ANRA: An automated system for the management of theoretical and theoretical-practical graduation projects. Case: FISC.

Abstract

Between the years 2015 and 2021, 19.04% of graduating students from the Faculty of Computer Systems Engineering at the Technological University of Panama opted for theoretical or theoretical-practical modalities for the development and presentation of their graduation projects. Various challenges related to the presentation process of these modalities suggest an explanation for this low percentage. With the aim of reducing these challenges and increasing the percentage of students who choose to develop theoretical and theoretical-practical graduation projects, this article proposes the design and development of software that allows managing these modalities of graduation work in such a way that the related procedures are streamlined, and the experience of graduating students and other roles involved is improved. The waterfall development model was employed to develop a minimum viable product that covers the most important requirements of the proposed software, and usability and functional tests were conducted to validate and verify the prototype. Based on the results of the tests carried out, it was determined that the proposed software would contribute to an increase in the number of students opting for one of these modalities. Additionally, high levels of satisfaction were obtained in the use of the prototype, so it is concluded that the proposed software will be well received in the university community and will improve the management of the presentation process for theoretical and theoretical-practical works.