New Systems of Education at the University - Research Proposal Example

Introduction of a new system and how it will affect the quality of education in the Executive summary In this University, the current system of selecting courses to pursue offers students minimal opportunities and limits pursuance of in several ways. According to the responses by students studying in This University and those who would have wished to pursue their education from this university, they are very limited in terms of availability of the variety courses and the time structure put in place for pursuing the courses. An analysis about the effect of reviewing the current state of system offered by the university depicts an increase in the number of students by 18 % in a period of two years. Through, personal experience, interviewing and observation, a possible way out to the existing state of affairs in the university’s system can be improved for the benefit of the students and the university Previous researches have shown that the eminence of education or work in an institution can be improved if a variety of activities and courses exist. According to Lovat, Toomey and Clement (2010), the morale of the students and the quality of education is also determined by the existing structures in an institution. This University has limited its ability of providing quality education in certain fields because of its inconsistent programs. Consistency provides value addition because of the maintenance of standards as stated by Nata (2007). This paper aims at providing some clear benefits that a review in the current system will achieve for this University. This proposal will therefore provide a guideline on how to pursue the changes that can be applied to the university. Study problem Considdering that there is an increment of cumulative average for students in failing to complete a course; this proposal provides considerations as to how the institution can help these students to pursue their originally preferred courses. Frequently, in this university, students have been compelled to change courses. As a result, a research was performed and the results guided the proposal that will provide a solution. This will mean increasing the number of major courses, realigning decision making mechanisms and introducing a new decision support system. Goal This project will aim at improving the functionality of the university’s information system by automation of the decision-making process. Objectives This proposal aims at providing a solution that will:- Help in the allocation of school resources including scheduling timetables for the available lecturers against the available courses. University needs to create various general degree programs that will render it potential for all students to pursue their aspirations. Research Methods I. Study design In the study that was undertaken to identify this problem, the main methods that were used included interviewing and observation (Rugg and Petre, 2007). Through interviewing, some of the students, and those who had aspired to join this university, several problems and recommendations were deduced. II. Subjects The inclusion and exclusion criterion for the participants was based on the student’s applications for major courses and the current courses that the students are pursuing in the university. Other subjects were also selected randomly and asked for their opinion about the schools information system. III. Data collection Sample size Participants The participants included students of this university and those who had shown interest to be this university’s students. This was a total of 50 students and 5 people who had shown interest to join This University. As part of the student fraternity, I experienced the same challenges when I tried to join the school during summer break. However, I also interviewed fellow students and people who have shown interest in joining This University to discover what the dilemma is with the This university’s’ education system. Results Forty out of fifty students (80%) of the students feel that the system limits them in terms of choice of courses. 20% had to pursue a different course from the one they previously intended to pursue. 36% could not specialize in their preferred major course because the university did not have a quorum. Three people did not join This University because the course could not be offered that year. Two did not join this is because their courses did not have a quorum in summer. Discussion Many students avoid This University because they are not sure they will pursue the course that they are interested. Many students are not able to come to This University because of the way their programs are scheduled. This University does not offer consistent courses hence the university’s credibility fades with time. The university does not have proper information about the market needs hence it lacks adequate relevant courses to offer to the market. Recommendations The findings showed that an improvement in the system would have a constructive effect on the quality of education because students would pursue a course of their own interest and not one chosen for them. Consistency in course provision will ensure that the university is known as a dependable university providing that course and hence it will never lack quorum. This University should also offer courses that are not social in nature for example performing arts and sports sciences. This will create a variety for the students who are interested in joining This University. According to Devine and Summerfield (2013), it is important for universities to collaborate with constituent colleges so that they can alleviate the issue about lack of quorum as the constituent colleges will be offering the same curriculum in certain programs, and the colleges are much more accessible. i. The Scope The scope of this project aims at providing the students with a chance of pursuing their desired courses without being forced to pursue courses that they did not have in mind. This system will be flexible so that changing courses for a student will be their own prerogative and not because they lack other options. Availability of options for the students to change courses ensures that the university offers enough courses hence the intake of students will also increase. This project will also address an issue of resource distribution. This is because of the need to realign the timetables so as to make them much more inclusive and friendly to both the student and the administration. The rigid system of the university makes it difficult for students who are committed to other activities to pursue their courses. The rigidity is encompassed in the inability of the university to provide short courses that can be pursued over holidays such as summer courses. The rigidity is also displayed in the inability of the university to provide consistent part-time lectures and evening classes. These courses normally target the people who would like to pursue their education while they are committed somewhere else. This is especially students who work. ii. Requirements: Policies, Restrictions, Limitations The decision support system will therefore provide guidance to students into picking the courses that are in their G.P.A range and their qualifications. The system will also be instrumental in ensuring that courses are scheduled in a balanced manner giving major courses and short courses including electives different scheduling as cited by Power (2009). The short courses will be placed in appropriate times like during summer and holidays or fixed in appropriate times like weekends. The selection process for various courses will also be drawn according to the results of the students and not according to what course meets the quorum and what course does not. Students will be categorized according to their interests and academic achievements. Various courses will be formed including those that require lower G.P.A for placements. In this category, it will be a more generalized category so that students will be enabled to pursue their courses in a much more generalized manner. This course will therefore comprise of the same units like the various major only that they will be pursued in partial fulfillment and their graduation. iii. Temporal Range The implementation of this new system might take approximately four months so that the system can be left operational in the universities capacity. This will mean that the system will be fully functional and no technical assistance will be required apart from maintenance which will be carried out after every 6 months. The new courses for the degree programs and other programs will be identified according to the current market demand. For students who want to specialize and major in their preferred field, the available majors will be increased according to the student intake. The implementation of these courses will be done once and the courses will be retained permanently as the universities programs. However, various courses, especially majors, will be introduced in sequences so as to be in tandem with the new intakes as the intakes will also vary according to semesters. For a better understanding of the temporal range, the definitions below will provide a guidance of the time period of implementation and the duration of each activity. Immediate: - In this range, the resolution is always needed within a period of five days. Failure to make a decision or implementation of a decision within these five days has implications on the project. These include a rise in the cost of other pursuable options and a reduction of the other pursuable options. Failure to make a decision or implementation of the activity that is considered immediate also always has a major direct impact on the progress and success of the project being implemented. Urgent: - A resolution that is considered urgent normally requires a decision or implementation to be made within ten days. The impact of the projects is normally affected. The cost of implementing the project most of the time increases if the decision is not made within the ten days. Important: - In this temporal range, decisions and implementations are supposed to be made within the next month of a resolution. After this month, the cost of other pursuable options will increase. Timely:-The decisions in this range are always required to be made within the next month. Failure to do so leads to uncertainty over the resolution hence other activities that were depending on the decision will also be disrupted. Convenient: - The decision time for this range is not needed within a month. iv. Assumptions The execution of the new system will not affect the current curriculum offered by This University. The courses which are offered during summer breaks will be integrated into proper scheduling so that they can be pursued during the regular semesters. The current resources of the university will not be stretched by implementation of this decision support system. The resources will only be re allocated and redistributed so that they can be exploited to the maximum by the schools programs. v. Managing the Project The major requirements of the project would be merging the schools information system and redistributing it into smaller chunks of information. This would mean that timetables would be changed and the staff of This University would be the first ones to fully understand the requirements. This would therefore mean that a boot camp and two weeks training be given to the respective professors ,lecturers and other members of staff so as to facilitate a smooth transition when using the new system. The current students will also be affected but it will happen during the new semester but their course will not be affected in terms of content. Consequently, the university by all means will be required to establish new course programs for students. This will therefore require adequate consultation with various stakeholders in the education sector ,especially those who are concerned with the university’s welfare directly. Some of the major stakeholders include the employers and curriculum developers. vi. Budget The cost implications of this project will be documented according to the implementation stages of the project. These, according to PMBOK include project initiation, project planning , project execution and training and maintenance(Zwikael,2009). Project initiation Project initiation is normally defined after identifying a lapse in the current functionality of affairs. This is then followed by proposing a solution to the problem by defining the goals and objectives of the project and estimating a budget for the project. The cost incurred during the project initiation is normally incurred in the research and audit that is done prior. Project planning This succeeds the project initiation. It involves the creation of a project management plan (PMP). This normally guides the team on the necessary requirements of the project including the necessary resources that will be required, risk plans and timelines of the project. This cost is also incurred as a research . Execution of the project Development and Testing In this stage, the proposed solution begins its physical development. The requirements of the development process are purchased and the required skilled and non-skilled labor also acquired. In this phase, this phase is the capital intensive phase because of the purchases that will be made for materials and tools. Another cost is also incurred in the remuneration skilled and non skilled human resource. During testing, several components might be found to be faulty, or inappropriate and therefore new purchases have to be conducted for the damaged or inappropriate components. The risk plans ensures that such kinds of problems are covered and therefore the budget allocation is not superseded incase of these happenings. Training Before the plan is finalized and handed over, the personnel that will be in direct contact with the developed resource will be tasked with its management and utilization. Du to this reality, it is advised that specialized training is done to a few staff so that they can know how to fully utilize the new resource, for this case, the system. These few staff that are trained will therefore goon and train other staff in the university on how to interact with the system. This training requires adequate comfort and understanding therefore a minimal cost will be incurred for the training and education. Maintenance and updates After the completion of a project, the developers have to hand the project over to the custodians ,who will in turn determine the use of the resource. In order to ensure sustainability and efficiency of the system, scheduled maintenance and updates will be required to be carried out so that the system can continue serving its purpose efficiently. These will make the university to incur a cost that can be factored in the budget proposal. References Devine, M. E., & Summerfield, C. (Eds.). (2013). International dictionary of university histories. Routledge. Lovat, T., Toomey, R., & Clement, N. (2010). International research handbook on values education and student wellbeing. Dordrecht: Springer. Nata, R. (2007). Progress in education: 14. Huntington, NY: Nova Science Publ. Power, D. J. (2009). Decision support basics. New York, N.Y.] (222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017: Business Expert Press. Rugg, G., & Petre, M. (2007). A gentle guide to research methods. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Zwikael, O. (2009). The relative importance of the PMBOK® Guides nine Knowledge Areas during project planning. Project Management Journal, 40(4), 94-103. Read More