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Course Syllabus

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Objective         Instructors          Class Hours          Lab Hours          Prerequisites          Textbooks            Grading             Important Dates            Web Conferencing
Exams                     Tentative Schedule                          Lab Schedule          Assignment Submission Schedule

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Course Guidelines                Assignments/Project                   Labs                 Lecture Notes                  Other Resources

Download the Course Syllabus

Objective

This is an introductory course in database and file management systems.  It will help students to develop an understanding of the role of data modeling, file management and database systems in information systems.  At the completion of this course, you should:

•       Develop an appreciation of the role of data, files and databases in information systems.

•       Understand the database development activities during the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

•       Be familiar with data modeling concepts (E-R and Class diagrams) used in database development.

•       Be able to create databases and pose complex SQL queries of relational databases.  

•    Develop an appreciation for several DBMS's (ACCESS and ORACLE)

•       Be familiar with a broad range of data management issues including data integrity and security. 

•   Utilize a CASE tool for data modeling and schema creation.

Instructors

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Class Hours 

Lab Hours 

Prerequisites 
CIS 81: Computer Programming and Higher Level Language
If you are registered for this course, but do not meet the pre-requisite, contact the instructor immediately.  Students who have not completed the pre-requisites will not be awarded a grade for this course.  

Textbooks 
Modern Database Management, 6^th Edition. by Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Mary B. Prescott and Fred R. Mcfadden. Published by Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-061183-2.

Lab Notes  posted on the web. Use the link on the right. Password is required.

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Grading 

Assignments, lab projects and schedules will be available from the course web site.  Students are expected to view/download the assignments and lab projects.  Thus, students should make it a point to visit it frequently.  Failing to check the course web site is not an acceptable excuse for late submission, or missing exams.  Late submissions, unless permitted, will not be accepted. The 'others'  portion of the grade will is subjective, reflecting class participation, effort, individual contribution to the project and significant improvement during the semester.

Assignments & Quizzes
There will be several assignments.  It includes, data modeling and SQL projects. The assignments have to be submitted at the beginning of class on the due date.  In addition there may be announced or unannounced quizzes/assignments. 

Lab
During each Lab session you will be expected to do the assignments listed in the Lab schedule below. Your work and progress will be reviewed and evaluated at designated milestones.

Project
The class will be partitionned into groups of size 3 or 4, and  will work on a 4-6 week "real-life" database project of their choosing.  The project will involve: 1) the analysis of a problem (including understanding and documenting the business rules of the client organization); 2) the design of a database of modest size and complexity (using ERDs and Oracle Designer) and carried all the way through the normalization process); and 3) the implementation of the database using Access, and involving the creation of queries, reports, switchboards, and forms.   Each group of students will select a project which they will work on through the 4 to 6 week period.   Students will provide weekly progress reports demonstrating that they are making good use of the material tought in the course.

Grading Scale
Grading for the course is expected to be on the following scale:

This is just a guideline, the final grading may differ from this scale.

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Important Dates 
Students should regularly visit this website and also the course web conferencing site at http://tuportal.temple.edu for all announcements.  Some important dates are…

Web Conferencing 
We use a web conferencing tool,  Temple's Black Board, for outside class interaction. You will need to get a University AccessNet account and password from Computer Services to log on to this site. 

Blackboard Access:

To gain access to Blackboard if you do not already have it, you can go to

http://tuportal.temple.edu 

and follow the directions for getting a student account or for doing anything else involving Temple or information about Temple, its activities, courses, etc.  The portal is access port to Temple University computing facilities and lots, lots more.

The Blackboard site for CIS 109 can be used as a message board and also as a discussion forum where you may post comments/questions about the course, assignment, projects or any other relevant matter.
Please note that this forum is strictly for discussion on the course content, assignments and projects. All matters of class policy should be addressed directly to the instructor. I do not expect to moderate the forum, however I will intervene if I feel the need to redirect the focus back on the course.  NOTE: Communication with the instructor (me) should be handled directly through e-mail:

frank.friedman@temple.edu

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Exams 
Exams will be in class and in the lab.  They may use application/problem solving questions, short answer and/or a  combination of multiple choice.  You will be notified whether the exam will be open book and open notes.  The content for exams is cumulative, i.e. all material covered up to the day of exam may be included.  Exams will generally be based on material covered in class, but not necessarily restricted to it.  There will be no make up exams.  

Tentative Schedule 
This is a tentative outline of when the various topics will be covered.  You are expected to have read the designated chapters prior to attending the class. 

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Lab Schedule 
Scheduled labs for this course are based on the enclosed lab material.  This is a tentative session schedule, check later for a final schedule.  The labs are mainly self-directed with help from Lab assistant to answer questions and solve problems.  The labs are not meant for instruction or completing assignments. To derive maximum mileage from the labs you should read the sessions designated ahead of time.  You are expected to be thoroughly familiar with usage of Windows operating systems.

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   Click here for Lab details - TUCC STUDENTS ONLY 
  Click here for the lab instructions (CIS109-1, 109-2)
    Click here to download the demo database
   

Assignment Submission Schedule (TBD -> yet to be determined)

Last Updated
Monday, February 02, 2004