COSC 304 Introduction to Database Systems

Fall (Winter Term 1) 2020 - University of British Columbia Okanagan

Overview

The COSC 304 course covers everything a computer programmer needs to know about databases (ER/UML database design, SQL, database programming). This course trains students on critical industrial skills.

On-line Resources

Student Performance

Of the 180 registered students, all but 10 got a D or above. The average GPA was 3.16. Charts showing the mark breakdown are below.

Mark Breakdown Percentage Mark Breakdown

Comments

This class has been offered many times and continues to deliver high value to students, especially the labs and project (instructor rating: 4.94). Given COVID-19, the class was completely online this year. Also, there were no scheduled labs. Labs were replaced with virtual office hours that anyone could drop into. All assignments were done in pairs, and the project assignments were done in groups of four. Pre-recorded videos were produced for all lectures. Scheduled times were recorded and repeated lecture material with more focus on questions. The scheduled times were very similar to what would have occurred if the class was in person.

Overall, the course reception and student performance were not negatively affected by the online delivery. Students appreciated the recording (and pre-recording) of lectures which should be kept when the course goes back in person. Although virtual breakout rooms are not as ideal as in person breakout activities, they generally went well and students used them. The combination of Canvas quizzes for the clicker questions and the live clickers worked out okay. The live clickers are more engaging, but the Canvas quizzes allowed participation of students at any time and from any time zone. The labs work well, and labs 2 and 3 are getting closer to being auto-marked using a software solution. The programming labs moved to Docker, which was not perfect but much better than installing software directly on the machine. Using Docker allowed for the cosc304 server to be used less. The performance on the exams was a little lower (especially midterm 1), but that is most likely due to getting used to writing online exams and time management. Open book exams are good (with Proctorio), but many students ran out of time on midterm 1. Writing the exam is actually slower online. In the future it will be interesting to blend the online elements with the in-person activities while trying to automate even more of the assessments.

Strengths of the Course

Weakness of the Course

Most Enjoyable Part of the Course


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