World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education  2013 WIETE

Vol.11, No.1, 2013

The design of an open laboratory information management system

ABSTRACT: In order to improve the efficiency of laboratory management, an intelligent information management
system based on a browser/server (B/S) architecture is proposed. First, the features of the traditional management
systems are analysed; then, the structure of management systems is introduced; finally, the implementation of a ground
and power control module, and a network information management module are described in detail. The system is a
distributed network for laboratory management, and can carry out the functions of users’ login, attendance
management, schedule querying and experiment booking, among others. It can not only mobilise the initiative of
students to practise and innovate, but also reduces the labour intensity of laboratory management.

INTRODUCTION

With the development of science and technology, society has a higher demand for talent and innovation. Many colleges
and universities have carried out teaching reform using open laboratories, which mainly include basic skills developed
by open experiments, comprehensive design exercises, students’ research projects, and so on. This has broken the
traditional mode of organised classroom teaching, hence, giving students more autonomy by moving from passive to
active learning [1][2]. It provides a broad space for students to achieve their potential by using experiments requiring
creative thinking by students.

Students can arrange experiments according to their own learning, interests and time, which results in the most efficient
use of experimental equipment. It also plays an important role by promoting good engineering practice and innovation
by students. However, because of the complexity of arranging open experiments, laboratory management and
administration is more difficult and has new requirements, covering student information management and other aspects
of the experiments [3]. To address these problems, a design methodology for an information management system is
proposed in this article. It can not only mobilise students to innovate, but also can reduce the labour intensity of
laboratory management.

The rest of this article is organised as follows. The second section presents the problems with traditional management.
The third section describes the design principles of the proposed management system. The specific design methodology
is introduced in the fourth section. In the fifth section, some conclusions are presented.

PROBLEMS WITH TRADITIONAL LABORATORY MANAGEMENT

The open laboratory for higher education is itself a project. But its lack of regularity and dispersion leads to operational
problems, which affect the teaching and training of the open laboratory [4][5]. The main aspects are as follows:

1. Students do not know how to apply for open experiments. The open experiments are designed by teachers and then
published on-line, free for students to apply for. The project announcement only provides the names of the projects
and teachers. Students generally do not know the details of the experiment. Some students register and participate
in several experiments, only to find that the experiments were not the same as originally thought, and so quickly
exit the programme. In this regard, the university project authorities could make project descriptions more
comprehensive to enable students to better understand the information, so they can relate it to their own situation
and interests, and make a reasonable choice.
2. The management of laboratories is backward. Currently, the basic condition of a university laboratory network is
stable, and the laboratory equipment can meet the basic needs of current teaching. However, laboratory

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 management tools are relatively backward and mainly rely on manual management by teachers and students,
whose status in the good use of the equipment is not clear. For example, students cannot keep abreast of the
information regarding content and experimental time; students have to go to the laboratory for the appointment;
the registration is completed by the laboratory teacher, etc. So the work is cumbersome, inefficient and has other
defects.
3. Innovation in experimental teaching is lacking. At present, the school has a lack of experimental teachers, coupled
with a lack of enrolment, resulting in a lack of students in the experimental process. Students cannot complete the
transition from basic to comprehensive and innovative experiments, so that students lack practical and innovative
skills. In addition to this, students turned in a huge amount of experimental work; teachers were overwhelmed and
had not enough time to study and reform experimental teaching methods. Teaching quality needs to improve.

Therefore, the traditional laboratory management cannot satisfy the requirements of the open laboratory. With the rapid
development of computer and network technology, the establishment of an open network laboratory information
management system will be important. On the one hand, one can arrange laboratory hours and laboratory resources to
effectively stimulate and motivate students’ learning. On the other hand, it also improves the efficiency of management
personnel to ensure the efficient and orderly operation of the open laboratory.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES OF THE SYSTEM

In the open laboratory information management system, the users are mainly laboratory management administrators,
experimental teachers and students [6]. Their responsibilities are as follows:

1. The laboratory administrator is responsible for the co-ordination of laboratory activities and management of the
equipment. He or she can assign user permissions, add/delete users, perform data backups and maintenance.
2. The experimental teachers are responsible for the experimental setup of projects, opening hours, student
appointment confirmation, students’ submissions of work, attendance, assessment, etc.
3. Depending on student numbers, students can log in to the system and check laboratory equipment, staffing, etc.
They can also query laboratory access information, details of selected pilot projects and experimental appointment
times before the appointment is approved. They can make and modify appointment information and can query the
approved projects and times.
4. The department manager is responsible for the arrangement of laboratory activities according to experimental
plans and co-ordinates the use of other laboratory equipment.

The open laboratory teachers arrange the experiments according to teaching plans published through the Web. Students
do the experiment and attend their appointment. The experiment is done in a time approved by the experimental teacher.
Students’ attendance should be according to the campus schedule and the experiment commenced after determining the
correct bench. Students need to submit test records to the experimental teacher after the experiment.

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Attendance and Power Control System

In order to confirm the attendance of course staff, an attendance and power control microcontroller system is installed in
the laboratory, which mainly consists of a microcontroller, serial bus, LCD, buzzer, keypad, card reader, clock modules
and other components. The laboratory attendance and power management system can identify entrants by reading the
campus card information. A student should use his or her card before conducting an experiment.

For legitimate users, the system will automatically assign users to the start test-bed for the experimental equipment, and
records time and other relevant information. Meanwhile, the single chip microcomputer controller receives commands
from the computer to control the power on/off to the test-bed. The flow chart is shown in Figure 1.

Information Management System

According to the requirements of system design, Web B/S (browser/server) software is in three layers; namely, the user
layer, the functional logic layer and data layer. This is shown in Figure 2.

This structural design allows users to query comprehensive laboratory management information using a normal Web
browser at any time, any place and without installing any client software. The users interact with the system through the
user interface layer and the data are sent to the browser for display. The business logic layer is located between the user
layer and the data layer, and provides the business logic for the realisation of the system specifications.

This level provides the link between the customer applications and data services, and its main function is the
implementation and packaging of the applications. The data layer is used to define, maintain, access and update data,
and to satisfy the data requests of the service management.

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 Figure 1: The flow chart of students’ attendance.

Figure 2: The system structure based on B/S mode.

Based on the above structure, the functional modules of the system include: laboratory equipment management module;
test appointment management module; experimental teaching module; database management module; reporting module
for innovative pilot projects; integrated query module; on-line communication module; and system help module. The
main modules are shown in Figure 3.

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Through the open laboratory management information system, a teaching manager can organise the teaching and co-
ordinate equipment usage for an open laboratory. The experimental test arrangements and management of teachers’
operations are completed in a network environment. Students can perform on-line bookings, reporting and make
alternative experiment choices from within the school or from outside:

1. Experimental appointment management. Students query arrangements for experiments under their own ID and
password, choose times and experimental projects, and form an appointments record. After approval, the system
automatically assigns a laboratory bench.
2. Experimental teaching management. According to plans, teachers login to the network to complete the curriculum
content setup and set experimental details. This mainly includes test name, test equipment requirements, test
content, timing, etc.
3. Laboratory equipment management module. This mainly provides equipment updates and information
management, including laboratory equipment availability, classification, serial number, performance parameters,
names and status information.
4. Database management module. This is responsible for authority distribution and data maintenance of student
information, teacher information and laboratory information; it satisfies query and maintenance requests for
experimental projects, laboratory reports, test results, equipment, files and other information.
5. System help. This mainly helps teachers and students to solve common problems, such as system registry, course
selection, information and tips, and helps them to quickly master the use of the information management system.
6. Integrated query module. Students can query: the normal semester teaching plan for the laboratory; the use of the
equipment and apparatus; the working principles; experimental evaluation of the content, requirements, scoring,
and so on.
7. On-line communication module. This provides an on-line venue for students and teachers to exchange information
and raise issues. Common problems will be collated and published in the Frequently Asked Questions module.
8. Innovative experimental project declaration. In order to make full use of laboratory resources and stimulate student
innovation, the system provides an innovative project declaration. Students can design an experiment project with
content according to their interests. If approved, the experiment can be included in the open laboratory.

Figure 3: Application modules of the information management system.

CONCLUSIONS

An open laboratory information management system was designed based on a B/S (browser/server) architecture. It can
provide for the overall management of the student experimental information. On the one hand, it can maximise the
utilisation of laboratory resources, and fully mobilise the initiative of students to practise and innovate. On the other
hand, it can help the management staff to improve efficiency and reduce work. It can solve the difficulties of open
laboratory teaching management and promote the professional engineering education reform process of open
laboratories. The open laboratory information management system provides a good way to improve the level of
engineering practice and the ability of students.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This work has been supported by the Doctoral Scientific Research Foundation of Weifang University (2012BS26) and
the Technology Development Plan of Weifang City (2011119).

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