SOAW: Student Online Appeal Web Application

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the viability of developing the Student Online Appeal Web Application which could be allowing students to do online academic appeals specifically at the University of Zambia. Student Online Appeal Web Application has high importance as it could be allowing students to be appealing within the stipulated time and be given the feedback in time. Students face challenges with regards to their continuous assessment and exams results upon publication. Over past years, the University of Zambia has been recording a number of students who repeat courses. There could be many reasons associated with repeating courses which could be associated with delayed in response or not given response after making appeals for the missing grade or failed course after the publication of the results. It was difficult for students to appeal and get desired responses on either missing or failed courses because of the system used for appealing at the University of Zambia. The system is used for appealing delays in giving responses and sometimes, responses are not given at all. In an attempt to solve this issue, this study presents the Student Online Appeal Web Application. The system which should be allowing students to appeal online without making physical appeals or face to face interaction with their lecturers on the appeals. Therefore, the intent of this study was to examine the possibility of implementing the Student Online Appeal Web Application. The student online appeal web application could help students to appeal to management virtually and thus reduce the need for face-to-face interactions to make the process smooth and straightforward while adding a high level of students appeal within a close time period as well as receive feedback in time. It could also reduce the workloads of both lecturers as well as students. Students’ workload could be reduced through not doing the same course twice thereby having few courses for each particular year. Lecturer’s workload could also be reduced through having few students who are supposed to do the course in that particular year. The student online appeal web application could achieve all these by providing responses to the appealers within two weeks’ time and by avoiding unattended appeals.