TY - GEN
T1 - Engaging Databases for Data Systems Education
AU - Taipalus, Toni
AU - Miedema, Daphne
AU - Aivaloglou, Efthimia
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Querying a relational database is typically taught in practice by using an exercise database. Such databases may be simple toy examples or elaborate and complex schemas that mimic the real world. Which of these are preferable for students is yet unknown. Research has shown that while more complex exercise databases may hinder learning, they also benefit student engagement, as more complex databases are seen as more realistic. In our mixed-methods study, we explore what aspects of an exercise database contribute to student engagement in database education. To gain insight into what students would deem engaging, we asked 56 students to design, implement, and reflect on engaging databases for database education. The results imply that students are engaged by highly diverse yet easily understood database business domains, relatively simple database structures, and conceivable yet seemingly realistic amounts of data. The results challenge some previous study results while supporting approaches found in some textbooks, and provide guidelines and inspiration for educators designing exercise databases for querying and introducing relational database concepts.
AB - Querying a relational database is typically taught in practice by using an exercise database. Such databases may be simple toy examples or elaborate and complex schemas that mimic the real world. Which of these are preferable for students is yet unknown. Research has shown that while more complex exercise databases may hinder learning, they also benefit student engagement, as more complex databases are seen as more realistic. In our mixed-methods study, we explore what aspects of an exercise database contribute to student engagement in database education. To gain insight into what students would deem engaging, we asked 56 students to design, implement, and reflect on engaging databases for database education. The results imply that students are engaged by highly diverse yet easily understood database business domains, relatively simple database structures, and conceivable yet seemingly realistic amounts of data. The results challenge some previous study results while supporting approaches found in some textbooks, and provide guidelines and inspiration for educators designing exercise databases for querying and introducing relational database concepts.
KW - complexity
KW - database
KW - education
KW - engagement
KW - motivation
KW - SQL
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166228127&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3587102.3588804
DO - 10.1145/3587102.3588804
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85166228127
T3 - Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE
SP - 334
EP - 340
BT - ITiCSE 2023 - Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
PB - ACM
T2 - 28th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE 2023
Y2 - 8 July 2023 through 12 July 2023
ER -