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GROUP FORMATION USING SHORTE1ST PATH APPROACH CI-*

ONCHAYA KHONGKAEW

GROUP FORMATION USING SH0RT:EST PATH APPROACH

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X I

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)

Univers i t i Utara Malays ia

PERAKUAN KERJA KERTAS PROJEK (Certificate of Project Paper)

Saya, yang bertandatangan, memperakukan bahalva (I, the undersigned, certify that)

ONCHAYA KHONGKAEW

calon untuk Ijazah (candidate f o r the degree of) MSc. (IT]

telah mengemukakan ker tas projek yang bertzjxk (kas presented his/ her projeci paper of the foliowing ii:Lts!

. .

GROUP FOfiMATION USING SHORTEST PATH APPROACH

seperti yang 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 the project paper acce9table in form and content, and that a satisfac:oq kr,oz&2!,‘cr’yt: of ;:7c ,filed c0;*2red b3 t f7D 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

1

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.

... 111

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

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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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CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSION AND RECCOMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

5.2 Problems and limitation

5.3 Recommendations

5.4 Summary

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REFERENCES 48

APPENDIX

Appendix A : Feature of Student group Formation System 52

V

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

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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.

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The contents of

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