Chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

Computer technologies are changing the practice of research and business, and – very

slowly – the content and practice of education are beginning to follow suit. For one, most

schools in the country are adapting to these changes by gradually shifting their manual

transactions to computer-based systems allowing a smoother flow of operations. The hallmark

of computer-aided systems in education is that they attempt to revolutionize conventional

school routines such as enrolments into an efficient and seamless process that saves time, cost,

and accuracy of work.

Lesser human intervention in tasks involving numerous transactions and distributed

work has proven increased competency in Information Technology and other communications-

related industries. We see this as growing evidence on IT industries leading to substantial

improvements in productivity by automating their routine activities. If this capability will be

incorporated to school works such as grading procedures, the arduous task of records-keeping

might be delegated to machines or tools which can handle various automated and computing

jobs and thus improve work outcomes.

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The aim of this study is to address concerns of instructors over the management of

grades computation and file handling of student profiles. A good feedback mechanism relating

to the learning progress of students in terms of their performance in each subject ensures a

good development assessment. This will give both the teacher and the student the idea about

their growth and may promote a good teacher-to-student relationship. A fast and accurate

grading system can give a clearer perspective on the standing of the students in the class as

individuals and in the learning environment as a whole.

The grading process is the practice of evaluating the academic performance of students

by assigning them ratings based on standard grading scales programmed in the education

curriculum. Different interrelated procedures such as student information listing, academic

grading, and class standing assessment build up grading processes called Academic Grading

System or AGS. AGS is used particularly in keeping and retrieving information on a student’s

grades profile and academic status. Tracking their progress in subject courses and providing

them responses on the form of points-based, letter-oriented, or ratings measurements are the

features of AGS.

An automated grading system is a good example of computer-generated process. This

can significantly reduced the workload and provide accurate report of grades needed by the

students and the institution in the assessment of learning. In the case of San Isidro Elementary

School, manual computation and recording of grades are still exploited by teachers rendering

disputed and mishandled results. Computerization is a control system that can manage these

tasks and give accountability to the outputs.

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In this study the proponents focused on addressing problems posed by the existing

grading system through seeking alternatives to the manual routines and developing a software-

based tool that will facilitate transition of grading procedures from subsisting operations to

computerized transactions.

1.1. Project Context

This study is divided into two phases: the project feasibility and project acquisition. The

project feasibility phase is consisted by concept and design plans outlining primarily the areas

of work relating to the viability of the project and conception of strategies and systems

approaches such as systems philosophy, analysis, and management. Under the project

acquisition phase, lines of work are concerned to implementation and procurement strategies

that will materialize model plans and the development of the system itself.

1.1.2. Defining Project Attributes

The project commenced with identifying first the key elements integral to the formation

of strategies and approaches to planning and drawing of project architecture. To recognize the

persisting problems of the existing grading system in the target school, the proponents

performed site visits and continuous correspondence with project stakeholders which initiated

the concept planning. After investigations and problems outlining have been made, the

following factors have been defined:

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a. The Three-Sphere Model. The proponents determined the relation to the three-sphere

model of project management which identifies the business, organizational, and

technological aspect of the project. Since the tool developed for the school is a non-

commercial system and will not be used to gain profits or promote investments, the

project’s business factor dwells only on the financial sense of settling cost requisites

necessitated in the development and maintenance of the system. Stakeholders influence

the changes and advancements to the improvement of planning and designing in that they

give the foremost inputs to the specifications of the system and change requests which

adjusted requirements. People problems or the interests of the organization and key players

also concern the organizational factor. The approaches used to develop the system imposed

the technological side of the project.

b. The Needs Analysis. Documenting the requirements played a crucial role to classify what

areas of concern should be addressed and what requirements from all project stakeholders

affected the features of the system. Observations were made and questionnaires were

given to quantify requests, weigh demands, and perform analysis of the parameters which

will control the bounds of the study. This is important to avoid scope creep, project rollback,

or major overhauling of project due to rising adjustments and unattended and uncontrolled

demands.

c. The Triple Constraints. This study is confined to scope, time, and cost goals. The scope goal

lists the work breakdown to achieve specific enumerated tasks for each line of work, the

time management goal centers on schedules and deadlines to be met to complete the

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project, and the cost goals estimates the budget and authorized changes to costs and

expenditures of the project.

d. The Project Deliverables. Stakeholders agreed to produce product-related or process-

oriented results in the form of project charter documents, system flow analysis, work

breakdown structure and schedule plans, and minutes of the meeting on a regular basis.

1.1.3. Classifying Project Stakeholders

After the characteristics of the project have been defined, it is necessary to delineate

duties and tasks for each specific work goals per time frame to divide responsibilities and

obligations among stakeholders. The human resource management area provides description of

the division of work to every personnel involved in the procurement of the study.

Name Role in the Project Responsibility

Florida F. Sumugat, principal of

San Isidro Elementary School

Project Sponsor Approves all prerequisites and

changes to the plan and

development of project

Provides primary information

and consultation

Ricky S. Morales Jr. Project Manager Plans, monitors, and executes

project

Oversees development

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Ma. Cherus Florenlee F. Sumugat Project Moderator Serves as back-channel

negotiator and provides

feedback and communication

to project sponsor

Hanna Marie P. Atienza Implementation and

Training Manager

Provides implementation plan

and training schedule

contained in changeover

timetable

Gliezel V. Melchor

Nova Lea E. Gimeno

Support Staffs Adds additional inputs and

support to revisions of

documents

Table 1.1 Project Stakeholders Charter

1.1.4. Conceptual Model of the Study

The core of this study centers on the designing and building of an electronic system

systematizing grades computation, recording, and managing of files and its dissemination to

concerned personnel. On the designing phase, the proponents started on knowing the specific

system requirements desired by the school. These specifications are met by determining first

the data flow of grades and adopting a framework conceptualized how these data are

introduced, generated, and handled by the system. It is imperative that the system can

transform raw data into manageable and simpler inputs and that the design can produce

proper and acknowledged outputs in terms of digital and printable files. The digital files should

be stored properly and accordingly by the database of the system.

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System Specifications

Data Gathering Design Proposal

Anal

yzat

ion Data Introduction

Data Processing

Data Generation

Data Handling

and Feedback

The proponents adopted the Iterative Implementation/Continuous Integration

Approach otherwise known as Design Implementation Increments made by Stephen McHenry in

planning and designing the proposal. With this approach, the overall functionality of the system

is broken down into feature sets. These feature sets conceived the structural architecture of the

program involved in the planning and analysis phase. The design is represented in a conceptual

framework that is essential in the conception and progress of the study and researchers’ frame.

This section outlines the possible courses of action needed to present the preferred

approach of the project target used in the program system. This framework best presents the

steps involve in the analysis and planning of the program design explaining how the system is

constructed.

The framework of this design starts in knowing the specifications of the program desired

by the project target. These requirements include research on the target school’s background

and current standing, the existing system they employ in data processing, and the interrelation

of these processes. The framework also covers the identification of common problems

encountered by the school regarding the existing systems that process their data.

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Figure 1.1 Conceptual Model of the Design of Computerized Grading System for San Isidro Elementary School, structured by Stephen McHenry’s Iterative Implementation.

Existing I.T. Infrastructure

1.1.4a. Parts of the Conceptual Framework

a. System Specifications. Includes identifying existing problems regarding the data

processing and generation of the grades of the school. This produces functionality that

the system provides, which describes functions the system performs, the logic that

processes that data, what data is stored and used by the system, and how user

environment works. This should result to a program that the school desires and how this

program works and is implemented.

b. Data Gathering. This involves getting relevant and related data from the school that will

undergo design proposal. Data gathering was assorted in three features, namely:

Background Research, Existing I.T. Infrastructure, and Process Interrelationship.

i. Background Research: Includes school’s profile, their current status, and the

common problems they encounter with their existing grading system, and its

effect on the proficiency and integrity of their data.

ii. Existing I.T. Infrastructure: Includes existing computer units/terminals (if any)

and the hardware and software components that can be a factor in designing

phase

iii. Process Interrelationship: Contains processes involved in the existing grading

system and their relation to each other.

c. Analyzation. Covers the data flow of grades, the proposed design of the system itself,

and determination of programming language used to structure the design.

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d. Design Proposal. Contains the conceptualization and structuring to form a design

proposal. In the case of San Isidro Elementary School, the proponents divided this phase

into four main features:

i. Data Introduction: The process of inputting data into the system. This is defined

in the inputs requirement.

ii. Data Processing: Involves saving/deleting data, updating of data, and editing of

the data.

iii. Data Generation: This includes the computation and evaluation of the data.

iv. Data Handling and Feedback: The process of keeping a sorted registry of files and

its management into categories. It also involves the assessment of data.

1.1.5. Profile of San Isidro Elementary School

The elementary school of San Isidro was established from the mounting pleas of

community dwellers to build a school in the area that will address their problems on the

attendance of their children especially during rainy seasons. The common problem of the

parents that time is the risk their children have to take in travelling to the nearest elementary

school of La Curva especially the danger of floods and slippery roads along the way to school.

Through the headship of Mr. Basilio Gamboa, then Sitio Leader of Barangay San Isidro (formerly

named Sitio Canwaling), the requests of the community was introduced to the late Mayor

Johnny Santos Sr. and in 1963, a primary school was built. The site of the school that time was

located at the pasture land of Mr. Gamboa. Two years later Mr. Mamerto Castillo donated a

portion of his land intended for the barrio site of Sitio Canwaling including the present school

site containing an area of 8,009 square meters. Today the school has several physical and

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ancillary services including 13 instructional classrooms, 14 shared comfort rooms, two non-

instructional rooms, three reading centers, and one computer unit (as of 2009).

Table 1.2 Basic School Information

A SWOT Analysis from SIP report of SIES for 2009 reports that results in NAT 6 (National

Achievement Test) and NAT 3 MPS (Mean Percentile Score) is below the national standard of

75%. Results of oral and silent reading in comprehension level are 85.34% and 89.65% below

the national standard of 100% independent reader. Fifty-eight percent of the teachers are

beginners in recognizing general learning process as well as unique processes of individual

learners. All teachers are in the level of beginner in demonstrating skill in the use of ICT in

teaching and learning process which may include competencies in modern instructional

materials like computers and quick responses to development in learning. Such response to

progress is measured through traditional rating scheme utilized by the school. If this type of

feedback is addressed by the upgrading of the grading system, the learning development of the

students will be supervised simultaneously.

Part of the School Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2009-2012 of San Isidro Elementary

School is to raise the quality of education in the school by initiating new approaches and skills

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Name of school: San Isidro Elementary School

Type of school: Complete Non-central Elementary School

Year established: 1963School I.D. : 110272

District: San Jose North DistrictGrade levels offered: Elementary GradesCurriculum: Elementary Basic

Education Curriculum (BEC) as per DepEd Order No. 43, series of 2002

Population: 460

to teaching and learning processes. They believe that the computerization of their grading

system will play a crucial role in promoting their standing in academic performance.

1.1.6. Statement of the Problem

The design and implementation of electronic media in school transactions have grown

exponentially in the last years, spurred by the fact that the growing rate in enrolment every

year calls for a change in the systems employed by schools to facilitate and weigh demand over

workload. Increase in student-to-teacher ratios has therefore increase the workload of the

teachers. With these emerging concerns, many schools today see the promises of

computerization to solve their problems on a task’s speedy accomplishment without

compromising the integrity and accuracy of the results. The grading process is one of the tasks

which need to be resolved in San Isidro Elementary Schools. To address this issue, the

proponents determined first each factors affecting one problem after another which

contributes to the grading system of the school. These problems are as follows:

a. Flexibility of records. An error in one entry on a manual class record affects several entries

on the list. If the teachers wish to change something on the records, they will have to make

numerous adjustments on the listings just to cater one modification. On occasions when the

criteria for subjects are modified, changing the records and adapting them to modifications

can be tricky.

b. Assessment of entries. Teachers have to commit more attention to the records if they wish

to evaluate each item on the inventory. Each subject has different category items such as

quizzes and homework, and each item has multiple entries before the subject grade can be

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computed. Providing a class section has many students enrolled, it would be difficult for the

teacher to appraise the grades of each student on every subject the teacher holds.

Obscurity is demonstrated on manual auditing.

c. Time management. Because the school follows a growing trend on enrolment, keeping the

files up-to-date is difficult since their workload is increased. Submitting records and other

reports to the school administration on time proves constraining for teachers holding too

many loads. Errors found on records also hamper the speedy accomplishment of the

grading process.

d. File handling. Keeping an inventory of files on papers can serve several purposes, but on

some occasions this practice can also get messy and unmanageable. Stacks of reports are

not handy and management of files according to their nature demonstrates disadvantages.

Records take time to be sorted out efficiently and accordingly.

e. Integrity of data. Human error is one of the factors contributing to compromised results.

Grades reports are undermined by miscalculations and erroneous recording. Control and

influence over the result of students’ grades are also at stake. It’s long been argued that

maintaining work as objective as possible is disputable; no amount of personal influence

can be eradicated on every man’s work and judgment since people are subjective creatures.

Impartiality is deemed as achievable only by machines.

f. File Security. Manual records are prone to unauthorized access and alteration.

Unanticipated events can also undermine the safekeeping of documents; precautions and

safety measurements for records such as storing in file cabinets, performing redundant

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works to secure accuracy, and keeping of physical backup are not guarantee for security and

can be labor-intensive.

Through a simpler, efficient, and practical design of grading system, the stakeholders

hope that these problems will be dealt with by the incorporation of a much improved and

advanced system. In this light, delays in processing and data submission accomplished by the

old system will be met. Time proficiency and data accountability are key indicators in

determining the success of the computerized grading system introduced to the school.

1.2. Purpose and Description

This chapter covers explanations depicting the existing grading system of the school, the

implementation of new grading scheme by the education department, the possible impact on

the system design of the program, and the system’s performance and influence on data

handling and data generation of the school.

1.2.2. Project Narrative

The introduced system is designed according to the specifications given by the target

school. This design should administer above all simpler method in the processing of raw data

into appropriate output. The design proposal is planned to cover a suitable, easy, and

negotiable environment framed in a user-friendly user interface. This user interface should

incorporate (1) DIDO (data in, data out) approach where users can instantaneously produce

output as they enter inputs and (2) real-time update and date generation.

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Regarding the new grading scheme of the K-12 program, the method will include new

rating method involving letters which represent “levels of proficiency as abbreviated”. In the

new grading system, letter “A” will reflect the highest grade, letter “P” as second highest, and

letter “B” as the lowest. To rate the learning outcome of students, the teachers will be giving a

grade “A” (“Advanced”) to students with 90% and above rating, “P” (“Proficient”) to students

with 85%-89% rating, “AP” (“Approaching Proficiency”) to students with 80%-84% rating, “D”

(“Developing”) to students with 75%-79% rating, and “B” (“Beginning”) to students with 74%

and below rating. This new method is presented on the Subject Grade and Final Grade

processes.

1.2.3. Project Significance

Grading system helps students figure the amount of knowledge they have gained.

Grades can also help students in making decisions about their career. Without grades, how

would students know how much they have learned? Students need to be tested and graded in

order to determine how much they have learned through their courses in school. Assigning

student grades at the end of a term can be a painless process for teachers who have a clear

grading system in place. A grading system is a breakdown of how a teacher (or a school)

categorizes and weighs student’s academic performance to determine his standing in learning.

Most of the public schools in the country today still adopt manual computation and recording

of grades, which greatly consumes time, and yet errors are still encountered along the way. The

advent of information technology has made it easier to transact with almost all sorts of data

since computerization of data are effectively handled and managed.

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Features of a Grading System

A good grading scale is performance-based, including categories such as quizzes, tests,

group projects, essays and homework. According to the University of Michigan's Center for

Teaching and Learning, "items as 'effort,' 'attendance,' or 'frequency of participation,' although

contributing factors to student learning, do not actually reflect the extent to which students

have learned the course materials."

Benefits of Data Computerization

Students not only take more ownership for their work and learning when a good grading

system is in place, but they also learn to trust their teachers. Additionally, the numbers make

sense. Data is valid and can be used to track student progress, pinpoint problems, and tweak

curriculum to meet student needs. The computerization of such grading schemes will practically

induce development, as this will provide immediate supervision to the status of each student.

Another way a systematized grading design can be beneficial for students is that it influences

students to exceed their previous performance and promote healthy competition among

students in a class or around the school. Because a processed data can be produced in no time

by an application system, students can see right away the amount of material they have

learned.

The Future Researchers

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For the future researchers, this study could be used for their reference in having an

automated and upgraded version of grading system if the future researchers would like to

formulate a system such as this.

The Proponents

Proponents would also be a beneficiary of the study since they would value the

importance of enhancing their skill and work performance while inheriting knowledge

throughout the study.

1.3. Objectives

This paper has four purposes: (1) to design an input-output form of grading system, (2)

eliminate the spreadsheet-type form of recording and computing on the input level, (3)

minimize time-consuming grading workload, (4) synchronize all data into manageable, “see-as-

you-look” type of grading system, and (5) produce a printable output for documentation.

1.4. Scope and Limitations

The purpose of this chapter is to tackle the possible courses of action and pertinent

factors that may be considered and scoped out in the development of this systems proposal. As

much of the related aspects including the target subject of this proposal, purported details

about the design of the proposed systems, and the restrictions that may be encountered in this

paper will be discussed.

1.4.1. Scope

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The proposed computerized grading system of San Isidro Elementary School covers

these processes: (1) recording of student names and the sections they belong to, (2) the course

title (subject) and the units assigned to each course, (3) the course I.D. (if any) and the

schedule, (4) the measuring parameters of each course (i.e., quizzes, assignments, etc.), (5) the

percentage breakdown of grades and the formula for grades computation, and (6) the name of

the instructor. Concerning the design of the proposed system, the user environment should

incorporate a GUI comprising (1) DIDO (data in, data out) approach where users can

instantaneously produce output as they enter inputs, and (2) real-time update and data

generation. The primary subject of the proposal will be Grades 4-6 only, but changes may apply

especially with regards to the implementation of Education Department’s letter-rating method.

For the moment, the system will be concerned only with numerical data inputs. The system will

be anchored on the present grading scheme of the school.

Measure of Achievement English Filipino Science Math HEKASI E.P.P. Music Arts P.E.

Periodical Test 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%

Quizzes 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15%Class

Interaction/Recitation20% 20% 20% 25% 30% 15% 15%

Homework 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 15% 15%

Projects 10% 10% 10% 15% 10% 25% 10% 5% 5%Informal/Formal Themes

(Literary Writing) 10% 10% 20% 10%

Experiments 15%

Other Performance 15% 15% 10% 15% 15% 15% 30% 20% 30%

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Table 2 Grades Schedule of San Isidro Elementary School showing percentage breakdown for all levels

1.4.2. Delimitations

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The system design will not be capable for file transference to a network, meaning that the

inputs and its outputs will be limited only to the system to which these data are entered.

Furthermore, the system does not provide the assurance that the processing of all data

including the raw data recorded and the output yielded by the system will be error-proof. The

system will not also provide a systems-restore point or data recovery in the event an unlikely

situation happened while using the system (i.e., a power-out or momentary system failure).

With regards to the implementation of the new letter-scheme program of the Department of

Education, this may affect the designing and implementation of the proposed system. Grade 1

will not be covered on this study because that level will be using the said letter-scheme. The

grades output will be limited only to the paper of the yielded printout and will not be possible

for printing on Form 137. A data overflow may also happen on the processing of data and other

technical failure may come along the way. These restrictions are open for further discussion

and improvement.

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