Teaching database: A pedagogical and curriculum perspective

Industry recognizes that the analysis and design of database requires complex and variegated skills, and the knowledge of graduate recruits is insufficient to cope with the complexity required to develop database applications. Simultaneously, there is strong demand for other skills such as communication and cooperation. This paper presents a teaching approach and a curriculum design suitable for database courses both in the last year of K-12 education and in first or more advanced university courses. The methodology is based on an incremental project that develops in parallel, from the beginning of the course to the end, all the major tools and skills required for the analysis, design, and development of a database application: conceptual, logical, and physical design; querying and query languages; database; and user interface design. The result of the methodology is evaluated by analyzing student results in the course assessment written test, laboratory exam, project evaluation, and student survey. Finally, the work presents a first results' comparison of more than a decade of teaching experience in database courses at both 12th grade high school and university levels.