Mobile Messaging System Development for Higher Education

Mobile Messaging System Development for Higher Education Overview Mobiles are one of the most versatile electronics in the present scenario. It constantly keeps us connected with our near ones even when we are travelling out of our city or to another country. It reduces our tension and gives us feel as we are in home. The biggest advantage of mobile phones is they keep you connected. The developer tries to use this advantage in educational institution such as a college to bring down the interaction gap between management, teachers and students. 1.1 Topic: Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System 1.2 Purpose of the situation Everyone in this world wants to do the work at their fingertips. Mobile is best suitable solution to the problem. It minimizes our burdens (example reminder helps us from remembering all the birthdays, meeting etc). It also gives easier access to the internet anytime, anywhere. There is no doughty that our mobile has made our life a lot convenient. One can interact with anyone, anytime from anywhere through mobile. However there are limitations to it. What if a student wants to consult with a teacher for clearing dough about any topic when he is out for an interview? Generally teachers do not give their cell number to all students. What if a student wants to reserve a book from his college library when he is in the way to college? There may be a situation when college wants to inform all students about urgent information, but some of the student might not be present in the college. Suppose a student is in railway station and wants to confirm about the examination timetable for reserv ing railway seat to his home in the vacations. How can he confirm that? Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System (SCSMS) is a solution to make our life further one more step simpler and increase the services provided by the mobile to the next level. It is being developed mainly for an educational institute such as colleges. The main aim of the system is to reduce the communication gape between student, faculty and management. The Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is a mobile application which can be used from anywhere. Through Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System we can fix consultation, get news and lattà ©s updates, reserve library books, check library lone, download e-book from library etc. The student will be able to do lots of thing which they could not do if they were not in college so the application will increase the freedom of the student. 1.3 Target Reader As the application will be for educational institution like colleges the targeted reader will be:- Students: Students will be the most targeted user as they will be the most frequent user. The system is being designed keeping this thing in mind. Most of the features of the application revolve around the student. Teachers: Teachers will be seconde most frequent user. They will use the system mainly to assist the students. They will also use the system to deliver important information and news to the student. Management: The complete system will be maintained by the management. They will be the system administrator. It will be the job of management to create, delete and manage accounts. Moreover management can also send news to the students. 1.4 Topic Background In today’s scenario the whole world is sifting to the mobile application. It is known third wave in computer evolution series. With over 3 billion mobile users today, mobile devices have become the most ubiquitous communications medium in the hands of the consumers [2]. Mobile application developmentis quite an active arena today, much due to the popularity and increasing demand of mobile phones. Its growing popularity from several years is making the users more and more enthusiastic [3]. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is a system which make work easy and more interactive, it is the solution provider and making task simple and easier. 1.5 Problem Context Any information is information if it is timely; else, it is of no use. It really becomes a thing to be concerned about when there is a communication gap in any institution. As we all know, today’s era is of Ubiquitous Computing; anytime anywhere. So the system could be used from anywhere and anytime. The present system which is being used by the college is a web based system. To us the system we need a computer or a laptop. So it restrict us as, it is very tough to find a computer with internet working on it, every time we need to use the system. At that particular moment of time the current system is of no use of we are not able to get an internet connected computer or laptop. Due to this limitation we are not able to remain connected with the institution (college). Even if we open it through the mobile browser it is extremely tough for us to navigate the website which is made for high resolution computer or laptop screen in the limited size display of a mobile. Apart from this we require many more functionality which is not present in the present working system. Suppose a notice comes for any student in his class. But he was not in the class. There is no option it the present system to inform such student automatically. We need to manually call or send SMS to inform him or tell the student’s friend to inform him. As a result many time the information even do not rich the concerned student at time. Hence lot of effort is required, lot of time is wasted and productivity decreases. Loot of work is done manually. So accuracy is also decreased. 1.6 Rationale The system is being made in order to provide solution to lots of problem faced by the college. It will improve the information process of the college. Let us take a real life example of our college. â€Å"The students were at home after completing their even semester. The college was reopening at the end of July. However the last date for depositing semester fee was near about 15th of July. Students were not aware about last date of fee deposition, as a result 90% of the student was fined for late fee submission.† Had the SCSMS been implemented this ambiguity could had been solved just by informing the entire student by sending a message two to three weeks before the last date. There are many tangible and intangible advantages which we can get from the proposed system. Tangible benefits: The first and the foremost advantage of the proposed system is that it reduces the communication gap between students, teachers and management. To fix a consultation we do not need to go to the teacher and roam here and there to searching teacher if teacher is not present in his/her office. This could be done just by pressing few buttons on the mobile. Important information could be delivered to the concerned people at time so that no ambiguity can arise. It will make the work smoother were work could be done just by pressing few buttons. So the system would reduce so much of stress from user head. It will make things lot simpler and reduce human effort. Anyone who wants to use the system can use it easily on his/her mobile, as the system is dedicatedly made for the mobile. As there will not be communication gap so productivity will automatically increase. Intangible benefits: It will provide security to the user. If we log on to the present used system (which is a web based application) through other’s computer or laptop, our account may get hacked as there may be spyware like password catcher installed in it. It will save wastage of money, as student does not need to move to cyber cafe to use the system. SCSMS will reduce the wastage of time in searching cyber cafà ©. It will increase the knowledge of the student. The discussion forum will help to increase the knowledge of the student. It will make the student comfortable in technical round of the placement process. The student can take test of technical round to practice through the proposed system. It will remove the biased process in any polling. As through the proposed system will do it automatically. 1.7 Objectives of System Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is an automated mobile application. The system communicates with the user and provides the complete information as the user in intended to view. It will reduce the communication gap between student and teachers and management. The application is being developed so that the user does not need to move to any new place to do the work. The main objectives of the system are: The proposed system will reduces communication gap between management, teachers and students. The various features such as news alert, messaging system, and m-consultation will reduce the communication gap. The application will provide ‘ease to express to mass of students’ with messaging service. So the information can easily wide spread to a bulk of student keeping them updated about what is going on in the college. Save time: The proposed system will enable student to fix consultation through their mobile. The student can also reserve book from their college library through the proposed system from anywhere around without going to the library there by reduces wastage of time. Increased productivity: As the proposed system will reduce the communication gap among management, teacher, student and keeps them updated so that everyone will be able to perform on the latest scenario, optimizing the productivity. Save wastage of money: As the present system, which is being used by the college is a web based system. So the students have to search a cyber cafà © each time they want to access some information. However the proposed system adds a solution to it, as it is a mobile application it can be accessed from any ware through our mobile. Reduces human effort: The proposed system will reduce human effort in many ways. The student will not have to go to the teacher to fix consultation. The student will not need to go to library to reserve a book. They can do this just by pressing few buttons of their mobile. Ends ambiguity: The proposed system has feature to communicate information to the masses. So the student will be updated with the latest news giving no place to ambiguity to arise. Increase Freedom: According to Bill Gates â€Å"Im a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that theyre interested in†. The proposed system will reduce the restriction from the students and increase their freedom. Improve accuracy: The proposed system is an automatic system hence it will reduce the accuracy removing the silly mistakes made by human. 1.8 Functionality of System The functionality of the system is divided into three different categories: core functionality, enhanced functionality and special functionality. Core functionalities: Automatically fix consultation if the teacher and student both are ready and this time is not allocated to any other student: First of all the student requests for consultation to the specific teacher. The message is automatically send to the teacher with suggested time when teacher is not having any class or other meeting. However the teacher can change the time according to his/her wish. Now this time is set as consultation hour and message is sent to both teacher and student about it. View attendance summary: The student can see the attendance summery from anywhere anytime. View result of exams: As soon as the result is declared a message is forwarded to the student informing him about the result. Now the student can view the result if he/she wishes. Check library lone, fine: Student can check name of the book that he borrowed from library. He can also find if there is any fine on him. Class time table and Exam time table: whenever the class timetable will be changed the new timetable will be forwarded to the entire student. Student can also view exam timetable whenever declared. News alert: the student can get the latest news in their cell. Enhanced functionalities: Get attendance alert:- The student will get attendance alert whenever he will cross the boundary line of attendance such as 3, 6, 9. Reserve a book: the student will be able to reserve the library book right from his home sleeping in his bed. Download books: the student can download the e-book and read anywhere he wants. Quick Polling: It will be used to quick poll and find the eligible candidate for any post such as class representative. Discussion Forum: the students can discus over any topic in the discussion forum. Special functionalities: Student can have e- consultation via chatting: the student can have e-consultation by chatting to work out small problems. Aptitude and technical test: student can take test to maser themselves where they stand. It will contain mainly multiple choice questions. Download the application through Bluetooth: any intended student can download the proposed application by moving to a particular place and download the application to his mobile. Scope and deliverables: Identification of the scope of the project should be done before developing the system. This allows the developer to know the boundary of the system. So that all the issues related to success of the project can be cleared. It is a fact that no system can be perfect or with no limitation. SCSMS also has some boundaries which add a slate limitation to its scope. Detailed scope of the project has been mentioned below: Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is meant to solve large variety of problems faced. It will reduce the communication gap, reduces time wasting, and reduces human effort and increases performance and accuracy. However there is little limitation to it as well. Limitations of the scope: It will need GPRS facility to work. So by any reason the internet do not work the system will not work. It will run only in java supporting mobiles. Although most of the popular like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, Apple iPhone etc. are J2ME enabled but there are some exception like older versions of Blackberry. As the system works on client server architecture, so if the server goes down the entire system will clash. It will be used parallel with a website where functionality which requires lot of things to be displayed can be preformed such as marking system. Chapter 2 Problem Description â€Å"Our problems are man-made; therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings†. John F. Kennedy 2.1 Problem Description Proposed Solution The primary aim of the proposed system is to reduce the communication gap between management, teachers and student and act as a communication channel between them. In the present scenario lot of work is done manually. It requires lot of human effort, time so the end result is not satisfactory. Suppose a student wants to fix a consultation with a teacher. He reaches to the office of the teacher but the teacher was not there. The student stood by the door for 10 min and then went back. After half n hour the student again came but the teacher was not in his office. The student get annoyed went back to his home. So at the end, complete one hour was just a west. There are many more problems faced by the system which is listed below. Most of the problems present in the current system raised because the current system in a website. Many problems are faced as the current system does not have solution to all the features. These problems can be solved through developing a mobile application an d increasing the functionality. Below is a list of problem along with the proposed solution: Problem: To fix a consultation student need to go to the teacher then and get a time and need to come back for consultation on the date and time as fixed by teacher. So lots of time consuming, manual work has to be done. Proposed Solution: Automatic consultation fixer has been proposed in the proposed system. In this module whenever a student will request teacher for consultation through his mobile, the request will be forwarded to the teacher. As soon as the teacher will approve the request a proposed time will be generated by going through the timetable of the student and teacher. The consultation will be fixed when teacher accept it. Problem: As the consultation is fixed manually so the time of consultation may collide with other students’ time. Proposed Solution: The time once allotted a student by Automatic consultation fixer will never be allotted to other student. So there is no chance that time gets collided. Problem: If student or teacher wants to cancel the consultation then there is no way to inform other. Proposed Solution: Automatic consultation fixer will have feature to cancel consultation. As soon as teacher or student cancels consultation, a message will be forwarded to other one. Problem: Some student are of shy and feel uncomfortable in asking problems with teacher, so they will not be able to consult teacher regarding any problem. Proposed Solution: Even the shy students can have consultation through the proposed system. There will be a feature for m-consultation where students can consult with teacher via chatting through mobile without paying any charge for SMS. Problem: If a student in not in college then he cannot reserve a book from a library. Proposed Solution: In the proposed system the application will have a feature of reserving a book form library from anywhere in this world through our mobile having GPRS connectivity. Problem: The student cannot use library resources when they are not college. Proposed Solution: In the proposed system the application will have a feature of downloading e-books form library through student’s mobile. Problem: If a student is out of the college then there is no way to remain connected with the college for latest news updates such news of visit of any company for placement. Proposed Solution: In the proposed system the application will have a feature of news alert where management or teacher can inform the latest news alert directly to the students mobile. Problem: There is no way to view the class or examination timetable right from the students’ home. Proposed Solution: Student can also view the class or examination timetable right from the students’ home through the proposed system. Problem: The present system does not have any criteria to conduct polling for any post. Polling is done manually so the final output can be biased. Proposed Solution: Polling has also been added to the system so the result produced by the pool is not biased and more and more student takes part in the poll. Problem: As now a day the demand of aptitude test is at climax but the present system fails to deliver any such facility. Proposed Solution: Keeping the demand of aptitude test and student’s need a module for aptitude test module has also been added. Chapter 3 Literature Review 3.1 Domain Research 3.1.1 Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System 3.1.2 Major components that should be present in smart consultation scheduler and mobile messaging system 3.2 Research on Similar System 3.3 Architecture of the System 3.1 Domain Research: 3.1.1 Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System In the today’s world scenario everyone wish to perform work and task at their fingertip. And mobile is the device which allows them to fulfill their wish more effectively and efficiently. Mobile is the most usable device now days because of lots of benefits attached to it. Mobile is helpful in various ways, it give all the information, news ,events etc and make people aware of things to do and things to remember. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is a system which make work easy and more interactive, it is the solution provider and making task simple and easier. This system is based on the college management automation system. The application developed is an automated application suite of Institute or college administration including student information, employee information, library, fees managing, student information, subject, time table, student attendance, marks, discipline, performance etc. It permits the user to retrieve, manipulate and present student data in a meaningful and user friendly manner, generating reports dynamically. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System totally work like college automation system but it off with latest technology and of wider use. This provides various facilities of college online. The main goal and aim of this system is to reduce communication gap between student, faculties and also management. The Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is an application to which you can use it from anywhere with your mobile. Through Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System we can fix consultation, get news and lattà ©s updates, reserve library books, check library lone, download e-book from library etc. Present systems is web based and this Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is mobile service which is more effective and fast and more beneficial. 3.1.2 Major components that should be present in smart consultation scheduler and mobile messaging system As mobile is the most usable device all over the world now. Everyone wants to access everything on their mobile. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is such an application which can be used anywhere from their mobile. This system include following components: Attendance system for the students The student can see the attendance summery from anywhere anytime. Result of the students- As soon as the result is declared a message is forwarded to the student informing him about the result. Now the student can view the result if he wishes. Online Library Student can check name of the book that he borrowed from library. He can also find if there is any fine on him. Automating Consultation with the teacher (for students), head of the organization and among staff (for staffs)- Automatically fix consultation if the teacher and student both are ready and this time is not allocated to any other student .A student can also take consultation via mean of m chatting. Class time table and Exam time table. Whenever the class timetable will be changed the new timetable will be forwarded to the entire student. Student can also view exam timetable whenever declared. News alert- There will be facility of sending news to all the students and also to the faculties. Online Polling- There is another feature of online polling, where student can poll about any event. Aptitude Test- Student can give aptitude test from their mobile and can improve their problem solving skill. 3.2 Research on Similar System Research is a method or practice which direct toward the increase of knowledge, the major goal of research is to gain vast knowledge with the better understanding of the project under study.Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is also a solution to make our life further one step simpler. It will be mainly for an educational institute such as colleges. The main aim of the system is to reduce the communication gap between student, faculty and management. The similar kind of system in today’s scenario are limiting and lacking in various features. Therefore to make â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System† more efficient it is necessary to compare it with existing system. Take an example of Webspace of APIIT SD INDIA. In this Webspace there are many functionalities still it lacking behind the â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System†. In the current Webspace there is no option to take consultation hour with faculty online. And there is not a feature of aptitude test online polling. The present system does not have any criteria to conduct polling for any post and as now a day the demand of aptitude test is at climax but the present system fails to deliver any such facility. Or also not any feature of class and exam time schedule. In this way this similar system is far behind in functionalities as compared to the proposed system. And on the basis of above mentioned research it has been conclude that propose system have much better functionality and features than existing system. Conclusion on the basisof research which has been carried out above it has been clear that â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System† is more effective, more functional and efficient as compared to the existing system. This system will make various tasks of college easier and will make them more interactive. It will save time get waste in taking consultation hour through mobile and it will give news about any event or about anything immediately. This system will be helpful and quite handful for the student and faculties. 3.3 Architecture of the System Architecture of the â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System† system is 3-Tier Client/Server Architecture. 3-tier application is organized into three major disjunctive tiers on layers. Client Tier (made in J2ME) Application Tier (made in J2EE) Database Tier (MySQL) Benefits of using 3-Tier architecture are mentioned below: Main benefit of 3-Tier architecture is that any other tier can be replaced without affecting the other tiers. For example if the developer finds any bug in calculating fine, only J2EE application page to calculate fine need to be changed without changing J2ME client application. Improved security as it is implemented at multiple levels. If we uses direct communication between the database and the mobile application. Database name, password can be extracted and then the hacker can do anything even can delete the database. Only valid data is allowed to be updated in the database and the risk of a scoundrel client application corrupting data is removed. As the database will be at the server and only authorized person will have the username and password to access it. Improved data integrity. As the database will be at the server so every user will use same database. Hence data integrity will be improved. It has improved scalability because the application servers can be deploying on many machines [5]. Even the number of user will be increased the web application can be deployed on multiple server to support this large chunk of users. Chapter 4 Research Methods â€Å"Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought† Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Overview: 4.1 Primary Research 4.2 Secondary Research 4.3 Academic Research 4.4 Technical Research 4.4.1 Programming Environment Research 4.4.2 Database Research 4.5 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 4.1 Primary Research Primary research involves gettingoriginal datadirectly from the user about the product or market [4]. It is the initial research that is done during the development of a system. The primary objective of the primary research is to gather preliminary information which could support the designing of the application. So it is fundamental step, in order to continue with development of the application. Along with this, primary research is also used to gather user requirements on the system being developed and to estimate the feasibility of the proposed system. Primary research is done with the direct involvement of the targeted reader. There are many techniques to carry out primary research such as Questionnaires, Interview, Brain Storming, Onsite observation, Pilot study, Focus Group etc. However the developer have used questionnaire to perform primary research. Questionnaires It is a method of gathering information from a group of individuals using identical procedures for each person. Questionnaireis a data collection tool in which written questions are presented that are to be answered by the respondents in written form. The questionnaires are to be distributed to the student of a college who are using similar type of system. These students can suggest the good feature present in the system and the limitation in the present system which they are using. Justification: The target readers are already using simpler type of system having few of the functionality as the proposed system have. So users are aware about it up to some extent and they know what they want and what they do not. The proposed system is made for large group of user. Questionnaire makes the work easy as it can be conducted on a group of individuals using identical procedure. There are three types of questionnaire depending on type of user; Students, Teachers and administrator. Sample Questioner Dear Respondent: The developer is a Final Year Degree student from Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology who is currently doing a Final Year Project which entitled Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System. The main purpose of the system is to reduce the communication gap between management and teacher and student by reaching to their cell phones. The system will help the student and teacher to fix consultation automatically by suggesting a time when both of them are free through checking the timetable of student and teacher. With the help of this mobile application the student can reserve a book from library or check for fine, issued book on his account. Management can send the latest news or information about any meeting directly to the student’s cell. The student can check attendance summery, result, examination and class timetable through this system. Student can go for an aptitude or similar test having multiple options to verify their level. However these featur es can be moderated depending on your response. So your response is highly important for me. As you are part of such institution and familiar with such system so you can help us in defining the structure or functionality of the system. These questionnaires will not take more than 5 minutes of your time. It is having objective type question where you need to check one or more option or write one/few words depending on the question. The questionnaire does not contain any such emotional or personal question. However the information provided by you will not be disclosed to anyone. Even if the developer needs to be share, it will not be done without your permission. Thank you a lot for participating. Please proceed further to the questionnaire section. PERSONAL INFORMATION Name _____________________________________________________ E-Mail _____________________________________________________ Questionnaires (for student) 1. Have you come across Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System (SCSMS) or similar application? [ ] Yes [ ] No If yes plea Mobile Messaging System Development for Higher Education Mobile Messaging System Development for Higher Education Overview Mobiles are one of the most versatile electronics in the present scenario. It constantly keeps us connected with our near ones even when we are travelling out of our city or to another country. It reduces our tension and gives us feel as we are in home. The biggest advantage of mobile phones is they keep you connected. The developer tries to use this advantage in educational institution such as a college to bring down the interaction gap between management, teachers and students. 1.1 Topic: Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System 1.2 Purpose of the situation Everyone in this world wants to do the work at their fingertips. Mobile is best suitable solution to the problem. It minimizes our burdens (example reminder helps us from remembering all the birthdays, meeting etc). It also gives easier access to the internet anytime, anywhere. There is no doughty that our mobile has made our life a lot convenient. One can interact with anyone, anytime from anywhere through mobile. However there are limitations to it. What if a student wants to consult with a teacher for clearing dough about any topic when he is out for an interview? Generally teachers do not give their cell number to all students. What if a student wants to reserve a book from his college library when he is in the way to college? There may be a situation when college wants to inform all students about urgent information, but some of the student might not be present in the college. Suppose a student is in railway station and wants to confirm about the examination timetable for reserv ing railway seat to his home in the vacations. How can he confirm that? Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System (SCSMS) is a solution to make our life further one more step simpler and increase the services provided by the mobile to the next level. It is being developed mainly for an educational institute such as colleges. The main aim of the system is to reduce the communication gape between student, faculty and management. The Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is a mobile application which can be used from anywhere. Through Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System we can fix consultation, get news and lattà ©s updates, reserve library books, check library lone, download e-book from library etc. The student will be able to do lots of thing which they could not do if they were not in college so the application will increase the freedom of the student. 1.3 Target Reader As the application will be for educational institution like colleges the targeted reader will be:- Students: Students will be the most targeted user as they will be the most frequent user. The system is being designed keeping this thing in mind. Most of the features of the application revolve around the student. Teachers: Teachers will be seconde most frequent user. They will use the system mainly to assist the students. They will also use the system to deliver important information and news to the student. Management: The complete system will be maintained by the management. They will be the system administrator. It will be the job of management to create, delete and manage accounts. Moreover management can also send news to the students. 1.4 Topic Background In today’s scenario the whole world is sifting to the mobile application. It is known third wave in computer evolution series. With over 3 billion mobile users today, mobile devices have become the most ubiquitous communications medium in the hands of the consumers [2]. Mobile application developmentis quite an active arena today, much due to the popularity and increasing demand of mobile phones. Its growing popularity from several years is making the users more and more enthusiastic [3]. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is a system which make work easy and more interactive, it is the solution provider and making task simple and easier. 1.5 Problem Context Any information is information if it is timely; else, it is of no use. It really becomes a thing to be concerned about when there is a communication gap in any institution. As we all know, today’s era is of Ubiquitous Computing; anytime anywhere. So the system could be used from anywhere and anytime. The present system which is being used by the college is a web based system. To us the system we need a computer or a laptop. So it restrict us as, it is very tough to find a computer with internet working on it, every time we need to use the system. At that particular moment of time the current system is of no use of we are not able to get an internet connected computer or laptop. Due to this limitation we are not able to remain connected with the institution (college). Even if we open it through the mobile browser it is extremely tough for us to navigate the website which is made for high resolution computer or laptop screen in the limited size display of a mobile. Apart from this we require many more functionality which is not present in the present working system. Suppose a notice comes for any student in his class. But he was not in the class. There is no option it the present system to inform such student automatically. We need to manually call or send SMS to inform him or tell the student’s friend to inform him. As a result many time the information even do not rich the concerned student at time. Hence lot of effort is required, lot of time is wasted and productivity decreases. Loot of work is done manually. So accuracy is also decreased. 1.6 Rationale The system is being made in order to provide solution to lots of problem faced by the college. It will improve the information process of the college. Let us take a real life example of our college. â€Å"The students were at home after completing their even semester. The college was reopening at the end of July. However the last date for depositing semester fee was near about 15th of July. Students were not aware about last date of fee deposition, as a result 90% of the student was fined for late fee submission.† Had the SCSMS been implemented this ambiguity could had been solved just by informing the entire student by sending a message two to three weeks before the last date. There are many tangible and intangible advantages which we can get from the proposed system. Tangible benefits: The first and the foremost advantage of the proposed system is that it reduces the communication gap between students, teachers and management. To fix a consultation we do not need to go to the teacher and roam here and there to searching teacher if teacher is not present in his/her office. This could be done just by pressing few buttons on the mobile. Important information could be delivered to the concerned people at time so that no ambiguity can arise. It will make the work smoother were work could be done just by pressing few buttons. So the system would reduce so much of stress from user head. It will make things lot simpler and reduce human effort. Anyone who wants to use the system can use it easily on his/her mobile, as the system is dedicatedly made for the mobile. As there will not be communication gap so productivity will automatically increase. Intangible benefits: It will provide security to the user. If we log on to the present used system (which is a web based application) through other’s computer or laptop, our account may get hacked as there may be spyware like password catcher installed in it. It will save wastage of money, as student does not need to move to cyber cafe to use the system. SCSMS will reduce the wastage of time in searching cyber cafà ©. It will increase the knowledge of the student. The discussion forum will help to increase the knowledge of the student. It will make the student comfortable in technical round of the placement process. The student can take test of technical round to practice through the proposed system. It will remove the biased process in any polling. As through the proposed system will do it automatically. 1.7 Objectives of System Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is an automated mobile application. The system communicates with the user and provides the complete information as the user in intended to view. It will reduce the communication gap between student and teachers and management. The application is being developed so that the user does not need to move to any new place to do the work. The main objectives of the system are: The proposed system will reduces communication gap between management, teachers and students. The various features such as news alert, messaging system, and m-consultation will reduce the communication gap. The application will provide ‘ease to express to mass of students’ with messaging service. So the information can easily wide spread to a bulk of student keeping them updated about what is going on in the college. Save time: The proposed system will enable student to fix consultation through their mobile. The student can also reserve book from their college library through the proposed system from anywhere around without going to the library there by reduces wastage of time. Increased productivity: As the proposed system will reduce the communication gap among management, teacher, student and keeps them updated so that everyone will be able to perform on the latest scenario, optimizing the productivity. Save wastage of money: As the present system, which is being used by the college is a web based system. So the students have to search a cyber cafà © each time they want to access some information. However the proposed system adds a solution to it, as it is a mobile application it can be accessed from any ware through our mobile. Reduces human effort: The proposed system will reduce human effort in many ways. The student will not have to go to the teacher to fix consultation. The student will not need to go to library to reserve a book. They can do this just by pressing few buttons of their mobile. Ends ambiguity: The proposed system has feature to communicate information to the masses. So the student will be updated with the latest news giving no place to ambiguity to arise. Increase Freedom: According to Bill Gates â€Å"Im a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that theyre interested in†. The proposed system will reduce the restriction from the students and increase their freedom. Improve accuracy: The proposed system is an automatic system hence it will reduce the accuracy removing the silly mistakes made by human. 1.8 Functionality of System The functionality of the system is divided into three different categories: core functionality, enhanced functionality and special functionality. Core functionalities: Automatically fix consultation if the teacher and student both are ready and this time is not allocated to any other student: First of all the student requests for consultation to the specific teacher. The message is automatically send to the teacher with suggested time when teacher is not having any class or other meeting. However the teacher can change the time according to his/her wish. Now this time is set as consultation hour and message is sent to both teacher and student about it. View attendance summary: The student can see the attendance summery from anywhere anytime. View result of exams: As soon as the result is declared a message is forwarded to the student informing him about the result. Now the student can view the result if he/she wishes. Check library lone, fine: Student can check name of the book that he borrowed from library. He can also find if there is any fine on him. Class time table and Exam time table: whenever the class timetable will be changed the new timetable will be forwarded to the entire student. Student can also view exam timetable whenever declared. News alert: the student can get the latest news in their cell. Enhanced functionalities: Get attendance alert:- The student will get attendance alert whenever he will cross the boundary line of attendance such as 3, 6, 9. Reserve a book: the student will be able to reserve the library book right from his home sleeping in his bed. Download books: the student can download the e-book and read anywhere he wants. Quick Polling: It will be used to quick poll and find the eligible candidate for any post such as class representative. Discussion Forum: the students can discus over any topic in the discussion forum. Special functionalities: Student can have e- consultation via chatting: the student can have e-consultation by chatting to work out small problems. Aptitude and technical test: student can take test to maser themselves where they stand. It will contain mainly multiple choice questions. Download the application through Bluetooth: any intended student can download the proposed application by moving to a particular place and download the application to his mobile. Scope and deliverables: Identification of the scope of the project should be done before developing the system. This allows the developer to know the boundary of the system. So that all the issues related to success of the project can be cleared. It is a fact that no system can be perfect or with no limitation. SCSMS also has some boundaries which add a slate limitation to its scope. Detailed scope of the project has been mentioned below: Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is meant to solve large variety of problems faced. It will reduce the communication gap, reduces time wasting, and reduces human effort and increases performance and accuracy. However there is little limitation to it as well. Limitations of the scope: It will need GPRS facility to work. So by any reason the internet do not work the system will not work. It will run only in java supporting mobiles. Although most of the popular like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, Apple iPhone etc. are J2ME enabled but there are some exception like older versions of Blackberry. As the system works on client server architecture, so if the server goes down the entire system will clash. It will be used parallel with a website where functionality which requires lot of things to be displayed can be preformed such as marking system. Chapter 2 Problem Description â€Å"Our problems are man-made; therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings†. John F. Kennedy 2.1 Problem Description Proposed Solution The primary aim of the proposed system is to reduce the communication gap between management, teachers and student and act as a communication channel between them. In the present scenario lot of work is done manually. It requires lot of human effort, time so the end result is not satisfactory. Suppose a student wants to fix a consultation with a teacher. He reaches to the office of the teacher but the teacher was not there. The student stood by the door for 10 min and then went back. After half n hour the student again came but the teacher was not in his office. The student get annoyed went back to his home. So at the end, complete one hour was just a west. There are many more problems faced by the system which is listed below. Most of the problems present in the current system raised because the current system in a website. Many problems are faced as the current system does not have solution to all the features. These problems can be solved through developing a mobile application an d increasing the functionality. Below is a list of problem along with the proposed solution: Problem: To fix a consultation student need to go to the teacher then and get a time and need to come back for consultation on the date and time as fixed by teacher. So lots of time consuming, manual work has to be done. Proposed Solution: Automatic consultation fixer has been proposed in the proposed system. In this module whenever a student will request teacher for consultation through his mobile, the request will be forwarded to the teacher. As soon as the teacher will approve the request a proposed time will be generated by going through the timetable of the student and teacher. The consultation will be fixed when teacher accept it. Problem: As the consultation is fixed manually so the time of consultation may collide with other students’ time. Proposed Solution: The time once allotted a student by Automatic consultation fixer will never be allotted to other student. So there is no chance that time gets collided. Problem: If student or teacher wants to cancel the consultation then there is no way to inform other. Proposed Solution: Automatic consultation fixer will have feature to cancel consultation. As soon as teacher or student cancels consultation, a message will be forwarded to other one. Problem: Some student are of shy and feel uncomfortable in asking problems with teacher, so they will not be able to consult teacher regarding any problem. Proposed Solution: Even the shy students can have consultation through the proposed system. There will be a feature for m-consultation where students can consult with teacher via chatting through mobile without paying any charge for SMS. Problem: If a student in not in college then he cannot reserve a book from a library. Proposed Solution: In the proposed system the application will have a feature of reserving a book form library from anywhere in this world through our mobile having GPRS connectivity. Problem: The student cannot use library resources when they are not college. Proposed Solution: In the proposed system the application will have a feature of downloading e-books form library through student’s mobile. Problem: If a student is out of the college then there is no way to remain connected with the college for latest news updates such news of visit of any company for placement. Proposed Solution: In the proposed system the application will have a feature of news alert where management or teacher can inform the latest news alert directly to the students mobile. Problem: There is no way to view the class or examination timetable right from the students’ home. Proposed Solution: Student can also view the class or examination timetable right from the students’ home through the proposed system. Problem: The present system does not have any criteria to conduct polling for any post. Polling is done manually so the final output can be biased. Proposed Solution: Polling has also been added to the system so the result produced by the pool is not biased and more and more student takes part in the poll. Problem: As now a day the demand of aptitude test is at climax but the present system fails to deliver any such facility. Proposed Solution: Keeping the demand of aptitude test and student’s need a module for aptitude test module has also been added. Chapter 3 Literature Review 3.1 Domain Research 3.1.1 Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System 3.1.2 Major components that should be present in smart consultation scheduler and mobile messaging system 3.2 Research on Similar System 3.3 Architecture of the System 3.1 Domain Research: 3.1.1 Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System In the today’s world scenario everyone wish to perform work and task at their fingertip. And mobile is the device which allows them to fulfill their wish more effectively and efficiently. Mobile is the most usable device now days because of lots of benefits attached to it. Mobile is helpful in various ways, it give all the information, news ,events etc and make people aware of things to do and things to remember. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is a system which make work easy and more interactive, it is the solution provider and making task simple and easier. This system is based on the college management automation system. The application developed is an automated application suite of Institute or college administration including student information, employee information, library, fees managing, student information, subject, time table, student attendance, marks, discipline, performance etc. It permits the user to retrieve, manipulate and present student data in a meaningful and user friendly manner, generating reports dynamically. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System totally work like college automation system but it off with latest technology and of wider use. This provides various facilities of college online. The main goal and aim of this system is to reduce communication gap between student, faculties and also management. The Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is an application to which you can use it from anywhere with your mobile. Through Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System we can fix consultation, get news and lattà ©s updates, reserve library books, check library lone, download e-book from library etc. Present systems is web based and this Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is mobile service which is more effective and fast and more beneficial. 3.1.2 Major components that should be present in smart consultation scheduler and mobile messaging system As mobile is the most usable device all over the world now. Everyone wants to access everything on their mobile. Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is such an application which can be used anywhere from their mobile. This system include following components: Attendance system for the students The student can see the attendance summery from anywhere anytime. Result of the students- As soon as the result is declared a message is forwarded to the student informing him about the result. Now the student can view the result if he wishes. Online Library Student can check name of the book that he borrowed from library. He can also find if there is any fine on him. Automating Consultation with the teacher (for students), head of the organization and among staff (for staffs)- Automatically fix consultation if the teacher and student both are ready and this time is not allocated to any other student .A student can also take consultation via mean of m chatting. Class time table and Exam time table. Whenever the class timetable will be changed the new timetable will be forwarded to the entire student. Student can also view exam timetable whenever declared. News alert- There will be facility of sending news to all the students and also to the faculties. Online Polling- There is another feature of online polling, where student can poll about any event. Aptitude Test- Student can give aptitude test from their mobile and can improve their problem solving skill. 3.2 Research on Similar System Research is a method or practice which direct toward the increase of knowledge, the major goal of research is to gain vast knowledge with the better understanding of the project under study.Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System is also a solution to make our life further one step simpler. It will be mainly for an educational institute such as colleges. The main aim of the system is to reduce the communication gap between student, faculty and management. The similar kind of system in today’s scenario are limiting and lacking in various features. Therefore to make â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System† more efficient it is necessary to compare it with existing system. Take an example of Webspace of APIIT SD INDIA. In this Webspace there are many functionalities still it lacking behind the â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System†. In the current Webspace there is no option to take consultation hour with faculty online. And there is not a feature of aptitude test online polling. The present system does not have any criteria to conduct polling for any post and as now a day the demand of aptitude test is at climax but the present system fails to deliver any such facility. Or also not any feature of class and exam time schedule. In this way this similar system is far behind in functionalities as compared to the proposed system. And on the basis of above mentioned research it has been conclude that propose system have much better functionality and features than existing system. Conclusion on the basisof research which has been carried out above it has been clear that â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System† is more effective, more functional and efficient as compared to the existing system. This system will make various tasks of college easier and will make them more interactive. It will save time get waste in taking consultation hour through mobile and it will give news about any event or about anything immediately. This system will be helpful and quite handful for the student and faculties. 3.3 Architecture of the System Architecture of the â€Å"Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System† system is 3-Tier Client/Server Architecture. 3-tier application is organized into three major disjunctive tiers on layers. Client Tier (made in J2ME) Application Tier (made in J2EE) Database Tier (MySQL) Benefits of using 3-Tier architecture are mentioned below: Main benefit of 3-Tier architecture is that any other tier can be replaced without affecting the other tiers. For example if the developer finds any bug in calculating fine, only J2EE application page to calculate fine need to be changed without changing J2ME client application. Improved security as it is implemented at multiple levels. If we uses direct communication between the database and the mobile application. Database name, password can be extracted and then the hacker can do anything even can delete the database. Only valid data is allowed to be updated in the database and the risk of a scoundrel client application corrupting data is removed. As the database will be at the server and only authorized person will have the username and password to access it. Improved data integrity. As the database will be at the server so every user will use same database. Hence data integrity will be improved. It has improved scalability because the application servers can be deploying on many machines [5]. Even the number of user will be increased the web application can be deployed on multiple server to support this large chunk of users. Chapter 4 Research Methods â€Å"Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought† Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Overview: 4.1 Primary Research 4.2 Secondary Research 4.3 Academic Research 4.4 Technical Research 4.4.1 Programming Environment Research 4.4.2 Database Research 4.5 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 4.1 Primary Research Primary research involves gettingoriginal datadirectly from the user about the product or market [4]. It is the initial research that is done during the development of a system. The primary objective of the primary research is to gather preliminary information which could support the designing of the application. So it is fundamental step, in order to continue with development of the application. Along with this, primary research is also used to gather user requirements on the system being developed and to estimate the feasibility of the proposed system. Primary research is done with the direct involvement of the targeted reader. There are many techniques to carry out primary research such as Questionnaires, Interview, Brain Storming, Onsite observation, Pilot study, Focus Group etc. However the developer have used questionnaire to perform primary research. Questionnaires It is a method of gathering information from a group of individuals using identical procedures for each person. Questionnaireis a data collection tool in which written questions are presented that are to be answered by the respondents in written form. The questionnaires are to be distributed to the student of a college who are using similar type of system. These students can suggest the good feature present in the system and the limitation in the present system which they are using. Justification: The target readers are already using simpler type of system having few of the functionality as the proposed system have. So users are aware about it up to some extent and they know what they want and what they do not. The proposed system is made for large group of user. Questionnaire makes the work easy as it can be conducted on a group of individuals using identical procedure. There are three types of questionnaire depending on type of user; Students, Teachers and administrator. Sample Questioner Dear Respondent: The developer is a Final Year Degree student from Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology who is currently doing a Final Year Project which entitled Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System. The main purpose of the system is to reduce the communication gap between management and teacher and student by reaching to their cell phones. The system will help the student and teacher to fix consultation automatically by suggesting a time when both of them are free through checking the timetable of student and teacher. With the help of this mobile application the student can reserve a book from library or check for fine, issued book on his account. Management can send the latest news or information about any meeting directly to the student’s cell. The student can check attendance summery, result, examination and class timetable through this system. Student can go for an aptitude or similar test having multiple options to verify their level. However these featur es can be moderated depending on your response. So your response is highly important for me. As you are part of such institution and familiar with such system so you can help us in defining the structure or functionality of the system. These questionnaires will not take more than 5 minutes of your time. It is having objective type question where you need to check one or more option or write one/few words depending on the question. The questionnaire does not contain any such emotional or personal question. However the information provided by you will not be disclosed to anyone. Even if the developer needs to be share, it will not be done without your permission. Thank you a lot for participating. Please proceed further to the questionnaire section. PERSONAL INFORMATION Name _____________________________________________________ E-Mail _____________________________________________________ Questionnaires (for student) 1. Have you come across Smart Consultation Scheduler and Mobile Messaging System (SCSMS) or similar application? [ ] Yes [ ] No If yes plea

Manage Domiciliary Services Essay

As a healthcare provider we have to ensure we have the correct amount of staff as well as staff with the right skill set and qualifications on shift which meets the needs of the people we are supporting. We do this by implementing standards from the beginning which includes the recruitment process. Our recruitment is robust but is constantly changing to ensure potential new staff are people that is right to be in healthcare, someone can fail at any time of the recruitment process. Our recruitment process includes: 1. Telephone Interview 2. Face to face Interview 3. 2 Day mandatory Training 4. Induction and final interview 5. 12 weeks probation Indicators that a potential new member of staff can fail in our recruitment process: a. Not understanding the importance for a client to maintain their independence b. Not understanding the importance for a client’s dignity and respect c. Not understanding the importance of working over a 7 day period d. Not participating in activities in mandatory training e. Not completing the Common Induction Standards f. Not completing courses in the 12 week probation period g. Not meeting the levels of reliability set out All members of staff that do not have a NVQ 2 when starting with E-Spire Healthcare must complete the Common Induction Standards within the first 12 weeks of commencing work with the company, after this period they can then proceed with NVQ level 2, which is encouraged, we rely on our local college to provide this support. When a new member of staff starts with E-Spire Healthcare they must first complete induction and shadow shifts without senior staff, only once the senior member of staff has signed them off as competent will they commence their shifts with our clients. This way our senior is able to introduce the new member of staff to our clients but they also have a complete understanding of our client’s needs and what support they require. Depending on the complexity of our client’s needs will depend  on which member of staff works with our clients, for instance somebody who has mental health issues will not be asked to complete shifts with that particular client until they have completed the relevant training courses and completed shadow shifts and been signed off by the senior member of staff. There is no maximum number of shadow shifts that a new member of staff needs to complete, this will depend on the individual member of staff, their past work history, qualifications. Myself or the senior member of staff would of completed the necessary paperwork before the commencement of the package including the care plan the client’s needs, support, risk assessments, medication, and emotional support plans, this way we already have an idea of what type of member of staff will work well with each particular client, as I feel this is a two way process the client and the Support Worker must be able to work together so the client can be motivated to keep their independence but also the Support Worker to enjoy working with each individual client and know they are supporting in the correct way and making a difference in their day to day lives. We also at the paperwork stage will know how many members of staff are required for each shift. Consistency of care is an extremely important factor for us, not only for the client but also the support worker: For the client: 1. They will get to know the member of staff 2. They will be able to open up to them if they have any certain problems 3. They will know that the member of staff understands their needs 4. They will know that they won’t have to keep explaining how they like specific tasks like to be completed 5. There will be trust between the client and member of staff 6. Personal care tasks will hopefully not be seen as daunting as the same person is with them 7. Trust when it comes to supporting people with their medication For the Support Worker: 1. They will get to know the individual client 2. Will understand how they like tasks to be completed 3. They are confident with how to support individual clients 4. They understand what motivates each individual client And many more reasons. Each individual client has a series of risk assessments completed for the  commencement of support package. This will include, medication, mobility, feeding, personal care as well as the immediate environment that the support worker will be working in. Depending on the individual client will determine how many members of staff will be required. This can depend on their mobility, their mental health, support in the community. If we feel that a package requires a different amount of staff to what is stated from for instance the social worker, we will go back to them and state our findings, but a package will not start until we have the correct amount of staff on each shift, as we need to keep both the client and our staff safe from injury and harm as well as the community too. I have a completed risk assessment attached with this document all personal details have been removed. E-Spire Health care have clear recruitment guidelines in place which all office staff know and understand a nd all abide by. No member of staff can commence with any shadow and induction shifts until we have on file: 1. Phone Interview 2. Face to Face Interview 3. 2 Day Mandatory Training 4. Induction and Final Interview 5. DBS 6. 2 references 7. Staff Members folder signed off by either myself or the director Carl Boulton. We have a excel document which is kept up to date of any potential member of staff that has approached E-Spire Healthcare this way we can ensure that we are not bringing anybody on board that has already tried to get through the recruitment process already. We also have a flow chart so we can refer back at any time if we are ensure of the process. Within healthcare we are supporting clients within their homes or a residential setting, so our staffs reliability and time keeping is essential, however with this said we will always occur a percentage of lateness and sickness, although we do have a procedure to monitor this and we will speak to any member of staff that does not hit the E-Spire targets ( separate occasions of illness within a 6 week period and also the same for lateness), as a company we do need to be prepared for the unexpected and people can fall ill at any time, this is why we have senior staff that their day to day roles  are shadow and inductions, reviews but to also pick up shifts at any time, we also have a deputy manager who also is able to go out and do shifts at any time. If need be there is also myself to go out to do shifts, but the same procedure applies to us too we must of completed shadow shifts with each client we will be going to, this is why shadow shifts and inductions are so important. Every client is an individual and their needs can change at any time, this can include cancelling shifts due to unforeseen circumstances such as going to hospital, doctor’s appointments, holidays, day trips out. It is our job to ensure that they are able to participate in any activity they need to. Hospital admission for instance is we will keep their shift slot open until they are able to come home, I know how important it is that when someone is able to come home, that they just want to come home, I do not want to be the reason why they are not able to come home, again this is a reason why we have senior staff available this way we can support clients with their task that is important to them. At E-Spire Healthcare and more importantly for myself I don’t want to meet CQC guidelines I want to exceed them, I am not in care to just give everyone the basic needs, I want to be able to provide support for people that is going to enhance their lives, maintain their independence, be emotionally supportive, and support them with the tasks that they need support with. Everything I do I also ask the same question â€Å"is this the type of support that is exceeds my expectations for my parents?† we monitor this by reviewing our clients care plans, speaking to them to see if they have any comments or complaints, asking them to complete questionnaires, which allows us to compile reports to see as a company where we can improve, because I feel we can always improve, if you’re not improving you’re not listening to people. We also complete a 12 week supervision for new members of staff, this goes towards their probationary period, this is a two way meeting with myself and the member of staff to both discuss the progress of the member of staff, it also gives the member of staff to give their opinion on subjects such as training, the clients their progress their needs. It is a document that will remain in each individual’s folder and it is a document that we are both able to refer back to, it includes: The member of staff role and responsibilities How the member of staff is meeting the company’s objectives and targets Any other training the member of staff feels they need to do Any problems the member of staff may have.  We then complete a target list of training and objectives for the member of staff to complete in the next 6 months, the next supervision would then not be with me as if the member of staff had an issue with myself they would then have the chance to discuss this with another member of staff. I feel this is a fair way to conduct supervisions, as the member of staff may feel more comfortable speaking to another member of the office team, but this way we are still able to improve for everyone. I am so the trainer for E-Spire healthcare but we also use other companies that are open to us which includes: 1. Local Colleges 2. Local District Nurses 3. The local authority I have attached my mandatory training course topics which indicates what is covered over the two days. To prepare myself for the training course I use a multitude of sources which are available to me, so I am fully informed so my information is up to date and informs and skills each individual member of staff so they have the knowledge to be practicable and skilful within their job role. I use: 1. British Red Cross 2. Trainer Courses (completed moving and handling and medication training) 3. CQC 4. Shropshire County Council 5. HSE Website 6. Food.gov.uk 7. You Tube 8. Speaking to clients 9. Personal experiences 10. Fire safe 11. Old Newspaper articles 12. SPIC 13. UK National Statistics

Imagery in Sports

Athletes are always on the look out for techniques that will allow them to get better at their game. Whether it is a golfer who is looking to break his best score or a hockey goalie who is trying to get a shutout in the next game he plays, amateur and professional athletes are constantly trying to find ways of improving their performance. One performance enhancing technique that has been the subject of many empirical studies and theoretical speculation is the practice of imagery. Defined in its most general sense, imagery is â€Å"an experience that mimics real experience. We can be aware of ‘seeing' an image, feeling movements as an image, or experiencing an image of smell, tastes, or sounds without actually experiencing the real thing†¦ it differs from dreams in that we are awake and conscious when we form an image. † (Munroe-Chandler & Hall, 2011, p. 370) Applied to the basic problem of improving athletic performance, imagery exercises might consist of visualizing a hole in one for a golfer, or imagining what it feels like to play the net in the next game for a goalie. Imagery is connected to but distinct from the technique known as ‘mental practice,' where an athlete rehearses his or her strategy in competition. There are many various kinds of imagery techniques that exist, but the question of whether imagery really helps athletes to improve is still a matter of some debate, as is the question of how imagery works. The following paper will look at the research that exists on imagery as a technique athletes can use to program their minds. It will conclude, on the basis of this research, that imagery can indeed help people's athletic performance, but that it should be considered as a complement rather than a substitute for practice and training. In order to rigorously understand the various ways that imagery can interact with and potentially improve athletic performance, some kind of standard benchmark is required. It was for this reason that the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ) was designed. The SIQ is an analytic tool that allows sports psychologists to make fine distinctions between the various functions of imagery as it is employed by athletes (i. . motivation versus concentration) and the levels at which imagery works (i. e. specific versus general). (Hall, Mack, Paivio, & Hausenblas, 1998, p. 74) This analytical framework is used by many other researchers in the field to quantify and make predictive claims about the effects of various kinds of imagery on athletic performance. Weinberg (2008) defines imagery as â€Å"using all the senses (or at least all the senses that are appropriate) to create or re-create an experience in the mind. (p. 2) Weinberg is careful to distinguish between earlier techniques of ‘mental practice’ that involved the review of particular strategies and thinking about performance and current techniques of mental imagery, writing that â€Å"it is very different, for example, if a tennis player simply went over his strategy for how he would like to play an upcoming opponent versus actually imagining himself performing certain skills and strategies against a specific opponent. † (Weinberg, p. ) In essence, mental practice is a ‘3rd person’ technique in which an athlete verbally rehearses to himself how he is going to perform and what he is going to do if his opponent does a particular action, while imagery is a ‘1st person’ technique where an athlete lets go of words and tries instead to place himself in the performance situation mentally. Needless to say, the hard and fast division between the two is difficult to observe or even practice in reality. Most people in their daily thoughts entertain both images and talk in their minds, and the same applies to athletes using various imagery or mental practice techniques. Using mental practice, an athlete ‘talks himself through’ a performance scenario, proposing various courses of action based on an opponents previous history. Using imagery, an athlete rehearses the various body movements that are to be used in successfully performing the sport they are training for in their minds eye. A tennis player using mental imagery might imagine how the court will feel under his feet and how the ball will bounce. He will envision himself running up to or away from the net to return the various volleys of his opponent. Both mental practice and imagery, according to Weinberg, did in fact prove successful for athletes in improving their performance, but many of the gains that athletes experienced were solely anecdotal; in other words, their performance was not subject to detailed empirical scrutiny, nor was the technique of mental practice developed to a very great degree. As Weinberg notes, â€Å"the effectiveness of imagery, per se, is†¦ difficult to tease out, because the meta-analyses typically combined effects from studies that used various forms of mental practice to arrive at one overall effect size. † (p. 2-3) Weinberg also notes that the field of mental imagery in sports has become more rigorous in the past decade or so, noting that â€Å"current imagery research (as well as the practice of imagery in the field) often involves detailed scripts that focus on achieving particular outcomes†¦ arlier mental practice research was generally not this rigorous in this regard or simply was not interested in this type of mental preparation. † (Weinberg, 2008, p. 3) Post, Wrisberg, and Mullins (2010) describe the results of a study on imagery where basketball players on a girls’ highschool team were asked to participate in a guided imagery exercise before half of the games the girls played during their season. The authors collected data on both the victories that the girls’ team had won and also the number of made versus missed free throw shots. Subjecting the data to a 2 by 2 chi-square analysis, these authors concluded that the imagery technique used by the girls before their games significantly improved their chances of winning and improved their chances of making free throw shots. With respect to their results, Post, Wrisburg, & Mullins (2010) write that â€Å"imagery alone or in combination with other psychological skills (e. g. , relaxation) can enhance the competition-related thoughts and emotions of athletes. The documented effects of imagery include improved self-confidence, increased motivation, improved selective attention, and reduced or more effectively managed pre-competitive anxiety. † (p. 2) Why this is the case is still a matter of much controversy, with explanations of the effects of mental imagery on athletic performance ranging from imagery as a rehearsal that prepares the body to imagery as a kind of attention focusing tool that makes athletes concentrate better. In the study these authors describe, 16 female varsity basketball players were asked to run through an imagery script created by the coach (Mullins). The script was based on several recommendations from sports psychology literature, beginning â€Å"with a brief centering phase that involved deep breathing†¦ followed by a stimulus proposition phase where players were instructed to re-create possible game situations surrounding the free throw shot and a response proposition phase that consisted of the actions of the entire shot from the time the player began her pre-shot routine until she saw and heard the ball swish through the net. † (p. 6) Results reported by Callow and Hardy (2001) come to a similar conclusion with respect to the efficacy of mental imagery in improving athletic performance. In their study, they apply Martin, Moritz, and Hall’s (1999) model to a sample of 123 female netball players in Wales. In their analysis of the positive results they found in using imagery in netball, Callow and Hardy distinguish between two kinds of confidence: sport confidence and self-efficacy. The first â€Å"refers to the belief that an athlete possesses about his or her ability to be successful in sport in general† whereas the second â€Å"refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capabilities to be successful in executing specific tasks and skills in specific situations†¦ (Callow & Hardy, 2001, p. 2) They propose that the mechanism by which imagery works to improve performance is directly related to the increase in the feeling of self-efficacy that athletes achieve through using directed imagery exercises. Using the SIQ framework designed by Hall et al. (1998), Callow & Hardy (2001) distinguish between five kinds of imagery: Cognitive General (CG; e. g. , I imagine executing entire plays/programs sections just the way I want them to happen in an event/game), Cognitive Specific (CS; e. g. I can easilty change an image of a skill), Motivational General-Mastery (MG-M; e. g. , I imagine myself working successfully through tough situations), Motivational General-Arousal (MG-A; e. g. , I imagine the excitement associated with competing), and Motivational Specific (MS; e. g. , I imagine myself winning a medal). (p. 2-3) These five types of imagery correspond to those employed by the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ) that Callow and Hardy used to monitor the effectiveness of imagery exer cises amongst the study’s sample of female netball players. The authors found not only that the use of different kinds of imagery contributed to greater athletic success, but also that different types of imagery were used by players of differing skills; in other words, lower skilled netballers tended to employ MG-M and CG more often than MG-A, while higher skilled netballers used MS. This indicates that different kinds of imagery possess differing levels of â€Å"pertinence† to an athlete. (p. 12) For instance, a higher skilled netball player will have been in a situation where they are close to winning a championship or medal, so this kind of imagery is something they can easily access. Novice netballers, on the other hand, will be more concerned with the execution of basic moves and strategies, and will focus their mental resources on this aspect of the game. Similar findings of the positive effect of imagery on athletic performance are reported by MacIntyre & Moran (2007), who define the process of mental imagery as â€Å"a cognitive performance-enhancement technique that is used extensively by athletes, coaches and psychologists to facilitate skill learning and performance. (p. 1) The authors go on to state that imagery techniques in enhancing athletic performance have become so prevalent that they are now considered to be a â€Å"central pillar† of psychology in sports. (MacIntyre & Moran, 2007, p. 1) They divide the history of imagery research into two ‘waves,' one wave consisting of empirical research into the success of ‘mental practice,' defined as â€Å"the systematic use of mental imagery in order to rehearse physical actions. † (p. ) While this first wave went far in demonstrating a connection between using mental practice and athletic success, it was weakened by the fact that it had no theory to guide its findings. In response to this lack of theory, the second wave MacIntyre and Moran describe attempts to connect the success of mental practice with a larger model or taxonomy that categorizes different types of imagery and different imagery methods. Despite this new trend in sports psychology research, findings in imagery studies continue to suffer from some significant drawbacks that undermine their conclusiveness. One drawback MacIntyre and Moran (2007) point out is that most of the imagery studies that exist have used beginner athletes rather than professional or ‘elite' athletes. This is a problem because it is difficult to generalize about the success of mental imagery in creating better performance in athletes in general from only a particular set. Beginning athletes, simply by virtue of their novice status, might demonstrate significant athletic performance gains with or without imagery. Another weakness of most studies these authors point out is that they do not take into account beliefs athlete's have about their own imagery processes. In other words, many imagery studies do not take into account the ‘meta-imagery' that athletes might engage in concerning how successful their imagery techniques will be in improving their performance. This is clearly a drawback with respect to drawing conclusions about the ultimate efficacy of imagery, because it might not be the activity of imagery per se that helps an athlete succeed, but rather their belief that their imagery techniques will help them. Findings presented in Kim and Giacobbi (2009) suggest that beliefs about the efficacy of imagery as a technique are just as, if not more important in predicted better athletic success than the technique itself. 16 middle-aged participants between 35 and 65 were asked specific questions about the use of imagery in connection with exercise. Questions concerned â€Å"where, when, what (content), and why (function)†¦ [participants used] exercise imagery. † (Kim & Giacobbi, 2009, p. 5) In addition to these questions about imagery content, participants were also asked about their own feelings concerning the impact imagery had on their exercise routines. On the whole, imagery was believed to be an activity that improved participants' concentration and performance. (p. 18) The foregoing studies suggest a number of conclusions about the use and effectiveness of imagery for athletes who are looking for techniques to improve their game. One of the most obvious conclusions is that imagery does appear to enhance athletic performance, but the degree to which it does so depends in large part upon the pre-existing skill level of the person being considered. For beginners or novices at a particular sport, imagery can have a dramatic effect on performance, while for athletes who are more advanced and at a higher skill level, the effects of imagery in performance are less pronounced. A second conclusion concerning the use of imagery in sports is that the effect imagery has on performance depends to a large degree upon the beliefs of the individual with regard to the technique's effectiveness – a person who believes that imaging a performance will help them creates, in a sense, a self-fulfilling prophecy of their own success. This is somewhat equivalent to the ‘placebo effect' that is common in the use of drugs. Third, various studies have shown that different kinds of imagery are used by athletes at different skill levels. Beginning athletes will use imagery to create scenes of successfully blocking a shot, or making a basket, whereas advanced athletes image instead the winning of a competition or event. One aspect of imagery in sports psychology that remains an issue of contention is the precise mechanism by which imagery is able to assist athletes perform better. As discussed above, different studies have proposed different ways in which imagery is effective, but none of these proposed mechanisms have been demonstrated unequivocally as being the only correct one. Most likely, the mechanism by which imagery operates is a complex one that involves not only the inner rehearsal of actions, thereby amounting to a kind of ‘practice without practice,' but also involves the heightening of concentration for the athlete. Regardless of its mechanism of action, it is clear that imagery is a technique (or rather, family of techniques) that promises much for athletes' performance. Needless to say, imagery cannot ever be used as a full substitute for physical training and practice. Imagine how a football team would perform if, instead of practicing, they merely ‘imagined' practicing for the week before their big game! However, used in conjunction with rigourous training programs, imagery is an excellent psychological complement that can help athletes improve.

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