Improving Internship Management in Higher Institutions of learning

By Aloyzious IMPROVING INTERNSHIP MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING: A case study of University of Kisubi (Unik) By SSENTEZA ALOYZIOUS 15MIT011 A RESEARCH DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OF UGANDA MARTYRS UNIVERSITY (Nkozi). August, 2017 DECLARATION I, Ssenteza Aloyzious, hereby declare that this research titled “Improving Internship Management in Higher Institutions of Learning” is my original work and has never been submitted to any other University for any academic credit. Signed: …………………………………………………… Ssenteza Aloyzious Date: ……………………………………………….. i APPROVAL This Research Dissertation by Ssenteza Aloyzious titled Improving Internship Management in Higher Institutions of Learning: A case study of University of Kisubi (Unik), was done under my supervision and is now ready for submission. Signature ………………………………………… Date: ………………………. Mr. Othieno Joseph Supervisor ii DEDICATION I dedicate this research to my lovely Aunts Sister Josephine Nakaggwa and Nantongo Betty, My Uncle Bro. Deo Mugema, my only brother Matovu J.B and my loving wife Nakabiri Evelyn and our children Austin and Nicole. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to acknowledge that I received counsel, and support from so many people that mentioning names is not possible within the confines of this page. Those mentioned here only represent people whose encouragement and support made this study possible. Special thanks go to my supervisor Mr. Othieno Joseph, the staff colleagues of UniK, Unik students and to all my lecturers for their inspiration and encouragement. I am equally indebted to the participants who volunteered information I needed to complete this study. I especially wish to acknowledge the help of collaboration of UniK students. I also wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my family for the moral, material and financial support they accorded me. Special thanks go to my Aunt Sr. Mary Josephine Nakaggwa, Bro. Deo Mugema and Mummy Betty without whose hand and unwavering support this study would have remained but a dream. Together with my wife Evelyn Nakabiri, you have been a source of strength throughout the course. Special thanks to the family of Mr. Matovu Edward and Nakimera Sarah of the United states of America for all their generous contribution towards the success of this research. I thank all my MIT classmates for encouraging me to stay on course. Special thanks go to Fr. Maria Assumpta, Sr. Gatrude, Ssozi Hassane, Mungoma James, Najjingo Victoria, Naboth, and Juliet for your comradeship. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.............................................................................................................................. i APPROVAL ....................................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................. xi ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................xii CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background to the Study......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Main Objective........................................................................................................................ 2 1.3.1 Specific Objectives .......................................................................................................... 2 1.3.2 Research Questions: ......................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Study Scope ............................................................................................................................ 3 1.4.1 Geographical scope .......................................................................................................... 3 1.4.2 Time scope ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.4.3 Subject Scope ................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Significance/ Justification of the Research Study................................................................... 4 1.7 Limitation................................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 7 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................................. 7 2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Problems/ challenges associated with Internship management in higher institutions of learning and how they can be solved. ........................................................................................... 7 2.2 How Internship programs operate in higher institutions of learning and their benefits ......... 8 2.3 Advantages of Internship systems in higher institutions of learning ...................................... 9 2.4 Research approaches ............................................................................................................... 9 2.4.1 Qualitative and quantitative research approaches. ........................................................... 9 v 2.4.1.1 Quantitative approach ................................................................................................... 9 2.4.1.2 Qualitative research approach ....................................................................................... 9 2.5 Research methods ................................................................................................................. 10 2.5.1 Design science ............................................................................................................... 10 2.5.2 Case studies .................................................................................................................... 11 2.5.3 Action research .............................................................................................................. 11 2.6 Data collection and Analysis ................................................................................................ 11 2.6.1 Observation .................................................................................................................... 11 2.6.2 Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 12 2.6.2.1 Types of Interviews..................................................................................................... 12 2.6.3 Document review ........................................................................................................... 13 2.7 Information Management...................................................................................................... 13 2.8 Information Management Concepts ...................................................................................... 14 2.8.1 Databases ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.8.2 Database modeling ......................................................................................................... 16 2.8.2.1 Advantages of the Relational Model........................................................................... 16 2.8.3 Use Case Modeling ........................................................................................................ 16 2.8.4 Data Modeling ............................................................................................................... 17 2.8.5 The Entity-Relation Model (ER) ................................................................................... 17 2.9 Database Systems.................................................................................................................. 18 2.9.1 Database Management systems ......................................................................................... 19 2.9.1.1 Benefits of Database Management Systems ............................................................... 19 2.10 Database System Development Approaches ...................................................................... 20 2.10.1 Prototyping - Chosen ................................................................................................... 22 2.11 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 23 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 23 3.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Research Design.................................................................................................................... 23 3.2 Methods of the research ........................................................................................................ 23 3.2.1 Design science research method. ................................................................................... 23 vi 3.2.2 Case study method ......................................................................................................... 24 3.3 Study population ................................................................................................................... 24 3.4 Sample size ........................................................................................................................... 24 3.4.1 The table below shows the Sample size ......................................................................... 24 3.5 Sampling technique ............................................................................................................... 25 3.6 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 25 3.7 Validity ................................................................................................................................. 25 3.8 Reliability.............................................................................................................................. 26 3.9 Data Collection Methods and Research Instruments ............................................................ 26 3.9.1 Primary Data Sources. ................................................................................................... 26 3.9.2 Secondary Data Sources .................................................................................................... 27 3.10 Data Collection Instrument ................................................................................................. 27 3.10.1 Interview Guide ........................................................................................................... 27 3.11 Questionnaire ...................................................................................................................... 27 3.12 System Development and Implementation ......................................................................... 28 3.13 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 29 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................... 29 4.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 29 4.1 Background of University of Kisubi ..................................................................................... 29 4.2 Description of the study respondents .................................................................................... 30 4.3 Problems of the current internship management System ...................................................... 31 4.4 Solution to the problems of the current internship system ............................................... 42 4.5 logical designs ........................................................................................................................... 31 4.5 System Requirement ......................................................................................................... 32 4.5.1 Functional Requirements ............................................................................................... 32 4.5.2 Non-Functional Requirements ....................................................................................... 33 4.5.2 Activity Diagram ................................................................................................................... 44 4.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................................... 46 SYSTEM DESIGN ........................................................................................................................ 46 vii 5.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 46 5.1 Functional Design Specification ........................................................................................... 46 5.2 Database Design.................................................................................................................... 47 5.2.1 Logical Database Design ............................................................................................... 47 5.2.2 Entity Relationship Design ............................................................................................ 48 5.2.3 Entity relationship diagram ............................................................................................ 49 5.2.4 Physical Database Design .............................................................................................. 51 5.2.6 Hardware and Software Specification ............................................................................... 52 5.3 Structure Interface Design .................................................................................................... 53 5.4 User Interface Design ........................................................................................................... 55 5.5 Security Design ..................................................................................................................... 59 5.6 System Implementation and Operation ................................................................................. 59 5.6.1 System Construction and Programming (Coding) ......................................................... 60 5.6.2 Implementation Plan ...................................................................................................... 60 5.6.3 Database and Script Development ................................................................................. 61 5.7 System Testing and Quality Assurance ................................................................................ 62 5.7.1 System Testing ............................................................................................................... 62 5.8 System Installation ................................................................................................................ 63 5.8.1 Hardware installation ..................................................................................................... 63 5.7.2 Software installation ...................................................................................................... 64 5.8 System Deployment .............................................................................................................. 64 5.9 Maintenance and system enhancement ................................................................................. 64 5.9.1 User Interface Implementation. ..................................................................................... 65 5.10 End User Training ............................................................................................................... 69 5.11 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................................................. 71 GENERAL SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................... 71 6.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 71 6.1 Research Report Summary ................................................................................................... 71 6. 2 General Conclusion of the Study ......................................................................................... 72 6. 3 Challenges ............................................................................................................................ 73 viii 6. 4 Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 73 6. 5 Further Work on the System ................................................................................................ 74 6.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 74 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 75 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................... 81 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The Systems Activity Diagram ....................................................................................... 44 Figure 4. 1: The current business process of handling internship activities ................................... 43 Figure 4. 2: Context level data flow diagram ................................................................................. 32 Figure 4. 3: Functional decomposition diagram for the new internship management system ....... 35 Figure 4. 4: Event data flow diagram for ims ................................................................................. 38 Figure 4. 5: Activity diagram .......................................................................................................... 44 Figure 5. 1: Entity relationship diagram ......................................................................................... 50 Figure 5. 2: The architectural design of the system ........................................................................ 51 Figure 5. 3: The system structural design for the student ............................................................... 53 Figure 5. 4: The system structural design for the university secretary ........................................... 54 figure 5. 5: The system structural design for the university supervisor .......................................... 55 figure 5. 6: Home page design ........................................................................................................ 56 figure 5. 7: Login interface ............................................................................................................. 56 figure 5. 8: Students’ application forms .......................................................................................... 57 figure 5. 9: Secretary’s panel .......................................................................................................... 57 figure 5. 10: Assigning supervisors by secretary ............................................................................ 58 figure 5. 11: View students assessment .......................................................................................... 58 figure 5. 12: Error message ............................................................................................................. 58 figure 5. 13: Confirmation message ................................................................................................ 59 figure 5. 14: The system’s home page ............................................................................................ 65 figure 5. 15: Login page .................................................................................................................. 65 figure 5. 16: The signup page ......................................................................................................... 66 figure 5. 17: Student registration form ............................................................................................ 66 figure 5. 18: Daily routine form/ logbook page .............................................................................. 67 figure 5. 19: View announcements page ......................................................................................... 67 figure 5. 20: Assessment page ........................................................................................................ 68 figure 5. 21: Secretary add announcement page ............................................................................. 68 figure 5. 22: Allocation of supervisor page .................................................................................... 69 figure 5. 23: View students assignment page.................................................................................. 69 x CSS LIST OF ACRONYMS Cascading Style Sheet DBMS Database Management System GUI Graphical User Interface DFD HTTP Data Flow Diagram Hypertext Transfer Protocol ICT Information Communications Technology KBUC MS Kisubi Brothers University College Microsoft RDBMS Relational Database Management System SQL Structured Query Language IMS PHP SNMP UMU UniK UPS Internship Management System Hypertext Preprocessor Simple Network Management Protocol Uganda Martyrs University University of Kisubi Uninterruptible power supply xi ABSTRACT This thesis discusses the analysis and implementation of an information system for improving the management of internship program in higher institutions of learning a case study of the University of Kisubi. The system is meant to aid in supervisor allocation of interns, track the student’s internship activities and help in students’ internship evaluation. The study was done at the University of Kisubi (UniK), located 24 Kilometers from Kampala, The Capital City of Uganda, along Kampala-Entebbe Highway Wakiso District. To develop a system that will improve the management of internship program at the University of Kisubi that can help to establish a linkage between students and business organizations for career development opportunities. The Study of current practices of how internship is done at the University of Kisubi (UniK) established that the old internship system was handling each aspect of the internship independent of the other. By providing a common platform for integration of all the internship management aspects within the new system, the University can now utilize the system to access all information on the students’ internship at a central point. The study reviewed copious sources of literature related which resulted in a list of references for the recognition of the different scholars for their tremendous contribution to the overall body of knowledge. Design science paradigm was used together with qualitative research strategy and case study method to conduct the study. The data needed for the research was collected using selfadministered interviews, observation and document review methods and questionnaires. An information system was analyzed and designed using HTML5, CSS, JavaScript and PHP and its prototype implemented to address the limitations of the current internship system used at UniK. The system provides different forms for data collection, a central database for storage of data and inbuilt scripts to aid report generation. The study was concluded by pointing out numerous recommendations for a better system. xii CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction This chapter focuses on the background of the study which points out the origin of the problem, the problem statement which describes the study problem in a detailed way, main and specific objectives of the research, the research questions which will guide the researcher during the research process, and significance of the study, study scope which defines the boundaries of the study in terms of time, content, theory, context and the sample area (geographical scope). The chapter also includes ethical issues and limitations of the research. 1.1 Background to the Study According to Furco (1996), internships are defined as programmes engaging students in service activities primarily for the purpose of providing them with hands-on experience that enhances their learning or understanding of issues relevant to a particular area of specialization. McMahon and Quinn (1995) noted that internships are supervised work experiences whereby students leave their institutions and get engaged in work related programmes, during which period they are closely supervised by experienced job incumbents. Internships are therefore any carefully monitored piece of work or service experience in which an individual has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what she or he understood as regard to theories of classroom learning (Cook et al., 2004; Hymon-Parker, 1998). According to Meaghan Haire and Kristi Oloffson, Internship programs have produced several successes: Bill Gates was once a congressional page, Oprah Winfrey worked at a CBS affiliate during her college years, just to name a few. The developments of the computerized management systems are expanding over the past years and most of these systems are increasingly substituting the manual system. For instances, there are the registration system, clinic system, hotel management systems and so on that are widely used. However, despite those technological advancements, the field of Internship management is still unattended to especially in third world countries like Uganda. The Internship process is still manual and inefficient in many institutions of higher learning which renders these institutions a great challenge in allocating supervisors, monitoring of students activities and also handling the 1 growing number of students undergoing internship training. Worse still, when students report for internship training, they need to make a self-report manually by filling in the form in the logbooks. While student undergoing the training, they have to write in the logbooks activities they have carried. Other than that, students’ performance also assessed and recorded in logbooks by supervisors every turn of supervision. Furthermore, logbooks can easily be damaged. Several studies done elsewhere indicate and conclude that a gap really exists between the quality of graduates produced and what the market demands (Mpairwe, 2010). For this and other reasons, training institutions and employers have accepted the need to seek mitigatory steps to bridge the gap. Papers can be misplaced, bias in allocating supervisors, poor monitoring of the internees and luck of efficient means of controlling and management of students’ affairs during the internship. It was on this basis that the researcher carried out this study in order to develop a computerized system that can effectively control and manage industrial training related affairs, and can efficiently complement the management process as compared to the manual system. 1.2 Problem Statement The current system of managing Internship activities in higher institutions of learning in Uganda and other developing parts of the world is still characterized by manual and inefficient processes despite the technological innovations and developments, This renders a great challenge in allocating supervisors, monitoring of students activities, managing internship records and also handling the growing number of students undergoing internship training. This triggered the mind of the researcher to carry out an investigation in order to improve the industrial training management. 1.3 Main Objective To develop a system that will improve the management of internship program at the University of Kisubi that can help to establish a linkage between students and business organizations for career development opportunities. 1.3.1 Specific Objectives 1. To find out the challenges associated with the current internship management system so as to come up with a computerized system as a solution to assist in the management of 2 internship activities at University of Kisubi (Unik) as well as finding out the existing literature in relation to the study. 2. To analyze the requirements of the new internship management system. 3. To develop and test functionality of the new system in order to ensure that it meets the functional and non-functional requirements. 1.3.2 Research Questions: The researcher was guided by the following research questions 1. What are the problems associated with the management of internship at UniK and how can these problems alleviated? 2. What are the requirements and what design technologies are required for the new Internship management system? 3. How should the system functionalities be tested for the developed Internship system to ensure an error free system? 1.4 Study Scope The scope of the study was divided into three: Geographical, time scope and content/subject scope. 1.4.1 Geographical scope The study was conducted in educational institutions particularly higher institutions of learning in Uganda where students are given a chance to go outside classroom environment and gain practical experience in their fields of specialization. UniK was chosen by the researcher to represent other areas facing a similar challenge. The study focused on understanding how Internship is managed in higher institutions of learning particularly at the University of Kisubi. Thus, the researcher put more emphasis on collecting data from various stockholders ranging from teachers/ lecturers, heads of departments, and students undergoing internship exercise at the University of Kisubi. The study took into account understanding the various design technologies including software and programing languages for an improved Internship management system. At the end of conceptualization of all the above aspects, the researcher was able to come up with an 3 appropriate solution that is efficient and flexible and can help to achieve the organization goals mission and vision, and objectives. 1.4.2 Time scope The study was conducted in a period of twelve (12) months between August 2016 and August 2017. 1.4.3 Subject Scope The main function of the system is the allocation of supervisors to interns as well as keeping track of students’ internship activities. The system must be able to allow the secretaries to allocate the students to their supervisors and secured companies once it reaches the time for the internship. Furthermore, the system must be able to save the information and allow secretaries to retrieve and to view the students' secured companies, their supervisors, and their internship progression. A notification module allows the coordinator to inform all the students and supervisors to fill up student evaluation forms before the end of industrial training and any other information that is needed to be communicated to the internship participants. By using this module, secretaries are able to broadcast any message to all the supervisors instead of informing them one by one and by mouth or phone. This function can help to speed up the process and saving time. Before training is started, students must be informed to log in to the system to fill up their company details to allow proper allocation of supervisors to the interns. 1.5 Significance/ Justification of the Research Study The study added knowledge and understanding to the already existing literature so that the strategies for having well restructured and automated online systems are implemented even in other sectors of the economy for example in agriculture, in sports to mention but a few. Furthermore, the study generated insights and information to administrators, industrial companies, and training institutions to offer the best hands-on experience to students undergoing internship exercise. 4 More still, if the system is implemented, it will lead to improved productivity, efficiency and proper timely decision making since there will be improved processes and the use of computerized Internship management system with reliable Security features. Furthermore, the study is now a source of literature for those intending to do further research on Internship. 1.6 Ethical considerations The primary ethical imperative for the researcher is this: “Tell the Truth”. This instructed the researcher to refrain from fabricating data, or from deliberately structuring a research study so that demand characteristics or social pressure will produce the results that the researcher wants for some personal or political reason. It helped the researcher interpret the data objectively, and report all results accurately, whether were good or bad (from the perspective of the researcher). During the research, the researcher considerably reflected on educational professional ethics as follows: The questionnaires were the same to all respondents in order to avoid suspicion and victimization of respondents. The researcher ensured confidentiality to his informants over the information gathered, so as not to harm any respondent. The filled questionnaires were taken away as soon as they were finished. After data collection and even receiving a questionnaire from the respondent, a researcher always appreciated the respondents’ contribution towards the research by thanking them. Very importantly, the issue of plagiarism was well addressed by the researcher through recognizing all the sources where relevant information was acquired and referencing the authors for the job well done in contributing to the body of knowledge. 1.7 Limitation During the study, the researcher faced with the following limitations; More still, the researcher lacked adequate capital to employ the research assistants, meeting transport costs, buying stationary as well as typing and printing expenses. 5 Other than that, there was a likelihood of receiving inadequate information due to the busy schedules, fear and unwillingness to provide relevant information by informants even though the researcher was ready to assure confidentiality and anonymity to the respondents. Two of the questionnaires were not returned by the respondents because they were reluctant and not interested in responding and therefore end up misplacing them thus affecting the results of the study. 1.8 Conclusion To sum-up all, considering the missing gaps in the Internship management in higher institution of learning, with the rate at which technology is growing, the researcher found worth carrying out the study in order to improve on the existing Internship management systems in higher learning institutions. The research questions guided the researcher in order to achieve the stated objectives of the study. Additionally, the study was carried out in consideration of passed researched works related to Internship and the researcher derived the best methodology to be adopted during the research as can be seen in more detail in the next chapter (Literature Review). 6 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter presents documented evidence and ideas from other researchers’ works that were relevant to the project’s context. It contains reviews of copious sources where the researcher borrowed constructive ideas that are deemed ideal for the fulfillment of this research. It also focuses on summary and synthesis of work products related to this study and various areas that are relevant to the subject area. Literature Review is an extensive search of the information available on a topic which results in a list of references to books, periodicals, and other materials on the topic (Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, 2008). Reviews included the problem area, application area, Methodological issues, information management, technologies and concepts of information management and database system development approaches. According to the International Centre for Eye Health, London (2007), Furco (1996), internships are defined as programmes engaging students in service activities primarily for the purpose of providing them with hands-on experience that enhances their learning or understanding of issues relevant to a particular area of study. A literature review is an explanation and summary of key studies relevant to a proposed project. 2.1 Problems/ challenges associated with Internship management in higher institutions of learning and how they can be solved. Each university in Uganda and other tertiary institutions all over the world conduct a programme called the Industrial Training Programme for a certain time of period for its students before they can graduate with a degree, diploma or even Masters for some Universities. According to Binti Ismail (2006), the developments of computerized management systems are expanding over the past years and most of these systems are increasingly replacing the manual systems. For instance, there are the registration systems, clinic systems, hotel management systems that are widely used. 7 Ogheneruemu and Tiemo (2007) also emphasize the need to expose trainees to ICT facilities. Despite all those technological advancements, only a few universities have a full computerized system in managing the programme in the whole world. And for the Ugandan case, almost none of the higher institutions have endeavored to design or acquire a fully computerized Internship management system, not even the most famous ones like Makerere and Mbarara Universities. A few researches have been conducted on the industrial training programme management system notwithstanding the numerous advantages of internship training to the human resource capital of an economy. Nevertheless, little or no effort has been taken to improve Internship management in Uganda and in many parts of the developing world even with the technological advancements in many sectors of the economy. Also, Orrell (2004) and Patrick et al., (2008), emphasize that, Instead of building and applying skills through workplace practice, employers are seeking graduates with a range of technical and generic skills that minimize additional on-the-job training by employers. 2.2 How Internship programs operate in higher institutions of learning and their benefits According to NORRAG (2007), internship in manufacturing and hospitality sectors are offering practical training opportunities to students from institutions, colleges and universities. After the liberalization of the economy, Companies like Uganda Breweries Limited, Century Bottling Company Limited, and Kakira Sugar Works are indispensable in the training programmes for technical skills. In addition, Private primary and secondary schools support teacher training programmes through school practice placements. Ministry of Education Science and Technology of Uganda (MoES, 2013) is also supporting skills development in the nonformal sector. Musoke (2007), stresses the fact that changes in demands needs skilled and innovative well trained librarians who can meet the need of users. According to Sheldon & Thornthwaite (2005), the Contemporary debate focuses on employability skills, which expresses a view that graduates must come to workplaces ready to hit the ground running in order to better face increased competition in the graduate employment market. 8 2.3 Advantages of Internship systems in higher institutions of learning According to Tackett et al (2001), internships have taken on an increasingly important role in education over the past decade since they present students with many advantages, ranging from gaining experience and obtaining career-related direction to networking with other students from various institutions as they are at the organization providing the internship (Lubbers, 2008). The learning or parent institutions offering internship programmes have also benefitted through increased cooperation and rapport with the industry (English and Koeppen, 1993), Rothman, (2007); Cannon and Arnold, (1998); Employers have not been left out of the benefits as internships can provide them with inexpensive help, though at times complaints have been raised by employers for treating the interns as cheap labour. 2.4 Research approaches 2.4.1 Qualitative and quantitative research approaches. According to Pope and Mays (1999), the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research has had a remarkable break-through in the social sciences, including psychology. The contrast with quantitative research usually comes as part and parcel of the notion of qualitative research. 2.4.1.1 Quantitative approach It is defined as research that explains phenomena according to numerical data which are analysed by means of mathematically based methods, especially statistics. From a broader perspective, it can be defined as a type of empirical research into a social phenomenon or human problem, testing a theory consisting of variables which are measured with numbers and analysed with statistics in order to determine if the theory explains or predicts phenomena of interest (Creswell, 1994; Gay & Airasian, 2000). 2.4.1.2 Qualitative research approach According to Gay and Airasian (2000) is defined as ‘the collection of extensive data on many variables over an extended period of time, in a naturalistic setting, in order to gain insights not possible using other types of research’. Whereas Creswell (2007), Denzin & Lincoln (1998, 2005); Miles & Huberman (1994); Patton (2002) define it as an emergent, inductive, interpretive and naturalistic approach to the study of 9 people, cases, phenomena, social situations and processes in their natural settings in order to reveal in descriptive terms the meanings that people attach to their experiences of the world. It should be noted that qualitative research is not based on a single methodology and does not belong to a single discipline (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). According to Brewer (2003), it draws on philosophical ideas in phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, hermeneutics and other traditions to support the attention on “quality” rather than “quantity”. Therefore since the study is aiming at using a number of methodologies and it is not to deal with large quantities of data which requires mathematical and statistical analysis, a quality research approach is found suitable for this kind of research and it is what the researcher adopted for the study. 2.5 Research methods 2.5.1 Design science As Opposed to traditional research approaches which focus on exploring or confirming hypotheses (Bagozzi et al. 1991), the emerging design science research approaches for developing IS research artifacts (Baskervilleet al. 2009 and Gregor 2006) focus on first clarifying the goals of the artifacts (constructs, methods, models, or instantiations) and then on building and carefully evaluating the utility of the artifacts, and to a lesser degree, their reliability and validity (Hevner et al. 2004 and Venable 2006). According to Hevner et al. (2004), One of the defining features of the design science approach is that the evaluation of the new IS artifact involves broadly answering the question ‘How well does it work?’ rather than merely how valid or a reliable it is. Drawing heavily from Kuhn (1996 and first published in 1962) and Lakatos (1978), Research can be very generally defined as an activity that contributes to the understanding of a phenomenon. In the case of design science research, all or part of the phenomenon may be created as opposed to naturally occurring. The phenomenon is typically a set of behaviors of some entities that are found interesting by the researcher. Simon (1996), makes a clear distinction between "natural science and design science": A natural science is a body of knowledge about some class of things, objects or phenomenon in the world (nature or society) that describes and explains how they behave and interact with each other. 10 Design Science, on the other hand, is a body of knowledge about the design of artificial (manmade) objects, and phenomena artifacts that can meet certain desired goals. Therefore, since this kind of research is qualitative in nature and it is aiming at interactions with individuals and groups in an organization setting, action research and case studies are of a great advantage and they were considered by the researcher to derive the findings of the study 2.5.2 Case studies According to Yin (1994), a case study is an empirical inquiry within its real-life context, particularly when the boundaries between phenomena and context are not clearly evident. Case studies can help to understand the influence of variability of context and to gain more general research results. 2.5.3 Action research On the other hand, action research is a process of systematic inquiry that seeks to improve social issues affecting the lives of everyday people (Bogdan & Bilken, (1992); Strringer (2008)). Historically, the term ‘action research’ has been long associated with the work of Kurt Lewin, who viewed this research methodology as cyclical, dynamic, and collaborative in nature. Through repeated cycles of planning, observing, and reflecting, individuals and groups engaged in action research can implement changes required for social improvement. 2.6 Data collection and Analysis Qualitative methods of data collection, such as interviewing, observation, and document analysis, have been included under the umbrella term of "ethnographic methods" in recent years. 2.6.1 Observation MARSHALL and ROSSMAN (1989) define observation as "the systematic description of events, behaviors, and artifacts in the social setting chosen for study". Observations enable the researcher to describe existing situations using the five senses, providing a "written photograph" of the situation under study (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993). DeMUNCK and Sobo (1998) describe participant observation as the primary method used by anthropologists doing fieldwork. According to DeWalt (2001), Observations involve more than just “hanging out.” Planned and self-aware observers use observation systematically. Therefore, Observation is a 11 way of gathering data by watching behavior, events, or noting physical characteristics in their natural setting. 2.6.2 Interviews O’Leary (2004), remarks “Collecting credible data is a tough task, and it is worth remembering that one method of data collection is not inherently better than another.” Therefore, the data collection methods which were used depend upon the research goals and the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Interviewing is a way to collect data as well as to gain knowledge from individuals. Kvale (1996), regarded interviews as “an interchange of views between two or more people on a topic of mutual interest, sees the centrality of human interaction for knowledge production, and emphasizes the social situatedness of research data. Interviews, or question and answer sessions with one or more people, are an excellent way to learn in-depth information from a person for your primary research project. Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000), explain “the interview is not simply concerned with collecting data about life: it is part of life itself, its human embeddedness, is inescapable.” 2.6.2.1 Types of Interviews There are many types of interviews, which include: Structured interviews: Bryman (2001), structured interview entails the administration of an interview schedule by an interviewer. The aim is for all interviewees to be given exactly the same context of questioning. According to David and Sutton (2004), the strength of structured interviews is “Prompting can be included with the questions and if a question is inappropriate, data on why no response was made can be recorded.” Furthermore, non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, gestures can be recorded. Semi-structured interviews: semi-structured interviews are non-standardized and are frequently used in the qualitative analysis which is in line with this kind of research. In this type of interview, Questions can be asked and some may be questions that have not been anticipated in the beginning of the interview. Note taking or tape recording documents the interview. This type of interview gives the researcher opportunities to probe for views and opinions of the 12 interviewee. Probing is a way for the interview to explore new paths which were not initially considered Gray (2004). Unstructured interviews: This type of interview is non-directed and is a flexible method. It is more casual than the aforementioned interviews. Non-directive interview: In non-directive interviews there is no preset topic to pursue. Questions are usually not pre-planned. The interviewer listens and does not take the lead. The interviewer follows what the interviewee has to say. The interviewee leads the conversation. The researcher therefore, used interviews and questionnaires as a research instrument and as a means to collect data since they are one way to collect data and to gain knowledge from individuals. 2.6.3 Document review Existing records often provide insights into a setting and/or group of people that cannot be observed or noted in another way. This information can be found in document form. Lincoln and Guba (1985), defined a document as “any written or recorded material” not prepared for the purposes of the evaluation or at the request of the inquirer. Documents can be divided into two major categories: public records, and personal documents Guba and Lincoln (1981). Public records are materials created and kept for the purpose of “at testing to an event or providing an accounting” Lincoln and Guba (1985), Public records can be collected from outside (external) or within (internal) the setting in which the evaluation is taking place. Examples of external records are the census and vital statistics reports, county office records, newspaper archives, and local business records that can assist an Exhibit. Therefore, all these data collection method were adopted by the researcher since they can provide data that is qualitative. 2.7 Information Management According to Wikipedia (2017), information management (IM) is the collection and management of information from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more audiences. Throughout the 1970s this was largely limited to files, file maintenance, and the life cycle management of paper-based files, other media and records. With the proliferation of information technology starting in the 1970s, the job of information management took on a new 13 light, and also began to include the field of Data maintenance (Wikipedia, 2016). Similarly, the internship Management System can be viewed in the perspective of information management. This system aims at collection and management of internship information like internees, internal and external supervisors, placement places and administrators. In short, information management includes organizing, retrieving, acquiring or dissemination and maintaining the information. This proposed system provides means of collection, retrieval, maintenance and management of internship information in relation to the job of information management. No longer was information management a simple job that could be performed by almost anyone. An understanding of the technology involved, and the theory behind it became necessary. As information storage shifted to electronic means, this became more and more difficult. By the late 1990s, information was regularly disseminated across computer networks and by other electronic means. With the latest tools available, information management has become a powerful resource and a large expense for many organizations (Wikipedia, 2017). 2.8 Information Management Concepts According to the Carnegie Mellon School and its followers, information management, i.e., the organization's ability to process information is at the core of organizational and managerial competencies Wikipedia (2016). Consequently, strategies for organization design and technologies must be aiming at improved information processing capability. Therefore to clearly understand the role of information management in organizations, understanding of the underlying technologies, methods and approaches used in achieving the purpose of this job is of paramount importance. The proposed system involves some of these technologies and concepts. Such technologies and concepts include. 1) Databases 2) Database Systems 3) Database management systems and 4) Database system development approaches. 14 2.8.1 Databases According to Connolly, Caroln and Thomas (2002) and Wikipedia (2017), a database is a shared collection of logically related data and a description of that data designed to meet the information needs of an organization. This proposed system will provide a shared collection of logically related data like relationships between internees and supervisors, courses, and faculties and other logical relationships. The system was also designed to meet information needs of University of Kisubi (Unik) in terms managing the internship information. Some of the needs of the proposed system met include proper records management and efficient dissemination of internship information. A database relies upon software to organize the storage of data Wikipedia (2017). In other words, the software models the database structure in what are known as database models (or data models). A data model is a logical map that represents the inherent properties of the data independent of software, hardware or machine performance considerations. The model shows data elements grouped into records, as well as the association around those records (DMReview, 2015). The model in most common use today is the relational model. According to Wikipedia. (2017), the relational model for database management is a database model based on predicate logic and set theory. The relational model uses tables to store data and manage the relationship between tables (Brainbell, 2008). Other models such as the hierarchical model and the network model use a more explicit representation of relationships. The design and implementation of the database for the proposed system will base on the relational model thus making the underlying database relational in nature. A relational database is the collection of data items organized as a set of formally described tables from which data can be accessed or reassembled in many different ways without the need to reorganize the database tables (DMReview, 2015). 15 2.8.2 Database modeling 2.8.2.1 Advantages of the Relational Model According to James Cook University. (1996), Codd in his 1970 paper indicated that there were four major objectives in designing the relational data model. These were: i. Data Independence - to provide a sharp and clear boundary between the logical and physical aspects of database management. ii. Simplicity - to provide a simpler structure than were being used at that time. A simple structure is easy to communicate to users and programmers and a wide variety of users in an enterprise can interact with a simple model. iii. Set-processing - to provide facilities for manipulating a set of records at a time so that programmers are not operating on the database record by record. iv. Sound Theoretical Background - to provide a theoretical background for database management field. If a system supports all relational algebra operators and the two integrity constraints (entity integrity and referential integrity) then the system may be called fully relational (James Cook University, 1996). Similarly, the proposed system will support relational algebra operators and the two integrity constraints making it fully relational. 2.8.3 Use Case Modeling A use case defines a goal-oriented set of interactions between external actors and the system under consideration. Actors are parties outside the system that interact with the system. An actor may be a class of users, roles users can play, or other systems. Cockburn (1997) distinguishes between primary and secondary actors. A primary actor is one having a goal requiring the assistance of the system. A secondary actor is one from which the system needs assistance. Thus, use cases capture who (actor) does what (interaction) with the system, for what purpose (goal), without dealing with system internals. A complete set of use cases specifies all the different ways to use the system, and therefore defines all behavior required of the system, bounding the scope of the system. Generally, use case steps are written in an easy-to-understand structured narrative using the vocabulary of the domain. Use cases are useful in capturing and communicating functional requirements, and as such they play a primary role in product definition. 16 2.8.4 Data Modeling Data modeling is the process of creating a data model by applying a data model theory to create a data model instance. According to American National Standards Institute. (1975), a data model instance may be one of three kinds: A conceptual schema (data model) describes the semantics of a domain, being the scope of the model. For example, it may be a model of the interest area of an organization or industry. This consists of entity classes (representing kinds of things of significance in the domain) and relationships (assertions about associations between pairs of entity classes). A conceptual schema specifies the kinds of facts or propositions that can be expressed using the model. In that sense, it defines the allowed expressions in an artificial 'language' with a scope that is limited by the scope of the model. For generally applicable models, see below under 'Generic data model'. A logical schema (data model) describes the semantics, as represented by a particular data manipulation technology. This consists of descriptions of tables and columns, object oriented classes, and XML tags, among other things. Physical: The physical data model is concerned with the implementation of the data entities. It incorporates optimizations that may include partitioning or merging entities, duplicating data, creating identification keys and indexes. The Entity-Relation Model (ER) is the most common method used to build data models for relational databases. 2.8.5 The Entity-Relation Model (ER) The Entity-Relationship (ER) model was originally proposed by Peter in 1976 as a way to unify the network and relational database views. Simply stated the ER model is a conceptual data model that views the real world as entities and relationships. A basic component of the model is the Entity Relationship diagram which is used to visually represent data objects. Chen (1977) wrote his paper the model has been extended and today it is commonly used for database design For the database designer, the utility of the ER model is:  It maps well to the relational model. The constructs used in the ER model can easily be  It is simple and easy to understand with a minimum of training. Therefore, the model can transformed into relational tables. be used by the database designer to communicate the design to the end user. 17  In addition, the model can be used as a design plan by the database developer to implement a data model in specific database management software. 2.9 Database Systems According to Date & Chris. (1986), a database system is a collection of interrelated and persistent data (usually referred to as the database). According to the same authors, a database system can also be referred to as a set of application programs used to access, update and manage that data (which form the data management system). Therefore, a database system is basically a computerized record keeping system that is, a system whose overall purpose is to maintain information and to make that information available on demand. Also according to the above, a database system is a system with a database in the background. A System is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole (Wikipedia, 2016). That means that a Database System is a combination of a database, database management system, user interfaces and processing programs. The internship Management System can be viewed similarly as a database system. This system includes interacting or interdependent components such as a database or the back-end, MySQL database management system, user interfaces or the front-end and the PHP engine for connecting the front-end to database thereby allowing data manipulation in the database. The integrated whole of all these interacting components enable this database system to provide its desired services or functionalities including storage, retrieval, dissemination, maintenance and management of internship information. Examples of the use of database systems include airline reservation systems, company payroll and employee information systems, banking systems, credit card processing systems, and sales and order tracking systems (Medina & Richard, 1998). A major purpose of a database system is to provide users with an abstract view of the data. That is, the system hides certain details of how the data are stored and maintained (Medina & Richard, 1998). Therefore, data can be stored in complex data structures that permit efficient retrieval, yet users see a simplified and easy-to-use view of the data. 18 2.9.1 Database Management systems A database management system is one of the components of a database system (Wikipedia, 2017). According to Palmer. (2008), a database management system (DBMS) is a computer software application suite that is designed to manage databases. The DBMS is responsible for all access to the data stored within its databases such as data input, verification, storage, and retrieval. The DBMS is also responsible for the security of the data by controlling access by only those users that have permission. Since the system has a relational database in the backend, a relational DBMS was used to create, coordinate, define, manage and control access to the underlying database. Examples of Relational DBMSs include Oracle, MySQL, DB2, Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise, Ingres Informix, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, Firebird, PostgreSQL, OpenLink Virtuoso SQLite, FileMaker and many others (Wikipedia, 2017). MySQL DBMS was used in managing the database because it is open source and popularly used for web based applications/systems. MySQL is a multithreaded, multi-user SQL database management system (DBMS) which has more than 11 million installations. The basic program runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases (Wikipedia, 2017). According to Wikipedia.(2017), MySQL is popular for web applications and acts as the database component of the XAMP, MAMP, MYSQL Workbench and WAMP platforms (Linux/Mac/Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP/Perl/Python), and for open-source bug tracking tools like Bugzilla. Its popularity for use with web applications is closely tied to the popularity of PHP and Ruby on Rails, which are often combined with MySQL. PHP and MySQL are essential components for running popular content management systems such as Joomla!, e107, WordPress, and Drupal. 2.9.1.1 Benefits of Database Management Systems A database management system provides the following benefits (Wikipedia, 2017). i. Improved strategic use of corporate data ii. Reduced complexity of the organization’s information systems environment iii. Reduced data redundancy and inconsistency iv. Enhanced data integrity 19 v. Application-data independence vi. Improved security vii. Reduced application development and maintenance costs viii. Improved flexibility of information systems ix. Increased access and availability of data and information A database management system (DBMS) is designed to manage a large amount of information. Data management involves both defining structures for storing information and providing mechanisms for manipulating the information. In addition, the database system must provide for the safety of the stored information, despite system crashes or attempts at unauthorized access. If data are to be shared among several users, the system must avoid possible anomalous results due to multiple users concurrently accessing the same data. 2.10 Database System Development Approaches According to Wikipedia. (2016), a system is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole. A system can also be referred to as a grouping of people, objects and processes (Avison & Shah 1997). Some systems can be implemented more formally than others and there will always be constant arguments about what is the ‘right way’ to implement a system: formal or bureaucratic versus informal or social (Fincham & Rhodes, 1992). Systems analysis is all about getting a detailed understanding of information relating to a proposed system collected previously (Avison & Shah, 1997). It is very important to note that systems analysis and design is only one part of the overall Systems Development. The phases of Feasibility study, Analysis, Design, Implementation, Testing (Review) and Maintenance are paramount to all forms of Systems Development. The above phases of project or system development are the standard phases used more or less in all texts on systems analysis and software engineering. It is generally referred to as the Linear Life Cycle (Pressman, 1992). They are also to be found with minor differences in Business, Marketing, Engineering and many other disciplines. It is important to note that these phases have been used long before the advent of the computer, as Checkland & Holwell (1998) said: 20 "Technology is older than the scientific method, and much technology existed long before the Greeks created the scientific outlook and initiated the process which culminated in the Scientific Revolution of the Seventeenth Century’. There have been many criticisms of the Linear Life Cycle. However, while many other methods of Systems Development have been developed, more often than not they complement the Linear Life Cycle rather than replace it (Avison & Shah, 1997). Thus, the Linear Life Cycle is looked at as way too simplified for the complexities of the real world. The following are some of the alternatives available to the simple Linear Life Cycle model including prototyping, spiral model, object orientation, client server development, joint application development, information engineering, reuse, Business Process Reengineering, and outsourcing. Prototyping is a technique orientated around developing a small working model of a product or its components and getting it correct before pre-releasing it on sample customers to try out. A Spiral Model aims to combine the best elements of the Linear Life Cycle and Prototyping but adding the new element of risk analysis (Pressman, 1992). A spiral model of a prototype and improvements on it goes through 4 phases: planning, risk Analysis, engineering and customer evaluation. Object Orientation (OO) enforces that object orientated systems development requires the developer to think in terms of objects and object classes (Avison & Shah, 1997). Client Server Development: It is important to note that traditional methodologies were not designed for Client Server development. When designing a client server system, this fact must be recognized. Use of client server friendly methodologies (e.g. OO) is wise in such circumstances. Joint Application Development puts emphasis on people rather than data and processes. Users, managers and systems designers specify user requirements, technical options and systems inputs and outputs. Information Engineering is a data driven approach which is intended to be applied across the whole organization or large parts of it. Reuse: In many modern programming languages emphasize reusability. Reusability is something that can also be extended to design and analysis. Prototypes could be built quickly by reusing components of similar previous systems. Time and resources are spared as a result. Business Process Reengineering: Reengineering an information systems process involves reorganizing the system in a new and more efficient way. The major downside, however, is that a very high failure rate exists among 21 reengineered projects. Outsourcing: Handing systems development over to an external company is becoming increasingly popular. It enables cost and time reduction, potentially better-designed systems and the inclusion of up to date technology. 2.10.1 Prototyping - Chosen Depending on this project, prototyping model of development was preferred by the researcher. Continuing development is based on advice from the system users sampled. The main advantages are that a working model is developed early and that users are given the chance to voice what they like best and least about the product. Therefore product rejection is reduced and requirements are identified better. Disadvantages include the potential for a rushed analysis and design leading to a lack of understanding of the problem area, alternatives to the first working prototype may be ignored and it may be harder to change the prototype if necessary later on. A Spiral Model, Object Orientation (OO), Client Server Development, Joint Application Development, Information Engineering, Reuse, Business Process Reengineering and Outsourcing have disadvantages including demand for considerable risk-assessment expertise, Complexity, middleware requirements, extensive co-operation and sacrifice of other commitments, rigidity, larger and less efficient implementations resulting from incorporating component libraries, very high failure rate and fluctuating fees to an outsourcing vendor respectively. 2.11 Conclusion This chapter discussed all the necessary related literature to information systems and how internship management is essential in improving the performance of the University. The next chapter explains the various development and research methodologies that were used to come up with the proposed system. 22 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This chapter addresses the research approach which was followed during the study; it also provides descriptive information on the methods that were encountered during the research process. It further addresses the methods, procedures, tools and techniques the researchers used to archive the project objectives as presented in the content presented herein. 3.1 Research Design The research mainly followed a qualitative research approach. The study aimed at finding out the facts about the challenges associated with Internship management systems in higher institutions of learning particularly (UniK). The researcher intended to explore the existence of Internship management challenges in order to come up with an appropriate solution. This Exploratory research facilitated the researcher to determine the best research design and data collection method during the research process. A qualitative technique was adopted to observe the phenomenon and this is what qualitative research is all about and this justifies the use of a qualitative research approach. 3.2 Methods of the research 3.2.1 Design science research method. Design science research is a set of analytical techniques and perspectives for performing research in Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT). Since this study involved coming up with innovative artifacts to improve and understand the behavior of aspects of information systems, the researcher got involved in a rigorous process to design artifacts to solve observed problems, to make research contributions, to evaluate the designs, and to communicate the results to appropriate audiences. Such artifacts may include constructs, models, methods, and instantiations. They also included social innovations or new properties of technical, social, and/or informational resources. 23 3.2.2 Case study method Case studies are exhaustive studies of a particular situation rather than a sweeping statistical survey. It was an appropriate method to narrow down a very broad field of research into one easily researchable topic; it gave some indications and allowed further elaboration and hypothesis creation on a subject. The case study research design was also very useful in testing whether scientific theories and models actually work in the real world. It is sometimes important to understand specific cases and ensure a more holistic approach to research that is why the researcher found it fitting to use case study research method. 3.3 Study population The population of the study was obtained from students doing internship, lecturers who carry out the supervision, administrators like secretaries, faculty deans and external supervisors who are at the heart of handling internship activity. 3.4 Sample size The sample size expected was totaling to 30 respondents who included 3 faculty deans, 3 faculty secretaries, 2 ICT technicians, 20 students and 2 supervisors. The twenty students were those on internship and the two supervisors. 3.4.1 The table below shows the Sample size Population Respondents Secretaries 3 Faculty deans ICT Technicians Students Supervisors Total 3 2 20 2 30 24 3.5 Sampling technique The technique that was used in this study is purposive and convenient random sampling techniques because they eradicate favoritism or bias thus the selection based on equal parameters so as to get ideas from students who belong to different faculties and secretaries plus deans of faculties. According to Charles Teddlie and Fen Yu (2007), Random sampling is perhaps the most well-known of all sampling strategies. The faculty deans were chosen because of their informed positions (Enon: 1998). 3.6 Data Analysis The researcher used qualitative methods to analyze data. Collected data from the interviews, observations and questionnaires were analyzed in a thematic form using simple data analysis tools like Microsoft excel through themes developed from the study objectives. The salient themes developed were closely related to internship management in higher institutions of learning. Thematic analysis is one of the most common forms of analysis in qualitative research (wikipidia (2017)). The researcher edited the field notes to ensure accuracy and consistency. Recorded interviews and discussions will be copied and critically examined the respondents’ views in order to accurately record their views. Key ideas will be identified, categorized and then considered for the study. The data was analyzed for instrument completeness basing on how the respondents answer the questions. Collected data was presented inform of; Data-flows and Frequency tables. 3.7 Validity A research instrument is said to be valid if it actually measures what it is supposed to measure, Amin (2005). The instruments were given to the secretaries and interns provided technical guidance and constructive criticism and the researcher revised them according to the given advice. The instruments were tested on some respondents who were in a position to give useful information. The researcher further controlled the validity by avoiding biases during the interviews and record the findings accurately. 25 3.8 Reliability Reliability refers to the ability of the instrument to be consistent. The researcher conducted a pretest to find out whether the instruments are bringing out what they are designed for with minimal interference. The language which was used was at the level of the respondents and clear enough to help respondents give a straight answer. 3.9 Data Collection Methods and Research Instruments Basically the researcher used two data sources during the investigation of the problem these include; primary and secondary data sources. 3.9.1 Primary Data Sources. Primary data consists of original information for the specific purpose at hand by using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative method mainly the researcher conducted discussions and administered interviews while quantitative involved the use of questionnaires to capture some of the vital information. Surveys Surveys involve interaction between the researcher and the selected respondents where a set of questions are designed by the researcher and answered by the respondents. Surveys can enable collecting verbatim statements from respondents which lead to respondents offering responses within their own unique context, and the value of the information provided can be extremely high. Interviews An interview is a conversation between two or more people (The interviewer and the interviewee) here, the researcher went on ground and asked questions related to the study as the interviewees respond accordingly. Interview guides were used through face to face interactions with the respondents which allowed synchronous communication in time and place. In case the question was not very clear to the interviewee, the researcher always interpreted which helped to collect valid data. Observations Observations assisted in performing qualitative analysis. This is subjective analysis that ascertained the nature of the attributes, behavior, or opinions of the target users. The most 26 significant advantage of active observation is that it shows real-world student interactions in regards to the existing working process. It also reveals the frustrations target users feel about the existing Internship management processes. 3.9.2 Secondary Data Sources Internal and external data is expected to be collected by the researcher in order to give a clear understanding of the challenges associated with the currents Internship management system in higher institutions of learning. Internal sources of data included but not limited to institution’s internship assessment forms for internees, internship program documentations for the selected institution of learning, and student’s internship logbooks. External sources of data included but not limited to Commercial journals, Text books, Research reports, Government publications and Periodicals 3.10 Data Collection Instrument 3.10.1 Interview Guide The researcher used interview guide as the main tool of data collections together with questionnaires. The questions ought to elicit the valid response from respondents. Hoyle, Harris and Judd (2002), comment that questions have “dual goals of motivating the respondent to give full and precise replies while avoiding biases stemming from social desirability, conformity, or other constructs of disinterest.” By use of questionnaires it involves fewer costs and gives a considerable view from the respondents. 3.11 Questionnaire A questionnaire is a data collection instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Wikipedia (2012). They can measure both qualitative and quantitative data, though more appropriate for quantitative data collection. The researcher used questionnaires since they are a good tool for the protection of the privacy of the participants and the validity of data and information depends on the honesty of the respondent. 27 3.12 System Development and Implementation To develop and implement a prototype of the system, the researcher used BitNami Server which is a window’s based apache server that runs the latest PHP and MySQL. Macromedia Dreamweaver cs6 and notepad++ was used as development environments and HTML plus CSS were used for styling the front- end of the system. Additionally, JavaScript programing language was incorporated to provide reliable security of the Internship system. Dreamweaver is available for both Mac and Windows operating systems (Wikipedia, 2008). Recent versions have incorporated support for web technologies such as CSS, JavaScript, and various server-side scripting languages and frameworks including ASP.NET, ColdFusion, JavaServer Pages, and PHP. 3.13 Conclusion This chapter presents the research approach and different techniques and tools that were used in data collection, analysis and presentation and a detailed development methodology of the proposed Internship management system. It further explains why different tools and techniques were preferred to others and end with tools that the researcher used to manage the project. 28 CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 4.0 Introduction This chapter generally presents the findings which were obtained from University of Kisubi (UniK). It involves research findings, analysis and discussions of results. It describes the user’s problems, user’s requirements and system requirements for the development of the internship management system that is web-based with a centralized database. The requirements were translated into preliminary and detailed designs. Decisions were made to address how the system will meet functional and non-functional requirements. The Preliminary systems designs emphasizing the functional features of the system were produced as a high-level guide. Then a detailed system design was produced that expanded the design by specifying all the technical details needed to develop the system. More still, this chapter is structured into several sections; Section 4.2 involves the facts which were collected from University of Kisubi internship participants, section 4.3 analyzes the observed typical internship management system of UniK, section 4.4 involves discussion and analysis of the requirements for the new system, section 4.5 involves the design aspects of the new internship management system. 4.6 involves development and testing of the new internship management system to see whether it meets the needs of the user and free from errors, and section 4.6 gives a conclusion on the chapter. 4.1 Background of University of Kisubi University of Kisubi (UniK) [formally known as Kisubi Brothers University College] is a private institution of learning located 24 Kilometers from Kampala, The Capital City of Uganda, along Kampala-Entebbe Highway. In 2004, the Brothers of Christian instructions Uganda province in cooperation with Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) began as an affiliate University College on the Kisubi Campus at Mount St. Teresa. On 27th March 2009, National Council for Higher education authorized the Kisubi Brothers Centre of UMU to become a Constituent College of UMU, known as Kisubi Brothers University College (KBUC). On 29th June 2015, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) granted an independence operational license to the University in its new name, University of Kisubi (UniK). 29 The Campus is owned by the Brothers of Christian Instruction, an International Religious Congregation particularly known for its long-standing commitment to the education of the youth. The university’s concern is integral formation and education of persons; preparing professionals so that they are able to impart meaningful knowledge and to bring about overall human development. This goal is achieved through an appropriate religious, social, academic and civic formation. The teaching as well as the auxiliary staff, and the students of UniK including the non-resident members, consider themselves first and foremost as a community or as a single team. Thus, every member is helped to realize his/ her personal rights and responsibilities and to freely act according to one’s enlightened moral judgment. The community is marked by openness, dynamism, and concern for the members to one another as well as to the lager community. In this spirit, the community is open and eager to co-operate with other institutions of learning seeking to open up the truth through research, dialogue and academic excellence. The vision is to provide Holistic, Skills-oriented and Faith-based education for life-long learning that empowers the learners to become transformative leaders. And the mission is to be a University that prepares individuals to become pragmatic professionals of integrity, capable of thinking critically and analytically 4.2 Description of the study respondents The study was conducted at University of Kisubi (UniK), particularly in the department of Business and ICT. The findings were guided by the selected instruments for this study, that is, interviews, observation, document reviews and questionnaires. At Unik, students of various courses are required to complete 6 weeks of internship training during the recession period of the second and third year before they can complete their degree. Qualitative methods were employed for data collection throughout 2016–2017 academic years and various aspects were observed as can be seen bellow. Internship management system was assessed from three perspectives: students, the university and placement organizations. During data collection, 18 questionnaires were administered to 18 students of which 17 were returned with their sub samples as indicated below; (1) Student participants: The research was conducted with (all) 18 students, of whom 3 had completed industrial training and 15 were in industrial training at the time of the study. 30 (2) Organization participants: The research was conducted at UniK particularly in the faculty of business and ICT and faculty of education which combines arts and science students. Within UniK, there are departments with deans and secretaries who are in charge of internship management. 2 faculty deans and 2 secretaries where included from the 2 faculties respectively. These are responsible for writing letters to the students going for internship, allocating them supervisors as well as coordinating all internship activities and sample forms are provided in appendix G. (3) University Internship Supervisors: the different faculties use some of their lecturers to supervise the students on internship. These coordinators take responsibility of traveling to the various places physically to evaluate the students at their placement organizations and at the end forward their assessments to the faculty secretaries or the deans. 4.5 logical designs The logical design is an abstract concept of the data flows, inputs and outputs of the system. Below is a context data flow diagram of the new internship system. Add/ View Supervisor Register for Internship Fill in/ View Log-Book Student View Supervisors View Students Internship Management System Fill in Vie Ev Vie w alu w An atio Stu nou n dennce For ts me m nt Vie w Stu den t's Ev alu atio n Confirm Add View Students Secretary Add/ View/ Maintain Users Supervisor 31 Figure 4. 1: Context Level Data Flow Diagram Context Level Data Flow Diagram describes in details the functional requirements of the new internship management system for UniK. 4.5 System Requirement The data collected were then transformed into system requirements and the features ware refined logical data flow diagram to best capture the functional requirements of the system. 4.5.1 Functional Requirements Students Application Module  The system will allow students to apply for internship by registering their details.  It will allow students to view their supervisor’s details particularly the internal   It will allow students register details of their placement organization. supervisors for proper coordination. It will allow student to view announcements posted by the secretaries or the coordinator. Allocation Module  The system will allow secretaries to allocate students supervisors and to their secured  It will allow coordinators/ secretaries to view, update and delete the supervisors as a need internship organizations. may require. Announcement Modules  The system will allow secretaries to send announcements and notifications to the interns  Report    and supervisors. It will allow coordinators/ secretaries to view and print different types of reports. Query It will allow coordinators/ secretaries to generate query for retrieving data from database to view different set of data. 32 4.5.2 Non-Functional Requirements Security Module  The system will be able to identify authorized users to login to the system.  It will be able to differentiate the authorized level of users.  It will encrypt users' passwords to enhance security. 33 Efficiency Introductory letters will be ready for printing so longer as a student registers in the system. Internship activities will be ready to be viewed or printed after evaluation form and survey form is collected from student and the organization. Notification is will always be ready to update users. Reliability Up-to-date information will be provided to users. Users will do decision-making effectively and produce valuable reports. 4.6 Functional decomposition of the Internship Management System Budd, Timothy A. (2002), defines Functional Decomposition as a process of taking a complex process and breaking it down into its smaller, simpler parts. The internship management system is broken down into the most decomposed pieces of subsystems in order to have manageable parts that are easy to code/ engineer and later be composed into a greater whole internship management system. Below is the functional decomposition diagram for internship management system. 34 1 INTERNSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Registration Subsystem Allocation Subsystem 2 Registration Process Transaction 2 1 2 3 Generate Reports on Internship Supervision Subsystem Supervision Process Transaction Process Announcement Transaction Allocation Process Transaction 3 Generate Reports on Registration Announcement Subsystem 3 Generate Reports on Announcement Supervision Process Transaction Process Evaluation Reports Figure 4. 2: Functional decomposition diagram for the new Internship Management system 4.6.1 System Events The internship management system has external, temporal and state events which cause triggers in order for the system to generate responses. External agents initiate the external events which result in an input transaction or data flow. The temporal events are triggered on basis of time or anything that happens in the internship system and these are indicated by a control flow. The state events trigger processes based on the changes in a system from one state/ condition to another also indicated by a control flow. Below is the event response list for the Internship management system. 35 Actor/ External Agent Event Registration Enrolls for Internship, Supervision Trigger New student Enrolls program Establish new list of students for evaluation plan. Past evaluation/ new evaluation Activity Record fills in logbook New activity Allocation Establish supervisors lists Past supervisor or new supervisor Evaluation Announcement Establish new evaluation form for evaluation plan Composing the announcement New announcement, Past announcement resubscription New evaluation forms and past evaluation forms Response Generate confirmation for enrollment of student, Create student in database Generate evaluation confirmation, Create evaluation details in database Create Log book activities in database, generate internship activities confirmation Create confirmation for allocation of supervisor, Create supervisor in database. Create evaluation details in database, generate evaluation confirmation report Create announcement in database, Generate announcement confirmation. 36 Time Student Announcement and internship expires Join internship by enrollment. Current date Store start and end date of internship period. New Student enrollment Generate, Student directory update confirmation, Logically delete announcement in database Create Student in database Create Student roles in database. Event Data Flow Diagram The Event data flow diagram is a graphical representation of the flow of data through an information system, and models its process aspects. This is also known as “A level 0” data flow diagram that generalizes the function of the entire system in relationship to external entities. The Event data flow diagram below shows the flow of data within the internship management system. 37 Application Details Figure 4. 3: Event Data Flow Diagram for IMS 38 4.3 Problems of the current internship management System 4.3.1 According Vision, Mission, Goals and objectives of UniK, From the data collected using questionnaires, the current internship management system does not allow secretaries to serve clients in a timely manner because, it is still manual and time consuming despite the increasing advancement in technology. The registration process, monitoring and evaluation plus supervisor allocation are too manual as can be seen in appendix H and it need to be automated if the institution is to achieve its goals. The dean of faculty of business and ICT of UniK, Dr. Kizza James in an interview session explains the point, The current internship system does not expose the learners to different techniques of information exchange. For instance the students have to write in logbooks which are paper based and then submit them manually to their supervisors and secretaries. (Dr. Kizza 12th April-2017) This process restricts students to adopt only one mode of technique yet the technology is growing more advanced options can be used online forms/ electronic logbooks. And this hinders student’s creativity and less analytical which contradicts with UniK’s Vision. 39 4.1.2 Business process/ Activities Registration Procedures The process begins with a registration through the Secretaries where a document/ internship application letter is filled by student defining what course they do, year of study and semester. The students sign in a book upon picking their internship letters and also sign on returning the acceptance letters from the organization/company. Among the information that is captured from the student is as follows; Student Name, Registration Number, Program of Study, Year of study, the name of internship institution, the name and title of work base supervisor and the beginning date of the internship. The sectary then transfers all these details from the book to a computer program like Ms Word or Ms excel. This process aims to assist Secretaries/ Head of Department to allocate appropriate supervisor for internship Supervision. However, the system is too manual and tedious, the allocation of Supervisors is still manual and not systematic which does not only lead to improper allocation of internship supervisors but also it is time consuming Supervisor Allocation Procedures The supervisors are allocated manually after categorizing the students in their respective courses and routs to their placement organizations. This process is not only biased in allocation of supervisors but also tedious as the analysis and categorization of all the students is a manual process. Supervisors some times are allocated to supervise in some places simply because they live along those routes and to make matters worse, some students can be allocated supervisors who are not teaching them, this also leads to an inappropriate assessment of the student doing an internship. Face-to-Face Briefing In case of any communication for example After the allocation of supervisors using the existing manual system, The lists are printed out and displayed on the university notice boards which is not only a wastage of university resources but also time consuming to both the university administrators and students and the new system is intending to be flexible and providing a clear web based lists of students and their internship details. In addition, the students’ activity log books are not standardized; two student respondents from the faculty of education emphasize; 40 Each student has to come up with a way of recording his/ her daily activities on papers. (Students, 14th April 2017). With the new system all these will be integrated and incorporated so that there is a standardized log book for all the interns. In addition, the student evaluation forms are difficult to collect back from company superior at the end of industrial training. Coordinator needs to keep calling and sending email to remind them to fill up and send back the student evaluation forms. Hence, this is wasting time and makes the process slow while collecting the forms back. The new system will provide a supervisors page where they can assess the internees and forward all the data at their convenient time after students have been assessed. 4.3.3 Existing Information Systems During Data collection the researcher found out that the University has a number of information systems which are used to manage some of the business activities. One of the study respondents, Mr. Ndawula Henry, An ICT Technician working in computer laboratory one explains. The University has Information systems: there is a Library Information system called Khoha (for managing the library catalogue and students to access electronic materials), there is a students’ management system (for handling students records including their bio data, and transcripts), there is also the accounts system called financial information management system (for managing finances of students and the university finances at large (Henry, 18 May 2017). Mr. Moses Atwine (the Head of ICT Technical department) adds on more information systems. The university also has an intra-web system which has learning materials and software used for teaching and study purposes. The intra-web works in a way that lecturers post learning materials and students access them, also it has links to 41 various university information systems. He further explains that all these information systems are hosted and managed locally on the university servers. More still, the university has a website which is hosted by Google and an e-mail system also hosted by Google (Moses, 19 May 2017). Despite of all the existing information systems, none of them is used to assist in the management of internship activities at UniK. 4.3.4 ICT Infrastructure of UniK The existing network infrastructure of UniK Covers a relatively small geographical area of and does not extend beyond the campus premises. It comprises of Several V-LANs and wireless access points surrounding the entire campus. The router is the main gateway of the UniK’s physical network residing in the server room of the University. Network switches then tap from the router to various offices and computer labs plus wireless access points. Mr. Ndawula Henry an ICT technician of UniK says’ However, the network is limited by its small coverage and all resources have to be accessed while one is connected to the University network, which confines the users to physically be on campus if they have any material to access from the university systems. (Henry, 18 May 2017). 4.4 Solution to the problems of the current internship system The problems of the current internship system can be solved by applying the following solutions; An online computerized system that handles registration of students and enrolment process with modules that assists in the supervision of interns. A system with a centralized database capable of Allocating Supervisors and can provide recommendations automatically. An online system that can track the progress of each student and generate can generate various reports. A web based system capable of sending notification about internship to all students on internship. 42 Below is a diagram which describes the current business process of handling internship at UniK, Student Face to face Registration for Internship Supervisor Allocation Secretary Face to face/ Noticeboard Announcements Inform student Face-to-Face Briefing Communication between Supervisor and Student Supervising Activity Supervisors Figure 4. 4: The current business process of handling internship activities 43 4.5.2 Activity Diagram It is vital to identify the various objects and their states in the system. The activity diagram below represents the various states of objects in the IMS module and the models of relationships between the various action states of the objects. Actor Process Database Login Login Condition No True Registration View Records Receive Records Add Record Registration Retrieve Records Print Results Edit/ Update Records Generate DB Logs Generate Reports Figure 4. 1: 5: The Activity systems Diagram activity diagram Store Data 44 4.6 Conclusion This chapter looked at the background of the organization (UniK), the current system focusing on the current business process, strengths and weaknesses of the current internship management system, the proposed system looking at the system requirements, target users, data modeling and. The next chapter covers the information system design and implementation. 45 CHAPTER FIVE SYSTEM DESIGN 5.0 Introduction The previous chapter discussed the findings and system analysis. It also set the transition from analysis of the system to its design. This chapter therefore builds from the analysis done to the designing of a system which includes the database design, system architecture, user interface design and structure design. It brings out a clear and complete understanding of how the complete system operates. 5.1 Functional Design Specification Functional design is the aspect of system design concerned with the system's set objectives and functions, rather than its specific components. It’s a level of the design process in which subtasks are specified and the relationships among them defined, so that the total collection of subsystems performs the entire task of the system. The system should allow the users to perform the following functions For the Secretaries and faculty deans, the system should have to perform these functions  Add staff/ supervisor details  View registration details       Add students’ details Allocate supervisors to students going for internship View evaluation details of students Add announcement information Modify details of internship View reports 46 For the students doing/ or going for internship, the system should have to perform the following  Register details in the system  View supervisor allocation details     Print internship introductory letter Fills in internship activities in logbook View evaluation details View announcements For the Supervisor, the system should have to perform the following  View supervisor allocation details  Add evaluation details   View students allocation details View announcements Systems Administrator, the system will do the following  Manage other users  Updates the System software  Backup data 5.2 Database Design Databases and database management systems are important components of modern information systems. Databases provide a common repository for data so that it can be shared by all the system users. Database management systems provide the system designers, developers and end users with capabilities to store, retrieve and manage data. 5.2.1 Logical Database Design This section discusses and shows the attributes of every relation of the database design. This is discussed in relation to the relations/tables and the specific data they are supposed to accept and store. The underlined and bold are primary keys and the simply broken lines underlined are the foreign keys. 47 The details of the logical model for the Internship Management System are shown below; SECRETARY(SEC_ID, SECFNAME, SECLNAME, USERNAME, PASSWORD, DEPARTMENT, MOBILEPHONE, EMAIL, TYPE) STUDENT (STUDENT_ID, STUDENT_FNAME, STUDENT_LNAME, STUDENT_ONAME, EMAIL, MOBILEPHONE, NAME_OFORG, TYPEOFORG, ADDRESS, CONTACT_PERSON, INTERN_STASTUS, DATE_OF_APPLICTION, ASSIGN_ID) SUPERVISOR (SUPERVISOR_ID, SUP_NAME, MOBILEPHONE, EMAIL, DEPARTMENT, ASSIGN_ID, STUDENT_ID, STUDENT_FNAME ASSIGN_ID, SECRETARY_SEC_ID) ANNOUNCEMENT (ANNOUNCEMENT_ID, ANNOUNCER, TITLE, DESCRIPTION, START_DATE, SECRETARY_SEC_ID) User (user_id, email, username, password) 5.2.2 Entity Relationship Design Entity relationship is a technique used in UML to describe how the different relations of the database relate or are connected to each other. The relationships are based on the primary keys and foreign keys of the relations/tables. These are used to link the tables together to form a relational database. Description of entity relationships     Each student is supposed to sign up and before logging into the system On registration, the student Registration number becomes a primary key that uniquely identifies each student. The student continues to register internship details in the system so that a supervisor can be assigned. The secretary logs in the system by entering correct username and password. 48  The secretary proceeds and assigns supervisors to students who have already submitted  The secretary can also create an announcement.   application details. The supervisor signs up into the system and obtains a username and password. The supervisor then can assess the student. 5.2.3 Entity relationship diagram An entity relationship (E-R) diagram is used to visualize the system and represent the user requirements. This is used to represent entities and how they relate to one another. The ER diagram below shows the relationships between the entities and attributes of the Internship management System. 49 Figure 5. 1: Entity relationship diagram 50 5.2.4 Physical Database Design Physical database design translates the logical data model into a set of SQL statements that define the database for a particular database system. It is the process of producing a description of the implementation of the database on secondary storage. The design describes the base relations and the storage structures and access methods used to access the data effectively, along with associated integrity constraints and security measures. MYSQL is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) that uses Transact-SQL statements to send requests between a client and the Server. The scripts used for creating the database is attached in Appendix III 5.2.5 System Architectural Design The system architecture design describes the environment in which the system will operate. This section focuses on the architectural framework with the minimum software and hardware specifications for the effective functioning of the system. System architecture User Interface Data Management Application Logic Application Logic Active Database Backup Database Figure 5. 2: The architectural design of the system This system is a web-based Information System that uses 3-tiers architecture where the user interface is the client that sends queries and requires some resource. The server is the data manager which responds to the queries by providing the resources. Client- server technology provides the means for distributing work across machines and coordinating the results. The backup database is used for archiving the database and data ware housing for the historical data. Level 1 the user interface through which users interact with the system Level 2 handle HTTP-request and give the response after the request is processed by web server. 51 Level 3 handle database, directory, mail server, and SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and For the Front end tool, PHP programming language was used for developing the code. The motivation for choosing this language was the need for a platform independent language that could be used to create software to be embedded in various consumer electronic devices. BitNami was used for Back end tool. BitNami is a relational database management system for maintaining the database. BitNami was used to formulate the system database because it offers more reliability, data integrity, scalability and high level security for the stored information and handles the latest php scripting. It is free open source software, easy to use, fast, and accommodates large amounts of data. 5.2.6 Hardware and Software Specification The designed system has a range of specifications needed for its proper functionality. It is very important to have all the specifications in place for the best functionality of the system. More so it makes the system more friendly, easily accessible and interactive. The following are the minimum software requirements;     Windows XP, Linux operating system and Macintosh BitNami database management system, phpmyAdmin for both Windows and open source operating system Antivirus software for the windows platform A web browser like Mozilla Firefox, Google chrome and internet explorer. The following are the minimum hardware requirements;  Computers and printer most preferably with photocopier should be connected to the  RAM of 512MB and above to enable the computer respond fast to the application   computer since some reports will need to be printed. requests CPU Pentium 3 or above for good and reliable performance Monitor with resolution of 800*600 52  Hard disk space of 10GB or more for the computer hosting the database  Uninterruptible Power Supply for the database server and the application host computer  An external hard disk drive, for back up 5.3 Structure Interface Design This section discusses the different links between the interfaces and how they connect to fulfill their functionality. This structure makes the system self-evident, easy to navigate, and visually compelling to the users. In addition it helps the users to understand what is available to be done and how to find it. Structure design for the Student Login/ Signup Wrong Check Username & Password Correct Add Student Details Logout Add Internship Details Announcements Fill in Logbook View Reports Daily & Weekly Reports Figure 5. 3: The system structural design for the student 53 Structure design for the University Secretary. Login Wrong Correct Check Username & Password Add Allocation Logout Student Search Records Supervis or Details Daily Add/ Edit Records Generate Reports Announcements Weekly Monthly Reports Figure 5. 4: The system structural design for the university secretary 54 Structure design for the Supervisor. Login/ Signup Wrong Check Username & Password Correct Evaluate Student View Announcements Generate Reports View Evaluation Logout Daily Reports Weekly Reports Figure 5. 5: The system structural design for the university supervisor 5.4 User Interface Design A most critical aspect of the information system is the quality of the user interface. The design of the user interfaces defines how the user will physically interact with the system. With the differences in the type of users within UniK, the interfaces have been designed to satisfy all the users’ expectations taking care of their diversity in capabilities and needs. Home page design The home page which is the actual dashboard of the IMS was designed basing on planed designs in form of sketches on which the physical design was constructed. The home page has some photos of the University and some students doing practical work. It also contains the login links for all the three users plus the logo of the University as can be seen in the sketch below. 55 Unik Logo Images to show the students In internship. Administration Link (green) Icons representing the links Student Reg Link (blue) Image Image Supervisor Reg Link (green) Application Forms Link (blue) Assessment Link (blue) Figure 5. 6: Home page design Login Statement Username and Password Icons Figure 5. 7: Login Interface Username Password Log In button 56 Unik Logo Supervisor s Link Add Routine/ log View Log Link Announceme nts Link Log Out Link Internship Application Form Add application button Figure 5. 8: Students’ Application Forms Figure 5. 9: Secretary’s Panel 57 Figure 5. 10: Assigning Supervisors by secretary Figure 5. 11: View Students Assessment Figure 5. 12: Error message Login Fail 58 Figure 5. 13: Confirmation message Data Added Successfully 5.5 Security Design This is an important issue to consider when developing a system. This is so because a secure system is an asset to the University and information being a very important resource, its security is vital. There are various forms of securing and protecting the system from any collapse, losses or damage to the system. More still, an encrypted password with dm5 hashing algorithm was used to secure the passwords. Physical security; for the hardware and the system software to be secured, all the computers running the server software shall be locked in the control room to avoid any unauthorized access. For the safety of the database and documents; access to the system is restricted to only authorized. The staff authorization is left to the system administrator, who is responsible for registration and manager of system users. A backup system is put in place to guard against complete loss of very important information in case of system failure. Antivirus software will be installed as soon as the system is operational to protect against malicious files that may corrupt the system. 5.6 System Implementation and Operation Implementation is the actual development and support of the system. This is a stage in system development where codes are written and scripts to come up with the real product/ system with all the functionalities. This explains the overall implementation plan, the outputs (screenshots) of the system design, code used to produce the system and the user guide. The system was tested basing on the objectives and functionality requirements prior set and the lines below explain how the project was implemented. 59 5.6.1 System Construction and Programming (Coding) System construction and programming is the basis of the whole process of system implementation. It is the most important phase in the system construction. The construction and programming enables user interaction with the system and the database using the developed graphical user interfaces (GUI). 5.6.2 Implementation Plan The implementation plan of the system explains the activities that were covered in this phase, the deliverables and the tools that were used to complete the activities. ACTIVITY DELIVERABLE Database Development Testing Working database (internmgtsys) Implemented testing plan System test results Security tests results Usability Pilot system installation results Installation of software needed • Bitnami server • Macromedia studio • Antivirus software(60 Kaspersky) Training manual MS office package User manual System manual MS office package Technical reference guide Coding Installation Training Documentation Graphical User Interfaces Database connection scripts Data manipulation scripts TOOLS USED HTML PHP JavaScript CSS Bootstrap Macromedia studio Notepad++ MYSQL BitNami server, EasyPhp Unit tests System tests Security tests Usability test Running system prototype Working software The system’s implementation 60 5.6.3 Database and Script Development Database The database of the system was developed using MYSQL DBMS. The database has nine tables that are related to each other using the primary and foreign keys. These relationships were implemented to ensure reduction in redundancy of data in the database. These tables are supervisor, secretary, student, app_form, announcement, assessment_form, assign_tb, daily_routine, and login. The implementation of the database was based on the entity relationship diagram created in the design phase. System scripts The entire front end GUI of the system were developed using HTML scripts. HTML was used mainly because it is supported by all web browsers and since the application is web based, the interfaces will all be able to be accessed using any of the web browsers available. The back end interfaces that connect the system to the database were developed using PHP scripts. PHP is very compatible with HTML and is platform independent. CSS was used to fine-tune html elements to bring out intuitive and user-friendly interfaces. Bootstrap was used because it is light-weight and enables faster development of a web based system. Database creation To create the database the following line of code is used <?php $host="localhost"; $user="root"; $password="kasekere"; $dbname="internmgtsys"; $c=”Create database internship” ?> $conn=mysqli_connect($host,$user,$password,$c); if(!$conn) echo "Connection refused" . mysqli_connect_error(); 61 Table creation Database tables were created using the php script as can be seen below; Create table Supervisor(supname varchar(12) not null, contact varchar(13) not null, Email_addresss varchar(50) primary key not null); Data capture To capture data from user interface, php scripting language was used ie; INSERT INTO USERS(user_name, Password, Type) VALUES(‘secretary’, ‘secretary@unik.ac.ug’, ‘1’); Data retrieval To view data stored in database, php codes are used for example; Select * from Students where username=”$user”; 5.7 System Testing and Quality Assurance 5.7.1 System Testing After the generation of codes, testing of all the modules was performed. All modules were then integrated together and system testing and error checking was done. As prior discussed in chapter three, this section shows how the system was tested basing on the different techniques and approaches. Type of testing Validation Authentication Description The system was implemented to accept certain value type preset. The validation test checks if the value entered into the text field matches with the specified type. If the two don‟t match, then an error message warning the user of the different data type appears on the screen This is used to check user logins details. If a user logs in with wrong login particulars, the login fails with Tools used Email text fields validation Date text fields Error messaging User name Password 62 an error message “invalid username or password” and takes the user back to the login page. Performance testing This was done to determine how the system performs on the range of possible environments in which it can be used. System Testing All the programs and functions of the system were brought together to test the system as one complete tests. Unit Testing Each unit of the system was tested individually to discover any errors in the code. Database Testing This testing was done to check connectivity between the database, system function scripts and the user interfaces Functional testing The objective of this test was to ensure that each element of the application meets the functional requirements of the system as stated by the target users Description of how the system was tested • Windows platform using Windows explorer and Google chrome • Ubuntu using Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox System debugging Script inspection Script inspection Script debugging Database debugging System Inspection Error introduction and detection. 5.8 System Installation Installation was done after the system was developed and tested. The major installations were on the hardware and software installations. 5.8.1 Hardware installation Using the system designs made earlier in chapter five, upgrading of computers will be required, network printers, UPS units, backup utilities, internet connectivity, firewall system to block unwanted programs or access, Application and database Servers needed for host the system, database needed to be installed as well. 63 5.7.2 Software installation To have the new system up and running, there is no addition software needed to be installed onto the UniK’s computers so long as computers have an up-to-date web-browser on their Pcs or mobile devices. However the server will be used to host the IMS will require installation of the following software; Windows 7, 8, or 10 for the operating system but preferably, windows server the latest version. Mozilla Firefox version 40.1 and above, Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 for web browsers and Google Chrome browser. MYSQL Server version 5.0.45 for database management PHP 5.2.5 for script editing notepad++ for interface design and scrip editing, Apache 2.0 for Windows as server software 5.8 System Deployment System deployment started after the application scripts were fully tested for proper functionality. The Bitnami server software was installed and tested first on to the computer that is housing the database. This is because the application using MYSQL database management system for managing the application and MYSQL runs on Bitnami server. After the installation of Bitnami, the application files were copied to the apache htdocs. This is to allow the Bitnami open the system once it starts and a web browser is loaded. The URL http:// http://localhost/sentezarmx/index.php opens directly the index page of the system. 5.9 Maintenance and system enhancement The term maintenance covers virtually everything that happens to a system after delivery except total replacement or abandonment. In this case, it will involve the modification of the internship system after its delivery to UniK and adaptation to the changing user requirements and to fix any errors as they occur. The main activities involved are; The Tracking of request and error reports, Implementation of the changes, Monitoring the system performance and improving the performance or increasing capacity, Upgrading hardware and system software, Updating documentation to reflect maintenance changes. 64 5.9.1 User Interface Implementation. This section presents samples of the screen shots of the system user interfaces that were designed and implemented. The user interfaces were designed in very simple layout to enable users easily navigate through the system HOME PAGE Figure 5. 14: The system’s home page Login page This is the second page to be viewed by all users of the system. It is from this page that the user is validated to allow them access other pages of the system. If the details used are incorrect, log in fails with an error message as shown below Figure 5. 15: Login page 65 The signup page Figure 5. 16: The signup page Student Registration form Figure 5. 17: Student Registration form 66 Daily Routine Form/ logbook page Figure 5. 18: Daily Routine Form/ logbook page View Announcements page Assessment page Figure 5. 19: View Announcements page 67 Figure 5. 20: Assessment page Secretary add announcement page Figure 5. 21: Secretary add announcement page Allocation of supervisor page 68 Figure 5. 22: Allocation of supervisor page View Students assignment page Figure 5. 23: View Students assignment page 5.10 End User Training Training of the end users is one of the most important steps for a successful system implementation. The end users ie (deans, secretaries, supervisors and students) should be utilized during parallel testing, so training will need to be rolled out prior to that. Getting the end users involved at this point is also a good way to get them excited about the system, as many of them may not have been involved with the project prior to training. Their assistance in parallel testing 69 will help them prepare for when the Internship management system goes live. End users are good at using the system in more of a "real world" situation and can judge when process flows are not working. When everyone involved with using the system is included in the training, they will feel more confident about using it as they go into production and the user community will view the implementation as successful. Trainers Using the developer and in this case the researcher to conduct training for the students of various courses. This will allow the students to be better informed about how and why the internship management system was developed. Staff members like the secretaries, the deans and supervisors will also be trained to become more familiar with the system. Design Support Materials The Design of support materials that may be needed for use during training and in this case a separate training guide may be developed to show the navigation paths or the Queries. Finally, Publishing the training document outline and having the team review and finalize. 5.11 Conclusion This chapter discussed the design of the Internship Management system. It covered the functional design, database design, architectural design, user interface design and security design. These were discussed in line with the system’s case study. The chapter has also discussed various aspects of the system implementation process from system construction, testing and installing. Aspects of system maintenance after installation were also discussed. The next chapter concludes the whole research paper giving recommendations and a general conclusion of the study. 70 CHAPTER SIX GENERAL SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.0 Introduction This research’s main aim was to study and understand how internship is managed at University of Kisubi (UniK) and establish its associated challenges for an improved internship management system, analyze the functional and non-functional requirements of the new internship management system which resulted into logical designs and prototypes of an improved Internships management system in order to ensure that it meets the functional and non-functional requirements as well as to test whether it is free from errors. This set off with the study and analysis of the current systems followed by the establishment of user and system requirements that aided in specifying the functional and non-functional requirements that were used to design models from which the prototype for a new solution therefore discusses the study’s implementation of the solution. was implemented. This chapter conclusions, recommendations and future plans after the 6.1 Research Report Summary The study report presents the aim of the study, objectives, and methods used to achieve the objectives. The report then concludes discussing the challenges and successes of the study. The study’s focus was at improving internship management through designing and implementing a web-based internship management system. For this to be achieved, objects were set to guide the flow of the study and help understand and analysis the current system being used at the study’s case study institution; UniK. The study was conducted in view of business processes and technologies to establish weaknesses in relation to the institution’s goals and review methodologies to come up with the best approach and methods for executing the project. The study reviewed literature on related works to determine the gaps in the current internship management system and establish the need to bridge the gaps and give a solution to improve internship management. This was carried forward by evaluating the business processes on the information supply side through use of data collection techniques and tools discussed in detail in chapter three of the report. 71 The finding of the study revealed that the current system does not allow secretaries to serve clients in a timely manner because, it is still manual and time consuming, The internship registration process, monitoring and evaluation plus supervisor allocation are too manual, students record their daily activities on papers and physical This stressing process slowly led to the poor reporting culture of students and supervisors in different departments of UniK which affects the performance of various departments. In an attempt to solve these problems, the current internship management was analyzed based on the business processes of the University and the user requirements collected during the study. The details of this analysis were discussed in chapter four of the report After the analysis of the system, it was designed and the solution implemented basing on the project objectives and requirements prior determined. (Chapter five and six). Chapter seven concludes the study giving the challenges faced during the study’s undertaking and gives recommendation for the next similar studies. 6. 2 General Conclusion of the Study The Study of current practices of how internship is done at University of Kisubi (UniK) established that the old internship system was handling each aspect of internship independent of the other. By providing a common platform for integration of all the internship management aspects within the new system, the University can now utilize the system to access all information on the students’ internship at a central point. The analysis of the research finding and system requirements for developing an information system to improve internship management at UniK revealed a need for a system that would provide a central storage space for all the data collected on the internship activity and reduction on the time taken by the University staff to produce periodic reports. As an answer to the requirements analyzed, a system prototype was designed and implemented. This greatly cut back on the time taken to work on internship information. Despite delays in implementation of the internship management system, the UniK staff and students were excited to have a system that eased their work of managing internship data, generating reports and improving the overall management of internship. 72 6. 3 Challenges During the undertaking of this research, several challenges were encountered in the process of studying the current system, designing and implementing the internship management system among which the most pressing included; The researcher had underestimated the complexity of the whole study especially the system implementation part thinking it would take a short time to be done but it ended up taking a longer time and delaying the whole research completion. Secondly, the researcher faced a challenge university schedule which didn’t favor the supervisor to be on ground because the university was in recess period and so many times it was not possible to meet supervisor during. This also greatly caused delays id delivering the project on time. The above challenges coupled with time constraints meant that the scope of the system functionality preplanned had to be reduced to complete the project in the given timeframe of twelve months. 6. 4 Recommendations Recommendations are cautions the administrators of the system should do to keep the system functional and well maintained to achieve the main objective of the system. The university secretaries should take some measures of security such as changing the password to make sure that the person accessing the new system are only the authorized ones. The system should be further developed by adding other functionalities of the internship daily operations like managing companies with internship placements can post them on the system to allow students to apply for them. All the UniK staff and students should be trained on how to correctly use the new system so that it will be understandable to all the staff and students. A systems administrator should be involved to manage and keep the system running effectively. This administrator should be very well knowledgeable about the databases, information systems and programming. A backup system should be put in place and used regularly so as to help recover the information for reference in case of system failure. This can be in form of external hard disks. 73 6. 5 Further Work on the System Due to the limited time and other challenges in which this project was to be accomplished, the researcher was un-able to have an adequate number of trial results by the users. Plans to carry out more trails should be put in place by the UniK stakeholders to gain more acceptances and if it is positively received, then fully launch the system once the necessary infrastructure is in place. The designed system is for improving internship management at UniK and the reviewed literature showed that there are other systems designed to manage students activities and other school based information systems but the area of internships had not been thought of at UniK and Uganda as a whole even in Africa. The implemented prototype runs on ordinary web browsers and networked computers, and mobile devices with web browsers, further work can be done to improve the prototype to implement a mobile application that can be used and compatible with the new technologies of mobile devices like mobile phones and notepad computers. 6.6 Conclusion Timely and better quality services extended to users is an all organizations’ dream in Uganda especially in this error of technology; therefore an improvement in the management of internship system would guarantee every person timely access and almost self-service of user needs pertaining internship at UniK. 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Case Study Research: Design and Method. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Yin, R.K. (2002) Case study research: Design and Methods (3rd ed.) Sage Publications. 80 APPENDICES Appendix A: Sample Questionnaire for students doing internship Dear Respondent; I am a student at University of Kisubi pursuing a Masters degree in Information Technology. I am undertaking a research on "improving internship management in higher institutions of learning". I kindly request that you answer the questions below with honesty. The research is carried out purely for academic purposes and all responses shall be treated with utmost confidentiality. Personal Information 1. Gender: Male Female 2. Which course are you doing? 3. Which faculty do you belong? 4. Which office/ department is in charge of internship management? 5. Does the university/ faculty/ department/ office in any way assist students to get internship placements? YES NO 6. Which ways does the university assist to create internship opportunities for its students? (A) Advertisement (B) (C) Collaborations with companies (E) Others Specify Collaborations with various schools (D) Internship enquiries 81 7. Does the university provide you with the necessary materials like activity log books, files, charts, etc to help you smoothly conduct your internship training? YES NO 8. If yes, list the materials provided to internship students. i. …………………………………………………… ii. …………………………………………………… iii. …………………………………………………… iv. …………………………………………………… v. …………………………………………………… 9. Do you register with the office before starting internship? YES NO 10. Does the university have information systems which are accessible outside the local area network for internship management? YES NO 11. How simple is it to access the university online systems? (A) Very simple (B) Quite simple (C) Difficult (D) Very difficult (E) Cannot be accessed 12. Are you able to access internet when you are outside the university network? YES NO 13. How often do you access and use internet outside the university network? (A) Everyday (B) Twice a week (C) Twice a month (D) Not at all 14. How many supervisors are you allocated at the faculty? 15. How many internship sessions are you supposed to do before completing your degree? 16. How long is a single internship session? (A) One month (B)Two months (C) Three months (D) More than three months 17. Are you allocated the same supervisor/ supervisors for all the internship sessions? YES NO 18. How many times does each supervisor supervises a student on internship? 82 (A) One (B) two (C) three (D) more than three 19. Is there a continuous flow of communication between you and your supervisors? YES NO 20. Where do you record your daily/ weekly activities while at internship? (A) Logbooks (B) papers (C) in the head (D) others specify 21. What suggestions or recommendations do you give to University of Kisubi to improve on its internship management? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your response. 83 Appendix B: Sample Interview Guide to the Faculty Deans Opening: My name is Ssenteza Aloyzious and a student of the same institution (Unik). I am undertaking a research project aiming at improving internship management in higher institution of learning. I thought it would be a good idea to interview you, so that I can better develop an internship system that will help the institution to manage internship activities. I would like to ask you some questions about you’re the university’s ICT infrastructure and the use. I hope to use this information to help the University manage the internship program and also help students build their career opportunities. This interaction is scheduled to take about 45minete to 1hr and I am here purposely to make an appointment with you to ask you some questions about internship management in your institution. Body 1. What is your role in the faculty? 2. What are the objectives of internship in your faculty? 3. Describe activities involved in internship in your faculty. 4. How does the faculty assist students to get internship placements? 5. Describe the problems of internship management in your faculty. 6. Describe the procedure followed by students to do internship. 7. What strategies have you put in place as a faculty to cub the problems associated with internship management at the university? 8. What kind of information do you capture from the students for a proper management of internship exercise? 84 9. How do you allocate supervisors to the interns? 10. What kind of information do you capture from the supervisors for a proper follow up of internship activities? 11. How does the faculty maintain the communication flow between internal and external supervisors and the internees? 12. How does the faculty store and retrieve internship records like the students reports, places where they did internship, supervisors etc? Thank you very much for your valuable time and response. 85 Appendix C: Document review guiding for data collection a) In order to understand the organization where the research is going to take place, a number of documents in form of files, magazines, printed reports, Brochures, organizational structure will be accessed and information such as mission, vision and goals of the organization will be extracted from them which will guide in development of an appropriate solution. b) Print outs from university information systems will be reviewed and possibly find out how they work in terms of how they process the output. c) Documentations of the university network infrastructure will also be accessed to find out the nature of its operation and usage or even its coverage. d) Letters of introduction for students going for internship e) University publications f) ICT security policy document g) Student’s internship reports h) Internship forms and students log books i) Internship Supervisors list j) University handbook k) University intraweb l) Research from textbooks 86 Appendix D: Budget for the development of an improved Internship management system DEVELOPING INTERNSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR HIGHER INSTITUTIONS NO ITEM 1 Stationary 2 Photocopying and Printing 3 Binding 5 Consultancy 6 Laptop 7 Softwares 8 Miscellaneous DESCRIPTION Reams of Paper Compact Discs (CDs) Pens OF LEARNING spiral binding Hardcover binding dell icore 3 Operating System Adobe Master Collection Suit Notepad ++ Bitnami Server QUANTITY UNIT COST(UGX) TOTAL COST 10 18000 90000 5 1000 5000 12 500 6000 100000 6 4 2500 20000 15000 80000 1 1500000 200000 1500000 250000 250000 500000 87 Appendix E: Schedule for Masters Research about improving internship management at UniK. DATA SOURCE DESCRIPTION Designing data collection This will involve designing questionnaires, instruments Document review interview guides, observation guides, and document review guide tools to aid in data collection. This will involve gathering different documents of START DATE 24/02/2017 TARGET DATE PERIOD 10/03/2017 1⅓ weeks 10/03/2017 24/03/2017 2 Weeks 25/03/2017 7/04/2017 3 Weeks 8/04/2017 21/04/2017 2 Weeks the university and accessing electronic documents in order to get the background information of the university. Questionnaire In order to collect primary data from a big administration population, questionnaire will be administered to a 15, 45 number of students to find more information about internship activities. Conducting interviews In order to collect flesh and Sufficient information, interview guides will be administered to specific individuals i.e. faculty deans, secretaries, internees, 88 and ict technicians 3 deans, 3 secretaries, 3 students and 2 technicians Observation Secretaries will be observed serving internees. 22/04/2017 5/05/2017 Ongoing Data analysis At the end of data collection activity, the data will 6/05/2017 25/05/2017 3 Weeks 27/05/2017 20/07/2017 2 months 28/05/2017 20/07/2017 2 months/ on be subjected to analysis as a way of justifying the problem and aiding in the development of internship management system. System Design and Logical data modeling, physical data modeling, Development constriction of database, and codding the system. Report writing Writing of the dissertation going System Test Testing various modules of the system on different 2/07/2017 20/07/2017 ongoing platforms and checking and fixing of bugs 89 Appendix F: Letter of introduction that aided data collection 90 Appendix G: Internship Application Form 91 Appendix H: Supervisor’s Assessment Form 92 Appendix I: Assessment Form for Site Supervisors 93