DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC LOGBOOKS FOR

STUDENTS INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Scientists and engineers have traditionally relied on paper logbooks

to document their experiments and inventions. The importance of

maintaining a logbook cannot be overstated, as it allows scientists to

remember and report their work accurately. Additionally, logbooks serve as

a valuable tool for tracing past experiments and ensuring accountability.

They also play a crucial role in determining the first person to make a new

discovery or invention particularly in relation to patents where the "first to

invent" rule is applied. Both student and professional bodies regularly

utilize logbooks for various purposes. As highlighted by Altini et al (2010).

However. Within a relatively short span of twenty years. There has been a

significant shift away from traditional paper logbooks. Many large scientific

collaborations now prefer electronic logbooks as noted by wavetracks

(2010).
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1.1.1 THE STUDENT’S INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME

The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (S.I.W.E.S) is a

training program designed for undergraduate students of Nigerian

universities and other higher institutions. It provides an opportunity for

these students to gain practical experience in their respective fields of

study by being attached to relevant industries for a period of six months.

The coordination and funding of this program are the responsibilities of the

Industrial Training Fund (ITF).

1.1.2 Objectives of S.I.W.E.S

The basic objectives of students’ industrial training work experience

scheme (S.I.W.E.S) embraces the following:

1. To provide opportunities of applying their knowledge to real

practice thereby making easier the college work.

2. To enable students to practice theory been taught at school and

provide access to the production equipment not available in the school.

3. To provide skillful experience to all students in the school of

technologies, polytechnics and universities.

4. To inspire students about their careers

5. To provide more man power to industries.

Every student is expected to keep a record of her experience for the

duration of the training period and submit such records to her department

on resumption for further studies. An industrial supervisor is also expected

to monitor the student’s weekly progress of work and append his signature

for works actually done by the student. To ensure that the aim of SIWES is

achieved, a school-based supervisor is also expected to monitor the

student's progress by visiting his place of primary assignment at regular

intervals, and by the end of the exercise, a report is usually sent to the ITF

office for verification and necessary documentation. Each student uses a

logbook to keep record of his/her experiences.

A logbook is a record of an event or events such as ship’s navigation,

air flight, inventions, teachers’ events in the classroom etc. logbooks have

been in existence since the invention of ships and the need for navigation

came into existence. Today’s logbooks have diverse uses since all aspects

of human endeavor need a form of reference or storage media.

 However, with the advent of ICT and the internet the ways of doing

things have changed. An electronic logbook is a computer-based software

for recording(logging) states, events or simply conditions used for complex

machines like aircraft, nuclear plants, particle accelerators, various areas

on board ships replacing paper-based logbooks etc. An electronic

alternative to record key navigation, engine watch, port calls and other

operational activities on board vessels of all sizes.

1.2 THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

The need for an electronic logbook for S.I.W.E.S cannot be over

emphasized. For a student to gain the required knowledge from industrial

training experiences, he/she must be well monitored to ensure that he/she

does not just participate in the training scheme in fulfillment of its

mandatory status, but also acquire relevant experiences. The lack of

electronic logbook makes this nearly impossible since distance between

interns and supervisors and the lack of access to good reference source

hinders the actualization of the desired goals.

1.3 MOTIVATION
 As has been stated in section 1.2, there are lots of problems with the

traditional logbook that justify the quest for a better way of handling

internship experience logbook. Perhaps the most outstanding of these

reasons is the bridging of the gap between supervisors and interns.

The Nigerian academic curriculum has witnessed a lot of disruptions

in recent times mostly because of massive industrial actions to drive home

a demand. Only recently, the Nigerian universities, Polytechnics and

Colleges of Education embarked on an over six month’s nationwide strike.

The students who were undergoing IT training at that time will have to

depend solely on their industry supervisor and instincts.

With information technology and the gains associated with it, most

nation of the world have successfully migrated from the paper method of

keeping records. It is therefore a worthwhile venture to affirm the already

introduced practice of modernity since we have much to learn/do if we are

to be able to be able to rub shoulders with our counterparts elsewhere.

The following are the advantages of using electronic logbook.

1. It provides a better storage system and retrieval mechanism

2. It is easier to use
3. It is more secure, since users are authenticated, before they are

granted access to the database

1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

1.4.1 AIM

To develop an electronic logbook for Students’ Industrial Work Experience

Scheme (S.I.W.E.S)

1.4.2 OBJECTIVES

The following are objectives of the study

1. To review and analyze the existing system

2. To develop a software capable of logging students’ work entries

in an electronic format.

3. To bridge the gap between the students and supervisors during

the course of the industrial training.

4. To act as a source of information to interns by providing a

notice board on each user’s page.

5. To provide important links that are capable of enhancing the

performance and knowledge of the Nigerian graduate.

1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

1.5.1 SCOPE

The electronic logbook will consist of various interfaces. The

interfaces will be accessed by various individuals whose roles will be

explicitly defined. There will be interfaces for students, industrial

supervisor, school-based supervisor, the ITF and an administrator.

A student should be able to access forms that will enable him to log

in entries of his daily experiences. He should also be able to fill the

personal data form as well as form8 that is usually submitted to the ITF

office.

There will be an interface for the industry-based supervisor who will

monitor and append his signature to the work of the intern on a weekly

basis.

There will also be an interface for a school-based supervisor who will

have access to the completed weekly progress forms of his students’.

An interface will also be created for the school coordinator who will

have access to all the forms that are completed by interns.

It is also intended that the ITF office will have an interface that will

provide the number of completed forms in a printable format.

 At the server end will be a database of all activities that are carried

out by the various parties involved. The database information will also be

used to define the functions of each of the parties involved.

1.5.2 LIMITATIONS

This project is a study of the usability of electronic logbook and is

therefore may not give or meet every expectation. The main focus of the

project is to develop a system for reporting IT activities within the

university community, other than the paper logbook. Other extended

functionality may not therefore be included or where they are, may lack

some expected features. Some of the extended features may include:

The ability to tell the number of weeks a student submits his/her

weekly work by incrementing a value every time the student submits her

work.

The ability to search the web interfaces through a search field may

not be possible since the pages are not so many as to warrant a search

field.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

 The study of the usability of electronic logbook for interns is of

paramount importance considering the number of problems that will be

solved in the event of a successful adaptation of such logbooks. Some of

the problems associated with paper logbook are already stated in the

problem statement.

Everything is going digital with the advent of ubiquitous computing

and the Nigerian society should not be an exception. To change a society

requires a change in the manner of perception and handling of issues by

the academic community.

 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 THE STUDENTS INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME

(SIWES)

The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a skill

Training programme designed to expose and prepare students of

Agriculture, Engineering, Technology, Environmental, Science, Medical

Sciences and pure and applied science for the Industrial work situation

which they likely to meet after graduation. Duration of SIWES is four

months in Polytechnics at the end of NDI, four months in College of

Education at the end of NCE II and six months in the Universities at the

end of 300 or 400 or 500 levels depending on the discipline (Tajudeen,

2011).

Growing public demand and legislative expectations for accountability

in the past two decades have made it imperative that higher education

administrators and researchers pay attention to the potential impact of

student work programmes on skill development, which in turn, impacts

directly on

national development objectives (Yank, 2004).

 Okpor and Hassan (Okpor, 2012), stated that ‘if Vocational Technical

Education is to be meaningful and successful in Nigeria, then relationships

are needed between public and private sectors to partner effectively with

Vocational Technical Education and skill acquisition programmes.’

SIWES is a core academic requirement carrying six credit

units. This requirement must be met by all students in computer science

before graduation. It is also compulsory at National Diploma (ND) level and

is scheduled in the NBTE curriculum. The training program is undertaken

in the third year of a four-year

degree (Eze, 1998).

According to Derrick, (1969) points out that government has

recognized the importance of SIWES through the establishment of the

Industrial Training Fund (ITF). The ITF was established in 1971 and was

charged with human resources development and training. Following the

establishment of ITF, SIWES commenced in 1974 with the aim of making

education more relevant and to bridge the yawning gap between the

theory and practice of computer, engineering, technology, and science-

related disciplines in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

2.2 ELECTRONIC PAYMENT (E-PAYMENT)

Electronic payment (E-payment) is a subset of an e-commerce

transaction to include electronic payment for buying and selling goods or

services offered through the Internet. There are many forms of e-payment

ranging from cards, Internet, mobile payment, financial service kiosks,

biometric payments, electronic payments networks etc. and as technology

develops, the range of devices and processes to transact electronically

continues to increases while the percentage of cash and cheque

transactions continue to decrease. With the advancement in

telecommunication, electronic payment systems are rapidly replacing the

traditional modes of payment that involved personal contact between

buyers and sellers. Electronic payment systems entail online financial

transactions that utilize some form of a digital financial device, such as e-

tokens, e-cash and checks (Vulkan, 2003).

2.3 ELECTRONIC LOGBOOK

According to (Sylvester, 2002), an electronic logbook is a computer-

based software program for recording (logging) states, events or simply

conditions used for complex machines like aircraft, nuclear plants, particle
accelerators, various areas on board ships replacing paper-based logbooks,

etc.

This version of a logbook was derived from the old-fashioned paper-

based logbooks which have been used in the maritime sector. Today a

wide spectrum of different implementations of these electronic logbooks is

available, even if most versions are based on the classical client-server

approach. Here the electronic logbook serves a client, which is in most

cases a simple web browser.

2.4 BENEFITS OF AN ELECTRONIC LOGBOOK

According to (assetworks, 2015), there are some of the top benefits

of an electronic logbook include:

i. An electronic logbook speeds up roadside inspection

Without ELDs, roadside inspections can be a tedious affair. Drivers

must sort through handwritten paper driver logs and search for possible

errors or hours of service violations.

With electronic logbooks, inspectors can easily view the log and

search for possible violations. Since ELDs also help reduce errors or
violations, you not only save valuable time, but you also save money

through reduced CSA fines!

ii. An electronic logbook reduces paperwork (and human

error!)

Typically, commercial truck drivers aren’t a fan of physical

paperwork. Keeping track of paper documents can become a real headache

for drivers—which ultimately distracts them from the road. An electronic

logbook automates hours of service compliance processes. This automation

ensures that the logs are free of error, correctly totaled and signed by the

driver. With electronic logbooks, your drivers can focus on the road instead

of worrying about their paper logs.