Catalog Description  TOP

The application of database concepts to management information systems. Design objectives, methods, costs, and benefits associated with the use of a database management system. Tools and techniques for the management of large amounts of data. Database design, performance, and administration. File organization and access methods. The architectures of database systems, data models for database systems (network, hierarchical, relational, and object-oriented model), client-server database applications, distributed databases, and object-oriented databases.

Required Textbook   TOP

ISBN: 0131672673
Title: Database Processing: Fundamentals, Design, and Implementation
Author: David Kroenke
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Edition: 10th

Required Software   TOP

Windows users: Microsoft Access (available at no cost via the MSDN located at http://microweb.nova.edu/pages/msdn.aspx.)
Macintosh users: mySQL (available at no cost from http://www.mysql.com)

Exit Competencies   TOP

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

1. Plan, develop, and document a database management application.
2. Work effectively as a member of an database development team.
   1. Collaboratively develop a requirements document
   2. Collaboratively develop a production schedule
   3. Collaboratively develop an entity-relationship diagram
   4. Collaboratively develop a data dictionary
   5. Collectively produce a database application to meet a problem in business, commerce, government, or education.
3. Identify and analyze the technological impediments to implementing computerized database management system solutions.
4. Analyze database implementations, identifying strengths and weaknesses based upon a review of appropriate literature.
5. Evaluate problem areas in the field of student interest (i.e. business, commerce, government, education, etc.) and analyze the appropriateness of a computerized database management system as a solution.
6. Produce meaningful original work in the area of applying computerized database management systems to address problems in business, commerce, government, education, etc.

Outline of Course Requirements   TOP

The student will be responsible for mastering the following material by the end of the term through a combination of lectures, textbook, projects, and independent research. 

1. Overview of database
   1. Definition and description of database
   2. Database models
      1. Relational
      2. Object-Relational
      3. Object oriented
      4. Distributed
   3. DBMS and database applications
2. Relational databases
1. Description
2. Strengths
3. Planning and documenting
4. Implementing
5. Overview of SQL
6. Weaknesses
3. Object-relational and Object oriented databases
   1. Description
   2. Strengths and weaknesses
   3. Planning and documenting
   4. Implementing
4. Distributed databases
   1. Overview of client-server
   2. Databases and the Web
      1. Server-side issues
      2. Client-side issues
      3. Implementing a database on the Web

Assignments   TOP

There are five types of assignment in this course: discussion forum contributions, a technical brief , quizzes, a group database development project, and a collaboration reflection . All five assignments are, of course, built upon reading and research that begins with the assigned text and expands into the journals and conference proceedings applicable to our discipline. A general description of each assignment follows. The course schedule provides specific detail and due dates for all assignments.

Discussion Forum Contribution TOP

1. There are two (2) discussion topics.
2. A total of 20 points (10% of the course grade) can be earned in this type of assignment.
3. All contributions must be made in the applicable discussion forum queue in WebCT.
4. All contributions must be made during the specified time period for the topic. Contributions made before or after the specified period will not be accepted.
5. The primary goal for the discussion forum assignment is to simulate free give-and-take of ideas among peers that is typically experienced in graduate courses delivered in the more traditional, face-to-face environment. Evaluating a student's performance on the assignment is not, therefore, very concrete. There are a number of factors that impact the quality of a student's participation. The content of the contributions is, of course, one rather obvious factor, but the context in which the contributions have been made is equally important. In evaluating performance on this assignment, the following factors will be considered:
   1. Add value to the content of the discussion by posting well-written, on-topic contributions
   2. Share resources with others by providing support for you contributions from the literature
   3. Promote peer-to-peer discourse by:
      1. Actively participating throughout the period of the forum
      2. Initiating topics for discussion
      3. Responding to postings of others in a timely manner
   4. Note: There really is no way to quantify the relative weightings of the above listed factors. The grade on this assignment is based upon the overall quality of your participation, as described by the synthesis of the three factors listed above.
6. As a graduate student you are expected to be proficient in the use of the English language. Errors in grammar, spelling, or syntax will affect your grade. As your professor, I will not provide remedial help for writing problems. If you are unable to write clearly and correctly, I urge you to contact the program office for sources of remedial help.
7. Refer to the course schedule for specific topics and starting and ending dates for the forums.

Technical Brief   TOP

1. This assignment is worth 50 points (25% of the course grade).
2. The assignment must be submitted via the applicable queue of the WebCT Assignment Dropbox. Acceptable file formats for submissions include Microsoft Word, RTF, html, Adobe Acrobat (PDF), Encapsulated Postscript, and plain text (ASCII).
3. The brief should be an 8 to 10 page (double-spaced, please) library research paper, supported by citations from peer-reviewed sources. (If you are uncertain what is meant by "peer-reviewed", you might want to take a look at this page from the Help section of the NSU electronic library.
4. The topic for the brief must, of course, be applicable to database systems but, beyond that rather obvious condition, is rather open. You may examine some interesting application of database technology in your field, some exciting innovation in databases, or an interesting challenge to planning, designing, or implementing a database solution. If you have any concerns regarding the appropriateness of the topic you have selected, please don't hesitate contacting me for some formative feedback.
5. Please review the information in the Academic Integrity section.
6. The SCIS Dissertation Guide and Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Fifth Edition) should be used as a guide for form, style, and general writing principles in the preparation of this paper.
7. As a graduate student you are expected to be proficient in the use of the English language. Errors in grammar, spelling, or syntax will affect your grade. As your professor, I will not provide remedial help for writing problems. If you are unable to write clearly and correctly, I urge you to contact the program office for sources of remedial help.
8. Refer to the course schedule for specific topics and due dates for the technical brief.
   

Quizzes  

1. There are three quizzes.
2. Each quiz is worth 20 points for a total of 60 points (30% of the course grade).
3. The quizzes can be located in the "Quizzes" section of the course's WebCT site.
4. Please refer to the Assignment Schedule section of this syllabus for the schedule of reading assignments and associated quiz.
5. There is no limit on how much time you take to complete the quiz, other than the due date for the assignment, as specified in the Assignment Schedule.
6. You will have only one chance to take a given quiz, so do not start the quiz until you are ready to complete it.
7. The quizzes are open book.
8. Important Note: I use the test bank that accompanied the text book for the quiz questions. Some of the questions are rather poorly worded and the test bank's answers might seem incorrect to you. I debated with myself about the best way to deal with this issue and decided to use the inaccuracies as a leaning opportunity. If you feel a question was erroneously marked as incorrect on one of your quizzes, you have the right to challenge the grading. Please send me an email through the WebCT system and present the question or questions you feel were incorrectly graded and a brief explanation why you think the answer you provided was correct.

Group Database Project   TOP

1. A total of 40 points (20% of course grade) can be earned in this assignment.
2. The assignment will focus on the development of a computerized database management system application targeted at addressing a problem in business, commerce, government, education, etc..
3. The assignment will be completed by groups consisting of 3 to 4 students
   1. Each group will have the following functions:
      1. Project manager
      2. Programmer
      3. Designer
      4. Subject matter expert
   2. Groups will be organized by the 6th week of the term
   3. Each student will be assigned to a specific role or roles within a team, based upon the
   4. Refer to the Group Mechanics outline located in the Course Materials area of the course's WebCT site for an overview of roles, responsibilities, policies, and procedures.
4. You may develop your product using any database management system you desire, including XML, Microsoft Access, Fox Pro, MySQL, or File Maker Pro.
5. One of the biggest challenges in developing products lies in problems with distribution. Often, products that work perfectly on the machine on which they were developed fail to run or perform erratically on other computers. You are responsible for developing a product that is distribution-ready. For the purposes of this course, distribution-ready means submitted as either:
   1. A Web site
      1. The database and associated application can be loaded either on your server or on a special server available at SCIS.
      2. If you do not have access to a Web server let the instructor know and directions will be given for accessing the server available for this class at SCIS.
   2. A stand-alone product designed to run on a Windows-based PC
      1. Be sure to include the database, associated application, and all necessary runtime software
      2. Be sure to test the product on a computer other than the one on which the product was developed
   3. It is your responsibility to submit a product that the instructor can run on his equipment. Be sure to test your product on other than the computer on which it was developed!
6. As a graduate student you are expected to be proficient in the use of the English language. Errors in grammar, spelling, or syntax will affect your grade. As your professor, I will not provide remedial help for writing problems. If you are unable to write clearly and correctly, I urge you to contact the program office for sources of remedial help.
7. The topic of your project is open.
8. All collaboration must be done asynchronously through the designated threads in the threaded discussion area for the group project. A portion of the grade will be based on instructor assessment of the student as a team member, as indicated by participation in the threaded discussion.
9. The team must submit the following deliverables.
   • The student assigned the Programmer role must submit either the url for a web-based database application or a zip file containing the database application and necessary runtime software in the Assignment Dropbox queue labeled Project.
   • The responsible team member, as detailed in the Group Mechanics outline located in the Course Materials area of the course's WebCT site, must submit the item(s) of documentation associated with her or his role(s). Samples of the required design documents can be found in the Course Materials section of the course's WebCT site.
     • Project schedule (Project Manager)
     • Entity-Relationship diagram (Designer)
     • Data dictionary (Designer)
     • Requirements document (Subject Matter Expert)

Collaboration Reflection   TOP

1. A total of 30 points (15% of the course grade) can be earned on this assignment.
2. This assignment is actually a continuation of the Group Database Project in which you will have the opportunity to reflect on the work of your team as a whole and on each team member. In specific, you will be expected to be able to:
   1. Describe, analyze, and evaluate some of the key decisions made during the development process
   2. Evaluate the performance of each member of the team, backing that evaluation with specific, data-supported observations
3. During the last two days of the term you will be given access to the Collaboration Reflection in the WebCT Exams and Surveys area.
   

Course Schedule   TOP

Note: All deliverables are due no later than 11:55 pm Eastern Time on the day listed below

Assignment Deliverable	Submit In	Due Date
First Month
Discussion 1 Starts Topic: Computerized databases are almost everywhere; you encounter them when you shop at the grocery store, register for a course at NSU, or pay your phone bill. Not every problem, however, can be effectively addressed by a database and, in some instances, the computer actually seems to make the situation worse. Discuss particularly effective or ineffective database implementations.	Discussion forum	4/2
Discussion 1 Closed	Discussion forum	4/22
Discussion 2 Starts Topic: Describe and analyze a problem in your business that could be effectively addressed using a computerized database management application.	Discussion forum	4/23
Quiz 1 ( Chapters 1, 2, 3, & 4) Due	Exams and Surveys	4/29
Second Month
Technical brief Due	Assignment dropbox	5/6
Group Project Preferences Survey Due	Exams and Surveys	5/6
Discussion 2 Closed	Discussion forum	5/13
Project Teams Formed by Professor	Discussion forum	5/14
Quiz 2 (Chapters 5, 6, & 7) Due	Exams and Surveys	5/27
Third Month
Completed Project (Database and Planning Documents) Due	Assignment dropbox	6/17
Quiz 3 (Chapters 9, 12, 13, & 14) Due	Exams and Surveys	6/22
Collaboration Reflection	Exams and Surveys	6/22

Grading Criteria   TOP

A ......................….. 186- 200 points
A- ........................…180 - 185 points
B+ ........................... 176 - 179 points
B .........................… 166 - 175 points
B- ............................ 160 - 165 points
C+ ........................... 156 - 159 points
C ........................…. 146 - 155 points
C- ………………… 140 - 145 points
F ...................……... fewer than 140 points

Incompletes WILL NOT be given except under circumstances of extreme hardship. Please refer to the SCIS student handbook for details on the Incomplete policy.

Class/Course Rules   TOP

Crediting the Words or Ideas of Others

When using the exact words of another, quotation marks must be used for short quotations (fewer than 40 words), and block quotation style must be used for longer quotations. In either case, a proper citation must also be provided. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition, (2001, pp. 117 and 292) contains standards and examples on quotation methods.

When paraphrasing (summarizing, or rewriting) the words or ideas of another, a proper citation must be provided. (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (2001) contains standards and examples on citation methods (pp. 207–214) and reference lists (pp. 215–281)). The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1993) defines paraphrase as “An expression in other words, usually fuller and clearer, of the sense of a written or spoken passage or text…Express the meaning (of a word, phrase, passage, or work) in other words, usually with the object of clarification…”. Changing word order, deleting words, or substituting synonyms is not acceptable paraphrasing—it is plagiarism, even when properly cited. Rather than make changes of this nature, the source should be quoted as written.

Original Work

Assignments, exams, projects, papers, theses, dissertations, etc., must be the original work of the student. Original work may include the thoughts and words of others but such thoughts or words must be identified using quotation marks or indentation and must properly identify the source (see the previous section Crediting the Words or Ideas of Others). At all times, students are expected to comply with the school’s accepted citation practice and policy.

Work is not original when it has been submitted previously by the author or by anyone else for academic credit. Work is not original when it has been copied or partially copied from any other source, including another student, unless such copying is acknowledged by the person submitting the work for the credit at the time the work is being submitted, or unless copying, sharing, or joint authorship is an express part of the assignment. Exams and tests are original work when no unauthorized aid is given, received, or used before or during the course of the examination, reexamination, and/or remediation.

2. Writing Skills

Students must demonstrate proficiency in the use of the English language. Grammatical errors, spelling errors, and writing that fails to express ideas clearly will affect their grades and the completion of their academic programs. The faculty will not provide remedial help concerning grammatical errors or other writing difficulties. It is the student’s responsibility to proofread and edit his or her work which, in both form and content, should be letter-perfect. Work that is not properly edited will be rejected. It is university policy that students must submit their own work, not that of another person. Consequently, they should refrain from using outside editors to redo their work.

Several books contain general guidelines for writing. On Writing Well (Zinsser, 2001) is an excellent guide to clear, logical, and organized writing. The Elements of Style (Strunk and White, 2000) is a compact handbook on the basic principles of composition, grammar, word usage and writing style. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) (2001), a comprehensive handbook on writing for publication, addresses editorial style, grammar, and organization. Give particular attention to Chapter 1, Content and Organization of a Manuscript; Chapter 2, Expressing Ideas and Reducing Bias in Language; and Chapter 3, APA Editorial Style. Chapter 2 also has good advice on writing style and grammar. Another excellent handbook on writing for publication is The Chicago Manual of Style (2003). The APA manual and the Chicago manual contain guidance on punctuation, spelling, capitalization, abbreviations, quotations, numbers, statistical and mathematical material, tables, figures, footnotes, appendixes, and reference citations in text. Students should use a good dictionary such as Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11^th ed.).

3. ADA

NSU complies with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The university’s detailed policy on disabilities is contained in the NSU Student Handbook. Student requests for accommodation based on ADA will be considered on an individual basis. Each student with a disability should discuss his or her needs with the GSCIS disability service representative, Candy Fish (call 954-262-2034, or email fishc@nova.edu) before the commencement of classes if possible.