HOSTEL LLOCATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM A CASE ...
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HOSTEL LLOCATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM A CASE STUDY OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY WESTERN CAMPUS AM\VINE JOSHUA BIT /0001/133/D U A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE A\VARD OF LORS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEGREE OF KAMPALA INTERNAT[ONAL UNIVERSfTY .JULY 2016
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Transcript of HOSTEL LLOCATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM A CASE ...
HOSTEL LLOCATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A CASE STUDY OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITY WESTERN
CAMPUS
AM\VINE JOSHUA
BIT /0001/133/D U
A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE A \VARD OF LORS INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY DEGREE OF KAMPALA
INTERNAT[ONAL
UNIVERSfTY
.JULY 2016
Declaration
I Arnwine Joshua declare that the work presented in this project report is mine and has never
been submitted in any university or any other higher institution of learning for any award.
Signature.$~~.!.: :•g/ _ ............. Date. J$ .{ ~ 7./. ~q-~ ............... . ~-.. t'~ :.== AMWINE JOSHUA
Approval
This project report has been submitted for Examination with the approval of the supervisors
Signed.~ .. ~
1
•. •. •••••. Date .. ?.~~·····~~~ ... ~~.~ ...... .. . Mr. Turiabe Victor
Supervisor
Signed.~ . . .. .. .. ....... Date ... . . Lf~7;.:::.~ .... ...... . .
Mr. Akampurira Paul
Supervisor
Department of computing,
Facu lty of Science and Technology
ii
Dedication
This report is dedicated to my family members; My Dad Mr. Ndora John, Mum Mrs. Merab
Ndora, Brothers; Atuhaire Nicholas, Tushabe Emmanuel, Mujuni Alex, Kabagambe Justus,
my sister Komugisha Evas and my niece Ankunda Rinet. Thank you for your Genuine
Support and Love for all the time.
All my cousin brothers: Benon, Donald, Guidance, Dickson, Abigaba Benon, Daniel,
Birungi, Kiiza, K.akuru, and Kiiza Eziborn, Brother Kanshabe and Family, I cherish you!
My cousins: Natukuncla Rebecca, Mpumwire Dorothy, Ayebare Lyndah, Judith, Annah,
Daffin, Musiimenta Allen, Charity, kobusingye Kellen, Monie, Angibert and all my cousins.
And friends especially my Course Mates; Aclewale Ismail, Kiiza Gilbert, Lema Carl Andrew
and Adecleji Sherifat and Mr. Tukashaba Joel, Atuhaire Justus, Ntulume Ibrahim and all OBs
& OGs at ECI 2007-2012 who endured to support me financially, academically, spiritually
and made me who I am. Thank you, May God blesses you.
To my beloved Uncles; Mr. Ntungwa Fred and Family, Mr. Emanzi and Family, Mr. Bwangu
and Family, Mr. Kirovis and Family, Mr. Bamu and Family and Aunties; Aunt Kworekwa
and Family, Aunt Kensozi and Family, The people you can't grow without, Thank you for
your support.
To all Family Friends especially the Family of; Mr. &Mrs. Posiano, Mr. &Mrs. Murangira
Julius, Mr. &Mrs. Bananuka Lauben
Special thanks go to my Computing Department Staffs and Students, more so; Dr. Kimwise
Aaron, (H.O.D), Eng. Generous Begumisa, Mr. Turiabe Victor, Mr. Akampurira Paul, Mr.
Atuhe Aaron, iVlr. Asiimwe Allan, Mr. AliL\veza Joshua, Mr. Alinaitwe Eliot, Mr.
Bainomugisha Maxima, Mr. Mugisha Brian, Eng. &Mrs. Kirungi Richard, Mr. Atuhaire
Justus, Mr. Atuhaire Lordrich, Mr. Rukumu Godfrey, and Mrs. Barbara for your support
Academically and Non-academically. Thank you
Lastly, special thanks go to Mr. Kamasaka Robert ltwara and Family, Aunt Ephrance
Kenyonyozi karikubiro and Kamwenge Local Government for your support and being there
for me ever since I started this journey, May God reward you abundantly.
iii
Acknowledgment
Am profoundly humbled and exceedingly honored to extend my sincere thanks to the lord
my God for his love, care, spiritual support, blessings, mercy, grace, and above all; the gift of
life, wisdom and knowledge. Once again I extent my sincere thanks to my supervisors Mr.
Turiabe Victor and Mr. Akampurira Paul for your contribution towards my research
completion. Thank you very much!
iv
Abstract
Hostel allocation management system is software developed to manage the various activities in
hostel. The particular project deals with the problems on managing the hostel and avoids the
problem that occurs when carried out manually (using pens and papers). Identification of the
clrmvbacks of the existing system leads to the designing of computerized system that will be
compatible to the existing system with the system that is more users friendly and more GUI
oriented.
This project work intends to address some of the problems encountered in the allocation of
hostels to students manually (using pens and papers) in Kampala International University
Western Campus. The growing number of students in higher institutions posed a lot of warden's
problems on the part of students and University management especially warden's office. Some of
the problem caused includes, few hostels that exist in the University are not properly managed,
statistic of rooms required to match the growing numbers of students are not enough, student
pays fee for hostel and may end up not getting rooms because of lack of bed, hostel
administrators cannot give accurate information of the occupancy of a particular room. In respect
to all these existing problems a system will be cksigned to manage a database for allocating
hostel to students. The system designed 'Nill keep track of all the available rooms, their
occupants. The new system will be designed using \if acromedia Dream weaver and PHP for the
user interface and PHPMyAdmin as a database management software.
Th is study investigated the current hostel Allocation Management system in the University
warden's Office, a case study of Kampala International University- Western Campus (KIU-WC).
This study adopted the survey research design. A total of 50 respondents were selected for the
study using stratified sampling technique. Questionnaire was used to collect primary data. Data
collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of quantitative and qualitative approaches.
The findings revealed that the deployment of a computerized hostel management system enhance
hostel allocation and room assignment to students.
V
Table of Contents
Declaration ............................................................................................................................................. i
Approval. ............................................................................................................................................... ii
Dedication ............................................................................................................................................ iii
Acknowledg111ent ................................................................................................................................. iv
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. v
Chapter One ............................................................................................................................................ 1
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1
I.I Background of the Study ................................................................................................................. 2
1.2 Problen1 Staten1ent .......................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Objectives of the Study ................................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Scope of the Study .......................................................................................................................... 4
i .5 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 1\vo ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature Revievv ...................................................................................................................................... 5
2.0: Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Existing systen1 revie,v ............................................................................................................. 5
2.1.1 Hostel allocation management system .................................................................................. 5
2.2: Requ ire111ents Collection ................................................................................................................ 6
2.2.1: Steps taken in designing and developing a hostel al location management system ..................... 7
2.3: Testing the prototype system developed ........................................................................................ 7
2.3. l: Perforn1ance Testing ................................................................................................................... 7
2.3 .2: Acceptance Testing ..................................................................................................................... 7
2.3 .3: Implementation of a hostel al location management system ........................................................ 8
2.3 .3. l: Data take-on and conversion .................................................................................................... 8
2.3.4: User training ................................................................................................................................ 8
vi
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Chapter Three ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Methodology ............................................................................................................................................. 9
3.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 9
3.1 Study/Research Design ................................................................................................................... 9
3 .2 Study population ............................................................................................................................. 9
3.2.1 Smnple Size .................................................................................................................................. 9
3.2.1 Area of the study ........................................................................................................................ 10
3.3 Data collection n1ethods ................................................................................................................ lO
.J . .J. uest1onnaire ............ .............................. .................. ................................................................. 1 "" 1 Q . . 1
3.3.2 Interviews ................................................................................................................................... 11
, 3.3.3 Docu111ent revie,v ....................................................................................................................... 11
3.3.4 Observation ................................................................................................................................ 11
3.4 Data Presentation and Analysis Methods ...................................................................................... 12
3.5 Systen1 design ................................................................................................................................ 12
3 .5. 1 System Design Software to be used ........................................................................................... 12
3 .6 In1plen1entation ............................................................................................................................. 13
3.7 Testing and Validation .................................................................................................................. 13
3.8 Training of users of the system ..................................................................................................... 13
3.9 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................................... 13
Chapter Four ......................................................................................................................................... 14
Systen1 Analysis and Design ................................................................................................................... 14
4.0: Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 14
4.1. Analysis of the Current System ........................................................................................................ 14
4.1.2: Current System .............................................................................................................................. 14
4.2: Data presentation and analysis ..................................................................................................... 16
vii
4.4 Systetn Design ............................................................................................................................... 21
4.4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 21
4.4.2 Design Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 21
4.5 Table Mapping ................................................................................................................................ 26
4.6 Data Dictionary of the DFD ............................................................................................................ 27
4.7 Database Design ............................................................................ , .............................................. 27
4. 7. I System Entities and their associated attributes ........................................................................ 27
4.8 I1nple111entation .......................................................................................................................... 28
Chapter Five ......................................................................................................................................... 30
System Implementation and Testing .................................................................................................... 30
5.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 30
5.1 System lrnplementation ..................................................................................................................... 30
5.1.1 Systen1 testing ............................................................................................................................. 30
5.1.3 Integration Testing ..................................................................................................................... 31
5. I .4 User Acceptance Testing ............................................................................................................ 31
5.2: Systen1 functionality ........................................................................................................................ 31
5.2.1: Login page ................................................................................................................................. 31
5.2.2: Dashboard page ......................................................................................................................... 33
5.2.3 Student's Application page ........................................................................................................ 34
5 .2.4 Ed it student page ........................................................................................................................ 35
5.2.5 Add Hostel fonn page ................................................................................................................ 37
5.2.6: Available hostel space page ...................................................................................................... 39
5.2.7: Create Account .......................................................................................................................... 40
5.2.8 Hostel Gallery page .................................................................................................................... 41
5.3 Systen1 Validation ............................................................................................................................. 41
Chapter Six ........................................................................................................................................... 43
viii
Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendation ...................................................................................... 43
6.0: Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 43
6.1: Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 43
6.2: Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 44
Perforn1ance ............................................................................................................................................ 44
Security ................................................................................................................................................... 44
Accuracy ................................................................................................................................................. 45
6.3: Reco1nn1endation ............................................................................................................................. 45
References ........................................................................................................................................... 46
Glossary ................................................................................................................................................ 49
Appendix I: ........................................................................................................................................... 51
ix
List of Figures
Figure4.1 A flow Chart of the existing hostel allocation management system ............................. 15
Figure4.2 A flow chart for Hostel Allocation Management System ............................................. 22
Figure4.3 DFD for high level allocation process .......................................................................... .23
Figure4.4 DFD for student application .......................................................................................... 23
Figure4.5: DFD for Admin module ............................................................................................... 23
Figure4.6: use case diagra111 .......................................................................................................... 24
Figure4.7: Entity relationship diagram .......................................................................................... 25
Figure5.8 : login home page .......................................................................................................... 32
Figure5.9: Wrong user login page ................................................................................................. 33
Figure5.10 Dashboard page ........................................................................................................... 34
Figure5. l 1 Student's Application page ......................................................................................... 35
Figure 12 Edit student page ........................................................................................................... 36
Figure5.13 Edit student's form page .............................................................................................. 36
Figure5.14 Add Hostel form page ................................................................................................. 37
Figure5.15 Edit hostel form page .................................................................................................. 38
Figure5.16 Update hostel form page ............................................................................................. 39
Figure5.l 7 Available hostel form page ......................................................................................... 40
Figure5.18 create account form .................................................................................................... .40
Figure5. l 9 Hostel Gallery page .................................................................................................... .41
X
List of Tables
Table4.l: Respondents (Staffs bio data) ....................................................................................... 16
Table4. 2 Respondents (Age group) .............................................................................................. 16
Table4.3results obtained from questionnaires ............................................................................... 17
Table4.4 Computer Literacy Results ............................................................................................. 18
Table4. 5 System Hardware requirements ..................................................................................... 20
Table4. 6System Software requirements ....................................................................................... 21
Table 7 Create Account ................................................................................................................. 27
Table 8 Student details .................................................................................................................. 28
rfable 9 l-Iostel nan1e .................................. ., .................................................................................. 28
Table4. 10: system validation information ................................................................................... .42
xi
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
KIU-WC Kampala international University-Western Campus
ERD Entity Relationship Diagram
DFD Data Flow Diagram
HBMS Hostel Allocation Management System
PHP Hypertext Preprocessor
SQL Structured Query Language
HTML Hypertext Markup Language
CSS Cascading Style Sheet
ICT Information and Communication Technology
GUI Graphical User Interface
DBMS Database Management System
MySQL ivly Structure Query Language
GHZ Giga Hertz
xii
1.0 Introduction
Chapter One
Introduction
Hostel allocation management systems, at colleges and other higher institutions of learning are
critical systems; each person choosing to stay in a hostel ultimately uses the system. The process
of registering represents a transaction between the student and the warden's department.
"Transactions occur when individuals come into contact with the organization warden's
department and something is exchanged" (Oberg, 1995). Oberg states that sometimes
transactions at colleges or higher institutions of learning lose their focus and take on lives of their
own, serving not the person coming in contact with the organization, but the organization.
Customers are demanding for better service and competition for student-hostels has led to
educational institutions paying more attention to customer demands. Educational institutions
have been "under siege from their customers, who have been demanding lower cost and better
service" (Block, 1995). According to Block (1995) inslilutions of higher education have been
insulated from pressure in the market place, until now. A report by the American College testing
Foundation shows that students staying in institutional hostels are at the lowest. Reasons cited
include rising tuition, poor hostel facilitations and concerns about student aid. The current hostel
allocation system involves students to fill a paper based application form takes a long time to
allocate a room since a custodian has to check hostels physically looking for available space. The
hostel allocation management is introduced as a computerized system to ease the pressure
students and administrators. The hostel allocation managem\.'nt system will help to reduce the
paper based applications of students submitting application forms to custodian's office being also
kept into files/ cabinets, drawers and among others thereby speeding up processing as details will
be captured in the database. This will help to reduce on delays caused by the sequential checking
of each hostel for the availability of rooms. The system wi !I check automatically for the available
rooms to help accelerate the room allocation process thus rnr1ki11g it painless to thee managers to
allocate rooms to students.
1
1.1 Background of the Study
Computer as an indispensable tool in the total life of human endeavor has gained precedence in
the world especially 111 the development grow1h of the Ugandan society
(www.grossarchive.com/project/1457529257.htm/ 10:53am/04th July, 2016). Computers are
supper machines that convert your physical/mental effort into a mere easy life. The use of
computer in our everyday life needs not to be over emphasized. This is because of the gradual
increase in human population and complexity of life ,vhich has equally brought about more
volumes of data being generated every clay
The gradual increase in human population has equally affected the education sector as higher
institutions in the country today are currently faced ,vith the problem of how to allocate
hostels/halls of residence to students. It is common that the accommodation of students usually
out numbers the accommodation available. It is compounded by those accommodations to
students in most institutions, this is very slow and inefficient method of allocating hostel
accommodation population outnumbered the accommodation space available. Hence, there is the
need for computerization of the hostel process.
Kampala International University (KIU) Western Campus (\VC). one of the campuses of KIU, is
located in Ishaka-Bushcnyi district with approximatdy (wcr 10. 823students. There are a number
or hostels and residential houses within and around Ish:tka but allocation these places has not
been quite easy for students. Existing hostel allocation system has a lot of limitations to the user
(O'Brien, 2011 ). Some students encl up staying in pbcc:: thcv don't prefer simply because they
don't have full information·about the available hostels and residential houses and even also the
allocation requires physical presence. In some residcntinl ur,artments, allocation is done via
phone without any commitment made which is not aptly effective but hostel allocation
management system seeks to remedy this, citing its traits of simplicity, accuracy and efficiency.
At Kampala International University Western Campus-Warden's Office, management is clone
manually (using pens and papers), information are kept in paper files, shelves, drawers and
cabinets which present the problem of data being liable to misplacement, loss or destruction.
This has compromised the integrity. consistence and security of the data recorded about a
particular student. Retrieval of information about a particular student is also difficult, and hectic
time ,vasting and laborious. The cxisling hostel alkication management system requires
2
custodians to move from one hostel to another checking for available free room which takes a
long period of time laborious. Therefore, Hostel allocation and management system provides
better management and monitoring ways and flow of information in the day to day running of
\Vmden's office's activities. The system accepts data from its environment (input) and
manipulates the data (processing) to produce information ( output).
1.2 Problem Statement
The growing number of students in higher institutions of learning all over the world has posed a
lot of accommodation problems on the part of students and school management especially in
Uganda, KIU-WC inclusive. Students at the beginning of each session spend a lot of time
looking for accommodation. The process of allocating available space in the university hostels is
also not properly handled. It is common to find students in need of accommodation are not aware
when there is a free space in a hostel. The warden sometimes labors to check physically from
hostel to hostel to ascertain the available spaces. This is because there is no central automated
repository to always help the warden to know which free space is in which hostel and when, in
order to advertise those spaces properly. Due to human error in the current paper based system,
there are some times double location where more stuclenL; than the room can accommodate are
allocated to one room which sometimes brings conf1icts among the students.
Most often, students pay hostel fee and encl up not getting space in hostels.
All these challenges can be ans,verccl by the developmc11l or computer-based automated hostel
allocation software which will enable a secure. easy, timely. and effective way of assigning
hostel space in the hostel and generating/ retrieving any specific information that can be required
from time to time about students in the different university hostds.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.3.l General Objective
To develop a central database system that will serve :ts hostel database, which will contain
information on all the available rooms in the hostels.
3
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
1. To study the current hostel allocation management system within KIU-WC warden's Office
2. To gather necessary requirements for developing a convenient and flexible hostel allocation
management system
3. To test, validate and implement the system
1.4 Scope of the Study
The study will be conducted in the office of the university warden at Kampala international
universality western campus and will closely look at the system and procedures of assigning the
available university accommodation to the respective students and the method of keeping and
retrieving the records relating to the occupancy of hostels.
The information that was used is all the data gathered from 2004 when the university started up
toFeb2016
This system is only used by Kampala International 1 Jni\'crsity-Western Campus
1 1 Out of Scope
The following features will not be delivered by the system: Employee Payroll, Inventory
Management, Resident attendance, and Accounting Details
1.5 Significance of the Study
The new system designed for computer driven student's hostel allocation will among other
things:
Facilitate timely allocation of hostel rooms to students, check the hostel occupancy at any time
for information management, enable management to plan on improving hostel living condition
and have first-hand information on the statistics of students in the hostel.
4
Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.0: Introduction
This chapter briefly describes the review on existing technique related with "Hostel
allocation management system" that will be developed later. This chapter comprises four
sections: the first section describes the comprehensive review on existing related systems.
The second section describes the review on software design. The third section describes the
test and validation of the system and soflwnre development methodology. And lastly, section
four describe about the system implementation
2.1 Existing system review
This section is to review the current system and existing system that related to hostel
allocation management system.
These systems involve the use of pens, pieces of papers to manage, control and capture all
students' details and allotment. In spite the fact that paper based systems are cheap and seem
to be easy to use by many people, these systems arc time consuming, laborious, not accurate,
less information back up or security, and prone to human errors.
(www.infocntrcprcncurs.org/).
2.1.1 Hostel allocation management
Miss AzlindaBinti Alias2009 defines hostel management system as a system specialty
designed to centrally manage hostel Allocation. This system is standalone system. It is
customize and user friendly software for hostel. All administrative and application system
data has been designed to be kept centrally and unique for entire population. Hostel
Management System (HMS) is a system which helps in managing various activities in the
hostel.
5
2.2: Requirements Collection
A requirement is a singular documented physical and functional need that a particular design,
product or process must be able to perform. It is most commonly used in a formal sense in
systems engineering, softvvare engineeting, or enterprise engineering. It is a statement
that identifies a necessary attribute, capability, characteristic, or quality of a system for it to
have value and utility to a customer, organization, internal user, or other stakeholder. A
requirement specification ( often imprecisely referred to as the spec, because there are
different sorts of specifications) refers to an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a
material, design, product, or service. ia.org/wiki/Requirement). These
are items needed for the nev,' Computerized Hostel Allocation Management System to be
properly designed and implemented. The methods in requirements collection include;
According to Bless (2000: 103), the main types of qualitative data collection methods
include non-participant observation. participant observation, interviews and questionnaires.
The decision to use interviews as a data gathering method was influenced by Ely et al (1991:
4), who maintain that "qualitative researchers want those who are studied to speak for
themselves, to provide their perspectives in words ancl other actions."
According to 'Welman (2001: 158), the interview is a data-collecting method which usually
involves personal visits to respondents at home or at work. In the interview the interviewer
asks questions from an interview schedule and records the respondents' responses. Interviews
are very useful because highly specific data can be obtained in a very short space of time.
The interview is also useful in pro vi di a general O\'Cr\'iC\\" of people's thoughts.
According to Marshall (1997:65), once the data h:1s been collected and summarized, the
researcher needs to make sense of the data by beginni the process of analyzing the data.
This includes sorting through data to identify pat!L'rns and establishing relationships in the
research. Essentially, during data analysis and interpretation the researcher draws conclusions
about the research objectives based on the evidence coilccted. At this stage suggestions and
recommendations need to be mack:. Suggestions f'or example, be made for further
research and the possible application of the results lo fields. Recommendations can also
be made for the development or alterntion of and policies.
G
2.2.1: Steps taken in designing and developing a hostel allocation management system
O'Brien, (2002) recommends the following steps while developing a hostel allocation
management system:
Review the existing system, defining the data needed for relevant units within organization,
determine the most appropriate and effective data flow, Design the data collection and
reporting tools, Develop the procedures and mechanisms for data processing, Develop and
implement a training program for program for data provides and data users Pre-test, and if
necessary re-design the system for data collecti( ,n. data flow, data processing and data
utilization, Monitor and evaluate the system, D'-'ve!op effective data dissemination and
feedback mechanisms and Evaluate the system
According to the above steps, the 0' Brien, recommends that following these steps while
developing will lead efficient and effective system.
2.3: Testing the prototype
(ISSN: 2231-2803)This is used to test the whole system by linking together all the programs
subsystems. Bugs are recorded and then categoriz,:d in krms of priority they are to be fixed
and those with less priority are aclclressccl in the l'o! releases. The following are also
carried.
2.3.1: Performance Testing
(ISSN: 2231-2803)This process is carried out to \'i1liclnte that all the response times or
allocation periods specified in the functional specific1tions can be met by the system
especially when it is fully loaded. The process involved timing how long the system takes to
respond to n user request.
2.3.2: Acceptance Testing
(ISSN: 2231-2803)This is used to prove to the client that the system meets the business
requirements agreed upon. in the functional specific:Mions. The test data is replaced with
live data provided by the client. The client records ,ill errors, discrepancies and other
aspects. They me then discussed ,\ith the devclopvr the errors are corrected by the
developer and the changes are implemented
7
2.3.3: Implementation of a hostel allocation management system
2.3.3.1: Data take-on and conversion
Small bits of data from the old system are transferred safely to the new system. This is done
by; Users entering data; the developer is to ensure that data entry errors are controlled and
data conversion by using a developed program that transfers data from the old format to the
new format developer. (ISSN: 2231-2803)
2.3.4: User training
User training is conducted to cover all the functions of the system to ensure that the users are
competent in the use of the system. The training is done by the system developer.
The KIUWC population is growing steadily every semester so there is an urgent need to
automate the allocation process to handle the data of this growing population
Conclusion
In conclusion many scholars have done publication about allocation and management system
as a more convenient way and an urgent requirement and a lot of research has been carried
out though implementation is still insufficient.
However, according to the literature available, there are numerous benefits that accrue from
an allocation and management system when compared with manual systems. For example
there will be no duplication of records, sharing of information is made possible, the problem
of missing and misplaced records is reduced and the information is available at any time. In
order to continually improve the quality of services, Kampala International University
Western Campus need to put in place a hostel allocation and management system backed up
with electronic databases replacing all existing paper-based allocation system.
The following chapter of methodology gives the steps of how the system is go111g to be
developed.
8
Chapter Three
Methodology
3.0 Introduction
This chapter discusses the type of research methodology that was used by the researcher, the
data gathering techniques that were done during the interview and the evaluation of the
respondents. It also covers the research design that was used, the study population, sample
selection and size, research instruments, validity and reliability testing of the instruments,
the procedure that was used to collect data. The method and technique that \Vas used to
process analyze and design the hostel allocation management system.
3.1 Study/Research Design
This study was grounded upon descriptive research design principles of quantitative and
qualitative approaches in order to capture, analyze and interpret necessary information which
eventually led to the completion of a hostel allocation management system (HAMS). This
type of research is more of analytical or statistical type of research where in the data
descriptions must be factual, accurate and justifiable
3.2 Study population
The study population comprised of 20 staffs and 200 students summing up to 220. The staff
population that was studied includes the University warden, Warden Assistants, Dean of
students' Affairs, Accounts workers in Finance department.
3.2.1 Sample Size
The researcher used simple random sampling as a sampling method because every element
has a known nonzero probability of being sampled and involves random selection at some
point.
The sample size was fourteen (14) staffs and this size consisted of the following; University
warden (1), Warden Assistants (3), Dean of students' Affairs (1), Accounts workers in
Finance department (9). And 36 respondents were students staying in the hostels.
3.2.2 Data to be collected
9
Primary data is the original data collected by the researcher to collect data specifically for
the current researcher's objective. The researcher gathered primary data through mainly
observation and interviews. (http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/primary-seconclary
market-research-difference/ 11: 1 Sam 29/06/2016)
Secondary data involves searching for the existing data that was originally collected by
someone else. The data was obtained from the secondary source especially by going to the
University warden's office, examining the documents used by the university warden(s) such
as the application forms, student's complaints, and others. But the clear benefit of using
secondary data is that much of the background work needed has already been carried out,
such as literature review and elsewhere the data could already be promoted in the media.
Secondary data generally have a pre-established degree of validity and reliability \Vhich need
not be re-examined by the researcher who is re-using such data.
( http ://v..T\¥W .m ymarketresearchmethods. com/primarysecondarymarketresearchdifieren ce/ 11 :
l 5am29/06/2016)(https://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary _data)
3.2.1 Area of the study
The study was conducted 111 the University warden's office at Kampala International
University-Western Campus which determined the accuracy, efficiency, reliability. security,
user-friendly, flexibility, validity of the system and supported the ideas and concepts of the
researcher.
3.3 Data collection methods
In order to identify and define the existing process by which the system was based upon, the
researcher used questionnaires, observations and interviews. The researcher first conducted a
series of observational activities that ensured that all of the underlying principles and plans
were carefully set and planned into achieving a hostel allocation management system.
Data was collected by the use of questionnaires, interviews, document reviews and
observation technique as described beneath.
10
3.3.1 Questionnaire
Questionnaires \Vere designed basing on the sample size and distributed to respective
individuals that is (selected staff and student) in the chosen sample for answering. This is the
dominant primary data collection method in the study. These were designed to gather
information and explore the key variables addressed to management of student's information.
Both open and closed ended questionnaires were used to let the respondents give their own
opinion about the research problem. With the responses made in line with review of
literature, the researcher was able to integrate ideas and help to design a new system thus
help to achieve objective (ii) which was to develop a convenient and flexible hostel
allocation management system that will help the user(s) in management of student's
information.
3.3.2 Interviews
The researcher conducted face to face interviews with the stakeholders. An interview
schedule was drmvn and guiding questions prepared which also acted as a tool for collecting
data. The interviews were conducted on the study population in the office of University
warden. The interview method was chosen because it's reliable, accurate and gives
satisfactory results. It helps to discover how individuals think and feel about a topic and why
they hold certain opinions.
3.3.3 Document review
A thorough review of the documents was done in the office of University warden with the
intent to study how student's information is managed and discover the loopholes in the
system. A number of documents were reviewed including personal files, daily routines per
student. This method was chosen because it's cheap as data is already available thus it
permits examination of trends over the past and there are few biases about information.
3.3.4 Observation
This involves the use of full sense of watching, identifying and recording vanous data
concerning the research objectives (hostel allocation activities). Direct observation provided
direct information about the behavior and provides good insights into how the di tTerent
participants are behaving and interacting. Observation method was used by the researcher to
11
see things that are taken for granted by participants in the hostel allocation and other related
activities. (Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2000)
3.4 Data Presentation and Analysis Methods
Data collected was presented using data models and process models like; data flow diagrams,
flow charts and Entity relationship diagrams and use case diagram. Data collected also ,;,,;as
analyzed using MS excel software i.e. tables, bar graphs which gave the researcher the way
forward of coding and represents descriptive data which is in terms of numbers.
3.5 System design
The system was designed basing on windows environment and macromedia Dreamweaver
was used to design the user interfaces while MySQL was used in designing a database
(DBMS) for storing data thereafter a logical connection was established which helped 111
sharing data between all the platforms of software used.
System design was clone in two different levels, i.e. logical design and physical design.
Under the logical design, use case diagram were used to show the interactions between the
users and system, under the physical design programming languages rnacromedia
Drearnweaver 8 was used and MYSQL for the database management.
3.5.1 System Design Software to be used
The system was designed using PHP & MySQL with Apache as the web server because they
easy to use (with user-friendly interfaces), Free (doesn't require any license) and easy to
manage and maintain.
PHP: The PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) allows developers to create dynamic content that
interacts with databases. (Mehdi Achour, Friedhelm Betz and Antony Dovgal, 2009)
It's a server-side scripting language.
PI-IPMyADMIN: As the user graphic, it is the interface free and convivially reali zed in
program language (PHP) and easy to manage MySQL database on the server
(PHPMy Admin, 2009)
12
3.6 Implementation
The system was implemented using macromedia Dreamweaver 8 for the creation of user
interfaces and MYSQL for database design after which a logical connection was made.
3.7 Testing and Validation
The testing was meant to prove that the completed system would do what it was meant to.
Testing was carried out at each phase to identify errors and keep track of the changes made to
the system.
The system was tested using sample data collected from the hostel warden's office which
helped to meet the required specifications.
There are three main types of testing namely unit testing which involved testing individual
software components or modules. This was done by the programmer because it required
detailed knowledge of the internal program design and code. Integration testing which
involved testing the integrated modules to verify the combined functionality was used. And
functional testing which involved focusing on the output as per requirement. This type was
geared to functional requirement to functional requirements of an application ignoring the
internal parts of the system.
3.8 Training of users of the system
After the system was validated, tested and seen if it is functioning correctly meeting the
users' requirements, the programmer trained the users of the system to be competence and
familiar with the new system that was designed and developed.
3.9 Ethical considerations
Prior to the study, a researcher obtained an introductory letter from the faculty of Science and
Technology. This helped the researcher to be identified before the respondents as a student
carrying out a research study to benefit him. At the end of data collection, questionnaires,
notes taken, and documents collected were compiled and put together which helped the
researcher in data processing.
13
Chapter Four
System Analysis and Design
4.0: Introduction
This chapter discusses how the researcher presented and analyzed data and bow the new
system was designed following the user requirements.
1. Analysis of the Current System
1.2: Current System
At Kampala International University Western Campus in warden's office, every student has a
personal file ,vhere all of his/her information that includes the bio data and academic details
are stored. When a student reports in the university with an interest of joining university
hostels, the hostel warden opens a file for him/her; it is this that is used to track this particular
student's information during the course of his/her stay.
4.1.3: Data analysis
Analysis was carried out on data collected using interview and questionnaires from various
respondents, the data was analyzed using Microsoft excel and results were presented by using
tables.
14
flovv chart of the existing hostel allocation management system
Start
Student submits
application form
Warden receives
application form
Check
NO physically; IS YES
there free
room? No
Warden ask for
receipt from the space
student
Allocates a room
to a student
1 A flow Chart of the existing hostel allocation management system
Weakness of the Current System
The current system uses a lot of paperwork which takes much time as compared to other methods
of keeping information. It also makes it difficult for the users to retrieve a particular file because
one has to go through all the files first. Congestion was also another weakness since files kept
15
i I,
increasing as the number of students also was increasing and this resulted into need of more
shelves which increased congestion in the office. Another weakness was loss of some files
because as files increase in number, the old ones are seen as useless hence misused. The current
system was insecure in terms of data access and confidentiality. This was more so because there
are no strict measures implemented that denies unauthorized entities from accessing the
information and this led to data being inaccurate.
Data presentation and analysis
The researcher conducted interviews where most of the correspondents including the director of
vvarclens office, two wardens office assistants, students and the dean of student's Affairs were
asked questions related to the current hostel allocation management system, how it works and
chJllcnges being encountered while using it. The researcher found out that the current system of
hostel allocation management system was not perfect to the office in terms of time management.
file retrieval and storage.
The researcher was able to interview the following categories of system users from Kampala
International University-Western Campus namely: 14 staffs and 32 students in regard to the
current system.
T bl 4 1 R a e . : espon ens a s IO aa d t (St ff' b. d t ) Gender No. of %
respondents ,_,
Female 8 57% !\!ale 6 43% 'J 'otal 14 100%
ln regard to Gender in table 4.1 above, the researcher also found out that lcrnales were more than males where by females are 8 and males are 6 respectively.
11 4 2 R a I e'. espon d cnts (A . ge group ) Group No. of %
Respondents :22-32years 7 50% -----33-43years 4 29%
, __ ___:1-4-5 4 years " 21% .)
55years and above I 0 0%
' i'otal 14 100%
16
According to table 4.2 above, the researcher interviewed eight (8) respondents ranging from 22-
32 years. People aged 22 -32 years have high chances of learning how to use a computer in case
one doesn't know it at all compared to other age groups of respondents participated. Also the
researcher interviewed another age group ranging from 33-43 years of which also gives a room
for those people to understand how use of computers in case they are trained.
The Questionnaire results about the challenges on the current system are presented in the
table as follows:-
rr bf 4 3 1 a e . resu ts o b . d f tame rom questwnnaires Question Very Effici Aver Ineffic Very Me Conclu 1: how efficie ent age ient ineffici an sion has this nt (%) (%) (Ofil) ent ('IIITCllt (%) (%) hostel
H system hecn in terms of; Effective 0 6 5 )'"' 12 2.1 The c !Teet _ _,
ness (0%) (13%) (11 %) (50%) (26.1 %) of a system lS
inefficient :<peed 1
,.., 4 20 18 1.9 The system ..)
(2%) (7%) (9%) (43%) (39%) lS
inefficicnL Ease 111 1 4 18 13 10 2.85 The system usage (2%) (9%) (39%) (28%) (22%) was rated
averagely D;:ta 2
,.., 10 r 6 1.9 The system ..) _)
rcirieval (4%) (7%) (22%) (54%) (13%) lS
inefficient Rcpoti 0 0 4 10 '"') _,_ 1.3 The system gcncrntio (0%) (0%) (9%) (22%) (70%) JS Very 11 inefficient Security 1
,.., 9 15 18 2.0 The svstern ..)
(2%) (7%) (20%) (33%) (39%) JS
inefficient Capturing 4
,., ,., 28 8 1.6 The system ..) ..)
student's (9%) (7%) (7%) (61 %) (17%) JS
details inefficient Scale: Very efficient/Very Good carnes 5, Efficient/Good carnes 4, Average carries 3.
Inefficient/Poor carries 2, and Very Inefficient/Very Poor carries 1.
17
' I
Two interview questions set the basis for other questions and thus became the basis for data
nnnlysis. The questions were "How has this current hostel allocation management system been
efficient in terms of effectiveness, speed, ease in usage, data retrieval, report generation, data
capturing and security?" and "How technical knowhow are you in computer fundamentals and its
applicntion?"
1 n regard to table 4.3 above, the researcher found out that the current hostel allocation
management system is rated as inefficient as reflected by the scaling preference that the
researcher used while analyzing data with the help of mean that showed 2.1 scale representing
lnefiiciency of the current system, the ratio of 1 :7 of respondents rated the current hostel
allocation management system as averagely efficient and Very Inefficient compared to the ratio
of 5:7 that rated the current hostel allocation management system as inefficient giving the
researcher a go head to develop a computerized system.
T bl 4 4 C a e . ' ··-·-···-·
t L' ompu er 1teracy R It esu s Question 2: How Very Good Average Poor Very Mean Conclusion technical knowhow Good poor arc you in computer Generally, the runclarnentals and its 1 8 4 1 0 3.6 staffs were 11pplications? (7%) (57%) (29%) (7%) (0%) found good 111
computer applications
I . -~---_j
Scale: Very e1Ticient/Very Good carries 5, Efficient/Good carnes 4, Average carncs 3,
I n,;>flicient/Poor carries 2, and Very Inefficient/Very Poor carries 1.
On the other hand, the researcher as reflected in table 4.4 above found out that most respondents
were literate good on computer applications and its fundamentals which made the training
session easier and cost effective on how to use the designed system. Therefore, this gave the
rese,,rcher a go head to develop a computerized hostel allocation management system.
4.3 Designed System
system designed is a computerized system where all information about a particular student is
cziptured and stored electronically in a computer. It significantly reduced on paper work. anv
18
activity to be done on the stored information like modification, retrieval and generation of
reports is automatically done.
The main difference between the old system and the new computerized system is that data
capturing and processing is computerized and that, computers are used instead of papers and
books. It requires less storage space. It is also much more efficient since it can generate reports
,vithin minimum time and with minimal errors.
4.3.1 Oser requirements
The staffs in charge of students' hostel allocation and management are the primary users of the
system in fact "Administrators".
Each user is required to have the username and password that is authenticates first before gaining
access into the system. Depending on their level of privileges, they perform different activities as
follows:
Administrator users (add information, views all the information, makes modification, clear all
in formation, update a student and generate reports).
4.3.2 System Requirements
These requirements are classified as functional and non-functional requirements.
rn:tional requirements
These are specific functions, tasks or behaviors the system must support. They include the
following:-
The system allows the management to capture and store a particular student's details
It enables management to view and search a particular file within a short time
it authenticate users
system does enable the users to update, delete and save information about the student.
Therefore the system has the ability to permanently save data into the database.
system does generate necessary reports.
19
Non-functional requirements
The system does authenticate users and provide different levels of access to avoid unauthorized
access.
The system does perform in a standard relative to the activities cmTied out within the office. In
other words it retrieves information very fast.
The system should be easy for users to learn and use with dynamic access of information by both
skilled and unskilled users.
The system is cost effective with less effect on its implementation and maintenance.
The system is portable and light in order not to affect the throughput
system does not require a lot of storage space
4.3.3 Minimum hardware and software requirements
Below are minimum system hardware requirements that an authorized user's computer must
lrnve in order to enable the functioning of the designed hostel allocation management system.
ardware Minimum system requirements
-,,
Processor Intel Pentium, Cyrix, Intel Celeron
,,,
Cycle speed l00MHZ
,,
Display monitor 700x600pixels
--· :rvfemory/RAM 512MBRAM
Hard disk space 40GB
UPS, CD-ROM
... ,,,,,
System memory 128 Mb minimum 256 Mb
recommended
ble4. 5 System Hardware requirements
20
Software requirements
Below are minimum system software requirements that a user must install in his/her computer
order to use the designed hostel allocation management.
Software Minimum system requirements
Operating system Windows 2000/XP/NT/2007/2008/8.1
Database management system PHPMyADMIN (Wampserver 2.1 +)
Firewall/ Anti virus A vast, AVG and any other I I
Web browsers Mozilla Firefox, internet explorer,
Google chrome, opera, Uc
Table4. 6System Software requirements
4.4 System Design
l Introduction
System design gives the details of how the system will meet the information requirements
determined in the system analysis. Connolly, et al (1996) defines system design as the process of
creating a design for a database that will support the enterprises operations and objectives. From
system study, it was found out that its necessities to create a system with a central database
t!rnt contains information about all processes of student's data to keep track of activities
involved. The project used two techniques to design the system. These techniques are logical
design and physical design.
A.2 Design Objectives
The systems design meets the following objectives:
Produce the system that overcomes the inefficiencies identified during the system study and
optimally uses computer resources.
1\llow accurate input of correct and valid data in the database.
21
Creates a user friendly system with acceptable, clear and easy to use interfaces for the users of
average computer knowledge
Below are some of the diagrams that were used in designing the system
ln the process of designing this system the researcher used Flow Charts, Data Flow Diagrams,
use case diagrams, and Entity Relationship Diagram.
A flow Chart of a Hostel Allocation Management System
I Display
! lllCO!TCCl
name
password
NO
user
or
Start
Insert correct user name
and password
Is usernarne
or password
correct?
Stop
YES
Add a student to a hostel, update a
student, a hostel, a11cl \'IC\\' [I
report, Edit student's details,
delete a student and a hosteL
create new user 11arne or password
Log out
Figure4.2 A flow chart for Hostel Allocation Management System
Data Flow Diagrams
►
Hostel
Allocation
Management
system
allocates student
Admin
u Allocated/No space
Figurc4.3 DFD for high level allocation process
Student Personal details
Figurc4.4 DFD for student application
Admin Username Login
Password
re-LS: for Admin module
Hostel
Allocation
:Manageme
23
check for empty space
Application l rnv.war en
Application
Eligible
1---Jil Hostel
Verification
Allocate/c
heckout
Edit, delete
student/host
el
View
reports
Modif)--dahtba-s-c-
Generate ◄
reports
Database
Use case Diagram for Hostel Allocation management System
Student
Warden
Submits
Aoolication form
Start
Allocation
Perform
Allocation
Provide Reports
Figure4.6: use case diagram
24
Entity Relationship Diagram for a designed system
Nnrne
Usernarne
Warden
)
Confirm
Password
Sex
Alloeated
Figure4.7: Entity relationship diagram
25
Student
Reg.Numbe
Country
origin
Room
Last Name
Hostel
location
Sponsor
address
sponsor
\
II)
Room No
/
Key
Data Flow Diagram
Data store/base (~_J tity
Process Data flow
Entity Relationship Diagram
Entity Relationship
_______ 1 one to one Relationship
M one to many Relationship
M M many to many Relationship
5 Table Mapping
The Entities in the Tables are described as follows:-
Create Account (Id, Name, Username, Password, Gender, Address)
Student (Id. Registration Number, First Name, Last Name, Sex, Name of sponsor, Sponsor's
Address, Receipt Number, Amount Paid, Telephone, Address,
Country)
Hostel Name (Id, Name, Location, Sex, Capacity, Capacity used)
26
4.6 Data Dictionary of the DFD
4. 7 Database Design
The database design composed of the following objects: tables, security, indexes, keys, fields
and data types.
4.7.l System Entities and their associated attributes
Login table
This table holds the password that is used as the security measures. Simple changing the user
name and password in the table makes a change to the password. The program starts up by
reading this table to confirm authorization to access the package and disallow access if password
is in val id . And if a user name and password are valid, gives you access to the dash bon rcl pnge
where you click any of links available according to what you to perform.
Field Data type Not Key Default Extra NULL
TD Int(l 00) NO PRI NOT Auto increment NULL
Name Varchar(S0) NO NOT NULL
- · Usernarne Varchar( 50) NO NOT
NULL Pr1ssworcl Varchar(S0) NO NOT
NULL -Email Varchar(S0) NO NOT
NULL Tab le 7 Create Account
27
Student table
This table holds the information of the bona-fide students who are allocated rooms.
Field Data type NULL Key Default Extra ID Int(l 00) NOT NULL Auto-
increment RegNumber V archar( 5 0) NO PRI NOT NULL First Name V archar( 5 0) NO NOT NULL Last Name V archar( 5 0) NO NOT NULL
i Sex V archar( 5 0) NO NOT NULL [ Name of sponsor V archar( 5 0) Yes NULL : SponsorAddress V archar( 5 0) Yes NULL : RcceiptNumber V archar( 5 0) Yes NULL
AmountPaid Int(l 00) Yes NULL I TelephoneNumber Int(50) Yes NULL ' ~dclress Varchar(25 5) NO NOT NULL , Country Varchar(50) NO NOT NULL . l lostcl name Varchar() Yes NIA
-·--
I Room __ No Varchar(l 0) Yes NIA ..
Table 8 Student details
! lostcl Name table
, Field Type Not NULL Key Default Extra !
I -
NO PRI NOT NULL increment i Int(lO0) Auto i . l\: .. -.arne j Varchar(50) NO NOT NULL
Location Varchar(50) NO - NOT NULL r Sex Varchar(6) NO - NOT NULL i Capacity Int( 100) NO - NOT NULL I Capac~ty_us~d Int(l 00) NO - NOT NULL
Table 9 Hostel name
-Ul Implementation
In this stage. the whole system is converted into a computer understandable. Coding the new
system is an important stage where the defined procedures are transformed into con troll
specifications with the help a computer language. The programs coordinate the data movements
:rnd control the entire process in a system. It is generally felt that the programs must be modular
in nature. This helps in first development. maintenance and future change, if required.
28
This system has been developed using the PHP for coding, Macromedia Dreamweaver for user
interface and MYSQL as database management software, has been used at the back encl. These
are user friendly programs and easy to use.
Database (MYSQL) allows accessibility of data and retrieval of data easily. It allows elimination
of duplicated data and also security of the database is possible.
29
Chapter Five
System Implementation and Testing
5.0 Introduction
This chapter emphasizes the actual system implementation. The system was transformed from
user requirement into a workable product. The purpose of system implementation was to make
sure that the correct application is delivered to the encl user. Besides that, this chapter also
emphasizes on how the testing is done to confirm it meets user requirements.
5.1 System Implementation
Implementation is the stage in the project where the theoretical design is turned into a working
system and is giving confidence on the new system for the users that it will work efficiently and
effectively. lt involves careful planning, investigation of the current system and its constraints on
implementation, design of methods to achieve the changeover, an evaluation of change over
methods. Apart from planning major task of preparing the implementation are education ~me!
tr~1ining of users. The implementation process begins with preparing a plan for the
implementation of the system. According to this plan, the activities are to be carried out,
discussions made regarding the equipment and resources and the additional equipment h:ts to be
acquired to implement the new system. In network backup system no additional resources are
needed. Implementation is the final and the most important phase. The most critical stage in
uchicving a successful new system is giving the users confidence that the new system will work
and be effective. The system can be implemented only after thorough testing is clone and i r it is
found to be working according to the specification. This method also offers the greatest security
since ihc old system can take over if the errors are found or inability to handle certain type of
tr:mszictions while using the new system.
5.1. lSystem testing
the part of system testing we execute the program with the intent of finding errors and
missing operations and also a complete verification to determine whether the oqjectives are met
and the user requirements are satisfied. The ultimate aim is quality assurance. Tests are carried
out and the results are compared with the expected document. In the case of
erroneous results, debugging is clone. Using detailed testing strategies a test plan is carried out on
30
each module. The various tests performed are unit testing, integration testing and user acceptance
testing.
5.1.2 Unit Testing
The software units m the system are modules and routines that are assembled and
integrated to perform a specific function. As a part of unit testing we executed the program for
individual modules independently. This enables, to detect errors in coding and logic that are
contained within each of the three modules. This testing includes entering data that is filling
forms and ascertaining if the value matches to the type and entered into the database. The various
controls are tested to ensure that each performs its action as required.
5.1.3 Integration Testing
Data can be lost across any interface, one module can have an adverse efiect on another. sub
functions when combined, may not produce the desired major functions. Integration testing is a
systematic testing to discover errors associated within the interface. The objective is to 1c1kc unit
tested modules and build a program structure. All the modules are combined and tested as a
,vhole. Here the aclrnin module and student module options are integrated and tested.
This testing provides the assurance that the application is well integrated functional unit with
srnooth transition of data.
5.1.4 User Acceptance Testing
User acceptance of a system is the key factor for the success of any system. The system
under consideration is tested for user acceptance by constantly keep the records of applicants and
making changes to the details and password whenever required.
5.2: System functionality.
·1 l system displays the login form that allows authorized user to access the system contems and
details.
5.2.1: Login page
This is the first form that comes first when the program 1s launched. It's mainly meant for
security and authentication purposes.
31
~1.U
P;1,\\1 ord:
tog,n
' I• .t)\.,. . l I',} 1.J.. , \})/ .
Figure5.8 : login home page
Only the authorized user with the right or correct user name and password has a right to access
the services of the hostel about students. When the wrong user name and password are used , the
system rejects access to the service. And when the correct username and password are used and
Login button pressed , the dashboard page with links options is displayed. A new user has to first
Login to access the dash board page. And when incorrect username and password is entered , the
page shown below is displayed
32
K a rn pa la
ln t crna t ,ona l
Un i ve r sity
oooOOO PPS!!!! Incorrec t u se rn am e or pa s sword
i 111 err correc t u, ,., r11t1111e and /){/, I ll'O/'d .1 .' .
1
Figure5.9: Wrong user login page
5.2.2: Dashboard page
• ' I L
This is the page that appears after a successful login. It contains a list of links that help the user
to navigate to different areas of the system like ADD NEW STUDENT, ADD NEW HOSTEL,
STUDENTS, HOSTELS, AVAILABLE HOSTELS, CREATE ACCOUNT, GALLERY and
LOGOUT link.
33
FigureS.10 Dashboard page
I '..I I J\.h_'- Bl I 0\\ 10\.\\1(,\11
5.2.3 Student's Application page
.Under ADD NEW STUDENT link, it's where new students who want to join hostel are
registered from by capturing their bio data and other related information and thereafter a user
adds a student by clicking ADD STD button. In case a user makes a mistake while entering data,
he/she may press CLEAR ALL button to clear wrong data.
34
FigureS.11 Student's Application page
5.2.4 Edit student page
Pl I I\F FIi i /\' r !IJ:STl DE \'T'S /\'I ORI/ ITIO\'.'
J IJ ,t ll :l lllt':
Last name:
.• Ii Sex: Ftmale I ~h II•••!!! -~-.c....A-
I<le boae:
Rtt.· t1ptno·
Last name: ~
Ii Sex: Ftmolt Ma
II • • ,. -~.A.- -
Tele hone:
.\llliJIJnl :
~vonsor uuwe:
- ,.-::= :-::i pou'> CJr :H.ltlre~~:
II • • • (ou~
AOD»TD 1"ili r-fl
This page provides options to the user for editing, deleting, updating the entered students,
searching the available students in the system and checking out students who leave hostel. It
contains sections for editing bio data of the student that is Registration number, Gender, country
of origin. first name, last name and many more.
35
Figure 12 Edit student page
0 .t:d:
ra1. I IR'I I \ ' 1 If l f PH11\f HlDRI" RH UPI
ID \I \IP.IR \\\If \\\If '" \(i
l ~ l,lJ · ,11:~f: , di:n ! t Ill /,- 1-.:''1 J 1~11 : 1J<
1 ~,ll: '.! I' ,ul hlf t ~Ill 1!t' I;:,; \Jf .! , , ,l·,I: .l .! :: t1t1
Kampala
lntcrnat,onal,r.; Un,vc , ..,,t t
EDI1 . ·n DDT
:l.q'i•).lio:: "\.: bet ,!..,,:e! \1:Lc
- -- -
\\lOl \T , po\,OR, ,p(J\'OR'
P\lll \\\II 11lllRI ,,
:1< .l J' \1l,-21t·• 1: ,!,~I• I !,:
1J6J' I·' · dchl fl d:: ·.-
•I
( Pl \ l RI Ho, I lL i-;110\I
\\\II Ill
' ,d;·~I• up1i.-1 lw .!1 , .:, . .1 ~ 1.-1~ upp.-r h11, ~ .! .; :• I
On this page, there is an Edit button which prompts a user to only click use it when he/she wants
to modify student's details as shown below
FigureS.13 Edit student's form page
bit / 07344/ 165/du
First name: ahebwa
hassan
m a le
0786564554
isha ka - b u shenyi
354567
nkubiito natha n
ishaka
36
5.2.5 Add Hostel form page
Under ADD NEW HOSTEL link, it's where new students are added to different hostels by the
hostel ; names, location, sex and capacity and thereafter, a user clicks on ADD HOSTEL and edit
hostel page is displayed with Edit and Delete buttons. It also allows a user to search a certain
hostel by its name as shown in the figure below
Figure5.14 Add Hostel form page
lcr I II I
J, I t I ly
FIi.i. I\ HOSTEi. \.\ .\11-: nr l'I .\I.S
\.1111<:
Loc111011:
('\: ~fal l" Female
ap:1ri1, :
37
-------- --
FigureS.15 Edit hostel form page
' •·.11\hJo, \ Jnh '><•arch
Kampa a
In crnat1onal
Un1vers 1ty
/"'El)I I ll<h I EL~
.-----.----...--...----.....------------.
id~LOR
Whereby clicking on delete button, hostel details are removed from the database without
retrieving them and when a user clicks on Edit button; he/she can edit hostel name, location, sex,
capacity and capacity used respectively by using Id number as shown below
38
---
FigureS.16 Update hostel form page
l<I :.
'- ,I 111, uppn hoy~
I Ht .tltutt ' c ,IOIJHh
( .1p.1r11,· )OD
Update hostel
Then after editing, a user clicks on update hostel button. After updating hostel, users are
prompted to click on back arrow ~in order to view the updated hostel and C7 taking the user
back to dashboard page.
5.2.6: Available hostel space page
This page contains hostel details and Add Student buttons on each student whereby a user is
prompted to click on Add student button to allocate a student a room using studenf s registration
number and assigned room number as shown below
39
FigureS.17 Available hostel form page
.k1 K~llltp,11,1
l11l(•fll,1ll(lft.1l
lJru ~·11r"'~1ty
.,,,,...-
11 O< \l lO'"i.\( \I'\! 'II\ ( \I'\( 11 \ I -.,1 I)
"l'I' )11 1\•II
I U1·1 .. • • I ..... ,, .. 1,.\, 11111"1' f,tn .. 1, \pi •
I
"! .,, .. ,
~! .&let
5.2.7: Create Account This page is displayed when the user clicks on create Account. It helps in capturing new users of
the system and viewing the current users.
FigureS.18 create account form
1-- 11n .. ,, a I · , 'l,1' ,. ,'\ I
l 11 r t.
l ,ernnmc:
Pn ~"or<I:
Emnll:
40
5.2.8 Hostel Gallery page
This page contains hostel pictures that can help the users to navigate to different areas of the
system as shown below
Figure5.19 Hostel Gallery page
K1c.·.wc HO. TEL,, RDE. APP
5.3 System Validation
~ ampa la ln tcrnJtlo!'la l
Un, ,crsrty
\JJ '/. RS/TY HOS'
This was carried out using a sample population of ten ( 10) members in the University warden· s
office. The above mentioned members worked and responded positively towards developing a
new system because they all found out that the new system meets all the user requirements.
Below are the results from the study showing the percentage number of staffs and students that
agreed that the system meets user requirement.
41
System Validation
R~guirements Yes NO Mean Conclusion Performance 40 (87%) 6 (13%)
2 Yes
Ease to use 42 (91 %) 4 (9%) 2 Yes
Information capturing and 41(89%) 5 (11 %) 2 Yes identification Control and Security 44 (96%) 2 (4%) 2 Yes
Storage 45(97%) 1 (3%) 2 Yes
System availability 43 (93%) 3 (7%) 2 Yes
"--- ~--------~-----Reliability 44 (96%) 2 (4%) 2 Yes
-------Tablc4. 10: system validation information
The results from the validation table shows that the system meets all the user requirements at a
greater extent both functional and non-functional requirements
42
Chapter Six
Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendation
troduction
In this chapter, the researcher looks at the summary of the finding, conclusions, and
recommendations of the study on designing a hostel allocation management system.
6.1: Discussion
According what was gathered from the data analysis, it was realized that the current system has
challenges of hostel allocation management system by the use of pen and paper to capture, store,
retrieve. and updating student's information. The researcher was able to define requirements for
the ne\V hostel allocation management and the new system was developed basing on the data
colkcted and analyzed from the document review, interview and questionnaires. Data was
analyzed and presented using tables.
In developing the new system, data flow diagram was useful to describe the flow of the
information in the new system and entity relation diagram was used to show the relationships
between the entities and logical connections was made. PHP Dreamweaver was used to design
the graphical user interface, while PHPMyAdmin was useful in developing the database. Testing
was carried out on each module as each module been implemented to detect any defect and make
corrections to ensure that each module is compatible and the system was integrated and tested
hich conform to the user requirements specifications.
Hovvever the researcher met some challenges and limitations which include the following;
Constraints: The design was achieved but not without some financial involvements.
One had to pay for the computer time. Also the typing and planning of the work has its own
financial involvements.
programming Technique: The programmmg aspect of this project posed a lot of
problematic bugs that took me some days to solve. Problems such as database connections using
PHP and PHPMyAdmin posed a lot of challenges.
43
Literature Sources: The topic though seems to be a common term; it is not a popular topic
to surf from the Internet. It had fewer literature sources.
6.2: Conclusion
Hostel Allocation Management System 1s very useful for hostel allocation and
management. This hostel management software is designed for people who \:Vant to
manage various activities in the hostel. For the past few years the numbers of educational
institutions are increasing rapidly here in Uganda. Thereby the numbers of hostels are also
increasing for the accommodation of the students studying in this institution. And hence there is
a lot of strain on the person who are running the hostel and software's are not usually used in this
context. This particular project deals with the problems on managing a hostel and avoids the
prnb!ems which occur when carried manually. Identification of the drawbacks of the existing
system leads to the designing of computerized system that will be compatible to the existing
system with the system which is more users friendly and more GUI oriented. The
in: Efficiency of data entry and information retrieval
lS
The new system automatically builds and maintains fast access to each record in order to
maximize retrieval speed as compared to the previous system where data entry had to be done
manually by writing clown on forms for particular records.
Performance
Th,: system allows a user to enter new records into a given file, modify, correct, or delete
existing records, and displays reports either in detail or summaries according to the user's
information requirements.
The system offers security at user level thereby allowing you to maximize the security of the
data. Users have to log on using passwords however; passwords have to be kept confidential so
as to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to the system.
44
Accuracy
The system offers a high degree of accuracy. The system can perform millions of data entry with
same accuracy unlike in the previous system where sometime administrators would get tired and
commit errors.
6.3: Recommendation
Training of all the members of the hostel administrators to get accustomed to the system service
is a priority. This being a new system, some members of the hostel ,vardens get threatened that
the hostel allocation management system will replace them. The researcher recommends that
management of hostel allocation and accommodation should educate the entire staff and
understand the system and its functionalities.
The project has achieved virtually all the objectives it was meant for, though there may be some
limitations. It's upon this background that the researcher recommends for further modifications
where necessary.
During the course of this project, the researcher was able to understand better how important is
hostel allocation management system in the University. This was effectively clone through
reading of literature and research. The whole process of developing the system was an
opportunistic challenge. Seeing the system into a tangible system was a rewarding exercise.
45
References
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http:// artificialintell igenceseo .info/2011 /09/hotel-reservation-techniques
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Gajanan B. (2012). Management information system: A Tool for Corporate Sustainability,
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,awrcnce, vV (2011). Application of Agents in Hotel Search and Secured Booking System.
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Lawrence, and Suresh, S (2012)" Smart Agent Learning Hotel Search System- Android
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O'Brien, J. A. (2011). Management Information Systems: Management informiition
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Tatiana, D. (2011). The Impact of Online Booking Systems on Customer Loyalty. Romania,
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h ://nairaproject.com/projects/960.html
ttps://www.scribd.com/doc/49645472/SRS-Hostel-Management-system-HMS
ht tps://www.grossarchive.com/project/145 7 52925 7 .htm
ttp://www.academia.edu/7503653/Project __ Report_On HOSTEL MANAGEMENT SYS
TEM.
A. S. (2009). Sign Writing on Mobile for the Deqf White Paper.
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Kevin Tatroe&Lerdorf. (n.d.). Creating Dyamic vVeb Pages, Programming FHP, O'REILLY.
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48
Glossary
Abstract This is an over view perception of the available and involving ideas
Attributes properties that describe the entity of which they are associated. A
particular instance of an attribute is a value.
A many-to-many (M: M) relationship is when Entities A and B have a many-to-many
relationship if a single occurrence in A can be mapped onto more than one occurrences in Band a
single occurrence in B can be mapped onto multiple occurrences in A.
A one-to-many (1: M)relationship is when Entities A and B have a one-to-many relationship if
a single occurrence in A can be mapped onto a maximum of one occurrence in B but a single
occurrence in B can be mapped onto a maximum of more than one occurrences in A.
A one-to-one (1: 1) relationship is when Entities A and B have a one-to-one relationship if a
single occurrence in A can be mapped onto at most one occurrence in B and a single occurrence
in B can be mapped onto a maximum of one occurrence in A.
Data
Data model
Data flow
Database
Raw facts that have not been processed
this is an integrated collection of concept for describing data, relationships
between data, and constraints on the data in an organization.
the arrow representing movements betYveen entities, process and data stores.
Normally labeled to describe data that is involved
a shared collection of logically related data together with a description of this
data (data dictionary/meta data), designed to meet the information needs of an
organization.
Database Administrator is a person responsible for installing, maintaining and configuring
Entity
the DBMS software
this is any tangible or intangible object on which an organization wishes to store
data
49
Form is just a window into a table designed to display the data one record at a time. and
for entering data effectively and accurately in a table
Manual system a system that uses a manual means of collecting data, inputting and storage
through the use manpower
50
Appendix I:
Student's Questionnaire
Section 1: Introduction
My name is Arnwine Joshua; a student at KIUWC doing Information Technology. I am
currently carrying out an academic project "Hostel Allocation Management System"
which intends to solve problems related to hostel allocation management. I would wish to
collect information from you through this questionnaire.
Please fill this questionnaire in the space provided.
l . Respondent details
Unclergraclw1te
Postgrnduate
Name:
Gender:
Course:
□ □
Year of study: _________ _
Sex:
Age
2. How did you come to know Kampala International University?
3. Why did you prefer staying in the University hostels to private hostels?
51
I I
I
I i
I
I
I
4. How has this current system been in terms of; effectiveness, speed, ease in usage and time
taken to retrieve information, report generation and security? ✓Tick
below according to your ratings.
in the table drawn
Question: Very Efficient Neutral Inefficient Very how has this efficient inefficient current hostel allocation system been helpful in tcnns of; Effective
□ □ □ □ □ Speed
□ □ □ □ □ Ease in usage
□ □ □ □ 1----·--□ Time taken to capture
□ □ □ □ student's ci-eclentials
·----- --~-----.--
Security
□ □ □ □ 4. In the new computerized system of booking, what facilities do you wish to be included?
·-·--·-----------------------------
5. How technical knowhow are you on computer fundamentals and its applications?
Very good D Good
Fair good D
Poor D Very poor
52
I I
Section 2 staffs questionnaire
Staff Questionnaire
My name rs Arnwine Joshua, a student at KIUWC doing Information Technology. I am
currently
carrying out an academic project concerning with "Hostel Allocation Management System"
which intends to solve problems related to hostel allocation management. I would wish to
collect information from you through this questionnaire.
Please fill this questionnaire in the space provided.
1. Respondent details
Name:
Gende~1~·: _______________ _
Age:
Department: -------------
Position: ------------
Duties: -----------
2. How long have you been in this office?
53
-·-
-----·
I
3. How has this current system been in terms of; effectiveness, speed, ease in usage and time
taken to retrieve information, report generation and security? ,/Tick
below according to your ratings.
in the table drawn
Question: Very Efficient Neutral Inefficient Very how has this efficient inefficient current hostel system been in terms of; Effectiveness
□ □ □ I □ □ -· ·--·--1 ···-·----
Speed
□ □ □ i □ □ Ec1se in
□ □ □ □ □ usage -····---~
Time taken
□ □ to retrieve □ information t-o Report
□ □ □ □ generation I □ -· ···-··-··-
Security
□ □ □ I □ I
□ I -·-· ----------
4. ln the new computerized student residence management system, whc1t facilities do you
wish to be included?
5. How technical knowhow are you in computer fundamentals c1nd its applications?
Very good□
Good D Fair good D Poor D Very poor
54
I
i I
I
I
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