They had a clear plan at the start, gave feedback and reinforcement all along, and used mini-debriefings regularly to identify progress and problems. Time was a concern for all. Teaching with databases took more time than conventional instruction. Structure in a database lesson is critical. The introduction to the lesson should stress the problem to be solved, not the computer.
Clear expectations are vital, including intermediate milestones for students to attain.
Teachers should model key problem-solving elements, and guide student practice. A daily 5-minute summary of where each group has been, its achievements, and next steps can be very useful. Be sure to allow for final, public sharing of results. Just as student knowledge of the software is important to good results, so too is some knowledge of the content. Where the content was new, less was achieved.