Essential Outcomes: Feasibility Study of Student Tracking System

This document presents a feasibility study for Essential Outcomes Pty Ltd, focusing on improving a student enrolment and academic performance tracking system. It identifies problems such as lack of flexibility, outdated software, and overlapping functionalities. Opportunities for improvement include updating the system with new technology like cloud storage, enhancing flexibility, and improving the user interface. The study outlines success factors, including stakeholder involvement and dedicated team support. It analyzes the current system's processes for student record addition, deletion, and performance tracking, and proposes alternative solutions such as a cloud-based system and automation. The study concludes by discussing the tangible and intangible benefits of the proposed system modifications, along with their advantages and disadvantages. Desklib provides access to this and other student-contributed documents.

Essential Outcomes Pty Ltd
Feasibility Study
Student Enrolment and Academic Performance Tracking
System
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Contents
1. Introduction 3
1.1. Problem Identification.......................................................................3
1.2. Opportunities....................................................................................3
1.3. Mandates..........................................................................................4
2. Success Factors 4
2.1. System and process related success factors:...................................4
2.2. Project related Success Factors:......................................................5
3. Current Situation 5
4. Benefits 6
4.1. Tangible Benefits..............................................................................6
4.2. Intangible Benefits............................................................................7
5. Alternative Solutions 7
5.1. Alternative 1- Student enrolment and performance tracking system
based on cloud architecture..........................................................................7
5.1.1. Advantages..................................................................................7
5.1.2. Disadvantages.............................................................................8
5.2. Alternative 2- Student enrolment and performance tracking system
using automation..........................................................................................8
5.2.1. Advantages..................................................................................8
5.2.2. Disadvantages.............................................................................8
5.3. Alternative 3- No Action....................................................................8
5.3.1. Advantages..................................................................................8
5.3.2. Disadvantages.............................................................................9
6. Recommended Solution 9
7. References 10
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1. Introduction
Student enrolment and academic performance tracking system is
implemented in order to keep track of the students admitted and keep track of
their performance. It is designed in such a way that all details of a student
can be accessed by one student registration number (Dutt et al.2017). The
system is accessible to the admission committee and the professors of the
college. However, in certain purpose , the student can use the system for
editing any information after getting the permission from the college
authority.
1.1. Problem Identification
There are certain problems associated with this system.
 The enrolment and performance tracking system has the
lack of flexibility.
 There is a problem in system of keeping track of the current
student and the students who are leaving the college.
 The software , the system is using is not updated.
 Due to the increasing number of students, the current
database is not functioning properly in keeping all the
student details.
 There two major sections- student enrolment track and
student performance tracking system are overlapping each
other, which is not desirable.
 There are major problems in the system which is violating
the robustness of the system performance.
1.2. Opportunities
There are certain opportunities of improvement present for the system.
 The system can be updated or the new software can be used to
implement the whole system (Allen, I. Elaine, and Jeff Seaman 2016).
The improvisation can be done in large scale in case if the system is
implemented with the help of new technology platform.
The cloud storage can be used instead of using the conventional database
server. This can provide the large storage space for storing the student
information (Bleazard, David, and Amanda Lourens 2015).The security of
the system can be improvised using the firewall and other security protocols.
 The flexibility of the system can be improvised, so that the addition,
update of the record and deletion of the record can be done easily.
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 The system can be modified in such a way that the two main tasks of
the system which are keeping track of the enrolment of the student
and the tracking the performance of the student do not overlap each
other.
 The user interface of the system can be improvised so that it can be
used by the administration easily.
 The performance report generation can be done online and the
students can download the report directly from the portal or the
system.
1.3. Mandates
The implementation and modification of the system should follow certain
rules or mandates.
 The system should only be accessed by the authorized officials of the
administration of the college.
 The security measures are needed to be maintained by the users of the
system.
 The passwords regarding the system should not be shared by the the
authorized personals.
 The server of the system needs to be secured.
 Only qualified personal should handle the system if any problem
occurs in the system.
 The data in the system regarding the students and their reports should
be correct.
2. Success Factors
Success factors of the system depends on the two major
considerations- Project related success factors and the process and system
related success factors.
2.1. System and process related success
factors:
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The newly modified enrolment tracking and the performance tracking
system will help to generate the individual student records along with the
student details (Uskov et al. 2016). The current system does not allow the
students to access the system. However, in certain cases the student can
change their details in the portal only after getting permission from the
administration (Friðriksdóttir, Kolbrún, and Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir 2015).
The proposed modified process will allow students to access the port partially
through the “Student” tab where they can enter their details such as roll
number or registration number and name, and then can view their results and
other coursework.
The security of the proposed system will be better than the existing
one. This will help to reduce the threats of losing data.
There should be a technique for the elimination of the human error in
the entered data. This will help to reduce the major error in entering the
student details in the system.
2.2. Project related Success Factors:
Involvement of the stakeholders: The implementation of the new
student enrolment and performance tracking system includes all the
stakeholders in the implementation process (Callender and Claire 2017). The
requirements those are needed to be added in the system and the area of
modifications are discussed with the stakeholders.
Planning: Planning of the system should be proper. The team leader of
the implementation team should be aware that no important tasks are missed
by the team members during the implementation phase.
Support: The support will be given by the team after the implementation of
the project. The user manual of the system will be provided (Ghaffarzadegan
et al.2017). In case, if any problem arises regarding the use of the system,
there will be support team who will help to resolve the problem.
Team: A dedicated team will be employed to develop and modify the
current existing system. The team will consists of the group of experts with
the sound knowledge requires for the implementation.
3. Current Situation
Customer Description:
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The customer is the users of the system. The users are the authorized
people of the college administration and the students. In the current system
the administration fill up the details of the student directly from the student
(Sudasinghe 2015). This system will enable a portal separately for the
students, where students can fill the details in their own (Ballarino, Gabriele,
and Nazareno Panichella 2016). The filled up data will directly send to the
admin portal, where the admin can collect the data to fill up the final register.
This will eliminate the chances of human error while filling up the student
information.
Current Work Process:
Existing process of addition of student record:
 The newly admitted student tells the required information in details to
the administration. The administration updates the record in the
system.
 The record is stored in the central server.
Existing process of the deletion of the student record:
 In case if a student is discontinued the course, his or her name is
deleted from the student record manually.
Existing process of performance tracking:
 The student performance grades are sent to the administration by the
professors. The administration updates the performance of the
students.
 Teachers and professors of the college can check any individual
student record from the system in order to analysis the performance
growth of the student.
Other notable tasks of the existing process:
 The performance record of the students can be used by the
professors to give the feedback about the students.
 The student records are updated on yearly basis.
Products regarding the solution:
 The cloud data storage
 The new software platform ( The selection of the platform will be
decided after the discussion with the stakeholders related to the
project)
4. Benefits
There are certain benefits those can be achieved from the
implementation of the new system. These benefits can be categorized in to
two sections- tangible and intangible.
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4.1. Tangible Benefits
Cost savings: Initially, implementation of the modification of
the system will not save cost, but the resources will be required
for the implementation (Urbanski, Monika, and Walter Leal
Filho 2015). However, the system will serve its purpose
effectively and will reduce human error.
Time savings: The implementation of the modified system will save time as
the whole process follows the logical steps in a sequential manner (Sáenz,
Karen P., and Julie 2015). The student details are filled by the individual
students, which saves time for the administrative for the insertion of the
records (London et al.2016).
 . The generation of the report card also helps to reduce the time for report
collection.
 The use of the cloud as the storage option will enable to store large
amount of data which will be helpful for the administrator to keep the
information of the students accordingly.
4.2. Intangible Benefits
The main aim of the modification of the current student enrolment and
performance tracking system is to deliver the student information along with
their performance in a standard manner (Nelson et al.2017). However, there
are examples for the misuse of advanced technology to manipulate data
through this kind of system.
 . The modified system can eliminate this issue as it can track the
person using the system along with the date and time of use.
 The data entered by the students are stored automatically to the
system of the administration. This helps to reduce the chances of
human error.
 The generation of the report online through the portal will be
beneficial for the students as they will not have to visit the college
administration building for collecting the report.
5. Alternative Solutions
5.1. Alternative 1- Student enrolment and
performance tracking system based on
cloud architecture
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5.1.1.Advantages
 The partial mitigation of the information to the cloud will
mitigate the requirement of large storage space.
 It will reduce the cost of maintaining the infrastructures.
 The security of the data will be ensured.
5.1.2.Disadvantages
 The implementation may require a good amount of
resource initially.
 The users may not be comfortable using the new cloud
technology, so technical hazards may occur.
 The security of the cloud is the responsibility of the
third party cloud vendor. In that case major security
fault may occur from their part.
5.2. Alternative 2- Student enrolment and
performance tracking system using
automation
5.2.1.Advantages
 The automation of the process reduces human error
 The registration of the student records can be done in a small
time span.
 The generation of the student report can be done easily
through the system automation.
 All the updates regarding the student performance can be
recorded automatically in the system. No manual insertion of
the updated information is required.
5.2.2.Disadvantages
 The complexity of the system will increase.
 The implementation cost of the system will increase.
 The whole system seems complex to the users
 In case , if system failure happens, the experts may not be
available for solving the problem.
5.3. Alternative 3- No Action
5.3.1.Advantages
 The existing system is familiar to the users.
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 The simple architecture of the system will help the
user to understand the working principal of the
system.
 There will be no cost for the implementation of new
technology and the system. It will save the cost.
5.3.2.Disadvantages
 The current system does not serve the purpose of the
system properly.
 The encryption and the security implemented in the
system is not enough for maintaining the secured
working through the system.
 The student cannot get the online generated result.
 There are the chances of occurrence of human error.
 The storage space in the system is not sufficient for
storing the information of the increasing number of
students.
6. Recommended Solution
Implementation of the system using cloud architecture is cost effective
and it provides large storage space for storing the information of the system.
However, there is chance regarding the security of the stored information as
the responsibility of the information is on the third party cloud provider.
The automation of the student enrolment and performance tracking system
can help to reduce the human error and it can run the whole registration and
report generation of the students in a small time span. However, there are
some disadvantages of this implementation (Zacharis 2015). The user may
get confused as the whole working system of the process will be complex.
Moreover, automation of the whole process will increase the overall cost.
The last alternative is to take no action and keep the current system. The
keeping of the existing system will lead to the no loss no gain situation
(Gorgan and Vasile 2015). Keeping the existing system will not cost extra for
the implementation and no training will be required to the users to use the
system (Shapiro et al.2017). However, the purpose of the system will not
fully serve in the existing system, which is not desirable.
Recommendation: It can be recommended that the cloud
implementation of the current system along with the implementation of
automation in certain part can be beneficial for the modification of the
system.
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7. References
Allen, I. Elaine, and Jeff Seaman. "Online Report Card: Tracking Online
Education in the United States." Babson Survey Research Group (2016).
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Ballarino, Gabriele, and Nazareno Panichella. "Social stratification,
secondary school tracking and university enrolment in
Italy." Contemporary Social Science 11, no. 2-3 (2016): 169-182.
Bleazard, David, and Amanda Lourens. "Implementing an enrolment
planning model at a university of technology." South African Journal of
Higher Education 29, no. 6 (2015): 39-57.
Callender, Claire. "Cost-sharing and student support." New languages
and landscapes of higher education (2017): 103-26.
Dutt, Ashish, Maizatul Akmar Ismail, and Tutut Herawan. "A systematic
review on educational data mining." IEEE Access 5 (2017): 15991-
16005.
Friðriksdóttir, Kolbrún, and Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir. "Tracking student
retention in open online language courses." In Critical CALL–
Proceedings of the 2015 EUROCALL conference Padova, Italy, pp. 1-6.
2015.
Ghaffarzadegan, Navid, Richard Larson, and Joshua Hawley. "Education
as a complex system." Systems research and behavioral science 34, no.
3 (2017): 211-215.
Gorgan, Vasile. "Monitoring Student Performance. A Data Driven
Decision Support System Approach." SEA-Practical Application of
Science 8 (2015): 135-140.
London, Rebecca A., Monika Sanchez, and Sebastian Castrechini. "The
dynamics of chronic absence and student achievement." Education
Policy Analysis Archives/Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas 24
(2016).
Nelson, Karen, Catherine Picton, Julie McMillan, Daniel Edwards, Marcia
Devlin, and Kerry Martin. "Understanding the completion patterns of
equity students in regional universities." (2017).
Sáenz, Karen P., and Julie P. Combs. "Experiences, Perceived
Challenges, and Support Systems of Early College High School
Students." Administrative Issues Journal: Education, Practice, and
Research 5, no. 1 (2015): 105-117.
Shapiro, Doug, Afet Dundar, Faye Huie, P. K. Wakhungu, X. Yuan, A.
Nathan, and Y. Hwang. "Tracking transfer: Measures of effectiveness in
helping community college students to complete bachelor’s
degrees." Signature Report 13 (2017).
Sudasinghe, A. K. "STUDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR IHRA
UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO." (2015).
Urbanski, Monika, and Walter Leal Filho. "Measuring sustainability at
universities by means of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and
Rating System (STARS): early findings from STARS data." Environment,
Development and Sustainability 17, no. 2 (2015): 209-220.
Uskov, Vladimir L., Jeffrey P. Bakken, Akshay Pandey, Urvashi Singh,
Mounica Yalamanchili, and Archana Penumatsa. "Smart university
taxonomy: features, components, systems." In Smart Education and e-
Learning 2016, pp. 3-14. Springer, Cham, 2016.
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Zacharis, Nick Z. "A multivariate approach to predicting student outcomes
in web-enabled blended learning courses." The Internet and Higher
Education 27 (2015): 44-53.
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