Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations

Information Technology UNIT 2

Internal Assessment

Name of Candidate: Delmar Nixon

Candidate’s Number: 0900450304
Centre Number: 090045
Territory: Guyana
School: St Joseph’s High
Year of Examination: 2020

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 Contents
Problem Definition .................................................................................................................................. 3
Analysis Of Problem ............................................................................................................................... 4
Identification And Justification Of Information Technology Tools Used. ................................................. 5
Assessment Of The Implication Of Solutions ........................................................................................... 6
Appendix 2.............................................................................................................................................. 7

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Problem Definition

Over the years St Joseph’s High School have been experiencing problems in effectively

obtaining student files. This is due to the fact that the school uses manual information initiative

for storing and retrieving information. Students’ personal information are stored in a file cabinet,

and therefore when this information is required, the secretary and other authorized teachers

would have to search through heaps of information, index sequentially, until they information

relating to specific students This is a very time consuming and tedious task.

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Analysis of Problem

 Questionnaire was one of the instruments used to conduct primary research for this
internal assessment and were distributed to fifteen teachers including the two secretaries
in the school to find out the causes relating to the efficiency of student records. It was
found that 80% of teachers take more than fifteen minutes to organize and due to a
cabinet of 3 to 6 feet. Additionally, 75% of teachers stated that student records are
accessed by unauthorized persons; this leads to the inorganization and even misplacement
of files further linking to the large amount of time needed to find student records. In
addition, 76% of teachers stated that they had misfiled or misplaced student records more
than three times while the other stated she had done this at least thrice. Finally, 87% of
teachers stated that student records have been damaged by disastrous factors like floods
more than three times.
 Observation was the other instrument used in conducting research. This was carried out
to witness how the secretaries/teachers store, find and organize student records for a week
period in the secretaries’ office between time intervals of 10:15 to 10:30 am, 11:30 to
12:30 pm and 3:00 to 4:00 pm. These time intervals were chosen because the researcher
was free during these sessions. From data observed, it was found that file cabinets with
the student records are approximately five feet, which increase the time needed to
organize and find student records. At some visits, the researcher noticed that
unauthorized persons were allowed accessed to the file cabinet containing student
records, and when the secretary was ready to find specific files, they were inorganized. In
addition, the researcher saw that student files were misfiled at least twice during
visitations. Last but not least, some student files were seen damaged, either from rodents’
bite or stains from water.

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Identification and Justification of Information Technology tools used.

 Database management system is a software that manipulates, store and disseminate data

in a computer system. This database will provide data pertaining to the students of the

school, while limiting misplacement of files and solving the problem of having to go

through piles of information in large file cabinet, hence reducing the time spent on

finding these student files. The database can perform queries and integrity checks to

make sure the data is valid and can be easily searched, nevertheless the database can sort

all the data and make sure the data type corresponds with its description.

 A computer is an electronic device used to accept, manipulate, produce and store data. It

will be used to enhance the speed of the database since it permits a large storage of

information in an organized fashion. The computer will be the platform for running the

database system. It reduces the risk of having too much files on the system and has

security features to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing student files.

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Assessment of the implication of solutions

 It is known that many organizations that use database systems to store sensitive

information are threatened by the modification of data by unauthorized users. As such, to

eradicate this problem the researcher plans to implement the use of strong passwords

using numbers, letters and alternating capitalization and punctuations. In order to access

the database users would have to enter the specific password, and to further edit the data

in the database a new password is required.

 Database systems also have an issue with user friendliness. Most users are uneducated on

how to efficiently use the database. As such, to help authorized users to use the database,

training sessions will be implemented, additionally; buttons can be used to allow easy

navigation of the database.

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Human Computer Interface

The login screen for the database

Password: 1234
Username: hello

The screen after login

Inclusive of navigational tabs

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Questionnaire

1. Gender:
Male
Female

2. How long have you been working at this school?

Less than a year
2-5 years
5-8 years
More than 8 years

3. How big are the file cabinets used to store students’ information?
Less than a foot
1 to 3 feet
3 to 6 feet

4. Do file cabinets take up space, affecting free movement around the office?
Yes
No

5. How many persons can access students’ information at once?

1
1-3
More than 3

6. Have unauthorized persons received access to students’ files?

Yes
No

7. How are students’ information organized in file cabinets?

Alphabetically by Surname
Alphabetically by First Name
Year of Entry
Other:

8. How long does it take you to organize students’ information?

Less than 5 minutes
5-10 minutes
10-15 minutes
More than 15 minutes

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9. How long does it take you to obtain information on a specific student?
Less than 5 minutes
5-10 minutes
10-15 minutes
More than 15 minutes

10. How many times have you misfiled/misplace students’ file?

Once
Twice
Thrice
More than 3 times

11. How many times have student records been damaged due to leakages or other disastrous
factors?
Once
Twice
Thrice
More than 3 times

12. How effective is this method of storing information?

Severely
Partially
Not effective

13. What is affecting the effectivity of storing these records?

Records are not backed up
Records can be easily destroyed, misplaced or misfiled
It is time consuming to find student records
Other: ………………………………………………………………………………………….

14. Do you think a new system needs to be implemented to improve effectivity of storing
records?
Yes
No

15. If yes for question 14, state why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

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Presentation of Data

Column chart Time taken for secretaries to find student files

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Time taken to find files

Less than 5 minutes 5 to 10 minutes 10 to 15 minutes More than 15 minutes

Bar graph showing Size of file cabinet used to store

students' files

Size of file cabinets

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

3 to 6 feet 1 to 3 feet Less than a foot

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 Doughnut chart showing whether student records are
accessed by unauthorized persons

25%

75%

Yes No

Pie chart showing how often student records are misplaced

1%

6%

17%

76%

Once Twice Thrice More than 3 times

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Pie chart showing how often student records damaged due
to leakages or other disastrous factors
1% 1%

11%

87%

Once Twice Thrice More than 3 times

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