The development of i-QuBES for UiTM: From feasibility study to the design phase

Decentralization of UiTM final examination is one of the big agendas of UiTM in a near future. Students' final examination for every semester throughout UiTM's system is currently managed by Examination Affairs (Bahagian Hal Ehwal Peperiksaan) (BHEPep) of UiTM Shah Alam. To date, the number of branch campuses as well as offered programmes has expanded numerously. With such big number of branch campuses and offered programmes, BHEPep requires a practical and efficient method to oversee and manage final examination. One of the suggested alternatives is decentralization of examination management which will be practiced by the whole UiTM system, and the item bank system that can fulfill and control the quality of an item. This study focuses on the development of web-based Integrated Question Bank and Evaluation System or formerly known as i-QuBES. The motivation of the system development is driven by four key elements of quality assurance in the item assessment of final set examination questions paper. Those key elements are validity, reliability, fairness and consistency. Assisted by the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) methodology, i-QuBES is hoped will cater and able to manage the administration of final examination, hence retain if not improve the quality standard of final examination set paper. Therefore, this paper discusses the development of i-QuBES in details from the feasibility study until the design phase.