Volume 9, Number 2, October 2016 5

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Design and Implementation of Web-based Examination System

for the University
BELLO Ridwan Oluwaseun1, OLUGBEBI Muyiwa2, BABATUNDE Abdulrauph
Olanrewaju3 BELLO Bashir Omolaran4, BELLO Shakirat Iyabo5
1
Fountain University, Osogbo, Nigeria,
Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences,. Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences,
PMB 4491, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, E-Mail: [email protected]
2
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. Nigeria,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
PMB, 4000, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria, E-Mail: [email protected] .
3
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria,
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences.
P.M.B 1515, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria, E-Mail: [email protected] , [email protected]
4
Fountain University, Osogbo, Nigeria,
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences,
PMB 4491, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, E-Mail: mailto:[email protected] obbello2000@yahoo,com .

5
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria,
Department of Clinical Pharnacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceurtical Sciences,
P.M.B 1515, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria, E-Mail: [email protected]

Abstract - Online examination system is an has a lot of limitations especially nowadays where there
information and communication solution to the paper- are many people seating for a particular examination
based examination system. It is resourceful, time- such as UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation
saving and efficient. The system is designed to enhance Examination) or even general courses in the universities.
the examination process in schools and is capable of Online examination is an effective solution for mass
conducting any type of examination questions such as educational evaluations. The system is designed for
multiple-choice questions or theory-based question schools, banking, government and even organizations
format. In this paper, we developed a system that for enrollment purposes. Most web-designed
provides an equitable level of security and veracity on examination applications usually have some limitations
the conduct of the examination. The aim of this such as inaccurate results, loging off the users on
application is to meet students requirements where they termination period allocated automatically as well as
are expected to take their examination online through non randomization of questions and security. Today
internet or intranet. The system was developed using many organizations are conducting online examinations
Hypertext Preprocessor, Hypertext Markup successfully and produce the results online [1]. Online
Languages, Cascading Style Sheet, Javascript and My examination is a process of conducting examination
Structured Query Language as the database backend questions posted online, the candidate attempts the
which are used in web-based applications. Thiese questions and forward the answers simultaneously
guarantee that the application is cheap, robust, and is through either internet or intranet. The results are
able to run on multiple platforms. The application can usually analyzed automatically which can be viewed or
be enhanced using integrated biometric systems such printed out.
as fingerprint or face to improve its effectiveness and Online examination is very beneficial to test the
security. student’s knowledge using advanced computer
technology without any drawbacks compared with the
Keywords: web-design, records, examination, paper- traditional examinations of the use of papers, pens and
based, multiple platforms. examination invigilators. It can increase the standards
of student’s examination, whereas the traditional
I. INTRODUCTION examination system using the paper and pen requires
extra efforts on the students and the invigilators. It is
In Nigeria, for over the last decades, paper-based widely considered as an important source for university
examination has almost been the only mode of examinations. Thus, the university and other tertiary
conducting examination which has been effective but institution’s students can benefit from these services;
 6 Journal of Computer Science and Control Systems
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With the aid of web development technology, questions which can be processed on server of the Microsoft Web
can be in form of multiple choices which allows the prior to the page being forwarded to the end user. C#
students to select only one answer from the options operates as the server-side, while Microsoft Structured
available. The bulky question papers used in Query Language (SQL) with ADO.NET control the
conventional paper-based examination system, is a great database back end of the system. [12. 13] explained
burden for both students and lecturers [2, 3]. [4] examination malpractice as any unlawful way of
explained the problems of Paper-Based Test (PBT) or obtaining undeserved marks or grades singlely or in
Paper and Pencil Test (PPT) including transportation collaboaration with others such as invigilators, fellow
risks by the candidates and examination officials to the students, parents, supervisors and teachers before,
examination halls, loss of results, result manipulations, during or after the commencement of the examination.
delayed in the results release, high cost of examination [14] evolved a system to secure and improve online
materials and other logistics. Furthermore, the paper- examination using DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) concept
based examination system can also lead to wastage of in firewall technology and also discussed the performan-
resources, time consumption and series of errors. In the ce of firewall in an online examination. The goal of a
banking industry, the use of paper for transactions are DMZ application is to include another layer of security
stressful and fraudulent.
onto the local area network (LAN) of an organization.
Examination in educational institutions is intended in
The institutions and the learners adopting such online
ascertainings a learner’s skills and intellectual
examination will be able to include video in the ques-
competence of knowlegde imparted after a givencertain
period [5]. It has been reported that several developing tions, randomization of questions and time allocation for
countries are yet to adopt information and each question [15, 16]. It is also beneficial in terms of
communication technology (ICT) as an avenue for cost and speed. [17] claimed that education system will
improving their socio‐economic status.Ssome later depended on wireless environments and advanced
educational institutions however, are currently aware of mobile devices in the future. However, incompatible
the importance of ICT is in the educational and operating systems, data security and small screen sizes,
industrial sectors [6]. [7] developed a web-based and some of the demerits of using mobile devices [18].
application where students can learn the course This studies was conducted with the objective of
‘Economics’ and also conduct its examination online. designing and implementatiing online examination
The aim of this application is to enable students to study systems for university using wed-based technology.
all the concepts of Economics through the tutorial
application available and then take an examination all on II. METHODOLOGY
the same application. [8] developed an examination
automation system for a Java-sustined browser that can The design methodology deployed for this study is
be easily accessed through any platforms. Both teachers the Waterfall Software Development Life cycle (SDLC)
and students will be able to access this web-based model. The SDLC is a methodology for building,
system. [9] designed an intranet-based examination designing, and maintenance of computer software,
system that is limited only for staff and students within information and industrial systems. It can also be
the Covenant University, Nigeria. This web application referred to as Linear Sequential Life Cycle model. It is a
runs on the Microsoft.net framework which depends very popular software development architecture. This
exclusively on Microsoft technologies with the likes of model is very simple to understand and best used for
ASP (Active Server Page).NET as the web server. smaller projects where there requirements are well
Microsoft SQL (Structured Query Language) is known. It consists of sequence of stages where the
employed for the interactive database, while ADO output of each stage leads to the input for the next stage.
(ActiveX Data Objects).NET for interacting with the At the requirement stage, the end users (students and
database. lecturers) were interviewed to determine their
Reference [10] also designs a web examination perceptions and prospect of the application. On the
application with the use of several open source design stage, system design and the architecture were
developed to meet end users needs such as context
technologies such as Hypertext Markup Languages
diagrams data flow diagram and use case diagrams.
(HTML) which is used for the design interface of the However, the graphical user interface of the system was
system, Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) as the server-side developed using HTML, Bootstrap Cascading Style
scripting language and My Structure Query Language Sheet (CSS), JavaScript and PHP on and MySQL server
(MySQL) as the database engine. The system is capable as the database in the implementation stage.. In the
of conducting examinations, collation and marking of testing phase, after testing the workability of each unit
answers and produce results. It also accomodate developed in the implementation phase, all the units
different types of examination including fill in the were integrated into a system. Lastly, there is a room for
blanks and multiple choice questions using auto-grading maintaining the system after future deployment.
module. [11] designed a web based examination system
in a format of multiple choice questions through online, III. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
and the results displayed immediately. This application
was designed and implemented using HTML and Conceptual design of the system gives an outline of
ASP.NET for the Graphics User Interface. ASP is a page the design that was carried out using cases and data flow
of HTML showing scripts of small embedded programs diagram.
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A. Data flow diagram Fig. 3 shows the activities of setting examination

instructions and questions, moderate the questions, and
Data flow diagram illustrates the association in the changing passwords.
various entities of the system (Fig. 1). The Set Instructions

“Administrator” entity is responsible for inserting stu-

dents and lecturer’s details to the system. The “Student”
entity can take examination after the student has been Set Questions

given access to the system. The “Lecturer” entity can

upload questions to be answered by student into the Specify the Correct Answer
database using any preferred question format, set the
examination instructions and configure the correct
options or set of options for the questions. Change Password

Insert Lecturer’s Details

Set Instructions
ADMINISTRATOR
Lecturer
LECTURER Insert Student’s Details
Insert Questions Fig. 3. Lecturer Use Case Diagram.

In Fig. 4 examinaation questions are attempted and

the results can be viewed.

Accept/Reject Administrator
Accept/Reject Lecturer EXAMINATION Take Examination
SYSTEM Take Examination
View Result

View Result

Accept/Reject Student
STUDENT Student
Fig. 4. Student Use Case Diagram.

Fig. 1. Data Flow Diagram of the System. IV. SIMULATION AND RESULTS
B. Use Case Diagrams The implementation was simulated on a local host
using Apache server for testing the correctness and
In this section, three actors on the case diagrams are consistency of the system on a computer. In the screen
the student, lecturer and administrator. Fig. 2 shots below, various interfaces from the system are
demonstrates administrator activities on the application highlighted.
such as initiating new user either the lecturer or student,
modifying existing user, adding new course to the A. The Login Page
system, modifying existing course, viewing
examination questions and the results about the system. Fig. 5 indicates the authentication page where the
Create New User examinee enters Registration identity card (ID) and
Password which will give the user access to the
questions and the results page. The registration ID will
Modify Existing User be generated automatically by the system during the
registration process.

Create New Course

Modify Existing Course

View Examination

Administrator View Result

Fig. 2. Administrator Use Case Diagram. Fig. 5. Login page.

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B. The Home Page

Fig. 6 shows the page which loads whenever the

domain name is entered The candidate will click on the
“Student Section” to take the examination via the
authentication page, while the administrator will click
on the “Administrator Section”.

Fig. 8. Question page.

E. The Result Page

Fig. 9 indicates the page for viewing examination

results at the end of the examination . It also shows
indentity card numbers of the students, date of the
examination, the course code and the marks which the
students obtained.

Fig. 6. Home page.

C. The Administrator's Home Page

In Fig. 7 the page allows the administrator to insert

new course, insert examination question, edit/ delete
examination questions, viewing and editing courses,
view all results and change account username and
password.
Fig. 9. Result page.
D. The Question Page
V. CONCLUSION
Fig. 8 demonstrates where students’ examinationcan
be conducted. The examination questions can be The system was developed using Hypertext
randomly set through the question table in the database, Preprocessor, Hypertext Markup Languages, Cascading
and viewed by the students. However, the student Style Sheet, Javascript and My Structured Query
chooses a radio button which agrees with the suitable Language as the database backend which are used in
answer. The result is shown to the students and web-based applications. Thse guarantee that the
deposited in the database after the completion of the application is cheap, robust, and is able to run on
examination, multiple platforms. The application can be enhanced
using integrated biometric systems such as fingerprint or
face to improve its effectiveness and security.

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