Course syllabus

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Class timetable

Week

Topic

Activities

Assessments

Week 1

 Introduction to databases and a brief overview of database management systems

Reading: Week 1 lecture slides

Activity: Watch LinkedinLearning Video, Lectorial 1 discussions. No prac sessions in Week 1.

Week 2

 Relational Database Concepts

Reading: Week 2 lecture slides

Activity: Watch LinkedinLearning Video, Lectorial 2 discussions. Attend Week 2 Prac Sessions

Week 3

 Entity-Relationship Modeling -- Part 1

Reading: Week 3-4 lecture slides, Chapter 12, Database Systems: a Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management by Carolyn Begg, Thomas Connolly; Listen to Chapter 4 (sections: Understanding Entities, Developing Relationships) of Adam Wilbert's LinkedIn Tutorial

Activity: Get yourself familiarised with SQLite Studio, Lectorial 3 discussions. Attend Week 3 Prac Sessions

Week 4

 Entity-Relationship Modeling -- Part 2

Reading: Week 3-4 lecture slides and watch video recordings; Chapter 12 and 17, Database Systems: a Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management by Carolyn Begg, Thomas Connolly.

Activity: Get yourself a free educational account with LucidChart and familiarise with its interface; Lectorial 4 discussions. Attend Week 4 Prac Sessions.

Week 5

 Basic SQL Programming -- Part 1

Reading: Week 5 lecture slides

Activity: Watch LinkedinLearning Video, Lectorial 2 discussions. Attend Week 2 Prac Sessions

Week 6

 Basic SQL Programming -- Part  2

Reading: Course text, Wks 1 to 5

Assignment 1 due

 

 Semester break – no class

Reading: Review all the lecture slides from Week 1 to Week 6

Activity: No defined learning activities.  Continue working on Assignment 1 and start working on Milestone 1 requirements for the Database Design Project

Week 7

 Advanced SQL Programming -- Part 1

Reading: Week 7 lecture slides

Activity: Lectorial 7 discussions. Attend Week 7 Prac Sessions

Week 8

 Advanced SQL Programming -- Part 2

Reading: Week 8 lecture slides

Activity: Lectorial 8 discussions. Attend Week 8 Prac Sessions

 Online mid-semester quiz

Week 9

 Relational Database Design

Reading: Week 9 lecture slides

Activity: Lectorial 9 discussions. Attend Week 9 Prac Sessions

Week 10

 Relational Database Design -- A case study

Reading: Week 10 lecture slides

Activity: Lectorial 10 discussions. Attend Week 10 Prac Sessions

Week 11

 Advanced Topic -- NoSQL Database Design with MongoDB

Reading: Week 11 lecture slides

Activity:  Lectorial 11 discussions. Attend Week 11 Prac Sessions

 Assignment 2 due

Week 12

 Revision

Reading: Week 12 lecture slides

Activity: Lectorial 12 discussions. Attend Week 12 Prac Sessions

Week 13

Week 14

 Assignment 4 due

Week 15

Week 16

 

 

Weekly Timetable

Your first lectorial will be on Tuesday 1st March, starting at 10:30.

There will be three lectorials, you must attend the one you have chosen on myTimetable. The Lectorial times are:

Tuesdays 10:30AM - 12:30PM

Wednesdays 2:30PM - 4:30PM

Fridays 12:30PM - 2:30PM.

Dr. Halil Ali will be facilitating these lectorials.

Practical sessions will start on Monday 7th March. You must attend the session chosen on myTimetable starting from week 2.

Monday 2:30pm-4:30pm

Tuesday 12:30pm-2:30pm

Tuesday 4:30pm-6:30pm

Wednesday 12:30pm-2:30pm

Thursday 8:30am-10:30am

Thursday 2:30pm-4:30pm

Friday 10:30am-12:30pm

Friday 2:30pm-4:30pm

Friday 4:30pm-6:30pm

 

Assessment Summary and Rubric

Click/Tap on the assessment items for more information

Assessment Task 1 - Database Design

Due Date 10 April 23:59
Weighting 20%

Summary and purpose of assessment

The objective of this assignment is to measure your understanding of the basic concepts in the relational database model and using entity-relationship model for database design. The assessment is in two parts, split into four tasks which cover Basic ER Modelling and Basic Relational Modelling. The tasks are as follows.

For further details, refer to the specification of the assignment. This includes task instructions, learning outcomes, assessment criteria, submission instruction and tasks to be completed.


Assessment criteria and rubric

The assessment scheme for Assignment 1 is outlined in Table below. The score total is 20% for the purpose of marking. The system will scale the score to 20% of the overall course assessment score.

 

Assessment item Percent
Task 1: Design ER Model 4.5
Task 2(A): Initial Design  2
Task 2(B): Client Adjustments  2
Task 3: ER to Schema  3.5
Q4.1 Understanding the Model 0.95
Q4.2 Understanding the Model  0.95
Q4.3 SQL Statement Validity  1
Q4.4 SQL Statement Validity 0.9
Q4.5 Explain the Result  0.95
Q4.6 SQL Statement  1
Q4.7 SQL Statement  1
Q4.8 SQL Statement  1.25

 

Assessment Task 2 - SQL Programming and Nomalisation

Due Date 22 May 23:59
Weighting 30%

Summary and purpose of assessment

The objective of this assignment is to reinforce what you have learned in the lectures and tute/ lab sessions. Specifically, it covers the advanced concepts in the relational database design, using SQL for querying a relational database and analyse different database models for different applications. The tasks are as follows.

For further details, refer to the specification of the assignment. This includes task instructions, learning outcomes, assessment criteria, submission instruction and tasks to be completed.

 

Assessment criteria and rubric

The assessment scheme for Assignment 2 is outlined in Table below. The score total is 100% for the purpose of marking. The system will scale the score to [30%] of the overall course assessment score.

Assessment item Percent
Part A: Q1
Listing Functional Dependencies
 6
Part A: Q2
Identifying Highest Normal Form
 8
Part A: Q3
Decomposing Relations up to 3NF
 10
Part A: Q4
Cleaning up the schema by combining relations (where possible)
 4
Part A: Q5
Final Relational Schema
 2
Part B: Q1
SQL Query 1
 2
Part B: Q2
SQL Query 2 (a) and (b)
 4
Part B: Q3
SQL Query 3
 3
Part B: Q4
SQL Query 4
 2
Part B: Q5
SQL Query 5 (a) and (b)
 4
Part B: Q6
SQL Query 6
 3
Part B: Q7
SQL Query 7 (a) and (b)
 4
Part B: Q8
SQL Query 8
 3
Part B: Q9
SQL Query 9
 3
Part B: Q10
SQL Query 10
 4
Part B: Q11
 4
Part B: Q12
 2
Part B: Q13
 2
Part C: Content
Comparison of the two implementations, identifying advantages and disadvantages and drawing conclusions
 16
Part C: Quality of Writing
Flow and readability
 7
Part C: Professional Style
Length, organisation, referencing, use of technical terms
 7

 

Assessment Task 3 - Mid Semester Test

Due Date 28th April 9:00am - 29th April 9:00am
Weighting 15%

Summary and purpose of assessment

This assessment will cover the topics covered in the previous weeks. It will comprise multiple-choice questions and will assess your skills in applying the relational database fundamentals, entity-relationship modeling, and SQL programming into real-world applications.

Assessment criteria and rubric

The assessment scheme for Assignment 3 is outlined in Table below. The score total is 15% for the purpose of marking. The system will scale the score to 15% of the overall course assessment score.

Assessment item Percent
30 multiple choice questions 0.5 marks each

 

Assessment Task 4 - Database Design Project

Due Date 12 June 23:59
Weighting 35%

Summary and purpose of assessment

You are required to investigate and understand a publicly available dataset, design a conceptual model for storing the dataset in a relational database, build the database according to your design and host the data, and develop SQL queries in response to a set of requirements. 
The objective of this assignment is to reinforce what you have learned in the whole course. Specifically, it involves how to build a simple application that connects to a database backend, running a simple relational schema. 

  • Part A: Part A: Understanding the Data (0 Marks, Preliminary Work)
  • Part B: Designing the Database (10%)
  • Part C: Creating the Database (10%)
  • Part D: Data Retrieval (15%)

 

Assessment criteria and rubric

The assessment scheme for Assignment 4 is outlined in Table below. The score total is 35% for the purpose of marking. The system will scale the score to 35% of the overall course assessment score.

Assessment item Percent
Part A: Part A: Understanding the Data
 0
Part B: Designing the Database 
 10
Part C: Creating the Database 10
Part D: Data Retrieval 15

 

 

Course summary:

Course Summary
Date Details Due