Development of a Model United Nations Website Keir Paesel Regis University
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Regis University ePublications at Regis University All Regis University Theses Spring 2005 Development Of A Model United Nations Website Keir Paesel Regis University Follow this and additional works at: https://epublications.regis.edu/theses Part of the Computer Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Paesel, Keir, "Development Of A Model United Nations Website" (2005). All Regis University Theses. 746. https://epublications.regis.edu/theses/746 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by ePublications at Regis University. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Regis University Theses by an authorized administrator of ePublications at Regis University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations. REGIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL FOR PROFESSIONAL STUDIES MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Development of a Model United Nations Website PROFESSIONAL PROJECT Keir Paesel December 2005 Regis University School for Professional Studies MSCIT Program Certification of Authorship of Professional Project Work Submitted to: Timothy McKenzie Student’s Name: Keir Paesel Date of Submission: December 15, 2005 Title of Submission: Development of a Model United Nations Website Certification of Authorship: I hereby certify that I am the author of this document and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed in the document. I have also cited all sources from which I obtained data, ideas, or words that are copied directly or paraphrased in the document. Sources are properly credited according to accepted standards for professional publications. I also certify that this paper was prepared by me for the purpose of partial fulfillment of requirements for the MSC 696 or the MSC 696B course. Student’s Signature: Regis University School for Professional Studies MSCIT Program Advisor/MSC 696 and 696B Faculty Approval Form Student’s Name: Keir Paesel Professional Project Title: Development of a Model United Nations Website Advisor’s Declaration: I have advised this student through the Professional Project Process and approve of the final document as acceptable to be submitted as fulfillment of partial completion of requirements for the MSC 696 or MSC 696B course. The student has received project approval from the Advisory Board or the 696A faculty and has followed due process in the completion of the project and subsequent documentation. ADVISOR _____________________________________________________________________ Name Signature Date MSC 696 or MSC 696B Faculty Approval _____________________________________________________________________ Name Signature Date Project Paper Revision/Change History Tracking Version Submitted To Date Changes Original Tim McKenzie Oct 15, 2005 Original submission Mike Nims Revision #1 Tim McKenzie Oct 25, 2005 Addition of abstract. Mike Nims Extensive revisions to sections 1.6, 2.1, 3.6 4.3, 4.6, 5.3. Revision #2 Tim McKenzie Dec 8, 2005 Correction of formatting problems Abstract The purpose of this project was to create a website to support the annual Cairo American College Model United Nations (CACMUN) conference. Cairo American College is a private, non-profit, K-12 school for expatriate children living in Cairo, Egypt. Model United Nations (MUN) is an educational simulation of the United Nations. During MUN conferences, students assume the role of delegates from various countries, and work with peers to discuss and solve world issues. Each year, approximately 200 students from ten schools attend CACMUN. Most schools come from different countries in the Middle East. The conference needs to be advertised to potential guests. Information and documents must be distributed to schools and delegates actually attending. The website also needs to help register and collect data from all attendees. Finally, educational interaction between the students should be encouraged. A database driven website was programmed to address these needs. Dynamic pages use PHP to access a local MySql installation that stores conference information. The resulting website successfully facilitated the CACMUN 2005 conference on October 20-23, 2005. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...............................................................................................7 1.1 Problem statement and business needs..............................................7 1.2 Statement of project goals...................................................................8 1.3 Current solution ...................................................................................9 1.4 Previous solution ..............................................................................10 1.5 Barriers and/or issues........................................................................11 1.6 Scope ................................................................................................11 1.7 Summary...........................................................................................13 2 Chapter Two: Research ...........................................................................14 2.1 Review of existing solutions available..................................................14 2.2 Discussion of other available technologies........................................15 2.3 Other scripting languages..................................................................16 2.4 Java...................................................................................................17 2.5 Microsoft .Net ....................................................................................17 2.6 Why PHP/MySql as opposed to other tools.......................................19 2.7 Summary..............................................................................................20 3 Chapter Three: Project Methodology .......................................................21 3.4 Research Methods Used...................................................................21 3.5 Software Development Life-Cycle Used............................................21 3.5.1 Research and analysis phase.....................................................24 3.5.2 Design phase..............................................................................32 3.5.3 Construction phase.....................................................................33 3.5.4 Implementation phase.................................................................39 3.5.5 Maintenance phase.....................................................................43 3.6 Project methodology summary ..........................................................44 4 Chapter Four: Project History...................................................................45 4.1 How project began ............................................................................45 4.2 How project was managed ................................................................45 4.3 Evaluation of the success of the project ............................................46 4.4 What changes occurred to plan?.......................................................48 4.5 How did the project end?...................................................................49 4.6 Lessons learned ................................................................................49 4.7 Project summary ...............................................................................51 5 Chapter Five: Lessons Learned ..............................................................53 5.1 What was learned from the project experience? ...............................53 5.2 What should have been done differently? .........................................53 5.3 What would be the next stage for this project?..................................54 5.4 Conclusions and recommendations ..................................................57 1. Introduction 1.1 Problem statement and business needs For the last 26 years, Cairo American College1 has sponsored an annual Model United Nations conference (CACMUN). Cairo American College is a private K-12 school that services approximately 1300 students in the expatriate community of Cairo, Egypt. Model United Nations is a common extra curricular activity in which students simulate the processes of the United Nations. Each CACMUN is attended by approximately 200 students from ten schools. Schools generally come