Development of a Computer Program for Class Attendance Checking Program for Royal Thai Naval Academy Development of a Computer Program for Course Attendance Recording at the Royal Thai Naval Academy

Abstract

The recording of course attendance at the Naval Academy has traditionally been conducted using paper-based methods. Such practices create administrative burdens for instructors in calculating cumulative attendance hours at the end of each semester, lead to inefficient resource utilization, and increase the risk of data loss. To address these limitations, this study aimed to design and develop a computerized course attendance recording system for cadets at the Naval Academy.

The objectives of this research were threefold: (1) to develop a system capable of displaying individual session attendance records, calculating cumulative attendance hours for each cadet in each course, and reporting documented reasons for absences; (2) to evaluate the quality of the developed system through expert assessment; and (3) to investigate user satisfaction with the system.

The evaluation samples consisted of three computer science experts and five end users, selected through purposive sampling. The system was developed using AppServ, NetBeans, PHP, CSS, JavaScript, and MySQL. System design and analysis were conducted using Unified Modeling Language (UML), including Use-case Diagrams, Activity Diagrams, and Sequence Diagrams.

Research instruments included: (1) a system quality assessment form for experts, covering four dimensions—system analysis and design, functional accuracy, usability, and data security; and (2) a user satisfaction questionnaire assessing five dimensions—user manual quality, functional performance, usability, system components, and data presentation.

The findings indicated that the developed system effectively displayed attendance records for each session, accurately calculated cumulative attendance hours per cadet per course, and comprehensively documented reasons for absence. Expert evaluation results demonstrated that system analysis and design were rated at the highest level (mean = 4.33), functional accuracy at the highest level (mean = 4.67), usability at the highest level (mean = 4.67), and data security at a high level (mean = 4.00). User satisfaction results revealed that the user manual and functional performance were rated at the highest level (mean = 4.60), usability at a high level (mean = 4.20), system components at the highest level (mean = 4.60), and data presentation at a high level (mean = 4.20).

In conclusion, the developed computerized attendance recording system demonstrated high levels of quality and user satisfaction, indicating its effectiveness and suitability for implementation in the academic administration processes of the Naval Academy.