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COIT20247 - Database Design and Development

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will learn how to model, design, and build relational databases and manipulate them using Structured Query Language (SQL) in a modern database management system (DBMS). You will also learn about the challenges and best-practices relating to the design and use of large-scale commercial databases.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

If you have completed COIS20026 then you cannot take this unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2020

Term 2 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 3 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Sydney
Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Brisbane
Melbourne
Online
Rockhampton
Sydney

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 30%
2. Practical and Written Assessment 35%
3. Online Test 35%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

No previous feedback available

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
Students struggle with getting started with SQL and ERDs.
Recommendation
Add more self-driven practical Moodle activities to allow students to practice SQL queries and database design.
Action Taken
More practical examples were included in the tutorial.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
Difficult to maintain academic integrity with the advances in GenAI.
Recommendation
Introduce invigilation to the final assessment.
Action Taken
T1 2025 introduced a final iinvigilated exam. The results of the final exam suggested it ensured academic integrity
Source: External Review
Feedback
Good practices in database design and implementation are not always clearly shown.
Recommendation
Emphasise good practices to students and ensure examples follow those practices.
Action Taken
The material in the lectures and tutorials (examples) has been updated to incorporate current standards and best practices in database design and implementation
Source: External Review
Feedback
Unclear breakdown of marks in assessments.
Recommendation
Revise the marking criteria to ensure expectations of students are clear.
Action Taken
Marks for assessments were clearly specified, category by category.
Source: Unit Coordinator's reflection
Feedback
The current way SQL is presented does not promote student engagement.
Recommendation
Replace the current presentation based on static slides with interactive live demonstrations on how to write SQL queries, and to show the step-by-step execution of the queries.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Teaching Team
Feedback
The SQL assessment requires students to manually populate their SQL databases (a somewhat time-consuming task)
Recommendation
Creating a database is one of the essential tasks of database management, and so is populating it. The unit should introduce a tutorial on how to populate a database using other data sources.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator's reflections
Feedback
The students need more practical exercises on SQL.
Recommendation
Introduce weekly (computer-based, e.g. using Code Runner in Moodle) practice quizzes on SQL.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Explain the purpose of and technical foundations related to database technology
  2. Utilise the processes undertaken during identification of functional dependencies and normalisation
  3. Design and develop a small database and queries using a modern Database Management System (DBMS) and Structured Query Language (SQL)
  4. Identify issues related to data integrity, security and concurrency control in a multi-user database environment
  5. Explain the fundamental concepts of distributed databases and data warehousing.

Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is in use in over 100 countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles.

ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile at https://www.acs.org.au/professionalrecognition/mysfia-b2c.html

This unit contributes to the workplace skills as defined by SFIA. The SFIA code is included:

  • Data Analysis (DTAN)
  • Systems Design (DESN)
  • Database/Repository Design (DBDS)
  • Programming/Software Development (PROG)
  • Testing (TEST)
  • Release and Deployment (RELM)
  • Applications Support (ASUP)
  • Systems Integration (SINT)
  • Database Administration (DBAD)

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Practical and Written Assessment •
3 - Online Test • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Knowledge • • • • •
2 - Communication • • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •