World Applied Sciences Journal 35 (8): 1246-1251, 2017

ISSN 1818-4952
© IDOSI Publications, 2017
DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wasj.2017.1246.1251

An Implementation of Final Year Project Management System:

A Case Study at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

M.A. Mohamed, AF. Abidin, A.A. Jamal, M.A.M. Amin, A. Rozaimee and F.A. Wahab

Faculty of Informatics and Computing, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia

Abstract: The final year project is a mandatory course for the Bachelor Degree in Computer Science program
at the Faculty of Informatics and Computing, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin. It is a final course for students
and a platform where students can showcase the knowledge and skills they obtained during classes and
become an asset for the needed practical skills in the industry. Among the problems faced during the progress
of the project is the absence of a systematic approach to provide a complete report. Consequently, supervisors
faced difficulties in managing students and their project. The objective of this study is to propose the
implementation of the Final Year Project Management System for monitoring and supervising student’s project
progress. The system is built to smoothen the communication between supervisors, students and heads of
department, improving the efficiency in supervision and thus increase the chances for students to enhance their
performance.

Key words: Final Year Project Project Management Project Monitoring Automatic Reporting
Feedback System

INTRODUCTION Currently, at the Universiti of Sultan Zainal Abidin,

data related to FYP is recorded manually using forms and
As part of the requirements to graduate, a bachelor booklet. Students and supervisors keep them in a
degree student must successfully complete his final year dedicated file. Manually recorded data is error-prone and
project (FYP) [1]. The FYP has been very challenging, a exposed to mishandling and missing out somewhere.
stage where students exhibit their ability to apply the Moreover, using this type of manual monitoring system,
knowledge and skills they have obtained throughout their a student needs to arrange appointments with supervisors
tenure as bachelor degree students [2-4]. The FYP and present an update of project assignment on the
normally runs for one whole semester or in some weekly basis. Forms must be brought together to record
universities, it is spread over two semesters. In the the progress of the project while supervisors provide
computer science faculty, a student must agree upon one comments and validate the student’s work. Indeed, it is
of many choices of the project which can generally be difficult for a supervisor to determine exactly the current
categorized into developing a software application for status of the project if the student missed out the
supporting real-world needs, conducting an experiment to appointment. In addition, supervisors may encounter
study the real-world problem via computer simulation or problems in dividing the supervision time among students
developing a prototype for answering to innovation whenever there are many students under his supervision.
needs. In reality, some students find FYP hard to follow Additionally, the manual process is considerably difficult
and they may end up with a low-quality result or even fail in a situation where there is a need to locate student’s
to meet the minimum objectives. Experience shows that a files to retrieve previously stored data because it takes a
proper monitoring of students’ progress can be very long time due to the volume of data and sometimes, the
useful in making sure the student remains on the right data sought may not necessarily exist. Moreover, during
track and thus completes the project. the evaluation phase, the supervisor marks the students’

Corresponding Author: Mohamad Afendee Mohamed, Faculty of Informatics and Computing,

Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Besut Campus, 22200, Terengganu, Malaysia.
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works based on the continuous involvement of the application also includes another role for the head of
students. In the event of any losses or damages to department who is responsible for being a mediator
students’ files and no backup files available, the students between the two parties.
may risk getting a low grade.
The fact is, all project activities should be carefully MATERIALS AND METHODS
monitored during the project [5]. It helps the supervisor to
know the progress of the project and increases the This section describes the materials and methods that
chances for the students to complete the project on time. were used to complete this project. It includes some of the
A project management system helps supervisors to tools used for developing the application for this project.
monitor the progress of students by giving an immediate For the development of the product, we start off with
response to students, especially when supervisors are not system modeling and design of the application which
on campus. Indeed, the way to approach a student is would later result in the development of the product and
different for each supervisor. The best approach is to finally followed by testing of the complete product. The
monitor the student’s progress through a web-based product initial design is defined within a simple system
application as students nowadays are well-versed in overview. It represents an overall model of the project.
computerized systems. Moreover, we translate user requirements into system
This system helps students with any type of functionality diagram and system database design.
reporting and also helps supervisors in monitoring every The development process of this system is
detail despite the distance from the student. A developed based on modules. The most important module
management system for FYP allows students to easily in the development of this system is the module for
update on the problems or progress of the project from supervisors to monitor the progress of the students’
time to time. Supervisors are made aware of the progress project through the web-based system. In this phase, the
of the students under their guidance in a short time. The system testing process by the user will be made to
FYP management system is expected to help streamline determine whether the developed system can run properly
the project management process. Students are always or vice versa. This implementation is important for
aware of the tasks to be performed and the supervisor can detecting errors in the system. After the initial system test
provide immediate feedbacks so that the FYP can be is made by the supervisor, correction will be made if there
completed successfully. Based on the research conducted is any problem with the system before it is used by the
through observations and interview sessions of senior user.
supervisors and students, the manual method based on Before that, it will be tested and maintained for the
the form booklet is still being used by lecturers and last time before use. This is to ensure that errors or
students for FYP management. This method is known to problems identified in the previous phases can be
be outdated and problematic for both parties. The form is improved and corrected as closely as possible to ensure
provided as a soft copy and students must have it printed the system runs smoothly. As soon as correction is made,
and presented when having a meeting with the the final presentation of the project will be carried out.
supervisor. Students will write weekly activities while the Then a final draft of the report will be created and
supervisors comment and endorse the progress of the submitted to the supervisor and also a final report for the
student's FYP. This approach causes difficulties for project will be prepared and sent to the faculty.
supervisors in determining the progress of the students To implement this application, tools and technologies
while completing the assignment because each supervisor required are shown in Table 1. This is a web-based
is responsible for more than one student. application, the coding part will be done in PhP and
Earlier works on digitizing FYP communication XAMPP with the help of MySQL as a storage. Human
has been numerous [6-8]. In this paper, we developed interface to this system is via Google Chrome. Reporting
a web application that can be used to supervise and will be done in MS Word. The system overview is the
monitor the progress of student’s final year project at most important part of the system design and it defines
the Faculty of Informatics & Computing, Universiti the scope and boundary for the application to be built,
Sultan Zainal Abidin. The idea of this project is to which is shown in Fig. 1 consisting of three main entities
smoothen the process of communication between involved namely, Head of Department, Supervisor and
students and supervisors. The underlying principles come Student. The system is responsible for providing an
from the field of project management [9, 10]. This interface for the three entities to communicate.

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Table 1: System Requirement

Google Chrome This software is used to view project results after being designed using programming language.
Microsoft Word 2013 This software is used to generate project documentation.
XAMPP This software allows this system to be used with Google Chrome software.
Notepad ++ This software is used to perform coding in developing the system.
PhpMyAdmin This software aims to manage the database for this system.
Microsoft Visio This software is used to design CD, DFD and ERD
MySQL This software is used as a database system.

Fig. 1: System Overview

Fig. 2: System Functionality

Based on the agreed features requirement, the The Final Year Student Monitoring uses MYSQL as
functionality of the system is displayed in Fig. 2. a database system. The database is designed according
Each functionality defines the communication and the to Fig. 3, which consists of six different tables, those of
flow of data (type and direction) between two or more Supervisor, Project, Student, Head of Department,
entities. Activity and Task.

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Fig. 3: System Database

In this project, we performed two types of testing RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

namely, unit testing and system testing. This process is
essential for the system to run smoothly and according to In this section, we developed our proposed system
the needs of the user. Testing for each process or unit is accordingly, at the same time ensuring that the
important for several reasons; first, it helps to identify the information system is operational and adheres to
accuracy of the developed system processes. Second, specification. The testing has also been done to detect
testing on databases is done to identify whether there is possible errors and discrepancies in the products. In this
duplication of data or not. It also helps to ensure that application, the interface consists of a few parts, however,
each program can function properly. Among the tests the most important ones are the main interface, HOD,
performed were validation, buttons, relationships and student and supervisor interfaces.
processes. System Testing is very important to produce Fig. 4 shows the main interface of this application.
a good and orderly process. This test is made when all It provides the login page for the Head of Department,
processes are formed into a large system. System testing Supervisor and Students Home to access the information.
is carried out by entering actual data because it is With the right identification (login and password), one
necessary to verify the accuracy of all system belongs to either one of the three group aforementioned.
components that are based on the specifics of the design. According to Fig. 5, as a HOD, you are allowed to add,

Fig. 4: Main Page

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Fig. 5: Administering Student Activity page

Fig. 6: Project Title Registration Page

Fig. 7: Task Assignment Page

edit and delete an activity assigned to final year students. Meanwhile, students are allowed to add the project
In addition, on this page, you are permitted to distribute information such as registering the final year project title
students to be supervised by a selected lecturer and after having agreed with the supervisor, as shown in
finally generate reports. Fig. 6, which will later be submitted to the HOD for further

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evaluation and approval. Moreover, students can also use 3. Luisa Martinez., M., Antonio Carretero, Gregorio
this page for checking the assigned tasks, uploading Romero and Jose Manuel Mera, 2010. Evaluation and
completed tasks, reporting current project progress and use of the standards in of the technical drawings in
submitting a project report for monitoring purpose by the final year project, Procedia - Social and
supervisor. Behavioral Sciences, 2(2): 4239-4244.
Finally, as a supervisor, you are allowed to administer 4. Fraile, R., et al., 2010. A proposal for the evaluation
tasks to respective students with the deadline specified as of Final Year Projects in a competence-based learning
shown in Fig. 7. Moreover, from this page, a supervisor framework. IEEE EDUCON 2010 Conference, Madrid,
can monitor the progress of the set of activities assigned pp: 929-934.
by the HOD. Supervisors are also able to monitor the 5. Jawitz, J., S. Shay and R. Moore, 2002. Management
current progress of the project. It includes receiving and Assessment of Final Year Project In Engineering.
reports from students and making comments and International Journal of Engineering Education, 18(4):
assessment and asking for resubmission if required, on 472-478.
the report. 6. Ademola, A., A. Adewale and D.U. Ike, 2013. Design
and Development of a University Portal for the
CONCLUSION Management of Final Year Undergraduate Projects.
International Journal of Engineering and Computer
The Final Year Project Management System is a Science, 2(10): 2911-2920.
system that gives new insights into FYP supervision and 7. Chun-Hang, et al., 2015. The Development of a Final
is expected to help lecturers in managing the projects Year Project Management System for Information
more efficiently and effectively. The system is also able to Technology Programmes. Technology in Education.
further generate reports which will allow the Head of Transforming Educational Practices with
School to view the student's supervision report. For Technology, pp: 86-97.
future works, the system can be improved in terms of 8. Romdhani, I., M. Tawse and S. Habibullah, 2011.
better security. Moreover, we can add some other Student project performance management system for
processes such as the automated computation of student effective final year and dissertation projects
grading. supervision. In: Society, (Ed.) London International
Conference on Education LICE. London, UK.
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