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GROUP FORMATION USING SHORTE1ST PATH APPROACH
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ONCHAYA KHONGKAEW
GROUP FORMATION USING SH0RT:EST PATH APPROACH
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A thesis submitted to the Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Science (Information Technology)
University Utara Malaysia BY
Onchaya Khongkae,w
0 Onchaya Khongkaew, 2004. All rights reserved
JABATAN HAL EHWAL AKADEMIK (Department of Academic Affairs)
U n i v e r s i t i Utara M a l a y s i a
PERAKUAN KERJA KERTAS P R O J E K (Certificate of Project Paper)
Saya, yang bertandatangan, memperakukan bahalva (I, the undersigned, certify that)
ONCHAYA KHONGKAEW
calon u n t u k I j a z a h
(candidate f o r the degree of) MSc. (IT]
telah mengemukakan ker tas projek yang bertzjxk (kas presented his/ h e r projeci paper of the foliowing ii:Lts!
. .
GROUP FOfiMATION USING SHORTEST PATH APPROACH
seperti y a n g tercata: di muka surat tajuk dan kulit kertas projek (as it appears on. ;he title page ond front cover of project paper)
ha!hw.-a Irer+,as prajek tersebiit Scleh cliterima d x i s e g beEtuk serta kandunzar, dan meliputi Sidang ilmu dengsn memuaskan.
(that t h e project paper acce9table in form and content, a n d that a satisfac:oq kr,oz&2!,‘cr’yt: of ;:7c ,filed c0;*2red b3 t f 7 D pvC_:L.C_.t pcx?o’-,’
Nama Penyelia Utama
(Name ofnlain Supem-sor): EN. ZH4hIRI CHE AN1
Tandatangan (Signature)
Tarikh (Date)
I
GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITI UTARA M'4LAYSIA
PERMISSION TO IJSE
In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a post graduate degree from Universiti Utara Malaysia, I agree that the University Library may take it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or part, for scholarly purpose may be granted by my supervisor(s) or, in their absence, by the Dean of the Graduate School, It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to Universiti Utara Malaysia for any scholarly use which may be made sof any material my thesis.
Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of materials in this thesis, in whole or in part, should be addressed to:
Dean of Graduate School Universiti Utara Malaysia
06010 UIJM Siritok Kedah Darul A.man
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ABSTRACT
Group work is becoming more important in education. Working in groups give students the ability to share ideas, to enhance problem solving skills and to improve communication skills. Thus, group formation becomes a crucial issue in order to increase group capability. However in UUM, several colleges are located remotely and majority of the students do not own personal transport. These create constraints for group meetings and it will effect the group performance. Therefore, this paper proposes method for identifying groups using shortest path approach and we hope this approach is useful for lecturers who have a large class. We also believe that the approach can be integrated with other existing methods in group formation.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis would not be possible if it were not for the support and guidance from my supervisors, Mr. Zhamri Che Ani. I would very imuch like to express my deepest gratitude and sincerest appreciation to him for his invaluable guidance, supervision and constant encouragement throughout this study.
I would especially like to thank Ketsarin Sae-sim for her courage and Chuthathip Srisuwan for her alertness to answer my every question.
Finally, I am forever indebted to my Khongkaew fa.mily, Mr. Jaran, Mrs. Kanya, and Mr. Aekasit for their understanding, endless patience and encouragement when it was most required.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Page PERMISSION TO USE
ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES
CHAPTERONE : INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study
1.2 Problem statement 1.3 Objectives
1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Summary
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CHAPTERTWO : LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Overview of Group 8
2.2 Overview of Group Formation 12
2.2.1 Methods in group formation 13
2.2.2 Important criteria in group formation 16 2.3 Previous researches on group formation system development 19 2.4 Overview of Shortest Path
2.5 Summary
22 23
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CHAPTER THREE : METHODOLOGY 3.1
3.2
Identifying the distance among all the colleges Converting UUM map to graph characteristic according to shortest path method
Applying shortest path algorithm in group formation 3.3
3.4 Verifying the result 3.5 Functional requirement 3.6 Summary
CHAPTER FOUR : FINDING RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Finding the potential group
4.2 The potential group 4.3 Verifying the result 4.4 Discussion
4.5 Summary
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28 29 32 33 36
37 40 41 42 43
CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION AND RECCOMENDATION
5.1 Conclusion
5.2 Problems and limitation 5.3 Recommendations 5.4 Summary
44 46 46 47
REFERENCES 48
APPENDIX
Appendix A : Feature of Student group Formation System 52
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LIST OF TABLES
Table No.
1.1 2.1 2.2
2.3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5
Name of Table Page No.
Colleges in UUM 3
The Group Development Stages of Tuckman and Jesen (1 997) 1 1 The advantages and disadvantages of each method in
group formation
Previous researches on group formation system development Distances connecting pairs of colleges
Detail of Shortest paths among all the colleges Shortest paths among all the colleges: (in meter) Functional requirement
Definition for actor Definition for Use case
The number of student in each college Number of remain student in each college Distance between two colleges
Potential Groups
Comparison the distance of potential group with each case
15 19 27 31 32 40 34 35 37 38 39 41 42
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No. Name of Figure 2.1
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 4.1
Finding the shortest paths from a starting node Number of students in each college
Research methodology steps Map of UUM
Graph of UUM colleges and distance
Finding shortest paths and distances from A to E Use case diagram for student group hrmation system Steps for generating student group in. Testing and Software Quality Assurance course
Page No.
23 24 25 26 28 30 34
40
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