced and the possibility that data contained on a file
might be inaccurate because they were never updated.
Various applications have been developed to address
a number of these issues but the proprietary nature of
user-oriented systems has not made it possible to have a
good survey of such systems. There is a wide array of
existing information and information needs, yet schools
are often limited by personnel and financial concerns
(Vecchioli, 1999).This study is a modified documentation
of a working system currently deployed at Joseph Ayo
Babalola University. It has helped the Student Record
Office in timely release of students’ examination results.
DATABASE FILES AND STRUCTURAL
ORGANIZATION
Databases are collections of interrelated data of such
a nature that the collections can be represented as a
number of files but not a single file. Depending on the
Database Management System (DBMS) used, these files
may be integrated permanently into a single connected
structure or integrated temporarily for each interrogation,
known as a query (Garcia-Molina et al., 2008).
The organization of a database is such data stored in
the files can be used as keys to find interrelated data.
SQL/DS, a relational database system developed by