On the other hand, the evaluations were much better than the previous offering of the course. So I am encouraged to repeat this strategy the next time the course is offered. The course is offered once each year, and is being offered as this paper is being written. It is open to students with a background in data structures. Database design and implementation is the primary focus of the course.
Students study the relational algebra, relational calculus, and various forms of normalization.
This semester they used Oracle 7 and Oracle 8i for most projects including the final project and had a brief exposure to MS Access. Characteristics of secondary storage devices, methods of organizing information, various file organization and accessing techniques, and how these are used to implement database management systems are also being studied. There are many textbooks for this course. The course is popular because it is viewed as valuable for their future after graduation. It also happens to be one of those courses that are viewed as extremely valuable more so after graduation than while it is being taken.