IST366: Database Design and Report Writing
Course Syllabus

Class Room: Prichard Hall 207
Class hours: Tuesday, Thursday 12:30-1:45pm
Instructor: Daniel Dementiev
Office: Morrow Library G31F
Phone: 696-7241
E-mail: dementiev@marshall.edu
Office hours: see here

Testbook:
The following textbook is required for this course:
PHP and MySQL. Web Development by Luke Welling and Laura Thompson, SAMS Publishing. ISBN: 0-672-31784-2

Supplementary sources:

  • Database Systems. A practical approach to design, implementation, and management by Thomas Connolly and Carolyn Begg, Third edition, Addison Wesley. ISBN: 0-201-70857-4
  • on-line MySQL documentation in HTML format and in Acrobat Reader format
  • An Introduction to MySQL from the original MySQL site
  • Building a Database-Driven Web Site Using PHP and MySQL
  • also see some articles on PHP sites

    Computer Requirements:
    Access to a WWW browser is required (Netscape 4.0 or higher or Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher).

    Course Description:
    Introduction to database design, data modeling technique, advance quiries, database manipulation and administration concepts. This course helps develop conceptual and organization skills for planning effective formal database reports using web browsers or GUI.

    Credit:
    The course is three (3) credit hours. It includes classroom lectures, exams, and laboratory programming projects. Students will participate in programming projects that illustrate the implementation of concepts in general database web-applications.

    Pre/co-requisites:

  • IST365: Database Management Systems (3 hrs)
    or instructor's permission

    Desired Objectives/Outcomes:
    By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • install and administer MySQL server
  • create databases, tables, and users
  • manipulate data in the databases
  • develop simple PHP scripts to access the database through the Internet

    Instruction method:
    There will be approximately 3 contact hours of classroom lecture per week. Students may work on their assignments in Prichard Hall 200 or 207.

    Grading Policy:
    Final grades are based on performance in assignments, and exams as indicated below:
    Projects: 45%
    2 in-class exams: 15% each
    Final: 25%
    Individuals who utilize other people’s code, thoughts, or ideas must provide appropriate references to said resources. Failure to provide such documentation will result in a failing grade for the assignment, and may result in a failing grade for the course.

    In determining the overall grade for a project, you can expect the following grades based on performance:

  • A – Excellent work that meets and/or exceeds all of the requirements for a given project, code compiles and works for multiple test samples, all code and associated files are well documented, and the code is written efficiently.
  • B – Good work that meets all of the requirements of the assignment, but may have errors in documentation or coding, or contains code that may not work with all possible data samples.
  • C – Average work that meets all of the requirements of the assignment, but is missing one or more of the items in its entirety that is mentioned in terms of an A grade.
  • D – Below average work which fails to meet one or more of the requirements of the assignment.
  • F – Unacceptable work, which fails to meet two or more requirements for an assignment, or has code that will not compile and execute.

    Final letter grades are determined based on the following grading scale:
    90-100% 80-89% 70-79% 60-69% Below 60
    A B C D F
    The instructor reserves the right to change these values depending on the overall class performance and/or extenuating circumstances.

    Policy Statement:
    Programming assignments: The course includes a number of programming assignments. All assignments are due by midnight on the due date. Late assignments will be penalized at the rate of 10% per day (including weekends).

    Make-up Exams and Late Penalty: Make-up exams will not be given except under unusual circumstances and satisfactory written justification. Any student who misses an exam due to an unexcused absence will receive a grade of zero for that exam with no opportunity for make-up or substitution. University excused absences or those occurring with a good reason will be excused. Make up exams must be taken within one week of the original scheduled date. The decision whether to give a make up exam rests with the instructor.

    Passing grade: Programming assignments and exams are required parts of the course and must be satisfactorily completed to pass this course. A student must have a passing performance on each part. A failing grade on a component may result in a failing grade in the course

    Effort Required:
    As a 300-level course, this course is provided as an advanced course. Due to the amount of new concepts presented in the course there will be a considerable amount of development and research effort required of the student. For every one hour in class, the student is expected to put in an effort of at least 3 hours outside the class for studying and programming. Because of background and preparedness, some students may have to put in additional effort.