Classes

Each week you should attend three hours of lectures, a tutorial class and a practical session. For details of days, times and rooms consult the timetables webpage.

Note that practicals and tutorials commence in week 2. You should have selected a practical session and a tutorial session during enrolment. You should attend the sessions you are enrolled in. If you do not have a class, or if you wish to change one, you should see the enrolment operators in the E7B courtyard during the first two weeks of the semester. Thereafter you should go to the Student Centre.

Lectures are used to introduce new material, give examples of the use of database design and programming methods and techniques and put them in a wider context. Furthermore, to reinforce the nexus between teaching, research, and learning, several research topics may be discussed throughout the semester. This additional material may prove useful to complete the assignments.

You learn by processing concepts, not just by hearing them. Practicals are small group classes in the laboratories which give you the opportunity to do exactly that by interacting with a tutor who has a sound knowledge of the subject and with your peers. This also gives you a chance to practice your database programming skills.

The feedback that you receive plays also a crucial role in your learning. You have many opportunities to seek for and to receive feedback. During lectures, you are encouraged to ask the lecturer questions to clarify anything you might not be sure of. Assignments and any other assessment tasks have been especially designed to deliver continuous feedback on your work.

Each week you should:

• Attend lectures, take notes, ask questions
• Attend your practical and tutorial classes and seek feedback from your tutors on your work
• Read assigned reading material, add to your notes and prepare questions for your lecturer and/or tutor
• Start working on any assignments immediately after they have been released.

Practical and tutorial tasks for the next week are published on the ISYS326 iLearn site on Friday of each week. Students should bring a printed copy of the tutorial tasks for the week to their tutorial class. Students are expected to work on those tasks prior to attending their classes.

Assignments scheduled for the unit should be handed in via iLearn at https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/ by the time and in the manner specified in the assignment description.

Resources

ECHO360 - Digital recordings of lectures will be available via iLearn at https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/. Read these instructions for details.

Textbook - The textbook listed below covers most of the required material and that will be used in preparation of lectures and/or tutorials and/or practicals.

• Kifer M., Bernstein A. and Lewis P. Database Systems. An Application-Oriented Approach, Complete Version, Second Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2006, ISBN 0-321-26845-8

It will be available from the University Co-op Bookshop.

For some parts of learning, the necessary reading (book chapters, software documentation, papers, etc.) will be made available on iLearn.

Technology - In this unit you will will be exposed to the following technology and tools

• Oracle - Database Management System
• Powerdesigner - Data Modeling Software Tool

Websites - The web page for this unit can be found at http://www.comp.mq.edu.au/units/isys326

Discussion Boards - The unit will make use of discussion boards hosted within iLearn. Please post questions there, they will be monitored by the staff on the unit.

Staff-Student Liaison Committee

The Department has established a Staff-Student Liaison Committee at each level (100, 200, 300) to provide all students studying a Computing unit the opportunity to discuss related issues or problems with both students and staff.

The committee meets three times during the semester. For each meeting, an agenda is issued and minutes are taken. These are posted on the web at http://www.comp.mq.edu.au/undergrad/info/liaison/300-level/

If you have exhausted all other avenues, then you should consult the Director of Teaching (A/Prof. Steve Cassidy) or the Head of Department (Dr. Christophe Doche). You are entitled to have your concerns raised, discussed and resolved.

Macquarie is developing a number of policies in the area of learning and teaching. Approved policies and associated guidelines can be found at Policy Central. Refer to the Science Centre regarding the implementation of these policies (e.g. precise procedures, forms, deadlines, etc).

LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENT TASKS

No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted an assessment task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for special consideration for that task is made and approved. 

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION

Special Consideration is intended for a student who is prevented by serious and unavoidable disruption from completing any unit requirements in accordance with their ability. To apply for special consideration you need to use the online submission system along with some evidence to support your case. Depending on the circumstances presented, the convenor may choose to give you an alternate assessment, additional time for an assessment, make-up exam, etc. If a Supplementary Examination is granted as a result of the Special Consideration process the examination will be scheduled after the conclusion of the official examination period. For details of the Special Consideration policy specific to the Department of Computing, see the Department's policy page.

GRADE APPEAL

In case of problems arising with your final grade, the first step is to organise a review. The Department recommends that you request an appointment with the convenor of the unit in order to review your grade. If the review does not solve the problem, a formal Grade Appeal can be lodged. See the grade appeal policy.

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism involves using the work of another person and presenting it as one's own. The Department, in line with University policy, treats all cases seriously. In particular, the Department, keeps a record of all plagiarism cases. This record is referred to so that an appropriate penalty can be applied to each case. For concrete examples, see this page.

Standards

Four standards, namely Developing, Functional, Proficient, and Advanced, summarize as many different levels of achievement. Each standard is precisely defined to help students know what kind of performance is expected to deserve a certain mark. The standards corresponding to the learning outcomes of this unit are given below:

Grading 

At the end of the semester, you will receive a grade that reflects your achievement in the unit

• Fail (F): does not provide evidence of attainment of all learning outcomes. There is missing or partial or superficial or faulty understanding and application of the fundamental concepts in the field of study; and incomplete, confusing or lacking communication of ideas in ways that give little attention to the conventions of the discipline.
• Pass (P): provides sufficient evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes. There is demonstration of understanding and application of fundamental concepts of the field of study; and communication of information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the discipline. The learning attainment is considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the specified outcomes.
• Credit (Cr): provides evidence of learning that goes beyond replication of content knowledge or skills relevant to the learning outcomes. There is demonstration of substantial understanding of fundamental concepts in the field of study and the ability to apply these concepts in a variety of contexts; plus communication of ideas fluently and clearly in terms of the conventions of the discipline.
• Distinction (D): provides evidence of integration and evaluation of critical ideas, principles and theories, distinctive insight and ability in applying relevant skills and concepts in relation to learning outcomes. There is demonstration of frequent originality in defining and analysing issues or problems and providing solutions; and the use of means of communication appropriate to the discipline and the audience.
• High Distinction (HD): provides consistent evidence of deep and critical understanding in relation to the learning outcomes. There is substantial originality and insight in identifying, generating and communicating competing arguments, perspectives or problem solving approaches; critical evaluation of problems, their solutions and their implications; creativity in application.

 In this unit, your final grade depends on your performance in each part of the assessment. For each assessment task, you receive a mark that combines your standard of performance regarding each learning outcome assessed by this task. Then the different component marks are added up to determine your total mark out of 100. Your grade then depends on this total mark and your overall standards of performance.

Concretely, in order to pass the unit, you must

• obtain a total mark of 50% or higher and a mark of 40% or higher in the final examination;
• make a reasonable attempt at the exercises in the diagnostic assessment;
• demonstrate that you can perform at a Functional level or higher for each criterion assessed in the two assignments;
• reach a Functional level or higher for each criterion assessed in the final examination.

In order to obtain a higher grade than a Pass, you have to fulfill additional conditions. Namely, you must demonstrate and apply your knowledge of fundamental database concepts consistently 

• at an Advanced level and have a total mark of 85% or higher to obtain High Distinction;
• at least at a Proficient level and have a total mark of 75% or higher to obtain Distinction;
• at least at a Proficient level and have a total mark of 65% or higher to obtain Credit.

As reflected by the prerequisites, this units requires 

• understanding of the basic principles underlying relational database systems, database modeling and programming,
• ability to analyse the system requirements and build a logical model of a given problem,
• ability to turn the logical model from the analysis phase into a design model from which a system can be built,
• the skills of problem formulation, modelling and problem solving,
• the fundamental concepts and models of applications development, and
• the basic principles of transaction processing, concurrency control and database recovery.

Note that a new topic on Physical Database Tuning has been introduced in 2014 offering of the unit. It replaces the topic on Models of Transactions which was discussed in the previous offering of the unit in 2013. There are no other changes made to the previous offering of the unit.