22C:144 Database Systems

Fall 2005 - University of Iowa

Overview

This was my third time teaching 22C:144 Database Systems. The class was basically unchanged from the second offering in Fall 2004. This class is a really exciting class where students learn the core database fundamentals and get to apply them on an interesting project. The major difference this time is the class was given over the Internet as well (via taping my laptop screen). There were 14 of the 59 students registered remotely and many in-class students used the Internet lectures as well. Class attendence was very good even with the availability of online lectures (questions and candy always helps). The class had a mixture of graduate (44% percent) and undergraduate students (56% percent). The class consisted of two exams, some programming assignments, and a major group project. Most students really enjoyed the project, which was building an online store such as MyAmazon.com. More emphasis was placed on JSP programming and examples. Overall, the project was well received and will continue to be a core component of teaching this class in the future.

When teaching large classes I try to encourage every student to not only pass, but do their absolute best. I also strive for a very interactive class where the students are actively involved in the discussion and solving problems. Most students really enjoyed the class and indicated they would recommend the class to other students. The pass rate was 93% mostly because 3 students delayed writing the exam and then never did write it.

The class was taught in 2217 Seamens Center from 10:55-12:10 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. The room was excellent, and we had a good timeslot.

On-line Resources

• Syllabus

Student Performance

Of the 59 registered students who started the course, 55 passed the course (3 received fail/incomplete, 1 D) for a very high 93% pass rate. The average GPA was 2.96 or just below a B. Charts showing the mark breakdown are below. Although the average GPA was relatively high, the threshold for A+ was set very high, and only 14 students got an "A". The average GPA reflects the fact that all students put in the effort to do a good project and exams. I was happy with the mark breakdown which adequately reflected student effort.

Comments

What Students Liked Most About the Course

Overall the comments were quite positive especially about the practical benefit of the project.

• "Learning about database systems in general: SQL, JDBC programming, JSP, the project."
  


• "The instructor! Ramon Lawrence is the best instructor in the CS department."
  


• "I came into this class thinking databases are nothing but fancy spreadsheets, but I'd better take the class so I can get a job. This class totally changed my mind! I really love databases now and had no idea how interesting they could be! I really like how you stopped to make us answer questions: it really kept me focused! The project seemed scary at first, but I had so much fun doing it and it really increased my confidence. I would highly recommend you as an instructor to anyone!"
  


• "You made the all time best professor list with Steve Bruell and Ken Slonneger. Congratulations."
  


• "Everything. This was my favorite CS class this semester. The candy was a nice touch. :-)"
  


• "This class taught me exactly what I came here for. I'm not a CS major, but I wanted a background in what a database is/does for some software projects that I have and will be working on."
  


• "I liked the course, enjoyed doing the homework, and definitely liked Ramon as an instructor."
  


• "The project and the homework. They were very hands on and allowed me to learn a lot."
  


• "I really liked having questions given to us during class to practice. I also liked working with multiple DBMSs."
  

What Students Liked Least About the Course

The course suffered a little this offering due to my hectic travel schedule (I missed 8 lectures). As usual, the amount of work required for the course is an issue. There was also a major issue with the actual recording of lectures. Since only I had a microphone and only the screen was taped, it became an issue for remote students when students asked questions and became challenging during the lecture to remember to repeat questions and have all lecture discussion visible on the tape.

• "The instructor was out of town for a couple of weeks. Last few classes were done in a hurry."
  


• "There was a significant amount of work involved and students don't like that."
  


• "Debugging JSP. Working with JSP in general. In my experience, other languages (PSP,ASP) are more prevelant in the real world."
  


• "The project seemed to favor students who have a lot of website experience and not put enough emphasis on databases."
  


• "I don't like the fact that the exams required very long time. Maybe they should be either shorter or easier. Also the project was great but we were learning new things as we go and doesn't give you much time as you develop."
  


• "This class covered more about presentation of data from a database than about the system itself. A student asking questions was inaudible to the [Internet] video presentation. Dr. Lawrence did not restate the question. I would not recommend this class to anyone taking it via web-based learning."