Databases (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Content scheduling

In this course, students learn to use and design relational and document databases.
Weekly meetings as online teaching sessions between weeks 2-16. Sessions are organized in Teams or in Zoom.
Topics in general:
- DBMS and DB use 2h
- Basics of SQL 12h
- Database design with ER 4h
- Database design with normalization 2h
- Introduction to document database MongoDB 4h

Materials

Lecture slides
Supporting material:
Connolly, Thomas M.; Begg, Carolyn E. - Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation and Management - 4. edition or later
Vaish, Gaurav: Getting Started with NoSQL. Packt Publishing Ltd 2013. Check Ebrary for online version

Teaching methods

The course consists of exercises, which are mainly SQL queries. Exercises are divided into weekly topics. These are practiced both individually and with the teacher help in the teaching session. Each session begins with an introduction to the topic of the week, which includes practical examples with lecture slides.
In addition, students design a small database in a group of two students.

Exam schedules

The exam is performed in Ville system.
1st exam is organized in the class room (during the regular meeting time) where Internet use is allowed for information retrieval. 2nd and 3rd exams as e-exams in the aquarium premises where Internet use is not allowed. E-exams are open the rest of the year.

Pedagogic approaches and sustainable development

Learning by doing, trial-error, listening and collaborating with peers.

Completion alternatives

Participation in the teaching session is not compulsory, but highly recommended, especially if you are new to databases.

Student workload

Participating weekly in teaching sessions: a' 3 hours * 12 = 36h
Individual work for exercises 80h
Exam 20h OR practical work 20h

Evaluation methods and criteria

THE EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR THE COURSE WILL BE SPECIFIED LATER
The course is graded 0-5 and is based on points. Each task returned successfully is worth one point.

class assignments XX points
homework XX p (assignments open until the end of the course)
practical work XX p
exam XX p (done as an e-exam in Ville and is open until the end of the year)
a total of XXX points (the maximum number of points will be specified and announced at the beginning of the course).

Grading by points:
0-49% of maximum = FAIL
50-59% = 1
60-69% = 2
70-79% = 3
80-89% = 4
90-100% = 5

Further information

We will use a DBMS environment for practical training (probably MySQL / MariaDB), which needs installation on the personal computer. You can install the software (e.g. Uwamp) also on a USB memory stick (to allow the mobility between the school and home), and/or on the personal profile in TUAS domain (usable in computer class rooms).
Highly likely, the environment for using DBMS is some LAMP stack with graphical UI like UwAmp, but you can use similar like XAMPP.
In addition to DBMS environment, we will use MongoDB or similar online tool for practicing document databases.