Database Fundamentals / Managing Financial Data

Syllabus

Fall 2005
BA4321 / AIM 3321

Instructor: Radha Mookerjee, Ph.D.

Office: SM3.209
Phone : (972)-883-2415
Email: Use WebCT for all communications
Office hours: By appointment

Teaching Assistant
The TA for this course is Cuneyd Kaya. He will be available to answer all
questions regarding home work assignments. His contact information and office
hours are given below.

Name: Cuneyd Kaya

Office: SOM 3.428
Phone : 972-883-6359
Email: cckaya@utdallas.edu
Office hours: Wednesdays 3:30 - 5:30

Text
The text for the course is Modern Database Management by McFadden, Hoffer
and Prescott. Seventh Edition, 2004, Prentice Hall.

Lecture notes will be posted on the course WebCT site.

Course Objectiv e
This class is designed to introduce students to basic concepts and techniques in
the theory, design, implementation and administration of relational databases.
Topics to be covered include, the database design process, the entity-
relationship (ER) model, normalization, queries in SQL, distributed and client -
server databases, and database administration

Grading
Exam I 25%
Exam II 25%
Exam III 25%
Homework 25%
Total 100%

Using WebCT
All class information will be posted on the course website on WebCT. Any
communication to me should also be conducted ONLY via WebCT email. I will
not respond to any email sent to my regular email address. All assignments
should be submitted via WebCT. It is therefore essential that you are familiar
with WebCT. It is also YOUR responsibility to make sure that you can access
your WebCT account.
If you are dialing into UTD to access E -mail or the World Wide Web, you may
have trouble getting connected for various reasons. Make sure that you give
yourself enough lead-time to complete assignments. Because you will almost
always have access to these systems on campus, busy modems or other
technical problems are not accepted as excuses for late assignments.

Click here for more information on using WebCT

Exams
Exams will consist of multiple choice, True/False, and short problems. Any exam
grading disputes must be submitted in writing within two weeks of the results.

No make-up tests will be offered except on medical grounds.

Homework
All assignments are to be submitted via WebCT. The deadline for submitting an
assignment is 11:00 pm on the due date. Late submissions must be submitted
as an attachment to WebCT email. Assignments submitted within 24 hours of
the due date/time will be subject to a 25% penalty. No late submissions will be
accepted 24 hours after the deadline.

Also note the Homework 3 is a group project and will consist of no more than 3
members. The names of all the group members should be submitted via
WebCT email by the due date noted on the syllabus.

Grading Policy
The grading will be based on a relative grading scheme. The student with the
highest grade in the class will be normalized to a 100%. The rest of the
students will be normalized accordingly. The following cut offs will be used to
assign the final grade.

Range Grade Range Grade

98 - 100 A+ 93 - 97 A
88 - 92 A- 83 - 87 B+
78 - 82 B 73 - 77 B-
70 - 72 C+ 67 - 69 C
64 - 66 C- 61 - 63 D+
58 - 60 D 55 - 57 D-
< 55 F

Attendance / Class Participation

No points are awarded for attendance. However, students are expected to
attend all classes and to read the assigned material. It is also the students'
responsibility to keep abreast of any announcements made in class. I will post
information about significant changes, if any, to the syllabus. This is only to be
used as a supplement, and not as a substitute, to announcements made in
class. I will monitor attendance in class and will provide no additional help to
students who regularly skip lectures.

Schedule
The following is a tentative schedule, which I will try to follow as closely as
possible. Should any changes become necessary, I will announce it in class as
well as post it on WebCT. It is YOUR responsibility to check for changes at least
once a week. I will not be held responsible if you miss any announcements
regarding changes to schedule and/or deadlines.
Date Topic Readings

08/22/05 (M) Introduction Chapter 1

8/24/05 (W) Introduction (contd)
8/29/05 (M) Database Development Process Chapter 2
8/31/05 (W) Database Development Process (contd)
9/5/05 (M) Labor Day Holiday - No Classes
9/7/05 (W) Entity-Relationship Model Chapter 3
9/12/05 (M) Entity-Relationship Model (contd)
9/14/05 (W) Enhanced Entity-Relationship Model Chapter 4
9/19/05 (M) Enhanced Entity-Relationship Model
09/21/05 (W) Exam I Review
09/23/05 (F) Homework 1 Due
09/26/05 (M) Exam I Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
09/28/05 (W) Logical Database Design Chapter 5
10/03/05 (M) Logical Database Design (contd) Chapter 5

10/05/05 (W) Logical Database Design (contd) Chapter 5

10/10/05 (M) Structured Query Language Chapter 7

10/12/05 (W) Structured Query Language (contd) Chapter 7

10/17/05 (M) Advanced Structured Query Language Chapter 8

(contd)

10/19/05 (W) Advanced Structured Query Language Chapter 8

(contd)
10/24/05 (M) Structured Query Language Chapter 7
In Lab
10/26/05 (W) Advanced Structured Query Language Chapter 8
(contd) In Lab
10/31/05 (M) Client/Server Architecture Chapter 9

11/02/05 (W) Exam II Review

11/04/05 (F) Homework II Due

11/07/05 (M) Exam II Names of Group
members due
11/09/05 (W) Building Database Applications In Lab

11/14/05 (M) Building Database Applications In Lab

11/16/05 (W) Building Database Applications In Lab

11/21/05 (M) Database Administration Chapter 12

11/23/05 (W) Exam III Review

11/27/05 Homework III Due

(Sun)
11/28/05 (M) Exam III Chapters
3,4,5,9,12 and
Homework 3

Note
The label 'In Lab' signifies that on these days the lecture will be held in the
computer lab instead of the regular classroom. I will provide details as the
semester progresses.

Important Dates
Homework 1 Sep 23, 2005
Exam I Sep 26, 2005
Homework 2 Nov 04, 2005
Exam II Nov 07, 2005
Names of Group
Nov 07, 2005
members
Homework 3 Nov 27, 2005
Exam III Nov 28, 2005

Scholastic Dishonesty

The following paragraph is an excerpt from the University of Texas at Dallas

2002-2004 Undergraduate Catalog available online at
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/catalog/undergrad03/app1.html.

"The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility with respect
to academic honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon
the absolute integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is
imperative that a student maintains a high standard of individual honor in his or
her scholastic work. Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to,
statements, acts or omissions related to applications for enrollment or the
award of a degree, and/or the submission as one's own work of material that is
not one's own. As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty involves one of the
following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and/or falsifying academic
records. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary
proceedings. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to
disciplinary proceedings " It is expected that you become familiar with the
contents and be aware that any acts of dishonesty will be severely punished.