CO22001

CO22001 Database Systems

Deadline extended to 17:00, Dec 4, 2007 (because of the recently cancelled practical due to the network problems). But, please, don't leave your coursework to the last minute! You should still plan on completing at least 40% of the work by Friday in week 9. Then use the extension to improve your score.

Also, please don't plagiarise (i.e. copy solutions from other students). An automatic plagiarism check will be performed, which will detect solutions that are suspiciously similar.

Before sending any questions about this module to the module leader, please, read below and check the FAQ to see whether your questions have already been answered.

Links:

Module Descriptor

Study materials:
Table of Contents Student Notes
All lectures slides

When is the exam?
Exam preparation:
Past papers
Revision Questions

Resources:
Normalisation Overview
ER diagram for jobs database
Musicians database

Timetable

Teaching Plan

Week No	Lecture A	Lecture B	Practical	Revision
01	Introduction	SQL1	On-line SQL
02	ER1	SQL2	...	Quiz1 Answers
03	ER2	SQL3	...
04	ER3	SQL4	...
05	ER4 , Tutorial 1	Relational Algebra 1	...	Quiz2 Answers
06	Transactions	Relational Algebra 2	...
07	Concurrency	Normalisation1	...
08	Recovery example	Normalisation2	...
09	No lecture, practicals only		deadline extended to: 17:00, Dec 4, 2007
10	Application Links	AdminSecurity	On-line Normalisation practical
11	DBMS Implementation	Visualising DB Data	On-line ER practical
12	Revision, Possible exam questions will be discussed.			Quiz
13	Revision Week
14	Exam Week 1
15	Exam Week 2

If you want to install the jobs database on your own computer:

Scripts for installing Oracle versions of both the jobs and musicians databases can be found here. Kevin Sim has converted the script for the jobs database to a MySQL version.

Where to buy the Student Notes booklet

You need to pay for the Student Notes booklet at the Reception (price £ 5).
Take the receipt to the School Office.
Ask for "Database Systems Student Notes".

How to register for the practicals

When you start your first practical, please, open the on-line SQL interface in a separate window. Then

Click on "Register for an account"
You can use any valid email address and any password.
Enter your correct matriculation number
In the field "Programme Info", select "CO22001 Merchiston, starting 01-Oct-07"

It is important that you are signed up for the correct occurrence in the practicals and that you are providing your correct matric number (because otherwise, your coursework mark will be 0). Any student who is resitting or continuing this module from a previous semester must change their profile to the correct occurrence. Otherwise the coursework mark will be "fail"!!

Coursework (assessments) will not open up or become available until a certain number of the tutorial exercises for that tutorial have been completed. Until then they will be labelled: "Not Yet Qualified"
Assistance is given for tutorial exercises, not the assessments.
NO Collusion (no copying or working together) on coursework assessments. (The software automatically detects plagiarism!)

Assessment Information

The exam counts for 60% of the final mark. The coursework counts for the other 40% of the final mark.

To pass the module, students need to achieve an overall mark of 40% and at least 30% in the exam and in the coursework. (For example, a student could pass with 46% in the exam, 30% in the coursework. Another student could pass with 30% in the exam, 55% in the coursework).

Resit students need to achieve 40% in any component that they are resitting.

Exam

The exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions, each question having 5 options. No negative marking is used.

Past papers are available at the past papers webpage. (Several of the 2002 exams contain the solutions at the end.)

Sample solutions to multiple choice questions (similar to the ones in the exam) can be found in the on-line multiple choice quiz.

Coursework

Official Frontpage of this assessment

The coursework mark is the "Assessment Total" which is visible on the "Main Index" page in the on-line SQL interface.

Resit Coursework

The resit coursework is an assessment through the on-line SQL system in the same style as the original coursework.

Resit during trimester I:
Contact the module leader in week 1. Do the assessment either on your own or attend the practicals. The deadline is Friday in week 9 (same as for the regular students).

Resit during trimester II:
Send an email to the module leader by the end of week 8. The on-line assessment will be opened for you on Monday in week 9. The deadline is Friday in week 14.

Resit during the summer:
Send an email to the module leader within 10 days after you receive your June marks. You will then receive an email with instructions from the module leader.

Information for students who are resitting the coursework

Any student who is resitting or continuing this module from a previous semester must change the "Programme info" in their profile in the on-line SQL to the current occurrence, i.e. "CO22001 Merchiston, starting 01-Oct-07". Otherwise the coursework mark will be "fail"!!