Learning Partnerships, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
AS10098 Systems analysis and databases |
| Credits: 10 |
| Level: Certificate |
| Academic Year at Cirencester College |
| Academic Year at City of Bath College |
| Academic Year at Weston College |
| Academic Year at Wiltshire College |
| Assessment: CW 100% |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: To equip the student with the necessary knowledge and skills to:
* Apply appropriate techniques to analyse a system; * Derive, using systems analysis techniques, and implement appropriate relational database schemas. Learning Outcomes: At the completion of the unit, learners should be able to: * Understand current system lifecycle models * Apply appropriate methodologies * Conduct a systems investigation * Model a system * Explain the need for and role of database management systems in providing access to data for users * Appreciate the 3-layer SPARC model for DBMS * Design a logical schema for a relational database * Implement and test external schemas for a relational database. Skills: Practical skills - use of CASE tools, variety of database and application packages. Data manipulation language facilities of SQL. Taught and assessed Personal skills - time management, personal organisation, working with others, independent research, problem solving - facilitated Communication skills - interviewing, written reports - facilitated and assessed. Content: Understand current system lifecycle models * Software and software development. Stages in system lifecycle. Prototyping. Iterative and incremental models. RAD. Apply appropriate methodologies * Structured and object-oriented methodologies. Conduct a systems investigation * Requirements gathering and fact-finding techniques: interviews, observation, questionnaires, document gathering. Model a system * Entity analysis and normalisation; derivation of ERDs. Use case and object diagrams. Use of appropriate CASE tools. Explain the need for and role of database management systems in providing access to data for users * Problems of traditional file based approaches to data access. DBMS as a layer between the user and the data. Facilities of a DBMS. SQL DML. Appreciate the 3-layer SPARC model for DBMS * Physical, logical and external schemas. Design a logical schema for a relational database * Implementation of entities, attributes, relationships, primary and foreign keys in RDBMS tables Implement and test external schemas for a relational database * Construction and testing of 'front ends' in a variety of application packages. Client-server architecture. ODBC and other connectivity issues. |