This syllabus is subject to change based on specific class needs, especially the schedule. Significant deviations will be discussed in class. Individual exceptions to the policies and schedule are granted only in cases of true emergency. Please make arrangements with me if an emergency arises.
An introduction to the concepts and techniques of database systems. Includes history and motivation of database systems, data modeling, rational database, SQL, transaction processing, distributed databases.
The required textbook is:
The textbook webpage is a great source of additional information, including solutions to practice exercises, scripts to load the sample data, and tips on using specific databases.
We may occasionally have readings from other sources, which will either be emailed to students or posted to the schedule below.
Additionally, there are many resources on the web for learning about databases, and especially about SQL. One good is this MySQL Tutorial.
In class I will often make use of the Socrative app, so you’ll need to install this on your phones. We will also occasionally write SQL queries together in repl.it, so you will need an account there.
In terms of Database Management Systems we will usually stick to SQLite and MySQL.
Zoom classes: If the instructor’s video is turned on, yours should be, too. Any computer, tablet, or phone usage should be directly related to the course, e.g., Zoom or Socrative. Anything else is rude and distracting to others. Inappropriate use of devices, or not turning your video on, will result in a low participation grade. To fully participate in class, you should plan to attend each Zoom session on a laptop or desktop computer, NOT a tablet or phone. This will allow you to take part in any live-coding exercises with the rest of the class. Please let the instructor know ahead of time if this is not possible for any particular class meeting.
Late assignments: You are allotted a total of 5 days. You may apply these to any homework assignment (NOT projects) as you see fit and turn in your solutions with no penalty. However, you may use at most 2 on any individual assignment. The point is to give you some flexibility for illnesses, long trips, etc. I am unlikely to grant further extensions. If you are selected to give a presentation based on a homework exercise and wish to use late days, you must schedule your presentation for the next class period, although a different exercise may be chosen by the instructor!
Academic dishonesty: Monmouth College’s official policy on academic dishonesty can be found here. You are responsible for reading and complying with that policy.
In this course, any violation of the academic honesty policy will have varying consequences depending on the severity of the infraction as judged by the instructor. Minimally, a violation will result in an “F” or 0 points on the assignment in question. Additionally, the student’s course grade may be lowered by one letter grade. In severe cases, the student will be assigned a course grade of “F” and dismissed from the class. All cases of academic dishonesty must be reported to the Associate Dean who may decide to recommend further action to the Admissions and Academic Status Committee, including suspension or dismissal. It is assumed that students will educate themselves regarding what is considered to be academic dishonesty, so excuses or claims of ignorance will not mitigate the consequences of any violations
Collaboration: We encourage you to make use of the resources available to you – it is fine to seek help from a friend, tutor, instructor, internet, etc. However, copying of answers and any act worth of the label “cheating” is never permissible! In addition to listing your sources and collaborators, you should be producing your own writeup in your own words. By “your own words,” we mean you should be producing the text yourself, without some external aid. Verbatim copying of text is specifically disallowed, but so is taking a source and rearranging some phrases and changing some variable names to create a derivative version! Such behavior is definitely NOT “using your own words.” It does not matter if you helped contribute to this source text with others, since then you are still not the sole author of the text. The point of collaborating on an assignment is not to produce a jointly authored set of solutions, since that violates the course policies. Instead, it is to help you solve the problems, which sometimes involve a bit of creativity. After you have jointly come up with the ideas you need to solve the problems, though, you should part ways with your group and sit down to do the writing by yourself. I also advise against sharing the writeup you submit with others, since if someone else uses your text as a source for their own solution (with or without your permission), you will also be implicated in the violation of the academic integrity policy. In any case, if two nearly identical solutions are received, we have no way of tell which is the original, and the policy is to not award credit for either submission.
General expectations: In short, I expect you to be respectful of others and take responsibility for your own learning. You are here to learn, so work hard and be professional.
Just attending class is not sufficient to truly learn the material. Read the text, use the resources available at Monmouth College, and go beyond the material.
If you miss class, you are responsible for everything covered on that day. College is, in some sense, your job. Take pride in creating quality work. Staple your assignments, label problems, and present your answers neatly and orderly.
Your job is to convince me that you have learned the material – show your work! Even if you do not know a particular answer, guide me through your thought process.
The weekly workload for this course will vary by student and by week but should be about 13 hours per week on average. The following table provides a rough estimate of the distribution of time over different course components for a 16 week semester, as well as detailing the type, amount, and relative value of all assignments.
| Category | Amount | Final Grade Weight | Time/Week (Hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures/Class | 42 | 10% (Participation) | 2.5 |
| Homework | 8–10 | 20% | 3 |
| Presentations | 1–3 | 10% | - |
| Exam Study | - | - | 2 |
| Exams | 3 | 30% | - |
| Projects | 2 | 30% | 3.5 |
| Reading/Unstructured Study | - | - | 2 |
| Total | 100% | 13 |
Homework assignments may include written exercises and/or programming assignments. When homework is due, the instructor may select 1 or more exercises to be presented. Students will be randomly selected (with replacement) to present their solution.
Each exam will focus primarily, but not necessarily exclusively, on the material covered since the previous exam.
In-class presentations will be graded on a simple 3-point scale:
If you are unable to attend a class, you must notify the instructor prior to the class. If you do not, and you are randomly selected to present, you will receive a 0. It is possible that you are never randomly selected, in which case you will receive full credit for this portion of the grade.
Your participation grade is based on a variety of activities. During class I will often make use of the Socrative app, so you’ll need to install this on your phones. Participating in Socrative questions and with in-class group activities is required for a decent participation grade; an A includes asking questions either in class or in office hours.
Your final grade is based on a weighted average of particular assignment categories. You can estimate your current grade based on your scores and these weights. You may always visit the instructor outside of class to discuss your current standing. Assignments and final grades use a standard grading scale shown below and will not be curved except in rare cases when deemed necessary by the instructor.
This courses uses a standard grading scale. Assignments and final grades will not be curved except in rare cases when its deemed necessary by the instructor. Percentage grades translate to letter grades as follows:
| Score | Grade |
|---|---|
| 94–100 | A |
| 90–93 | A- |
| 88–89 | B+ |
| 82–87 | B |
| 80–81 | B- |
| 78–79 | C+ |
| 72–77 | C |
| 70–71 | C- |
| 68–69 | D+ |
| 62–67 | D |
| 60–61 | D- |
| 0–59 | F |
You are always welcome to challenge a grade that you feel is unfair or calculated incorrectly. Mistakes made in your favor will never be corrected to lower your grade. Mistakes made not in your favor will be corrected. Basically, after the initial grading your score can only go up as the result of a challenge*.
You are always welcome to challenge a grade that you feel is unfair or calculated incorrectly. Mistakes made in your favor will never be corrected to lower your grade. Mistakes made not in your favor will be corrected. Basically, after the initial grading your score can only go up as the result of a challenge.
The following tentative calendar should give you a feel for how work is distributed throughout the semester. Assignments and events are listed in the week they are due or when they occur. This calendar is subject to change based on the circumstances of the course.
Note: All readings should be done before the class period in which they are listed below.
Each day’s slides/notes can be found in this shared folder. You will need to be logged in to your Monmouth College account to see the folder. If I have not uploaded the week’s slides by Friday afternoon you are free to email me a reminder.
| Date | Topic | Assignments and Readings |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 01/25 (Week 1) | Logistics, Intro | Chapter 1 |
| Wed 01/27 | The Relational Model | Chapter 2 |
| Fri 01/29 | Relational Algebra | Homework 1 |
| Mon 02/01 (Week 2) | Basic SQL: SELECT | 3.1-3.3 |
| Wed 02/03 | More SQL, Set Operations | 3.4-3.5 |
| Fri 02/05 | Aggregating, Grouping, and more | Homework 2, 3.6-3.8 |
| Mon 02/08 (Week 3) | Nested Subqueries | 3.8 |
| Wed 02/10 | Database Modifications | 3.9-3.10 |
| Fri 02/12 | Practice Exercises | Homework 3 |
| Mon 02/15 (Week 4) | Joins | 4.1 |
| Wed 02/17 | Views, Transactions, Integrity Constraints | 4.2-4.6 |
| Fri 02/19 | Practice Exercises | |
| Mon 02/22 (Week 5) | Functions, Procedures, Triggers | 5.2-5.3 |
| Wed 02/24 | Query Practice/Review | |
| Fri 02/26 | Exam 1 | |
| Mon 03/01 (Week 6) | Access via Programming Languages | 5.1 |
| Wed 03/03 | Security | 4.7 |
| Fri 03/05 | Entity-Relationship Model | 6.1-6.5, Project 1 |
| Mon 03/08 (Week 7) | Exam 1 Solutions, Advanced Data Modeling | 6.6-6.7, 6.10 |
| Wed 03/10 | More E-R Design | 6.8-6.11, Project Enterprise chosen |
| (Fri 03/12) | (No class – Pseudo-spring break) | |
| Mon 03/15 (Week 8) | (No class) | |
| Wed 03/17 | Decomposition | 7.1-7.4 |
| Fri 03/19 | Functional Dependency Theory | 7.4-7.5, E-R Checkpoint meeting deadline |
| Mon 03/22 (Week 9) | Normal Forms | Review 7.1-7.5 |
| Wed 03/24 | Multivalued Dependencies | 7.6-7.11 |
| Fri 03/26 | Complex Data Types | Chapter 8, Relational checkpoint |
| Mon 03/29 (Week 10) | Web Apps | 9.1-9.5 |
| Wed 03/31 | Advanced Web Apps | 9.6-9.10 |
| (Fri 04/02 – Easter Break) | ||
| Mon 04/05 (Week 11) | Data Analytics | 11.1-11.3 |
| Wed 04/07 | Project 1 Questions | Project 1 due |
| Fri 04/09 | Project 1 Presentations | Project 2 start |
| Mon 04/12 (Week 12) | Project 1 Presentations | |
| Wed 04/14 | Project 1 Presentations | |
| Fri 04/16 | Physical Storage | Chapter 12, App. checkpoint 1 |
| Mon 04/19 (Week 13) | Data Storage Structures | Chapter 13 |
| Wed 04/21 | B-Tree Indexing | 14.1-14.3 |
| Fri 04/23 | Query Processing I | 15.1-15.5, App. checkpoint 2, Homework 4 |
| Mon 04/26 (Week 14) | Query Processing II | |
| Wed 04/28 | Transactions | 17.1-17.6 |
| Fri 04/30 | Database Architectures | 20.1-20.5 |
| Mon 05/03 (Week 15) | Big Data | Chapter 10 |
| Wed 05/05 | Project 2 Presentations | |
| Fri 05/07 | Project 2 Due | |
| Tue 05/11 3:00 PM | Final Exam (take-home) |
Mental Health and Counseling Services: Monmouth College provides cost-free, professional mental health counseling to support you and to help you manage challenges that may impact your personal and academic success. The Counseling Center is located in the upper level of Poling Hall, offices 204 and 216, and the hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM. To request a confidential appointment on-line, click here or email the center, Cindy Beadles or Tom Caudill.
Student Success and Accessibility Services offers FREE resources to assist Monmouth College students with their academic success. Programs include supplemental instruction for difficult classes, drop-in and appointment tutoring, and individual academic coaching. The office is here to help students excel academically, since everyone can work toward better grades, practice stronger study skills, and mange their time better.
Accessibility Services: If you have a disability or had academic accommodations in high school or another college, you may be eligible for academic accommodations at Monmouth College under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Monmouth College is committed to equal educational access. To discuss any of the services offered, please call or visit Student Success and Accessibility Services. SSAS is located in the ACE space on the first floor of Hewes Library, opposite Einstein Bros. Bagels. They can be reached at 309-457-2257 or via email at ssas@monmouthcollege.edu.
Hewes Library: Librarians can help you find appropriate sources for a speech, research paper, or project. #JustAsk!
Library Hours: library.monmouthcollege.edu/home/hours
How to contact a Hewes librarian: