DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE EXAMINATION AND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM USING BIO METRICS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

An examination can be defined as an instrument for testing assessment, evaluation, and accreditation (Ike, 1996). It is a potent instrument for judging knowledge and competence. The examination is an important aspect of the education process. This is the stage at which the learner’s knowledge, skills, ability, and competencies are assessed, and judgments made about such performance. The outcome of such judgments is used for diagnosing as well as the placement of students. Beating the due process of examinations leads to malpractices. Hence, examination malpractice is as old as the examination itself. However, the rate at which examination malpractices occur in the Nigerian educational system is highly disturbing and, therefore, needs prompt attention from all stakeholders. In fact, the phenomenon has both moral and legal implications. Genuine verification of the candidate’s identity as a major requirement for participation in an exam is the primary objective of this research work. This explains why the researchers have decided to carry out research on this topic and finally develop a viable and dependable system known as “Design and Implementation of an Online Entrance Examination Administration System”. In the proposed system, we are going to apply the concept of biometric authentication to detect any form of examination malpractice during examination. Traditional authentication systems cannot discriminate between an impersonator who fraudulently obtains the access privileges (e.g., key, password) of a genuine user. Furthermore, biometric authentication systems can be more convenient for the users since there is no password to be forgotten or key to be lost and a single biometric trait (e.g., fingerprint) can be used to access several accounts without the burden of remembering passwords. This research work is subdivided into five chapters as follows: chapter one which contains the introduction of the work Chapter two contains the literature review of existing systems, their successes and limitations shall also be discussed in this chapter. Chapter three contains the analyses and design of the proposed system including the methodologies adopted while carrying out the research. Chapter four is where the actual implementation using the appropriate programming language and finally chapter five contains the summary, conclusion, and recommendation.

1.1   Background to the Study

Education is the bedrock on which all human activities revolve. Examination malpractice which started unnoticed in Nigeria has become a national phenomenon and a threat to the educational system (Denison, 2007). There have been daily newspapers with screaming headlines on students’ examination malpractices involving examination officials and student’s poor performance in academic activities. The Federal Government, Examination bodies and Researchers have proffer solutions toward curbing the vices that are plaguing our educational systems in the society. But laws and suggestions made were neither implemented nor enforced due to “Nigerian Factor” (Macson, 2008). To this effect, examination malpractices have consistently remained a bane of the Nigerian educational system. Several steps have been taken to check this crime unabated. Some of the methods adopted are the use of Identity card; the presence of invigilators to identify fake students; the allocation of sitting arrangement number that determines the hall where the student will write the exam and the need to sign in and out on the attendance sheets (Williams, 2009). This research work proffers solutions to the problems faced by the examination management system using the concept of biometric identification techniques (fingerprint regulation). Genuine verification of the candidate’s identity as a major requirement for participation in an exam is the primary objective of this research work. This explains why biometrics fits into the overall objective of this work.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The persistent occurrence of examination malpractices has been a major concern to educationists (Aghenta,2000; Ige, 2002). Despite the high premium placed on examinations by the National Policy on Education (FGN,2004), it seems that examination malpractices have not been properly addressed in Nigeria. Common observations have shown that there is mass cheating in entrance examinations in Nigeria. Nothing concrete has been done to reduce the problem except the cancellation of results for a particular center or the withholding of results in certain subjects. The problem of the study is that of finding a lasting solution to the issue of examinations malpractices during entrance examinations in Nigeria. This explains why biometric authentication fits into this study as a means of identifying the right candidate that is supposed to sit for an exam.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to design and develop an online entrance examination administration system with the objectives:

i.  To design a novel system that can screen the candidate with their biometric data.

ii. To create awareness to both lecturers, staff of the school administration and the government at large on the different types of examination malpractices and how to combat them.

iii. To efficiently manage and administer the entrance examination process in Nigeria.

iv. To eradicate all forms of malpractices in the Nigerian entrance examination.

v. To design a new algorithm that will integrate student data with their biometric information.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is important in the following ways:

i.  It will enable administrators of schools and colleges to properly manage their entrance examination process.

ii. The study enables the school administrators to understand the different forms of examination malpractices during the process of examination and how to prevent it.

iii. The implementation of the proposed system helps save time and burden of the traditional authentication using id cards, password and username

iv. This study serves as a good reference to further researching students who may want to carry out research on the same or related topic.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this research work is to design and implement an online entrance examination administration system such as aptitude test making use of a unified biometric identification process for prospective students and staff in the institution taking a case study of Rivers State Polytechnic Bori. Exam questions will be posted to the site by the lecturers, and only legible students will log onto the site after proper authentication and screening process, see the questions, answer them appropriately and click on submit. The system will assess the student’s performance and score him/her in accordance with their performance.

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The limitations of this study are as follows:

i.  Time constraint: time is a commodity man will always long for it, due to the limitation of time, some few features which would have been added to the project were eliminated.

ii. Inconsistent power supply: the power sector of the economy has over time diminished its provision of adequate service and hence, I had to limit myself to working on the project when electricity was available and when the computer hard battery power. And this reduced the already limited time available for the project work.

iii. Internet access: the internet service in Nigeria can be quite erratic especially during the rainy season, and as such, we had to visit the cyber café a number of times to have adequate access to the internet.

1.7  DEFINITION OF TERMS

EXAMINATION: Examination can be defined as an instrument for testing assessment, evaluation, and accreditation.

(TVAAS) : This is an acronym for the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, it provides information to teachers, parents and the public on how schools are doing in helping each child make academic gains each year. It provides information to school administrators to identify weaknesses in even the strongest schools.  And it provides information to central administrators, school boards and policy leaders to ask harder, more penetrating questions.

TESTING: Testing can be defined as a procedure for critical evaluation; a means of determining the presence, quality, or truth of something

ASSESSMENT: a process in which you make a judgment about a person or situation

AUTOMATION: the use of computers and machine instead of people to do a job

MANUAL: something operated or done by hand without the help of computers

GRAPHICAL: relating to or containing graphic, especially on a computer

BIOMETRIC: This is referring to detailed information about someone’s body, such as the patterns of color in their eyes, which can be used to prove who they are.

AUTHENTICATE: To prove that something is real, true, or what people say it is

FINGERPRINT: The pattern of curved lines on the end of a finger or thumb, which is different in every person, or a mark left by this pattern.

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