Dr Rob Meredith
Lecturer
Phone: +61 3 990 32396
Fax: +61 3 990 31077
Dr Rob Meredith
Lecturer
Phone: +61 3 990 32396
Fax: +61 3 990 31077
In addition to the staff contact details included here, teaching staff for the unit will regularly monitor and provide feedback on the various discussion forums hosted on the unit's Moodle site. Students are encouraged to post questions, comments and answers to these forums regularly.
In particular, off-campus students are encouraged to post their tutorial work to the relevant Moodle discussion forum for feedback from both staff and students.
Welcome to FIT9003 Database Systems Design. This 6 point unit is core for all graduate and postgraduate degree programs in the Faculty of IT. The unit has been designed to give you the knowledge to design database systems to solve organisational information requirements. It focuses on design techniques that will allow you to elicit requirements from clients, and design and document solutions.
We have a mixture of students enrolled in this unit: some with a technical background, others with a non-technical background. While the unit is specifically focussed on the design of technical systems, it has been developed with these two different backgrounds in mind. Those from a technical background will learn about the importance of good design informing good implementation, while those from a non-technical background will pick up conceptual tools that will help them think about organising data and information in a new, complementary way.
For on campus students, workload commitments are:
You will need to allocate up to 5 hours per week in some weeks, for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups.
Off-campus students will not be expected to attend lectures or tutorial sessions, but lectures will be audio-recorded, and made available via both a unit Podcast as well as the Library's Monash University Lectures Online (MULO) service. All tutorial exercises and solutions will be posted to the unit's Moodle site (see below for access details). Off-campus students should plan to spend equivalent time working on these resources, and should seek advice from the Gippsland lecturer when needed. Students are encouraged to post their tutorial solutions to the Moodle discussion forums for feedback.
Teaching and learning in the unit involves:
All students are able to access the MULO video recordings of the weekly lectures. Off-campus student tutorials will be supported with discussion groups, chat and video podcasts.
For information on timetabling for on-campus classes please refer to MUTTS, http://mutts.monash.edu.au/MUTTS/
On-campus students should register for tutorials/laboratories using the Allocate+ system: http://allocate.its.monash.edu.au/
Resources for the unit will be made available in the unit's Moodle site. You will be able to watch the lecture recordings for the on-campus lectures and discuss unit material on the Moodle discussion forums. In addition to the MULO recordings of lectures, the unit has a podcast that will also be available for subscription through software such as iTunes. Episodes covering tutorial materials and other topics as needed will be released weekly through the semester.
Weekly tutorial discussions will be supported in the Moodle site, and supplementary sessions may be held using chat and video conferencing, according to student preferences.
It is important that off-campus students stay up-to-date with the unit schedule throughout the semester, and seek feedback and advice on a regular basis.
| Week | Date* | Topic | References/Readings | Key dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01/03/10 | Introduction to Systems and Databases | Chapter One of the textbook | |
| 2 | 08/03/10 | ER Modelling Basics | Chapter Three of the textbook | |
| 3 | 15/03/10 | Conceptual, logical and physical models | Chapter Six of the textbook | |
| 4 | 22/03/10 | Advanced modelling techniques and the data dictionary | Chapters Four, Ten and Fifteen of the textbook | |
| 5 | 29/03/10 | The Consulting Process | Chapters Eight and Nine of the textbook | Assignment 1a Due |
| Mid semester break | ||||
| 6 | 12/04/10 | Normalisation 1 | Chapter Two of the textbook | |
| 7 | 19/04/10 | Normalisation 2 | Chapter Thirteen of the textbook | |
| 8 | 26/04/10 | Introduction to SQL | Din, A. (1994) "Structured Query Language (SQL): A Practical Introduction" (free online text) | |
| 9 | 03/05/10 | Advanced SQL and middleware | Din, A. (1994) | Assignment 1b Due |
| 10 | 10/05/10 | Implementation | Chapter Twelve of the textbook | |
| 11 | 17/05/10 | Alternative Modelling Techniques | Chapters Seven and Sixteen of the textbook | |
| 12 | 24/05/10 | Design | Simsion, G. (2007) "Data Modelling: News from the Ivory Tower", The Data Administrators Newsletter, January, 2007. | Assignment 2 Due |
| 13 | 31/05/10 | Conclusion and Revision | Revision of past readings | |
*Please note that these dates may only apply to Australian campuses of Monash University. Off-shore students need to check the dates with their unit leader.
The weighting of assesment has been adjusted to 50% assignment work and 50% examination. This has allowed a restructure of the first assignment, which has been broken into a more manageable size with two parts.
Simsion, G.C. & Witt, G.C. (2005) Data Modelling Essentials, 3rd Edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
The text book is available from the Monash University Book Shops. The book is also available on Amazon.com. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase your text book early.
For material on SQL, you will find the following free, online textbook useful:
Din, A. (1994) Structured Query Language (SQL): A Practical Introduction, NCC Blackwell.
A copy of this text will be provided electronically via Moodle. You may also wish to purchase a basic SQL book for your own reference. Most academic and technical bookshops have an excellent range.
The following texts will be useful, but not mandatory, for studying the unit. If you have no IT background and/or are an off-campus student, it is strongly recommended that you either purchase or borrow the third of these texts:
Rob, P. & Coronel, C. (2007). Database Systems Design, Implementation and Management, 7th Edition, Thomson Course Technology.
Hoffer, J.A., George, J.F. & Valacich, J.S. (2005). Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 4th Edition, Pearson Education International/Prentice-Hall.
Hoffer, J.A Prescott, M.B. and McFadden, F.R. (2005). Modern Database Management, 6th Edition. Prentice-Hall/Pearson Education.
A drawing package such as Microsoft Visio is strongly recommended; a copy of which can be obtained from the Faculty's IT service desk. You will need access to a Windows XP or later based machine, and will also find it useful to install a copy of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (also available from the Faculty's IT service desk). You will also need a web browser and Microsoft Word.
To watch the podcasts you will need podcast software such as iTunes to download and play episodes. Alternatively, episodes can be manually downloaded and watched using either iTunes or other video software such as VLC.
Information about how to obtain the relevant database software from Microsoft to allow connection to Monash's database server will also be provided via Moodle. You will need to install the Microsoft VPN software if you want to access the database server from off-campus (again, instructions will be provided on Moodle).
Study resources we will provide for your study are:
The FIT9003 web site on Moodle, where lecture slides, weekly tutorial exercises, assignment specifications, sample solutions, supplementary materials and discussion forums can be found. Lectures will also be video recorded (slides and audio only) and can be accessed via http://www.mulo.monash.edu.au/ as downloads or subscribed to as a podcast. A separate FIT9003 podcast will also be published containing video of tutorial tutorial exercise walkthroughs, class discussion and other supplementary material.
To pass a unit which includes an examination as part of the assessment a student must obtain:
If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination total assessment, and the total mark for the unit is greater than 50% then a mark of no greater than 49-N will be recorded for the unit.
Assignment coversheets are available via "Student Forms" on the Faculty website: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/
You MUST submit a completed coversheet with all assignments, ensuring that the plagiarism declaration section is signed.
Assignment submission and return procedures, and assessment criteria will be specified with each assignment.
Weighting:
50%
Length:
3 hours
Type (open/closed book):
closed book
Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are not regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.
Students requesting an extension for any assessment during semester (eg. Assignments, tests or presentations) are required to submit a Special Consideration application form (in-semester exam/assessment task), along with original copies of supporting documentation, directly to their lecturer within two working days before the assessment submission deadline. Lecturers will provide specific outcomes directly to students via email within 2 working days. The lecturer reserves the right to refuse late applications.
A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.
Refer to the Faculty Special consideration webpage or further details and to access application forms: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/equity/special-consideration.html
Assignments received after the due date and without an extension will be subject to a penalty of 5 marks per day (ie, an assignment graded 65% would receive a mark of 55% if submitted one day late). Weekends count as a single day. Assignments more than one week late will not be accepted, and a result of 0 will be recorded.
Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.
Please visit the following URL: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/units/appendix.html for further information about: