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A REVIEW OF THE MZUZU UNIVERSITY STUDENT ONLINE MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM: PERSPECTIVES FROM STUDENTS IN THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION
SCIENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS

Thesis · September 2017

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 A REVIEW OF THE MZUZU UNIVERSITY STUDENT ONLINE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: PERSPECTIVES FROM STUDENTS IN THE
FACULTY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS

A RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT

BY

SYMON C. LUBANGA

(BLIS/2B/22/13)

SUPERVISOR

MR. WINNER CHAWINGA

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

TO

THE DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

MZUZU UNIVERSITY
MALAWI
© SEPTEMBER, 2017
 DECLARATION
I, Symon C. Lubanga declare that “A Review of Mzuzu University Student Online
Management System: Perspectives from Students in the Faculty of Information Science and
Communications is my own work, and that it has not been submitted before for any other degree
in any other university and that all the sources used or cited have been indicated and acknowledged
by means of complete references.”

………………………………… Date………………………………

Symon C. Lubanga

Supervisor

……………………….. Date…………………………………

Mr. Winner Chawinga

i
 DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my aunt, Alice Luwanga who has been a candlelight to my
academic ambitions. Her advices have always been inspirational and a drive in times of academic
impossibilities. Her steadfast prayers towards my life have always been game changing during the
whole period of my study at Mzuzu University.

To my brother, Mayamiko Zoze I also dedicate this dissertation. When nobody seemed to care,
you were there for me demonstrating true brotherly love, you kept on cheering me in times of
disheartening trials. May the good Lord bless you and open for you more doors for academic
excellence.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………………i
Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………………ii
List of Tables .......................................................................................................................….....vii
List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................viii
List of Abbreviations.......................................................................................................................x
Abstract .........................................................................................................................................xi

CHAPTER ONE............................................................................................................................1
Introduction and Background of the Study………………………………………………………..1
1.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1
1.1 Conceptual setting……………..………………………………………………………1
1.2 Contextual Setting……………………………………………………………………..3
1.3 Statement of Problem………………………………………………………………….4
1.4 Aim of the Study………………………………………………………………………5
1.5 Specific Research Objectives………………………………………………………….5
1.6 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………5
1.7 Significance of the Study...………………………………………………………........6
1.8 Scope and Limitations…………………………………………………………………6
1.9 Dissemination of Results...……………………………………………………………7
1.10 Structure of the Report...……………………………………………………………..7
1.11Conclusion………….……………………………………………………...................7

CHAPTER TWO………………………………………………………………………………...8
Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………….........8
2.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………8
2.1 Emergence of online student management systems and definitions…………………..8
2.2 Services available in Student Online Management Systems………………………….9

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 2.2.1 Online registration and admissions………………………………………………...10
2.2.2 E-learning…………………………………………………………………………..11
2.2.3 Online examination results access…………………………………………………11
2.2.4 Financial management……………………………………………………………..12
2.3 Benefits of Students Online Management Systems as perceived by Students………12

2.4 Challenges faced by students in the use of Student Online Management Systems.....13
2.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...14

CHAPTER THREE…………………………………………………………………………….15
Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………..15
3.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..15
3.1 Research Methods……………………………………………………………………15
3.2 Target Population…………………………………………………………………….16
3.3 Sampling Methods…………………………………………………………………...16
3.4 Sample Size…………………………………………………………………………..17
3.5 Research Instruments………………………………………………………………...17
3.6 Data Collection Procedures…………………………………………………………..17
3.7 Pretesting of Research Instruments…………………………………………………..18
3.8 Ethical Considerations……………………………………………………………….18
3.9 Data Analysis and Presentation of Results………………………………………....19
3.10 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….19

CHAPTER FOUR………………………………………………………………………………20
Data Analysis and Presentation of Results………………………………………………………20
4.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..20
4.1 Part A: Presentation of data collected from Students……………………………......20
4.1.1 Section A: Personal Information…………………………………………………...20
4.1.1.1Respondents Gender Profile ……………………………………………………..21

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 4.1.1.2 Respondents Department Profile………………………………………………...21
4.1.1.2 Age Group of Respondents………………………………………………………22
4.1.2 Section B: Services offered in the Student Online Management System………….22
4.1.2.1 How students came to know the Student Online Management System………….23
4.1.2.2 Services offered in the MZUNI Student Online Management System………......23
4.1.2.3 Mostly used Services in the MZUNI Student Online Management System….....24
4.1.2.4 Gadgets used to access the Student Online Management System...…………......27
4.1.3 Section C: Benefits of Student Online Management System...……………………28
4.1.4 Section D: Challenges in using the Student Online Management System………...29
4.1.4.1 What the University should do to improve the System………………………….32
4.2 Part B: Presentation and analysis of data collected from the Director of ICT……….35
4.2.1 Background and motivation for implementing the MZUNI SOMS……………….35
4.2.2 Key users of Mzuzu university Student Online Management System………….…36
4.2.3 Services the Student Online Management System offers to its users……………...37
4.2.4 Benefits of the Student Online Management System...………………….………...38
4.2.5 Challenges being met with the Student Online Management System...…………...38
4.2.6 Measures taken to deal with the challenges in using the SOMS………………......39
4.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...40

CHAPTER FIVE.........................................................................................................................41
Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations……………………………………………........41
5.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..41
5.1 Discussions of findings………………………………………………………………41
5.1.1 General discussions of the research findings……………………………………....41
5.1.1.1 Ways of knowing the existence of the Student Online Management System...…41

5.1.1.2 Devices used to access the MZUNI Student Online Management System……...42

5.2 Discussions of research findings based on objectives……………………………….43

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 5.2.1 Services offered by MZUNI Student Online Management System………………..43

5.2.2 Benefits of MZUNI Student Online Management System to students…………….43

5.2.3 Challenges students’ face in using the Student Online Management System…......44

5.2.3.1 What the university should do to improve the efficiency of the system…………46

5.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...47
5.4 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………48
5.5 Areas for Further Research…………………………………………………………..49
List of References..........................................................................................................................50
Appendices.....................................................................................................................................55
Appendix A: Questionnaire for Students.......................................................................................55
Appendix B: Interview Guide for the Director of ICT..................................................................60
Appendix C: Work Plan.................................................................................................................61
Appendix D: Letter of Consent......................................................................................................62

vi
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Gender distribution of respondents..................................................................................21
Table 2: Distribution of Students by Department………………………………………………..21
Table 3: Ways of Knowing the MZUNI Student Online Management System…...…………….23
Table 4: Mostly used Services in the MZUNI Student Online Management System….………..25
Table 5: Benefits of the Student Online Management System to Students……………………...28
Table 6: Challenges Students’ face in using the Student Online Management System………....30
Table 7: What the university should do to improve the system…………………………………33
Table 8: Challenges faced when using the SOMS……………………………………………….39
Table 9: Measures taken to deal with the challenges key users face in using the SOMS……….40

vii
 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Age groups of Respondents……………………………………………………………22
Figure 2: Services offered in the Student Online Management System…………………………24
Figure 3: Devices/Gadgets used to access the Student Online Management System……………27

viii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My profound thanks goes to the Almighty God for his caring, love, life, and for making my
academic pursuit possible amidst the tempests. Despite the many opposing forces ever
experienced, He always gave me the strength to rise high above and see the next level of my
academic career. Often times, when things looked thorny, He was there for me, rescuing me and
bringing back the lost hopes. To him, always be the Glory and Honour forever.

My sincere innermost gratitude goes to my supervisor Mr. Winner Chawinga whose determined
efforts to read and review my drafts has helped me to reach this stage. His constructive suggestions,
criticisms and advice made the writing of this dissertation easier. Most of all, I am deeply indebted
to the ideas and insights that he provided to shape most of the contents in the dissertation.

I also express my earnest thanks to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clever Luwanga for their
unconditional love, moral and financial support throughout my academic endeavours. To my
father, you are such a loving and caring Dad for ably guiding me through the ups and downs that
cropped in during my academic life. You always speak to me not in mere words, but in a voice
that uplifts me higher every time.

I finally wish to appreciate the Director of ICT, Mr. Seyani Nayeja for allowing me to conduct
follow up interviews with him. His contributions has made this study successful. In the same way,
many thanks should go to all students who spared their time to participate in this study by
responding to the Questionnaires.

ix
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AfDB : African Development Bank
CODL : Centre for Open and Distance Learning
CoM : College of Medicine
E-learning : Electronic learning
E-library : Electronic library
FOISC : Faculty of Information Science and Communications
GNI : Gross Nation Income
IT : Information Technology
ICT : Information Communication and Technology
IS : Information Systems
ISP : Internet Service Providers
LIS : Library and Information Science
MZUNI : Mzuzu University
OSIS : Online Student Information Systems
QR-LIS : Questionnaire Respondent-Library and Information Science
QR-ICT : Questionnaire Respondent-Information Communication and Technology
SAIS : Student Academic Information System
SIS : Student Information Systems
SIMS : Student Information Management Systems
SMIS : Student Management Information Systems
SMS : Student Management System
SOMS : Student Online Management System
TCRET : Testing and Training Centre for Renewable Energy and Technologies
UN : United Nations
UNIMA : University of Malawi
UR : University Registrar
Wi-Fi : Wireless-Fidelity

x
 ABSTRACT
In this contemporary world, ICTs and its applications such as web-based student information
systems are drivers for change in academic institutions. It is certain that in the near future, the
global society will start ranking universities depending on how early they adopted ICTs in the way
they manage their student’s information and deliver their teaching and learning services to
students. To respond to the technological demands of both students and academic staff, Mzuzu
University adopted the Student Online Management System (SOMS) in September, 2015 to
leverage the use of internet technology especially in the registration and admissions process.

A study was conducted with the aim of assessing the Mzuzu University SOMS from the perceptive
of students in the FOISC. It focused on finding services accessible to students in the online student
information system, the benefits that students accrue in using the Student Online Management
System; and to identify challenges students face when using the system.

The study was a social survey in nature supported by questionnaires and follow up interviews to
collect data from the sampled 37 third year students in the FOISC and the Director of ICT
respectively during the data collection process. Quantitative data collected was analysed and
presented using Microsoft Excel Package. Thematic analysis technique was used to analyse the
data collected through follow up interviews.

The study revealed that Mzuzu University SOMS has one prime service which is online
registration and admissions, with online exams results access, student profile and finance as add-
ons. The system benefits students as it has cut the time spent during registration periods in every
new semester. According to the study, students face the following major challenges when using
the system; server loads as more students concurrently use the system especially during the time
of online registration and accessing examination results, high cost of internet data bundles and
charges, lack of system regular updates and high cost of password recovery.

Finally, the study puts forward some recommendations that the university through the ICT
Directorate should consider in addressing the various issues impeding the effective use of the
system amongst the student community. However, specifically to deal with the problem of server
loads due to user congestions, the researcher proposes that the institution should upgrade their
servers and that the registration process should not have deadlines, instead it should be done in
phases or else students should start registering for a new semester while they are still at home.
xi
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.0 Introduction

This research was set within the field of Information Systems (ISs), specifically those connected
with the management of students’ information or records in universities or other educational
institutes. Mzuzu University, just like any other university in the world, was triggered by the
revolutionary changes in ICTs to adopt an online-based information systems in the management
of student’s information. Assessing the Mzuzu University Student Online Management System
remained a critical aspect in ascertaining whether the designated services within the system are of
any value to the student community. Whilst at the same time, knowing drawbacks that student’s
face when accessing the system was also preferred the most. This chapter, therefore, introduces
the study by discussing the conceptual setting, contextual setting, and statement of the problem,
aim of the research, research objectives, and research questions, significance of the study, scope
and limitation.

1.1 Conceptual Setting

Swift transitions in the way institutions of higher learning handle and manage students’
information are brought about through technological revolutions, perhaps with the emergence of
online student management systems. Traditionally, students’ information was managed manually,
however, with increasing number of students in universities or colleges, the system could no longer
handle student’s records effectively as a result it almost became archaic and gradually it started
phasing out. The major concern with such a system remained on the speed with which business
operations and decision making processes are carried out in education institutions. Consequently,
to cope up with the rise in student’s enrolment whilst at the same time ensuring efficiency in their
operations, universities had to experience a paradigm shift from using manual student’s
management systems to online student management systems. Pan (2004) explains that Students
Management Systems (SMS) whether manual or online are there to maintain and provide student
information in universities and colleges. The SMS therefore, is the centralized database where all
information pertaining students are properly stored in an educational institution (Pacio, 2013).

1
Principally, it is used for management of the most pivotal information about entities such as
students, faculty, courses, applications, admissions, payment, exams, and grades (Paulsen, 2002).

Bharamagoudar, Geeta and Totad (2013) asserts that an effective SMS provides a simple interface
for maintenance of student information. It can be used by educational institutes or colleges to
maintain the records of students easily. Thus the creation and management of the most accurate,
up-to-date information regarding a students’ academic career is of ultimate value to universities as
well as colleges. However, most recently, it becomes very difficult if not almost impossible to
achieve this objective by clinging to manual student management systems. The understanding is
that managing student’s records manually comes with a lot of challenges. For instance, most of
the times information is littered everywhere, can be redundant, inconsistent and collecting relevant
information may be very time consuming (Pacio, 2013) in (Richard, 2004). This development
accelerated an automatic switch to online-based student management systems in most universities
across the world with the purpose of maximising the benefits from its effectivity to acquire,
process, store and retrieve information from the Internet.

Generally, Online-based Systems support a lot of services in education institutions. However, the
principal ones include; online registration, Electronic learning (E-learning), financial management,
student profiling, Webmail, Electronic voting (E-Voting), e-library services, accommodation and
online examinations results access (Mzuzu University Student Online User manual, 2016 &
College of Medicine, 2016).

In most Universities or Colleges, the availability of SMSs present a centralized approach, one-
stop-shop where the school management and students find the needed information and the benefits
of such systems are two fold; firstly, Bharamagoudar et.al (2013) stipulate that school management
and academic staff are able to directly access all aspects of a student’s academic progress through
a secure, online interface embedded in the college’s website and this accelerates decision making
process as regards to students. For students, using the Internet to gain timely access to information
about class schedules, examination results, to register for courses virtually and any related aspect
as regards to academic progress matters most. It is from this perspective that MIT (2009) as cited
by Pacio (2013) gave an emphasis that Student Information System (SIS) provides students with
access to their academic and biographic records as well as the ability to update their personal
information and pre‐register for classes; it provides instructors and departmental administrators

2
with class list information; and provides advisors and departments with access to the individual
academic records of their students.

1.2 Contextual Setting

Mzuzu University was officially opened in 1999 as the second public University in Malawi after
its establishment by the Act of Parliament in 1997. It is located along the Mzuzu-Karonga Main
road and is about few kilometres away north of Mzuzu City in the Northern Region of Malawi.

The principal mission of Mzuzu University is “to provide high quality education, training, research
and complementary services to meet the technological, social and economic needs of individuals
and communities and the world”. It also centres on the values of “Service, Self-reliance and
Perfection” (Mzuzu University Annual Report, 2014).

Until recently, Mzuzu University offers both undergraduate and Post-graduate academic
programmes to both local and international students. The university as it stands has five faculties
and five centres (Student Handbook, 2010). It started with the faculty of Education in 1999, and
the following other faculties were later introduced;

 Faculty of Hospitality Management and Tourism

 Faculty of Health Sciences
 Faculty of Information Science and Communications
 Faculty of Environmental Sciences

The University also has five Centres namely; Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL),
Centre for Water and Sanitation, Centre for Security Studies Centre for Inclusive Education and
Testing and Training Centre for Renewable Energy and Technologies (TCRET).

Currently, Mzuzu University (MZUNI) enrolls more than 4000 students in each academic year
(Mzuzu University 18th Congregation Special Report, 2017). MZUNI registers its students every
new semester using an electronic registration system which is a sub-system within a unifying web
portal called Student Online Management System. This electronic system was designed and
developed by Ctech Systems in 2014 and is managed by the Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) Directorate in the ICT Department (MZUNI website, 2017).

3
The Student Online Management System (SOMS) at MZUNI emerged as a solution to disconnect
both students’ and administrative staff from using the manual system, and therefore incorporate
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance the conduct of core businesses at the
institution. Consequently, the prerequisite for any online based information system is a well-
established Internet connections or Network Infrastructure and thus before establishing and
implementing an Online Student Management System also known as Online Student Information
System (OSIS), MZUNI proposed the improvement of broadband network which was funded by
African Development Bank (AfDB) (Mzuzu University Annual Report, 2014).The new
development was yet a milestone in the history of MZUNI, with the view that it will assist in
complete migration to paperless registration process that simplifies not only the registration
process, but also other administration processes such as admissions and examinations
administration.

Ideally, the implementation of SOMS was a response to technological changes and technological
demands of students in order to allow them to register for new semesters virtually, via the Internet
technology. With this new system, students are also allowed to provide personal information,
check examinations results online, and check financial statements. The new online system also
provides students with the capabilities to add and/or drop courses in the semester in their respective
programmes of study.

1.3 Statement of the problem

The way universities all over the world manage student’s information have drastically changed
and evolved together with the advent and proliferations of ICTs. Pacio (2013) argues that changes
in Information Technology (IT) allow schools to utilize databases and applications such as Online
Student Information System (OSIS) thus, making the accessing of records centralized. However,
the establishment of online student’s management systems in institutions of higher learning like
Mzuzu University posits both opportunities and challenges to some extent; it remains a half way
barrier to some users as they call the electronic machinery a tough game, difficult to cope up with,
hence they still remain adamant to effectively utilize the benefits of a new system. At the same
time, ensuring a complete migration to such an online student management system seems not
possible and raises a lot of concerns among students considering issues such as slowness of
broadband internet connectivity the campus is currently experiencing. More so, students are

4
required to access the SOMS from their homes or off-campus where the Internet might be
available, slow or very expensive.

Consequently, this researcher also observed some irregularities with the new system, for instance
timely access to examination results seemed to be a big challenge in addition to registration process
which was already forcing some students to pay late registration fees due to failure to go with
system. This then created a gap in the researcher’s knowledge as to whether Mzuzu University
Student Online Management System is effective or not and thus a need was risen to carry out a
study to review it.

1.4 Aim of the study

 The main aim of this research was to review the Mzuzu University Student Online
Management System from the perceptions of students in the Faculty of Information
Science and Communications.

1.5 Specific Research Objectives

The specific objectives of the research were;

 To identify services offered by the Online Student Management System at Mzuzu

University.
 To find out the benefits of an Online Student Management System as perceived by students
at Mzuzu University.
 To identify challenges that student’s face when using the Online Student Management
System at Mzuzu University.

1.6 Research Questions

For the researcher to accomplish the above stated objectives, the following research questions were
asked;

 What services does the Online Student Management System offer to Mzuzu University
students?

5
  What are the benefits that students accrue from using the Online Student Management
System at Mzuzu University??
 What are the challenges that students face when using the Online Student Management
System at Mzuzu University?

1.7 Significance of the Study

The study is the first of its kind since the Student Online Management System was established in
September, 2015 at Mzuzu University. Thus these findings, from the perceptions of the researcher
presents critical information to the Mzuzu University ICT Directorate that may be ideal in planning
for system improvement. In real essence, the results of the study is expected to have both practical
and theoretical implications in regard to the system sustainability. Practically, the study might lead
to the improvement of features like online registration, online examination results access and
introduction of new services such as e-learning, webmail, online discussions platforms and e-
library services into the system. In theory, the study was expected to bring greater understanding
to system administrators on the challenges students currently face with this new system and this
might automatically call for immediate solutions to rectify them in order to make the system more
effective and efficient. Finally, the study creates a platform for other researchers as its results shall
mean the addition of a body of knowledge in the field.

1.8 Scope and limitation

The study was conducted at Mzuzu University and it centred on reviewing the Student Online
Management System as perceived by the student community. In particular, the study laid its scope
on unveiling the services within the system that are accessible to students. More importantly, the
study also paved a way to discover how beneficial the SOMS is to students and it further
ascertained the challenges students faced when using the new system.

The study was susceptible to some limitations. The findings of this study were the direct
consequences of the following setbacks; firstly, most of the literature published in this field
concentrates much on the benefits and challenges to the administrative part of the system not to
the students. This created challenges in the data analysis process and might as well have
compromised the validity of the findings of the study. Secondly, the study was limited to only

6
students in the Faculty of Information Science and Communications, as such the study may express
the findings from information sciences point of view not that of the student community.

1. 9 Dissemination of Results

The results of this study were disseminated through organized panel presentation to the department
of Library and Information Science (LIS). A copy of a completed study contained crucial
information about the effectiveness of the Student Online Management System, as such it was also
given to the ICT directorate to help system administrators understand how students are coping up
with current system. The researcher will also co-write an article from the thesis which will be
published in a peer reviewed journal.

1. 10 Structure of the Report

Chapter one: Introduction and Background of the study

Chapter two: Literature Review

Chapter three: Methodology

Chapter four: Data presentation and Analysis

Chapter five: Discussion of findings

Chapter six: Summary, conclusion and recommendation

1.11 Conclusion

This chapter at length has covered the introduction and background of the study, problem
statement, and aim of the study, objectives and research questions, significance of the study, scope
and limitations, and dissemination of research results.

The next chapter covers literature review

7
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

Literature review lays a foundation on which a study is built upon. Generally, the review of related
studies forms a sound theoretical basis of the topic under study and this gives the reader the ability
to verify the authenticity of the study through cross-referencing the existing body of theorized
knowledge by various scholars. A well-organized literature review plays a principal role in giving
the researcher a clue and sense of direction in development of data collection instruments and in
the process of discussing the findings of the study. It is in light of these facts, that the researcher
reviewed some few selected studies in the field that presented the literature about what others have
so far written in relation to online student information systems. The literature has traced the
emergence of online student management systems coupled with some definitions of terms, the
services offered by the online based student information systems, the benefits of student online
management information system as perceived by the student community and the challenges that
surfaces when students use the Student Online Management System are also unveiled in this
section.

2.1 The Emergence of Online Student Management Systems and Definitions.

The emergence of online student management systems in Universities or Colleges is a response to

the profound change in the way in which institutions perceive, understand, and manage their
student’s information in this digital age (Swartz, 2007). Student management system (SMS) is a
software to manage all day to day operations for a school (Kaloki, n.d). It is also “a general
Information Systems (IS) for maintaining and providing student information and it almost exists
in all the schools, colleges, universities and any other education institutions” (Pan,2004, p.3).
Marrero (2009) explains that the concept of SMS is within the larger field called IS and emerged
as early as 1960s. More often, when information system is defined, the field Information Science
is always associated, Information Science is an academic field that deals with the generation,
collection, organization, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of recorded knowledge (Pacio, 2013,
p.2). It is further asserted that Information Systems depicts a set of interrelated components that

8
collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making,
coordination, and control in an organization (Laudon &Laudon, 2002).

An Online Student Information Systems is defined by Evangelista (2011) in relation to the

University’s Student Information System (SIS) of Nueva Vizcaya State University as a secure,
web accessible interactive computer system that allows user access to grade reports,
transcripts, schedule of classes, and remaining balance for the semester and register for classes
online.

Most recently, due to varying use and differences in the strategic plans of most Universities or
Colleges, SMSs have been described variously: Student Information Systems (SIS), Student
Management Information Systems (SMIS), Student Data Systems (SDS), Student Data Warehouse
(SDW), Student Academic Information Systems (SAIS), or Student Information Management
Systems (SIMS), Online Student Information System, (Czerniak, 2010; Ngoma, 2009 & Kaloki,
n.d).

In modern age, it is irrefutable to say that the global society ranks Universities or Colleges
depending on how early they adopted ICTs in the way they manage their student’s information.
The era of managing student’s records in manual systems has lost its way and is no longer here.
Institutions of higher learning are now moved by the quest to be effective and efficient in their
daily operations and this is only a reality with the implementation of online student management
systems.

2.2 Services offered by Online Student Management Systems.

At the core of every system’s efficiency is the availability of services because very often users rate
the whole system performance depending on the satisfaction they get in using such services. To
meet users’ needs and expectations, almost every online student management has a myriad of
services. For instance, Maere (2011) explains that the SMS handles the administration part of
students which includes; admission, examination records, assessment process, finance, room
allocation, transcripts, students union electronic voting, mobile text messaging, examination
results feedback. Therefore, it is certain that in most institutions of higher learning, online student
management systems are created in house to assist in registration of students, student online
profiling, financial recording, examination grades records, transcript generation, student

9
accommodation management, and keeping student records (Maere, 2011; College of Medicine
(CoM), 2016 & Mzuzu University annual Report, 2015). Nationally Certified School: Pearson
(2001:1) also enumerates similar services. It was pointed out that most of these systems support
routine transactions like admissions, enrollment, examination management and financial
management. In line with this, Secreto (2015) further purports that most Academic Information
Management System (AIMS) serves as the gateway to the University’s academic operations
through the Online Student Portal (OSP) as the component of the system for the students. Usually,
it is further contended that OSP serves such functionalities as online registration, viewing of
grades, request for their records, payment of fees, and information hub.

Elsewhere in the world, different scholars have convergent views as to what attributes the services
of student information systems (Ajman University of Science and Technology, 2015; Evangelista,
2011; Kaloki, n.d; Maere, 2011; NCS Pearson, 2001; Pacio, 2013 & Secreto, 2015) This trend
takes us to the confluence of every OSIS, that such services as online registration, online
examinations results access, E-learning and financial management frequently appear to be
inevitable services and sub-systems signifying the critical business operations in universities.
Therefore, a brief overview of these services forms a philosophical basis in understanding how
online based student information systems works;

2.2.1 Online Registration

Online/Electronic registration portals are centralized places where students and general records at
the university are properly kept and secured. These records include; timetables, results transcripts,
general student information, degree analysis, financial records or financial statements and all
current transactions (Ajman University of Science and Technology, 2015). Oladunjoye and Inemuf
(2013) puts into light that through online registration on the internet, students are now in apposition
to register, drop or add courses within the specified registration period and can as well pay
registration fees online through a secured web access.

The presence of online registration systems is a symbol of modernity in universities. With such a
system it becomes very easy to manage student data and records while at the same time, there is
easy transfer of information between students and the management, lecturers inclusive. Odero and
Oloko (2013) as cited in Olasina (2011) observed that education systems require a tremendous

10
amount of data and documentation, and that the shift to e-registration is a ready solution to them
because it provides an allowance in institutions to focus less on processing paperwork and more
on what matters most-meeting the educational needs of their students by having a cost-efficient,
secure registration process that allows for easy access to student files.

2.2.2 E-learning

Every institution of higher education exists to administer teaching and learning services to its
students. Very often the success of a university is measured through the quality of teaching and
learning services. E-learning, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) (2005) is defined as the use of information and communication
technologies in diverse processes of education to support and enhance learning in institutions of
higher education, and includes the usage of information and communication technology as a
complement to traditional classrooms, online learning or mixing the two modes.

E-learning is one of the pivotal service in most of Online Student Management Systems and
nevertheless its value in the educational setups cannot be neglected. To most students, E-learning
enhances the efficacy of knowledge and qualifications via ease of access to a huge amount
of information (Abaidoo & Arkorful, 2014, p.5). It is also further said that E-learning helps to
compensate for scarcities of academic staff, including instructors or teachers as well as facilitators,
lab technicians etc.

Holmes and Gardner (2006) also points out that E-learning gives the ability to assess the students
or learners as they learn, and at the same time increasing their experiences in education, by
way of interactivity suitable to community education, cultural diversity and globalization, and
eradicating boundaries of place and time.

2.2.3 Online Examination Results Access

The essence introducing electronic or online examination results access in universities is to provide
instant access anywhere and around the clock to students. Adebayo and Abdulhamid (2012)
explains that web based examination systems as a feature in an integrated OSIS ensures that
records of examination results for students are kept centrally, securely and only accessed by
interested parties, such as students and staff.

11
In a similar way, Adagunodo, Awodele and Idowu (2009) in their study “SMS User Interface
Result Checking System” attest that most universities now provide examination results on their
website and this is a very common practice. When results are made available on the website,
students have to login by providing a username or ID and password before they can view their
result. This ensures that examination results are protected from unauthorized access.

What is paramount to most students who have written examinations and are anxious to see their
results is the need to get their grades in a convenient and accessible way, whether in the comfort
of their homes or in any place where there is internet connection (Adagunodo et.al, 2009). Student
Online Management Systems is therefore a highly effective means of bringing information about
examination results where both new and old grades for students are provided and with such a
feature as online results, students can access their grades even in remotest locations with the help
of IT gadgets like internet enabled mobile phones and Personal Computers (PC) on the internet
connection.

2.2.4 Financial Management

Financial transactions that every student make to universities bank accounts are keyed in the
Online Student Management Systems via the interactive financial management interface.
According to MZUNI Student Online User Manual (2016), the financial management feature
mostly allow students to check financial statements (i.e. fees balances). It is also possible to make
new fees payments using this interface embedded in the OSIS

2.3 Benefits of Student Online Management System as perceived by students.

Asogwa, Mohammed, Ahmed & Danmaitaba (2015) explains that the benefits of Student
Management (SMS) software are enormous. In most universities, SMSs directly benefits both the
administration and students. To the university management, the SMS carries most of the crucial
administrative activities such as admissions, enrolment, and examination (Asogwa et al, 2015:
Kaloki, n.d & Kasozi, 2006).

On the other hand, Pacio (2013) argues that in recent years, the use of online student information
systems provides students with the capabilities to register for new semesters and have timely
access to their academic and biographic records via internet enabled gadgets like smartphones and
computers. Similarly, EBriks Infotech (n.d) noted that students gain the most from School

12
Management System. Preferably, students get a new platform not only to gain but also to express
the knowledge inside them. It was observed that the key benefits of SMSs to students revolves
around the 24/7 web-based access to information about class and examination timetables, school
events and holidays. It was further ascertained that SMSs allows users to publish articles to share
experience, knowledge and views, and participate in discussion forums and therefore this
contributes to the digital library.

Czerniak (2010) noted that internet-enabled student information systems have greatly improved
and revived the dwindling communication system between students, lecturers and the university
management at the expense of a manual system. It is highlighted that better flow of information
regarding the school calendar, assignments and school announcements is only possible with an
online student information system. OSIS improves communication among lecturers/teachers and
students via University-Mail (U-Mail), modules and Webmail.

2.4 Challenges students face in the use of Student Online Student Management System

In Malawi, like most African countries, it is not possible for universities to completely migrate to
Online Student Information Systems in handling and managing student records. Asogwa et.al
(2015) observed that despite revolutionizing the student information systems, universities in their
administrative or academic transaction services, and maintaining student’s academic history and
profile, paper work is still going on concurrently.

Furthermore, Igweonu (2013) also pointed out that inconsistency in power supply, inadequate
funding during implementation, inadequate technicians for computer maintenance, and limited
access to internet are some of the challenges that locks most universities in the use of Online
Student Information Systems. It is also stressed that students are not oriented and therefore they
lack basic computer literacy skills to effectively use the system (Okoye, 2015, p.1) In essence,
even though SMSs are implemented, it is the student community who bears the consequences of
poor IT infrastructures, slowness of the broadband networks, smaller bandwidth of campus internet
network compared to the overwhelming number of users, frequent power outages, erratic network
connections, student’s forgetting passwords and these systems or websites are not regularly
updated.

13
2.5 Conclusion

The review of literature demonstrates that a considerable gap still exists in the field being studied
because most of the studies portrays the benefits and challenges of online student information
system at an administrative point of view, not to students. However, the few selected studies have
shown that universities implement automated student information systems to allow students to
enroll courses and access exams results online. Many of the findings have concluded that limited
access to internet and inconsistent power supply affects both school administrations and students
when using the web-based information systems. Suffice to say, there is no study that has been
purely undertaken to conceptualise online student information from the students’ perspectives in
Malawi, in particular at Mzuzu University. It was therefore of the ultimate importance to conduct
a study on the topic to learn from students the services that are accessed in such systems and
therefore understand the benefits that these systems have brought to them. Finally, to find out the
challenges faced by students in using these automated systems and map a way forward to address
them.

The next chapter (three) discusses Methodology.

14
 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

Methodology in research acts as a guide in finding solutions to a predefined problem statement

and it involves a researcher initiating some tasks, applying different methods, procedures or
techniques and using some tools in the collection of data (William, 2011). According to Creswell
(2003:671), methodology refers to more than a simple set of methods; it refers to the rationale and
the philosophical assumptions that underline a particular study. Basically, there are two types of
research approaches; either qualitative or quantitative (MacDonald & Headlam, n.d). For
qualitative, data is gathered in words and analysed in words as well while with quantitative the
process of gathering data and synthesising it into information is done numerically. In order for this
study to be effective and explore more of the reality of the situation, the research was both
qualitative and quantitative in nature in the assessment of the Mzuzu University Student Online
Management System.

3.1 Research Methods

Library and Information Science (LIS) Research employs a variety of research designs, with the
most preferred ones being experimental, historical, social survey, case study and bibliometric
studies. For this study, the researcher opted to apply the principles of a social survey research. A
social survey, according to Glasow (2005) as cited in Isaac and Michael (1997:136) is used to
answer questions that have been raised, to solve problems that have been posed or observed, to
assess needs and set goals, to determine whether or not specific objectives have been met, to
establish baselines against which future comparisons can be made, to analyze trends across time,
and generally, to describe what exists, in what amount, and in what context.

In reality, social survey research involves studying people in their social constructs where the
researcher comes to understand and collect information about opinions, attitudes, feelings, beliefs
and behavior of research participants through the use of data collection instruments such as
questionnaires, interviews and observations. The study was more of a social survey because it tried

15
to seek and understand student’s perceptions, views, attitudes and feelings towards the use of
Student Online Management System.

3.2 Target Population

Bryman (2004) defines population as the universe of units from which the sample is to be selected.
Mzuzu University (MZUNI) is a growing campus with increasing number of students every year
to meet strategic demands of the institution which stipulates to see the number of students doubled
by the year 2020. However, as of the current statistics number of students trails over four thousand
(4000) (Mzuzu university 18th Congregation special report, 2017). To represent the entire student
community, the target population of the current study were thirty seven (37) third year students
from the Faculty of Information Science and Communications (FOISC) at Mzuzu University. The
group was targeted because they have been using the Online Student Management System since
they joined the institution as such they had prerequisite knowledge of the services, benefits and
challenges associated with the use of the system. In essence, these students were considered to
take part in the study because the researcher assumed they could provide reliable information in
the review of the Student Online Management System.

3.3 Sampling Methods

The study used non-probability sampling procedures, specifically purposive sampling. Non-
probability sampling technique is defined as “a method of sampling that aims to be theoretically
representative of the study population by maximizing the scope or range of variation of the
study” (Kombo & Tromp, 2006, p.81). The study purposely targeted level three students from the
FOISC because they researcher believes that they are relevant and therefore can likely provide
reliable information to the study. Alternatively, the group were purposely selected for the reason
that they are most likely conversant with the use of Student Online Management System through
the skills they acquire in the learning process.

For instance, it came to the notice of the researcher that through lessons in ICT courses, it was
possible for them to understand the technicalities and professional jargons used in the subject being
researched, hence an effective study with valid outcomes. The researcher also conducted follow
up interviews with the Director of ICT to solicit additional views, opinions and general information
about the SOMS because he is an expert in the field being researched.

16
Why purposive sampling? Patton (2002) argues that “the logic behind this sampling technique lies
in selecting information-rich case for the study in depth” (p.169). It is further articulated that
information-cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about importance to the purpose
of the research. To the researcher, level three LIS and ICT students and the Director of ICT were
too important to avoid in this subject being studied.

3.4 Sample Size

Cohen et al (2007) defines a sample as “a smaller group or subset of a total population in such a
way that knowledge gained is representative of the total population under study”. In simple
understanding, it is from this sample where the findings of the study are generalized to the entire
possible study population. In 2016, MZUNI enrolled 4,067 students (Mzuzu university 18th
Congregation special report, 2017, p.5), however, for the purpose of this study, the sample size
was all the thirty-seven (37) third year students in the Faculty of Information Science and
Communications (FOISC) and it contained seventeen (17) level three LIS students and twenty (20)
level three students from ICT department. The researcher had to survey the entire population
because it is recommended by Aina and Ajifuruke (2002) and Leedy and Ormrod (2005) who
explains that for a small population (less than 100 or other unit) there is no need of sampling,
instead it is required of the researcher to include them all in the study.

In consideration to the targeted population which was already small, the researcher involved the
whole targeted population. Therefore, sample size represented 100% of the target population
which included all level students in the FOISC

3.5 Research Instruments

Seaman (1991) defines data collection instruments as “devices used to collect data such as
questionnaires, tests, structured interview schedules and checklists” (p.42). A questionnaire is a
method of gathering information from research subjects about their perceptions, attitudes,
knowledge, beliefs and feelings towards a particular topic of study. In this study, the researcher
principally used a questionnaire with both closed and open ended questions to collect information
among students in quest to review Student Online Management System. In addition, an interview
guide to conduct follow up interviews with the Director of ICT was also used. The researcher

17
believed that gathering information through a mixed of tools supplement each other and this hereby
enhances the validity, reliability and dependability of the research results.

3.6 Data Collection Procedures

The data collection procedures was a personal responsibility of the researcher. The questionnaires
were physically distributed and administered by the researcher himself in order to help the research
subjects understand the purpose of the study and explain the meaning of some elements that
seemed not to be clear to them. All the 37 questionnaires administered to students were responded
and returned, this represented hundred percent (100%) response rate. At the same time, an
appointment was made with the Director of ICT to conduct face to face follow up interviews with
him. This enabled the researcher to fully understand the system; preferably knowing how it works,
its benefits to both the school and students; and the current challenges pinning down the effective
use of the SOMS.

3.7 Pre-testing of Research Instruments

The reliability of data collection instruments very often are questionable and it was a must for the
researcher to pre-test them before the actual data collection process began. Through pre-testing of
data collection tools, the researcher was helped to re-frame the research questions to make sure
that they were clear and suitable to all participants. Pre-testing also gave a room to the researcher
to identify and correct mistakes on the tools that were used in data collection process to ensure that
they were valid and reliable. In this study, pre-testing of data collection tools was done with four
(4) final year students in the LIS department. They were chosen because they had much experience
in the use and technical know-how of the Student Online Management System.

3.8 Ethical Consideration

The breach of ethics in research can be of serious consequences in the whole research process and
its strict adherence to such ethical issues as right to privacy and protection of respondents from
any harm cannot be underrated (William, 2011). A formal written consent to seek permission to
carry out research with the FOISC at Mzuzu University was issued to the University Registrar
(UR) and permission to proceed with the data collection process was granted through the Mzuzu
University Directorate of research.

18
At the same time, the researcher also ensured that student’s participation in the data collection
process was on voluntary basis and for the sake of respecting their rights to confidentiality and
anonymity, respondents were not asked to indicate their names, their phone numbers and addresses
on the questionnaires, and during follow up interviews. Finally, the research participants were rest
assured that the data contributed to the study will be manipulated as collected and used for the
research purpose only.

3.9 Data Analysis and Presentation of Results

The task of analyzing data is made much easier these days with the help of Microsoft Computer
packages. For instance, William (2011) explains that with word processing packages, a simple way
to record, store, edit, expand and condense text and to present it in an attractive fashion is provided.
In addition, to add meaning to the data collected from participants, the researcher analyzed it into
tables, frequencies, percentages and figures using such a package as Microsoft Excel application.

The Microsoft Excel application was chosen because of its ability to accurately quantify data to
avoid compromising the integrity and validity of the results of the study. Moreover, the software
was also preferred because the researcher was familiar with it and had a lot of skills and knowledge
which were easily applied in the data analysis processes.

Finally, to get the views and therefore understand the perspectives of the Director of ICT as regards
to the use of the SOMS among students, the researcher conducted follow up interviews.
Henceforth, the data collected was qualitative in nature and an analysis was done via the technique
called thematic analysis. In this process, Braun & Clarke (2006) explains that it is a method which
involves identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data. The researcher
interpreted the interview data in the way that it directly answered the set forth thematic areas or
objectives of this study.

3.10 Conclusion

This chapter has put into paper the methodology and the research methods that were used in
carrying out the study, the target population of the study and the sampling methods that were used.
The research instruments that were used in data collection, the data collection procedures, ethical
considerations, data analysis have also been discussed in depth.

The next chapter (four) discusses Data analysis and Presentation of the Results.

19
 CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS

4.0 Introduction

This chapter presents an analysis of data collected from students and the director of ICT at Mzuzu
University. The chapter has two parts. Part A of this chapter analyses data collected from students
through questionnaires that had both open and closed ended questions. Basically, the data in this
part was mostly analysed into tables, charts, graphs and percentages with the aid of Microsoft
Excel computer application. Part B gives an analysis of data collected through face to face
structured interviews with the MZUNI Director of ICT. The responses from the director of ICT
were analysed using a thematic analysis technique. The study’s aim was to assess the MZUNI
Student Online Management System. The objectives of the study were; to identify services offered
by the Online Student Management System at Mzuzu University, to find out the benefits of an
Online Student Management System as perceived by students at Mzuzu University; and to identify
challenges that student’s face when using the Online Student Management System. Therefore, this
chapter analyses and presents the research findings in line to these objectives.

4.1 PART A: Presentation and analysis of data collected from students

The study was initiated to learn the views and perceptions of students on the use of the MZUNI
Student Online Management System. A sample was drawn from students in the faculty of
information science and communications which consisted 37 students. The researcher distributed
thirty seven (37) questionnaires, of which every respondent returned the questionnaires, denoting
100% response rate. To both LIS and ICT students, questionnaires were administered after a class
and they all responded and returned the questionnaires to the researcher in a free period as they
were waiting for another class.

4.1.1 PERSONAL INFORMATION

The questions in this section were set to know personal details of research participants and this
included; gender, department in which the respondents belonged and finally the age group. The
researcher felt more important to gather data on these variables because the use of ICT applications
such as OSIS varies across gender, age and field of study. For instance, Ritzhaupt, Liu, Dawson &

20
Barron (2013) observed that past studies show that males have better technology skills and are
more proficient in the use of ICTs and its applications than their female counterparts. Similarly, it
can be inferred that the use of Student Online Management System may vary across gender and
age group as well as the field of specialisation. Therefore, information on these variables helped
the researcher to understand how the system is used by both male and female students, young and
old at the same time.

4.1.1.1 Respondents gender profile

Table 1: shows that out of 37 respondents who took part in the study 26 (70.3%) of the respondents
are males while 11 (29.7%) are males. This shows that there are more male respondents than
females.

Table 1: Gender distribution of respondents (N=37)

Gender F Percent (%)

Male 26 70.3
Female 11 29.7
Total 37 100
Source: Field data, 2017

4.1.1.2 Respondent Department profile

Under this profile, respondents were asked to indicate the department in which they belong and
the findings are presented in Table 2 below;

Table 2: Department distribution of respondents (N=37)

Department F Percent (%)

ICT 20 54.1%
LIS 17 45.9%
Total 37 100
Source: Field data, 2017

From Table 2, it can be deduced that out 37 respondents, 17 were from the Library and Information
Science department representing 45.9% and 20 respondents came from the department of

21
Information Communication and Technology representing 54.1%. This clearly indicated that more
respondents were from the ICT Department than LIS Department.

4.1.1.3 Age group of respondents

Figure 1 shows age group of respondents. The age of respondents were categorized into four
distinct groups: below 20, 20-25, 25-35 and more than 35 years. It was established that 2 (5.4%)
were below 20 in age, 23 (62.2%) were between 20-25 in age and 12 (32.4%) were within the
range of 25-35. There was no respondent with more than 35 years.

AGE GRO UP O F RE S PO NDE NT S

62.20%
Percentages (%)

32.40%
5.40%

0%

BELOW 20 20-25 25-35 MORE THAN 35

Age Group

Figure 1: Age Group of Respondents (N=37)

4.1.2 SERVICES OFFERED IN THE STUDENT ONLINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Respondents in this section were asked four questions; the researcher wanted to learn from
respondents on the ways in which they came to know the SOMS at Mzuzu University. Students
were also asked to provide information on services accessed and mostly used in the online system.
Finally, the researcher wanted to find out the devices used to access the MZUNI Student Online
Management System both on-campus and off-campus.

22
4.1.2.1 Ways of knowing the Student Online Management System.

There are many ways in which students know the Student Online Management Systems in
institutions of higher learning. However, Okoye (2015) stresses that the most effective way for
students to get acquainted to university information systems is through the orientation process.
Apart from orientation process, students were also provided three other ways on which they were
allowed to indicate only one way in which knew the existence of the Mzuzu university SOMS. A
chance to specify others ways of knowing the SOMS was also given to them.

Table 3: Ways students knew the MZUNI SOMS (N=37)

S/N Way (s) the students knew the SOMS f Percentage (%)
1. Through orientation by the ICT Directorate 15 40.5
2. Through the university website 12 32.5
3. Through friends 7 18.9
4. Not sure of how they knew the SOMS 3 8.1
5 Other ways (Specify) 0 0
TOTAL 37 100
Source: Field data, 2017

Table 3 displays data about how students came to know the existence of the Student Online
Management System at the institution. Out of 37 students, 7 (18.9%) knew it through friends and
12 (32.5%) students knew it through the university website. The majority with a score of 15
(40.5%) knew the system during orientation process done by the ICT directorate. It was only 3
(8.1%) respondents who were not sure as to how they came to know the MZUNI Student Online
Management System. These results shows that most students knew the MZUNI SOMS through
the orientation process done by the ICT Directorate.

4.1.2.2 Services offered by the Mzuzu University Student Online Management System.

In this section, nine options that mostly make the services in most online student information
systems were presented to respondents and an allowance to select multiple of these services was
given to respondents. The question intended to find out the services that Mzuzu University Student
Online Management System offers to the student community.

23
 Services offered by MZUNI SOMS

Online registration and admissions 83.8

Online examination results access 83.8

Student profile creation 78.3

Financial management 67.6

Services

E.voting 37.8

E-library services 24.3

E-learning 21.6

Accomodation booking 0

Webmail 0

0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentages (%)

Figure 2: Services offered by the Mzuzu University SOMS (N=37)

From Figure 2 above, two services; online registration and admissions and online examination
results were the most selected services on the student questionnaires with scores of 31 (83.8%)
each. The second most selected service was student profile creation with a score of 29 (78.3%).
Financial management had 25 (67.6%) selections, e-voting was selected by 17 (37.8%)
respondents, e-library services by 9 (24.3%) respondents and e-learning was selected by 8 (21.6%)
respondents. Accommodation booking and webmail services had a zero response from
respondents. The results means that the MZUNI SOMS mostly provides its students four services
namely; online registration and admission, exam results access, financial management and student
profile creation.

4.1.2.3 Services mostly used by students in the MZUNI Student Online Management System

In this part, the question collected data on the services that students mostly used as offered by the
Mzuzu University Student Online Management System. For each service, the students were
required to indicate either of the following options: frequently used, rarely used, never used and

24
not sure. The question was also open to respondents to mention other services not listed by this
researcher. The outcomes of these findings are summarized in the Table 4 below;

Table 4: Services most used by students in the MZUNI SOMS (N=37)

Responses

Frequently Rarely used Never used Not sure No

used response
S/N f % f % f % f % f %

Mostly used
services in the
MZUNI SOMS
1 Online 29 78.4 7 18.9 0 0 0 0 1 2.7
registration and
admissions
2 Student profile 11 29.7 13 35.1 2 5.4 3 8.1 8 21.6
creation
3 E-learning 1 2.7 5 13.5 12 32.4 8 21.6 11 29.7

4 Online 31 83.8 6 16.2 0 0 0 0 0 0

examination
results
5 Financial 5 13.5 18 48.6 8 21.6 3 8.1 3 8.1
management
6 E-library 6 16.2 9 24.3 7 18.9 4 10.8 11 29.7
services
7 Electronic voting 12 32.4 8 21.6 1 2.7 8 21.6 8 21.6

8 Accommodation 1 2.7 3 8.1 12 32.4 10 27 11 29.7

booking
9 Webmail 0 0 1 2.7 7 18.9 15 40.5 14 37.8

Source: Field data, 2017

The results in the Table 4 above show that 29 (78.4%) students indicated to have frequently used
online registration and admissions, 7 (18.9%) students indicated that they have rarely used this
service, no one indicated never used and not sure respectively.

25
More respondents were positive about online examination results and everybody responded, the
service was frequently used by 31 (83.8%), those who rarely used 6 (16.2%), the service also
registered zero on never used and not sure constraints among the respondents.

In using the student profile creation, frequent users are 11 (29.7%), rare users are 13 (35.1%), two
(5.4%) never used this service and those who were not sure were 3 (8.1%).

The results further shows that five (13.5%) respondents frequently used the financial management
service, with 18 (48.6%) indicating to have rarely used financial management, those who never
used this service were 8 (21.6%) and some respondents were not sure if they had ever used this
service and they were 3 (8.1%).

Electronic voting was indicated by 12 (32.4%) on frequently used, eight (21.6%) respondents
indicated to have rarely used the service, only 1 (2.7%) of the respondents never used this service
and 8 (21.6%) respondents were pessimistic as whether they have used electronic voting or not.

For the e-learning service, 1 (2.7%) respondent used it frequently, 5 (13.7%) of the respondents
rarely used this service, 12 (32.4%) said that they have never used it and 8 (21.6) were not sure as
to whether they have used this service or not.

E-library service was selected by six (16.2%) on the frequently used indicator, nine (24.3%)
respondents indicated on rarely used, those that selected never used were 7 (18.9%) and 4 (10.8%)
respondents were not sure.

Only 1 (2.7%) respondent indicated to have frequently used accommodation booking, 3 (8.1%)
rarely used SOMS for accommodation booking, 12 (32.4%) respondents never used this service
and 10 (27%) were not sure.

Pertaining to a webmail feature, no one frequently used it, with just 1 (2.7%) as a rare user, while
7 (18.9%) of respondents never used webmail and 15 (40.5%) indicated they were not sure.

From the results, it is observed that the mostly used services in the MZUNI SOMS includes: online
registration and admissions, online examination results access and financial management.

26
4.1.2.4 Gadgets or devices used to access the Student Online Management System.

The part of this section represented two sets of gadgets or devices that students use in accessing
the online student information system. The questions were set to find out which set of gadgets or
devices do students use to access the SOMS when they are off-campus/Home and/or On-campus.
The findings of these were analysed in a Figure 3 below:

Devices used to access the SOMS

43.20%
Library computers in the Internet room 0

92.00%
Computers in university laboratories 0

5.40%
Basic phones 8.10%
Devices

5.40%
Ipads 2.70%

67.60%
Smartphones 86.40%

0
Internet Cafes 10.80%

51.40%
Personal Desktop computers/laptops 45.90%

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%

Percentages (%)
Oncampus Offcampus

Figure 3: Devices used to access the Student Online Management System (N=37)

When students are at home or off-campus, it is evident from Figure 3 above that the most preferred
means to access the online student information system is through smartphones with a score of 32
(86.4%) while on campus, 34 (92%) respondents use computers in university laboratories to have
access to the system.

Others devices or gadgets commonly used by respondents when off-campus includes; personal
desktop computers/laptops which has scored 17 (45.9%) among respondents, those who uses the
Internet cafes to access the SOMS were 4 (10.4%), only 1 (2.7%) of the respondents accesses the
system via an iPad. Basic phones also showed a lesser percentage in use when accessing the SOMS
at home that is it is only used by 3 respondents, representing 8.1%.

27
When on university campus, most students 25 (67.6%) also access the SOMS through their
smartphones. Nineteen (51.4%) respondents use their personal computers/laptops in accessing the
SOMS, then library computers in the Internet room are only used by 16 (43.2%) respondents. iPads
are used by 2 (5.4%) respondents to have access to the SOMS alongside basic phones which also
registers the same number and percentages as iPads.

4.1.3 BENEFITS OF THE STUDENT ONLINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The item in a questionnaire was posed to know the benefits that the Mzuzu University Student
Online Management System offers to the student community. Respondents were permitted to
select more than one choices from the multiple benefits that were presented to them. They were
also asked to specify other benefits that are also well-known to them as they are using the SOMS.
Table 5 illustrates the findings;

Table 5: Benefits of the Student Online Management System to students (N=37)

S/N Benefits of the SOMS to students f %

1. Less time spent during registration in a new semester 37 100
2. Timely access to examination results 36 97.2
3. I can easily check my financial statements (i.e.; fees balances) 33 89
4. It is easier to add and/or drop new or wrong courses respectively in each 30 81
semester
5. Provide access to various files (i.e. results transcripts, courses, student 22 59
handbook, university prospectus, MZUNI annual reports, lecturer’s handouts)
6. 24/7 access to the contents of e-library 8 22
7. Paying registration fees through a secured web access 5 14
8. Easy communication with lecturers and university management via a webmail 1 2.7
feature.
9. Participation in online discussion forums 1 2.7
10. Other benefits (Specify) 0 0
Source: Field Data, 2017

What is observable from Table 5 is that all (100%) respondents agree that the benefit is that the
system cuts the time spent during registration in a new semester.

28
Thirty-six (97.2%) respondents see timely access to examination results as a benefiting feature in
the online system and 33 (89.1%) respondents indicated that it helps them check financial
statements.

Thirty (81%) respondents indicated that the online registration sub-portal in the system allows
students to easily add and/or drop new and wrong courses respectively in each semester. To them,
this was seen as a benefit.

Twenty-two respondents representing 59.4% of the study population selected providing access to
various files (i.e. results transcripts, courses, student handbook, university prospectus, MZUNI
annual reports, lecturer’s handouts) as a benefit of the SOMS to them.

Eight respondents representing 21.6% were certain that the student online system allows them to
have 24/7 access to the contents of the e-library.

No participant benefitted from publishing online essays, articles to share knowledge, views and
experiences on the list of benefits of the SOMS. The researcher attributes this result to the fact that
the system does not provide such forums where students can academically and socially interact.

4.1.4 CHALLENGES STUDENTS FACE IN USING THE STUDENT ONLINE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The researcher was highly motivated to conduct a study on the assessment of the MZUNI Student
Online Management System upon hearing much complaints from the student community that the
system posits a lot of challenges to them. As such, this section was aimed at finding out the
challenges that students face when using the Student Online Management System. A list of ten
challenges was presented to respondents on which they were asked to rate them from strongly
agree, agree, disagree or strongly to disagree commentary. Findings are presented in Table 7
below:

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Table 6: Challenges students face when using the SOMS. (N=37)

Responses

Challenges faced Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly No response

when using the agree disagree
S/N SOMS f % f % f % F % f %
1 Server loads due to 20 54 10 27 1 2.7 1 2.7 5 13.5
user congestions
2 Slow internet 24 64.8 7 18.9 4 10.8 0 0 2 5.4
connectivity
3 The system is too 6 16.2 3 8.1 10 27 10 27 8 21.6
complex to use
4 Lack of computer 4 10.8 11 29.7 6 16.2 8 21.6 8 21.6
literacy skills
5 High cost of internet 14 37.8 10 27 4 10.8 4 10.8 5 13.5
data bundles and
charges
6 Forgetting passwords 12 32.4 12 32.4 7 18.9 0 0 6 16.2
and usernames
7 High cost of password 12 32.4 9 24.3 5 13.5 4 10.8 7 18.9
recovery
8 Frequent power 4 10.8 6 16.2 15 40.5 3 8.1 9 24.3
outages/blackouts
9 Browser 4 10.8 9 24.3 10 27 5 13.5 9 24.3
incompatibility
10 The system is not 9 24.3 11 29.7 8 21.6 4 10.8 5 13.5
updated regularly

Source: Field Data, 2017

According to the data from Table 6 above, 20 (54%) students strongly agreed that server loads
due to use congestions is a challenge, 10 (27%) similarly agreed to this challenge while 1 (2.7%)
respondent disagree and strongly disagree to this challenge.

30
On the list, slow internet connectivity was the second challenge and it was selected by 24 (64.8%)
respondents who strongly agreed to it as a challenge. Seven participants representing (18.9%) just
agreed that it is a challenge. On the contrary views, only four (10.8%) disagreed to this challenge.

Out of 37 respondents, only 6 (16.2%) indicated strongly agree that the system is too complex to
use as a challenge and 3 (8.1%) agreed that this is a challenge. On the other hand, 10 (27%)
disagreed and strongly disagreed that the system is too complex.

Lack of computer literacy skills as a challenge was strongly agreed by 4 (10.8%) respondents while
11 (29.7%) respondents selected agreed.

High cost of data bundles, a fifth challenge on the list, was strongly agreed by 14 respondents
signifying 37.8% response rate. Those that just agreed were 10 (27%) and 4 (10.8%) each
disagreed and strongly disagreed to this challenge respectively.

Twelve, (32.4%) of the respondents strongly agreed and agreed respectively that forgetting
passwords was a challenge but 7 (18.9%) of the respondents disagree that this is a challenge and
no one strongly disagreed.

On high cost of password recovery, 12 (32.4%) of the respondents indicated strongly agree, 9
(24.3%) just agreed while 5 (13.5%) respondents just disagreed and 4 (10.8%) amongst the
respondents strongly disagreed.

In this analysis, 4 (10.4%) of the respondents strongly agree that electricity outage is a challenge
in accessing the SOMS and 6 (16.2%) respondents agrees that this is a challenge. Of the
contradicting opinions, there are fifteen (40.5%) respondents who disagrees to this challenge in
accessing the SOMS, with only 3 (8.1%) respondents strongly disputing this as a challenge. The
results contradict with those of Chawinga (2017), Chawinga (2016), Chawinga (2016b), Chawinga
and Zinn (2016) Chawinga and Zinn (2015) and Chawinga and Ngwira (2015).

The Mzuzu University Student Online Management System was designed to be accessed on
computers windows operating system via the computer internet browsers, as the cases of browser
incompatibility when accessed on other gadgets like smartphones or basic phones are registered.
From the data presented in Table 6 above, four respondents, representing 10.8% strongly seconded

31
to this challenge, 9 (24.3%) just agreed that it is a challenge, while 10 (27%) respondents disagree
and five respondents giving us 13.5% strongly disagrees on this challenge.

Finally, the system is not updated regularly was also given to respondents as a challenge. In this
case, 9 (24.3%) respondents strongly agreed that the system is not updated regularly with 11
(29.7%) respondents agreeing. Those who just disagreed were 8 in number giving a 21.6% of the
total responses, and 4 (10.8%) indicated to have strongly disagreed on this challenge.

4.1.4.1 What the university should do to improve the system

The question in this section was open ended, which sought students opinions and suggestions on
what should the university should do to improve the efficiency of the system. Respondents had
divergent views on this question and the researcher observed this from the varied responses that
students were providing. However, most respondents suggested solutions to most of challenges
they face when using the SOMS as earlier presented in Table 6 above. In this section, new
challenges as regards to the use of the SOMS also emerged from students and solutions were
suggested as well. Table 7 below thematically analyses the data obtained from students on this
question;

32
Table 7: What the university should do to improve the system. (N=37)

Challenge (s) Suggested Solution (s)

Lack of personal Twenty-four (64.8%) said that the exams results graph in the system is not
information privacy confidential, it infringes on their personal privacy. Therefore, it was suggested
and confidentiality in that the exams performance graph should be completely removed or should only
the system appear inside the main view of the results not on every page or else it should be
positioned at a more secure and private place, not live on every page as it is now.
This is seen in the opinions that students were giving;
“they should improve in the results access, like when viewing the performance
graph, it must be at least confidential”QR10-LIS
Another respondent wrote “the graph of the results on the system does not show
any privacy at all, hence in my opinion it should be removed on the front page and
be put somewhere else than there” QR37-ICT
“results graph should not appear on the wall, it should be a bit private, ‘cause we
use ICT labs, and people there are congested”QR4-LIS

The system is not Seventeen respondents, 29.7 % of the study population were of the opinion that
updated regularly the system should be updated regularly to incorporate new features and that some
features of the system that does not work, should start working. One respondent
opinionated that “the system should be updated regularly so that some features
that don’t work e.g.; continuous assessment results must start working. Also a
webmail feature should be incorporated in the system. It would also be very
important if e-learning, e-library services, online voting, accommodation booking
features are also embedded in the system” QR18-ICT

Slowness of the Thirteen (35.1%) respondents proposed the establishment of a speedy WI-FI or
internet connectivity internet connection on campus with a larger bandwidth to address issues
surrounding the erratic network connections in the campus
High cost of Five (13.5%) research participants were against the issue of paying money to
passwords recovery have their passwords reset once forgotten. They asked the university to consider

33
 endorsing a free and automatic reset of passwords amongst the student
community.
Limited number of Three (8.1%) respondents suggested that the university should procure more
university computers computers and extend the computer laboratories to other rooms to accommodate
and ICT laboratories large number of users of the system especially during the time of registration and
examination results access.

Few ICT personnel One respondent expressed the need for the university to employ more ICT
in the ICT personnel to help in addressing the concerns of students pertaining the use of the
Directorate system and in addressing system errors. One respondent said; “it should employ
more ICT personnel to reduce workload. Students wait for a long time to have
their issues resolved since there is only one serving the whole community (when
dealing with system errors) QR12-LIS
Long queues in the Two research participants (5.4%) raised concerns over standing on a long queue
finance department in the finance department to have their fees balances cleared, and have their
to have student students’ online accounts activated before proceeding to the registration process.
online accounts Instead, they suggested that once a student has paid fees in a bank and has no
activated balance, the student online account should be automatically activated via a direct
link that can connect these accounts via an integrated database.
One of these research participants “since we are using online payment of school
fees, we don’t need to stand a long queue waiting for the bank receipt to be
activated by the admin after the bank services, it should be a direct link” QR33-
ICT
Frequent power Finally, one respondent had a view that to solve the problem of intermittent
outages electrical power, the university should consider procuring reliable generators, that
will enable electrical power present around the clock which will also imply the
24/7 access to the system among students. The respondent wrote: “the university
should procure Gen-sets/generators as there is frequent power outages
blackouts” QR14-LIS

Source: Field Data, 2017

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From the outlook of these findings from Table 7 above, many students are against the graphical
presentation of examination results in the system. The researcher suggests that the cause for this
displeasure remains on the fact that most students access the system in open ICT laboratories where
they do not want their friends see their confidential information.

4.2 PART B: Presentation and analysis of data collected from the Director of ICT

After collecting data from students through questionnaires, the researcher had an exclusive follow
up face to face interviews with the Mzuzu University Director of ICT. The researcher only targeted
the Director of ICT who was asked questions on the interview guide and responded through word
of mouth, in a direct face to face interaction with the researcher. The dialogue with the ICT
Director gave insights to the researcher and detailed information about the MZUNI Student Online
Management System was captured. The sections below forms a basis of what transpired during
one-to-one encounter with the Director;

4.2.1 Background and Motivation to develop and implement the student online at Mzuzu
University

This section sought to find out the background information about MZUNI Student Online
Management system. It also tried to find out on what inspired the university to develop and
implement this web based student information. In this analysis, background information about the
SOMS and motivation of implementing this system at the institution are treated as two distinct
themes and have been analysed as follows;

 Background information about the MZUNI SOMS

From interview with the Director of ICT, the researcher learnt that the system was established in
September, 2015. The establishment of the MZUNI SOMS was financed by African Development
Bank (AfDB). The AfDB firstly improved the broadband internet connectivity on campus to help
MZUNI maximize the benefits of the Internet Technology in the management of students’
information.

 Motivation to develop and implement the MZUNI SOMS

In response to the question in this section, the interviewee started by saying; “…you can well
remember the hassle you had during registration periods in the era of a manual system, spending

35
long hours to have your forms signed in the registry’s office, moving up and down in offices to
have the deans, heads of department’s etc., sign your forms, was it an easy process to you? I guess
it wasn’t at all.”

Mzuzu University was motivated to develop and implement a virtual student information system
to get away with paper-based registration system which was tedious and time consuming to both
students as well as the school management. The ICT director in emphasis said that the Student
Online Management System portal was mainly implemented;

 To revolutionize the registration process, and other administration processes such as

admission and examinations administration.
 To improve fees recovery from students that was so hard to achieve in an old fashioned
manual registration system. On this, it was further said the introduction of the SOMS
reinforces students to have all their fees balances from previous semesters plus fees for the
current semester settled before they get registered. The rule with the current system is “No
fees, No registration”

4.2.2 Key users of Mzuzu University Student Online Management System and their roles.

Every system is designed to be used by its intended uses, and in a manner that is friendly to them.
Hence, the question in this section sought to establish the key users of the system and their roles
from the director of ICT.

 Students

According to the dialogue, the primary users of the system are the students themselves who uses
the system to register with the university in each and every semester. Through, the system it was
put into much emphasis that they can also check their examination results virtually via internet
enabled devices either in comfort of their homes or rooms. Finally, it was articulated that students
also are able to check their financial statements, fees balances for example:

 Heads of Departments

The second category of users of the Student Online are heads of department and their role is to
upload courses that students can enrolled in a particular semester. Primarily, the system gives the

36
head of departments the capabilities to manage departmental courses that is adding or removing
courses, as well as editing courses to be offered to students in a particular semester.

 Deans of Faculty

The Student Online similarly, was intended to be used by the deans of faculty. The system allows
the deans of faculties to see a list of students’ registration and their fees information and once the
students have enrolled in various courses, there is a feature that allows them to approve the courses
registered by students at the faculty level. This privilege is only provided to the deans of faculties
in the MZUNI Student Online.

 Administrative Registrars

The interview also revealed that administrative registrars also use the Student Online Management
system. In the system, it was well said that registrars finally are the ones who approves that a
student has registered with the university.

 Financial Controller

All students’ financial related issues such as financial statements, fees balances are handled by the
finance controller in the student online. It was stressed that on top of all these users, there is a
system administrator who is the overseer of all users pertaining to what they do with the system.

4.2.3 Services offered by the Mzuzu University Student Online Management System.

Unlike students, who were offered a list of options on what computes the services offered by the
student online system, the director of ICT was asked a structured question as to what are the
principal services that the system offers to students. From the interview, it was established that the
Student Online Management Systems offer the following services to students;

 Online registration and admissions; which first see students providing their bio-information
before going into full registration or admission process.
 Other services like online exams results access and finance are simply add-ons into the
system.

37
4.2.4 Benefits of the Mzuzu University Student Online Management system.

The interview guide contained a question that allowed the researcher to find out from the Director
of ICT whether the student online postulates the intended benefits to its users. The respondent
started by saying;

“…to a growing institution like this one, enrolling and registering students using a paper-based
system every semester was a very big challenge and it raised a lot of concerns among students.
Very often, in the university registry, forms of students could went missing, and at the same time
retrieving the required information regarding a particular student in a bunch of files was a tedious
task to the university staff in the university registry”

According to the data gathered through follow up interviews, the Student Online Management
System has the following benefits;

 It has simplified the registration and admission process at the university.

 Easy access and retrieval of files such as results transcripts among students
 It allows students to check their financial statements and see if they have fees balances
 Students are also able to check their examination results online privately upon logging in
into the system.

4.2.5 Challenges faced when using the Student Online Management System.

In general terms, the researcher wanted to learn from the director of ICT if the introduction of
student online management unfolded challenges either to the school or the student community.
The director of ICT was asked to provide information on the challenges that pins down the
effective use of the Student Online Management System. From the responses of the Director of
ICT, some challenges were revealed and have been thematically analysed in Table 8 below;

38
Table 8: Challenges faced when using the SOMS (N=1)

Challenges Analysed response

Browser The interviewee agreed with some students that this might be a
incompatibility challenge and it was said that this can be because the system was
designed to be largely accessed via Windows browsers on a computer.
As such some features might not be displayed correctly when accessing
the system using mobile phones or other devices like basic phones.
Slowness of the “…the network is just good, I can assure you on that”. The director had
Internet connectivity contrary views to those of students on this challenge, however it was
pointed out that it may only become slow when more students are using
it at the same. This may be a challenge, and it really affects the use of
the SOMS
System security “It becomes worrisome when students give their usernames and
breaches passwords to their friends or relatives or forget their passwords and
keep on trying to access the SOMS even when the system does not
accept their passwords”. According to the Director of ICT, students
puts the system at risk when they give their usernames and passwords
to friends or relatives.
The system is not Just like students, the data gathered from interviews indicates that the
updated or upgraded system is not regularly updated. However, according to the Director of
regularly ICT the cause for this challenge is attributed to stakeholders from the
finance, faculties and departments, because the information to update
the system comes from these areas and any delay automatically causes
the delay in the system update and upgrading.
Source: Field Data, 2017

4.2.6 Measures taken to deal with the challenges that key users face in using the Student
Online Management System.

This section was intended to find out from the director of ICT if the Directorate has put forward
some measures to deal with the challenges that key users face in using the online student
information systems. The researcher analysed the responses and came up with three themes. Table

39
9 illustrates the measures taken to deal with challenges key users face in the use of the Student
Online Management System.

Table 9: Measures taken to deal with the challenges that key users face in using the SOMS
(N=1)

Challenge Measures taken

System security breaches
Browser incompatibility
The system is not updated
or upgraded regularly
Source: Field Data, 2017
In the system, all users are not given the writing privileges to
edit or reset passwords once forgotten for security reasons. This
is only done by the system administrator to make sure that the
system is safe from external penetrators and hackers and ensure
that the system security is highly maintained.
The ICT Directorate is conducting a need analysis to develop a
mobile version of the system for its users. This is to make sure
that all features in the system are accessed via different internet
enabled gadgets
The researcher was assured that the ICT Directorate makes sure
that the system is meeting the desired needs of all its users as
such the system is continuously being updated and upgraded.

4.3 Conclusion

In conclusion, the chapter has presented an in-depth analysis of data and research findings from
the data collected at Mzuzu University. The data was collected through questionnaires from
students in the faculty of information science and communications and through an interview guide
from the ICT Director. A Microsoft Excel computer package was used in coming up with tables,
charts and graphs and percentages in analyzing quantitative data from students. The data collected
through follow up interviews with the Director of ICT was qualitatively analysed using thematic
analysis technique.

The next chapter (chapter five) covers Discussion of the Findings, Conclusion, Recommendations
of the study and proposes areas for further research.

40
 CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

This chapter documents the discussions of the research findings presented in the chapter four,
draws conclusions, and puts forward recommendations, and suggests areas for further research.
The research was established to assess the MZUNI Student Online Management System and
understand students’ perceptions as they were using this web based system. The chapter,
henceforth, discusses the key findings and observations in the study in line with the objectives
identified in Chapter One as follows:

 To identify services offered by the Online Student Management System at Mzuzu

University.
 To find out the benefits of an Online Student Management System as perceived by students
at Mzuzu University.
 To identify challenges that student’s face when using the Online Student Management
System.

5.1 Discussions of findings

The discussion of the key findings follows the arrangement of the research objectives and
questions. However, before discussing the findings in line with research objectives, the researcher
gives a general discussion on some aspects, more significant to the effective use of the student
online management system among students.

5.1.1 General discussions of the research findings.

5.1.1.1 Ways of knowing the existence of the Student Online Management System

The study reveals that the majority of students knew the Mzuzu University SOMS through
orientation process done by the ICT Directorate while some were not sure as how did they knew
the system despite the fact that they are using it. These study findings accentuate the importance
of orienting students in effective use of the system. It is shown in the study that despite the fact
these were LIS and ICT students who does ICT courses, they still need to be oriented to accrue

41
more skills in using the SOMS. Yet, these findings suggest that currently, the university does not
have a well-structured orientation process in orienting both current and prospective students in
using this web based student information system. In this regard, Okoye (2015) stresses the need
for students to have prior knowledge before using online student information systems such online
registration and admissions. Subsequently, he contended that in ICT driven institutions, who
maximizes such online systems, a well-structured, special practical orientation for fresh students
through face to face sessions and the use of online student information systems user manuals is a
pre-requisite to the effective use of such systems.

More importantly, when a new system has been implemented in place, training users through the
orientation process is very important because it prepares and equips users with the necessary hands
on experience and skills on how best to use the system. The essence of it is that when universities
adopt new ICT applications such as OSIS, user orientation is essential and therefore should be
taken seriously.

5.1.1.2 Devices used to access the MZUNI Student Online Management System

Efforts were made to establish the devices/gadgets that students use to access the Student Online
Management System. It was found that when students are off-campus, they commonly use their
smartphones. While on-campus, the study revealed that students accessed SOMS largely through
computers in university laboratories and personal smartphones.

From these findings it can be inferred that, when on campus students prefer accessing the online
student information system in university computer laboratories because it is free of charge to all
students. While the prevalent use of smartphones to access the SOMS at home simply shows it is
the device that is most convenient to them, to some extent cheaper than other means like the public
Internet Cafes when off-campus.

These findings are empirically supported by Sadiq, Momodu and Aladejuelo (2008) who explain
that the cost of internet services in developing countries is too high and unaffordable. Accessing
the system in Internet cafés is costly because very often they charge high costs for internet usage.
This explains the reason why most students prefer accessing the system using computers in
university laboratories because they are free of charge.

42
5.2 Discussions of research findings based on objectives.

The results of the study are summarized using research objectives and questions as follows;

5.2.1 Services offered by MZUNI Student Online Management System.

The results of this study brings in a consensus between the students and the Director of ICT on the
services offered by the Mzuzu University SOMS. These services includes: online registrations and
admissions, online examination results access, student profile creation and financial management.
On the part of students, it was also noted that these services were the most used services in the
system. An observation gaining support from Maere (2011), NCS: Pearson (2001) and Secreto
(2015) who also reckoned similar services. From both studies it was established that most of these
systems support core functions in universities like online registration and admissions, enrollment,
examination management and financial management.

Similarly, these findings also correspond to some other services offered by Student and Academic
Register Information System (SARIS) for University of Malawi (UNIMA)-College of Medicine
(see www.medcol.mw) which includes; admissions (my profile, register, my regulations), finance
(financial statement), examinations (my results), electronic-voting (cast your votes, results) and
accommodation (apply for accommodation) (College of Medicine, 2017).

5.2.2 Benefits of MZUNI Student Online Management System to students.

The fact, remains that for any information system to be adopted and implemented at any institution
it means the benefits of such system generally offsets its implementation costs. Web-based student
information systems in universities represents not only a revolutionary change in the way
universities around the world track and manage student information, but also it enables students to
directly benefit from technological applications and databases such as the SOMS in this context
(Asogwa et.al, 2013; EBricks Infotech, n.d & Pacio, 2013).

The study has revealed that the MZUNI Student Online Management System greatly benefits
students. In essence, questionnaire responses from students and interviews with the director of ICT
has in common laid the following benefits that are most applicable to students:

 Less time spent during registration in a new semester

 Timely access to examination results

43
  It is an easier way to add/or drop new or wrong courses respectively in each semester
 Easy access to various files (i.e. results transcripts, courses)
 Ability to check financial statements (i.e. fees balances)

These outcomes of the study correspond to other prior studies in the field. For example, Pacio
(2013) capitulates that through online student’s information systems, students may view pertinent
school information in their respective programmes of study, have access to their academic and
biographic records as well as the ability to update their personal profiles and register for classes.
To Presley and Presley (2009) the benefit of internet based application such as the SOMS is that
it provides students a 24/7 centralized point of access to information and services and it is designed
as a one-stop site in providing personalized services to students, faculty and staff.

However, these findings differ from other previous studies (EBriks Infortech, n.d, Kasozi, 2006 &
Kaloki, n.d). It is said that online student information systems provide access to the contents of e-
libraries, students use the OSIS to contribute the contents of e-library and it provides liberty to
publish articles and views, and participate in discussion forums or platforms.

5.2.3 Challenges faced by students in using the Student Online Management System

From the view point of processed data, students and the Director of ICT unanimously encapsulate
that using the Student Online Management System is not short of challenges. The findings
presented in Table 6 and Table 8 (in chapter four) catapult a myriad of challenges that students
face while using the MZUNI Student Online Management System. This section discusses the key
challenges as revealed by this study.

Server loads due to user congestions

The study reveals that many students with the percentage of 83.7% said that they experience the
slow internet connectivity when using the SOMS. These students observed that during the
registration periods and checking examination results the internet connection is very poor, slow
and more often down making it hard for them to access these services in the system. This problem
was also observed by the researcher in the problem statement (Chapter one, p.4). However,
according to the Director of ICT, slow internet connectivity is not a problem at MZUNI but the
problem is server loads which degrades the quality of the internet connection as more students
concurrently use the SOMS. As earlier alluded to, server loads due to user congestions is severe

44
during the periods of online registration i.e. at the beginning of the semester and when students
access the examination results online.

Consequently, students said that during these periods the internet becomes very poor making it
difficult to access and use services of the SOMS. It appears the problem of poor bandwidth is
persistent in Malawi because Chawinga and Zozie (2016) and Chawinga and Zozie (2016b) have
previously reported about a similar problem. On this, Okoye (2015) says that this challenge is a
result of smaller bandwidth of campus internet network compared to the overwhelming number of
users. He emphasizes that even if the network may be good, it becomes poor when used by many
users at a time and he attributed this overloading of servers due to user congestions to Internet
Service Providers (ISP) and slow speed processing capacity of servers.

Forgetting passwords and usernames and high cost of passwords recovery.

The study also revealed that most students with a percentage of 64 of the total study population
said forgetting passwords and usernames and the cost of password recovery were two assimilated
challenges. The fact is, once a student forgets a password, it is impossible to access the system
until a cost is paid to have the password reset from the Directorate of ICT. Currently, the cost of
resetting the password is MK500 (0.688 USD).

High cost of internet data bundles and charges

High cost of internet data bundles and charges was another challenge exposed in this study. Since
the system was meant to be accessed both off-campus and on-campus and across different ICT
devices, students who access the system through internet enabled mobile phones observed that the
cost of buying internet data bundles was very high hence, unaffordable to most of them. It was
also observed that for students who access the student online portal in public internet cafés incurs
a lot of charges to access the internet. World Bank (2016) in Digital Malawi project reports that
“lack of affordability, availability and quality of broadband connectivity, coupled with low human
and institutional capacity, constrain access to digital technologies and services in Malawi” (p.4).

In Malawi, the cost of internet data bundles and charges are very high and this affects students in
accessing the SOMS using the mobile phones. Precisely, the World Bank accounts that the retail
price of an entry level mobile broadband package (500 MB per month of data) is equivalent to
24.4% of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, while a fixed connection exceeds 111%,

45
compared with the United Nations (UN) broadband Commission affordability target of 5% or
lower. In a recent national survey, affordability was cited by 55% of citizens as the main barrier to
internet access.

Lack of regular system updates and upgrading

To enhance the performance of the system, it is required that it must be updated regularly. And if
it is not updated regularly, some features cease to work efficiently and in most cases they are users
who are always at the receiving end of the system who suffers the consequences. The study
revealed that the system is not updated regularly. This was a challenge to students especially in
the times of online registrations and online exams results access. It was found that because of lack
of systems regular updates, some courses to be enrolled in a new semester were missing. The
situation was supposedly the same when accessing online examinations results, as grades of their
results were not yet uploaded into the system. According to the Director of ICT, the problem of
missing courses and examination results grades is caused by different departments and faculties
whom the ICT Directorate works with. It was said that the ICT Directorate only uploads new
courses, grades and transcripts when such information is available to them from various
departments throughout the university.

Lack of frequent updates of student online portal as a challenge is supported by Adepoju (2015)
who explicitly recommended that websites should be updated from time to time once the
complaints are made known to the authority and changes must be made immediately without
much ado.

5.2.3.1 What the university should do to improve the efficiency of the system.

In relation to the recommendations of the study conducted by Okoye (2015) on “online registration
challenges faced by Open and Distance Learners of National Open University of Nigeria: A Case
Study of Enugu Study Centre”, the opinions and suggestions of respondents especially students
have also shown that for the system to be efficient, the university should do the following things:

 Continuously upgrading the servers and updating the system

 Establishment of a speedy Wi-Fi or Internet connection on campus with a larger bandwidth.

46
  Add on new important features such as e-learning, e-library services, webmail, online
discussion forums, online voting and accommodation booking to make the system all
inclusive.
 There should be a carrel for each computer in the university ICT laboratories to address
personal privacy issues that arose amongst students. Usually, most students 64.8% students
said that the system infringes on personal information privacy. The system lively displays
examination results graphs on each and every page of the system without user’s consent
(Refer to Table 7 in Chapter four). As the user of the system, the researcher also
confirmed the truth of this complaint upon logging in into his Student Online account. The
researcher suggests this complaint is due to the fact that students access the system in open
spaced university laboratories where it is easy for their friends to view their confidential
information especially about examination results.
 Procure more computers and extend the university computer rooms into other rooms to
accommodate the ever-increasing number of students who access the SOMS using
university computers.

5.3 Conclusion

The study was carried out with the aim of assessing the Student Online Management System with
the perceptions of students from the FOISC at Mzuzu University. The research report had fives
chapters; Introduction and Background, Literature Review, Methodology, Data analysis and
Presentation of Results, Discussion Conclusion and Recommendations. The study was meant to
discover the services offered in the MZUNI Student Online web portal, the benefits that students
accrue from using the Student Online Management System and to find out challenges that students
face when using the online student information system.

It is shown from the study that, the Mzuzu University Student Online Management System offer
the following services; student profile creation, online registration and admissions, online
examination results access and finance (financial statements). It was also noted that most students
access the system to register for courses in a new semester and check their examination results
online and check their financial statements (i.e. fees balances). Findings further revealed that the
commonly used devices to access the Student Online Management System when students are at

47
home or off-campus are smartphones. While on campus, the system is highly accessed using
computers in university laboratories.

The study also revealed that students benefit from the online student information systems in
various ways. Key benefits include as easy to register in a new semester, timely access to
examinations results and easy access to various files such as academic transcripts and courses
offered and to easily check financial statements.

However, in as much as we appreciate that the SOMS benefits students, students also face some
challenges in using the system. The key challenges includes: sever loads due to user congestions,
high cost of internet data bundles and charges, high cost of passwords recovery and lack of regular
system updates. There is one emerging issue in this study, which is students’ complaints over
personal privacy issues in the system.

5.4 Recommendations

The various issues that emanated during the survey have prompted the researcher to put forward
the following recommendations which could further make the Student Online Management System
more effective and efficient to its students’:

 The ICT Directorate with financial assistance from the university should upgrade their
servers and increase the Random Access Memory (RAM) of the system to deal with the
problem of server loads due to user congestions. At the same time, it is important that
registration process should not have deadlines, instead it should be done in phases or else
students should start registering when they are at home.
 Introduction of new services in the Student Online portal. New services such as e-learning,
e-library services, webmail, online discussion forums, online voting and accommodation
booking should be incorporated into the system to meet the needs of students.
 Since most students access the system using computers in university laboratories and
library internet room, it is recommended that the university to procure more computers and
extend laboratories to other rooms to accommodate the ever increasing number of students
at the campus.
 Finally, accessing the SOMS in open space computer laboratories has raised privacy
concerns among the students, many students said that most of the times the labs are

48
 congested and their friends can easily see the examination results graph that is lively
displayed upon logging in into the system. The study therefore, recommends that there
should carrel for each computer in the university ICT laboratories.

5.5 Areas for Further Research

 Since the study reviewed the Student Online Management System from the perceptions of
students in one faculty, it is therefore recommended that the study should be extended to
other faculties as well, in fact to all Mzuzu university students, that is both face to face and
Open and Distance Learning (ODL) students. Therefore, a future survey should consider
assessing the MZUNI Student Online Management System to understand the challenges
and prospects of the system at university level.

49
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APPENDICES:

APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS.

MZUZU UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE AND COMMUNICATION

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Dear Respondent,

I am Symon C. Lubanga a fourth year student pursuing Bachelor of Library and Information
Science Degree at Mzuzu University. In partial fulfillment for the award of a degree, it is required
for me to conduct a research titled “A Review of the Mzuzu University Student Online
Management System: Perspectives from students in the Faculty of Information Science and
Communications”

I therefore, write to request your voluntary participation in this study by responding to the
questionnaire which solely serves to solicit data for the research process only. Be rest assured that
your responses will be analysed with strict confidentiality. And therefore, you are not required to
indicate your names on this questionnaire.

Your participation and quick response would be highly appreciated.

Yours,

Symon C. Lubanga

(BLIS/2B/22/13)

Mzuzu University

Department of Library and Information Science

Private Bag 201

Luwinga, Mzuzu 2.

Cell: +265995060257/+265882228005

E-mail: symonlubanga@gmail.com
55
Instructions

 Do no write your name on this questionnaire.

 Tick (√) where it is appropriate.
 Some questions will require your explanation. Therefore, use the spaces provided for
answering such questions.

SECTION A: PERSONAL INFORMATION

1. What is your gender?

Male [ ] Female [ ]

2. To which department do you belong? (Tick where necessary)

Library and Information Science [ ]
Information Communication and Technology [ ]

3. What is your age group? (Tick where appropriate)

Below 20 [ ] 20-25 [ ] 25-35 [ ] More than 35 [ ]

SECTION B: SERVICES AVAILABLE IN STUDENT ONLINE MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM.

4. How did you came to know the Mzuzu University Student online management system?
(Tick where necessary)
[ ] Through orientation from the Director of ICT
[ ] Through the university Website
[ ] Through friends
[ ] Not sure
Others Specify………………………………………………………………………

5. As you are aware that Mzuzu University introduced the Student Online Management
System in September, 2015. Which of the following services are offered in the Student
Online Management System? (You may wish to select more than one)

56
 [ ] Online registration and admissions
[ ] Student profile creation
[ ] Online examination results access
[ ] E-learning
[ ] E-library services
[ ] Financial Management
[ ] Electronic-voting
[ ] Accommodation booking
[ ] Webmail

Others, please specify…………………………………………………………

6. Which of the following services offered by Mzuzu University Student Online Management
System do you mostly use?
Key: 1 =Frequently used, 2 = Rarely used, 3= Never used, 4 = Not sure
1 2 3 4
Online registration and admissions [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Student profile creation [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Electronic-learning [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Online examination results [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Financial Management [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
E-library services [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Electronic-voting [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Accommodation booking [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Webmail [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Others, please specify………………………………………………………………………

7. Which of the following devices/gadgets do you use to access the student online
management system when you are Off-campus and On-campus?

57
 (You wish to select more than one)

Off-campus On-Campus
[ ] Personal Desktop computers/laptops [ ] Computers in university laboratories
[ ] Internet Cafes [ ] Library computers in the internet room
[ ] Smartphones [ ] Personal computers/laptops
[ ] IPads [ ] Smartphones
[ ] Basic phones [ ] IPads
[ ] Basic phones

Others Specify…………………. Others Specify……………………

SECTION C: BENEFITS OF STUDENT ONLINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO

STUDENTS.

8. Which of the following are the benefits of using the Student Online Management System?
(You can select more than one)
[ ] Less time spent during registration in a new semester
[ ] Timely access of examination results
[ ] Pay registration fees online through a secured web access

[ ] Provides access to various files (i.e. results transcripts, courses, student handbook and

University prospectus, lecturer’s handouts etc.)

[ ] Easy communication with lecturers and the university management via webmail

[ ] 24/7 access to the contents of e-library

[ ] It is easier to add or drop new courses or wrong courses respectively in each semester
[ ] I can easily check financial statements (i.e.; fees balances)
[ ] Participation in online discussion forums
[ ] Publish online essays, articles to share knowledge, views and experiences
Others, please specify)………………………………………………………………

58
SECTION D: CHALLENGES IN THE USE OF THE STUDENT ONLINE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

9. Which of the following challenges do you face when using the Student Online Management
System?

Key: 1= Strongly agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Disagree, 4=Strongly disagree

1 2 3 4
Server loads dues to user congestions [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Slow internet connectivity [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
The system is too complex to use [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Lack of computer literacy skills [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
High cost of Internet data bundles and charges [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Forgetting passwords and usernames [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
High cost of password recovery [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Frequent power outages blackouts [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Browser incompatibility [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
The system is not updated regularly [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Others Specify……………………………………………………………………………...

10. In your opinion, what do you think the university should do to improve the efficiency of
the system?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………

End of Questions. Thank you for your participation.

59
APPENDIX B: Interview Guide for the Director of ICT.

MZUZU UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

I am Symon C. Lubanga a fourth year student pursuing Bachelor Information Science Degree at
Mzuzu University. In partial fulfillment for the award of a degree, it is required for me to conduct
a research titled “A Review of the Mzuzu University Student Online Management System:
Perspectives from students in the Faculty of Information Science and Communications”. For
this study to be effective, you are therefore requested to provide me with information by answering
the questions provided to you. Be rest assured that your confidentiality will be strictly protected.

1. Give us a brief background of the Mzuzu University student online management system?
2. What inspired Mzuzu University to develop and implement the Student Online
Management System?
3. Please explain the key users of the student online management System
4. What services do the Student Online Management System offer to its key users that is both
the school management, staff and the student community?
5. In your opinion, how do you think the system benefits each of the key users?
6. How secure is the system from external penetrators, hackers etc.?
7. Why is it that some features don’t work in the system?
8. In general terms, what are the challenges that are being met with the Student Online
Management System?
9. What measures are being taken to deal with the challenges that key users in the system as
they are using the student online student management?

End of Questions. Thank you for your time and Co-operation

60
APPENDIX C: Work Plan

2016 2017
ACTIVITY Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept
Proposal writing

Presenting proposal to
LIS Department

Literature Review

Pretesting
Questionnaire
Data Collection

Data Analysis

Report Writing

Dissemination of
Results

Dissertation
Submission

61
 APPENDIX D: Letter of Consent

62

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