Name: Manalastas Z

Section: 3rd Yr CPE06A

ACTIVITY 07: Writing Background of the Study
Research Title: Seat Shuffle Automated Exam Seating Arrangement App

Background of the Study

In today's era, the educational sector is continuously evolving, embracing technological

advancements to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. One area that has traditionally relied on

manual processes is the examination seating arrangement. These task often involve complex

logistical challenges, including allocating seats to a large number of students while ensuring

fairness and preventing seat clashes. Manual methods are not only time-consuming but also

prone to errors, leading to inefficiencies and added stress for both students and administrative

staff.

The Seat Shuffle Automated Exam Seating Arrangement App aims to modernize the

examination management process by replacing manual methods with an efficient, automated

solution. By addressing the challenges associated with traditional seating arrangements, this

standalone application offers a promising alternative that enhances efficiency, accuracy, and user

satisfaction in educational institutes. This study sets the stage for future advancements in

examination management systems, paving the way for a more streamlined and stress-free

experience for all stakeholders involved. Designed to assist departments in managing student

details more efficiently. Previously, records were manually maintained, but this software solution

allows departments to enhance productivity, reduce time, and cut costs associated with the

system. Automating the process ensures proper record maintenance minimizes expenses and

ensures accurate and efficient operation.

 Many people reckon that it’s Microsoft’s way of controlling the Internet, which is

false. .NET is Microsoft’s strategy of software that provides services to people any time, any

place, is any device. An accurate definition of .NET is, it’s an XML Web Services platform

which allows us to build rich .NET applications, which allows users to interact with the Internet

using wide range of smart devices (tablet devices, pocket PC’s, web phones etc), which allows to

build and integrate Web Services and which comes with many rich set of tools like Visual Studio

to fully develop and build those applications.

Visual Basic .NET provides the easiest, most productive language and tool for rapidly

building Windows and Web based applications. Visual Basic .NET comes with enhanced visual

designers, increased application performance, and a powerful integrated development

environment (IDE). It also supports creation of applications for wireless, Internet-enabled hand-

held devices. The following are the features of Visual Basic .NET with .NET Framework 1.0 and

Visual Basic .NET 2003 with .NET Framework 1.1. This answers why should I use Visual

Basic .NET, what I can do with it? Visual Basic .NET comes with features as powerful new

forms designers, an in-place menu editor, and automatic control anchoring and docking. Visual

Basic .NET delivers new productivity features for building more robust applications easily and

quickly. With an improved integrated development environment (IDE) and a significantly

reduced startup time, Visual Basic .NET offers fast, automatic formatting of code as you type,

improved IntelliSense, an enhanced object browser and XML designer, and much more.

An automatic seating plan is a diagram or a set of written or spoken instructions that

determines where people should take their seats. It is widely used on diverse occasions. Seating
plans have a wide range of purposes. At formal dinners, they are used to avoid chaos and

confusion upon entrance and to follow the etiquette. Bougie (2019)

According to Tuniki (2020) Examination seating arrangement is a major issue faced by

an institution. A university consists of a large number of students and classrooms, which makes

it difficult for the university authorities to design seating arrangement manually. The proposed

solution provides an efficient set of algorithms for examination seating allocation problems. It

also gives the best combination of rooms to be utilized for the examination and dynamically

organizes seating based on the orientation of the room and students.

Examination plays a vital role in any education system. It has been observed that most of

the activities being managed in any examination or by any examination conducting authority are

traditionally manually conducted activities. This will not only help in automation of the routinely

conducted activities but also help in utilizing the manpower available for enhancing the

processes and their skill sets. It will help in efficiently utilizing the resources available for

conducting an examination in the organization. Bilal H. (2019)

During exam period, it is very hectic task to find out seat is allocated to a particular

student. Students used to face many problems for finding their seats. Therefore, an Automatic

seating arrangement system is needed to computerize the traditional way of preparing the

examination allotment and generate the seating arrangement plan automatically for smooth

conduction of exams. Nandhu Kishore (2021)

Presently, the seating arrangement for the examinations is done manually. Initially the

examination section has to collect all student examination registration details branch wise and

year wise. These details include name, roll no, branch, year, list of subjects registered for exam.
The administrator need to count the total number students registered. Then he needs to select the

rooms and divide the students among those rooms. After dividing the rooms, he need to prepare

students list for each based on the exam. He also needs to prepare the seating arrangement list for

each room based upon the count. All this work need to be done for each exam and for each

branch and year. This is very tedious work and there are many chances for mistakes to occur due

to manual work. The examination seating arrangement system‖ automizes the existing system of

assigning seating arrangement. In Our System all the records of student are stored in software

and the seating arrangement is done automatically without doing any tedious work. Nadkar

Tushar (2021)

Despite unceasing debate about it’s pros and cons, exams and standardized testing have

emerged as the main mode of evaluation and comparison in our increasingly competitive world.

Inevitably, some examinees attempt to illegally gain an unfair advantage over other candidates

by indulging in cheating and malpractice. Even a single case of examination malpractice can

destroy an Examination body’s credibility and even lead to costly and time-consuming legal

proceedings. Kashyap (2021)

In the context of this study, “sitting arrangement” or simply “sitting formation” are ways

of achieving acceptable standards during the test-taking process by altering the sitting pattern of

examinees before commencing the test. It refers to the order and organisation of students’ sitting

structure before receiving an assessment instrument. The present study derives root from the

finding of Odongo et al. (2021) which revealed that many students sit in “formation” or

according to a unique pattern to enable them to cheat during examinations. According to the

cited authors, the formation aims to allow students to draw support from group members.

Although the cited study also revealed that the effectiveness of the formation could be reduced
through a reshuffling of students, it did not explain how the students should be subsequently

rearranged. Also, Odongo and his colleagues did not reveal the extent to which the reshuffling of

students can mitigate examination malpractice, being a qualitative study. The present study

draws from these limitations and quantitatively assesses how three sitting arrangements can

reduce malpractice behaviour among higher education test-takers. This study makes a unique

contribution to the existing body of knowledge. It can be a valuable tool for examiners,

examination bodies, educational invigilators and assessment experts to determine what approach

to use while conducting internal and external examinations. The rationale was to determine the

method(s) that are effective or otherwise in mitigating the prevalence of examination malpractice

among higher education students.

This overlooked aspect is critical because the techniques adopted to monitor students as

they take assessments could go a long way to deciding how test-takers behave. The presence of

invigilators plays a vital role in curtailing excesses in test-takers’ behaviour during the

administration of tests Owan et al., (2019).

The evolution of the educational sector in embracing technological advancements has

highlighted the need for innovative solutions to traditional challenges. The examination seating

arrangement, a critical yet complex task, has long relied on manual methods, leading to

inefficiencies, errors, and added stress for students and administrative staff alike.

The development of the Seat Shuffle Automated Exam Seating Arrangement App

represents a significant step towards modernizing the examination management process. This

standalone application offers an automated and efficient solution to the challenges associated

with seating arrangements, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and user satisfaction in educational

institutes.
 Visual Basic .NET, with its robust features and capabilities, serves as an ideal platform

for developing such applications. Its user-friendly interface, enhanced visual designers, and

powerful IDE enable developers to create high-quality applications with ease and speed.

The proposed solution not only automates the traditionally manual process of seating

arrangement but also streamlines the management of student details, reducing time and costs

associated with the system. By leveraging algorithms for efficient seating allocation and dynamic

organization based on room orientation and student distribution, the system ensures fair and

organized examinations.

Furthermore, the automated seating plan addresses the issue of examination malpractice

by reshuffling seating arrangements to mitigate cheating opportunities. This approach not only

enhances the credibility of examination bodies but also contributes to maintaining the integrity of

the examination process.

Seat Shuffle Automated Exam Seating Arrangement App offers a promising alternative

to manual seating arrangement methods, setting the stage for future advancements in

examination management systems. By providing a streamlined and stress-free experience for all

stakeholders involved, this innovative solution paves the way for a more efficient and effective

examination environment in educational institutes.