Database Systems - Design & Implementation (CPTR428)  

Andrews University

Affiliated and Extension Program

University of the Southern Caribbean

FACULTY OF SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Covers data representation number-base conversion, representation for integer fractions and floating numbers, Boolean algebra, truth-table digital logic and circuit representations of basic computational building blocks, introduction of computer architecture; interrupt schemes, an introduction to system software including assemblers, loaders and linkers, and operating systems. Includes assembly language, programming using a macro-assembler.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

¨      To help the students acquire skill in the design and understanding of digital circuits.

¨      To give students an appreciation of how numbers, characters and instructions are represented and manipulated in the computer.

¨      To help students understand the basic hardware components  of a computer system and their respective functions.

COURSE TEXTBOOK

• William Stallings. Computer Organization and Architecture -  Prentice Hall – 6^th Edition.

Additional (recommended) resources for the course:

·         Hennerssy Patterson. Computer Architecture. Morgan Kaufmann – 3^rd Edition.

·         Andrew S. Tanenbaum. Structured Computer Organization. Prentice Hall – 3^rd Edition.

·         M. Morris Mano. Computer System Architecture. Prentice Hall – 3^rd Edition.

EVALUATION & GRADING SCALE

A minimum grade of ‘C’ will be recognized for Computer Information Systems majors and ‘D’ for other students doing the course for appreciation.

COURSE PROCEDURE

1.      Read the textbook.  It will be imperative that students observe this assignment for their own good.

2.   Assignments and Tests will be used as a means of reinforcing the student's understanding of material covered in lectures.  As performance on these will contribute to the student's final grade, full participation is expected; consideration will be given to certified, legitimate excuses only.  Late assignments and presentations are acceptable and will therefore have a 50% discount of the total grade of that specific assignment or presentation.

3.      Class Attendance will be very important.  As such, the Class Absence Policy of the CUC will be adhered to. Additionally, students are required to be at class on time. For each absent, the grade of the "Class Attendance" item will be reduced by 2 points (out of 10).

      Remember:

·         3 tardies = 1 absence of class.

·         5 absences and 1 late during the whole semester are the maximum allowed to a student of a three (3) credits course.

4.      Any form or intent of cheating or dishonesty will be severely punished.  All cases of dishonesty or suspected dishonest will be dealt with as outlined in the CUC Handbook.  Cases involving suspected dishonesty will be forwarded to the office of the V.P.  for Student Development for placement in the student’s file.  Cases involving known dishonesty will be handled by the student withdrawing from the class with a failing (F) grade. Christian maturity is assumed of all students.

5.   The classes of this course will be held in the CS Lab. The use of any software (out of the lectures of the course and the software needed for the assignments of the course) is forbidden during class time. Two (2) points of the mark of the final grade will be discounted (each time) from the student who was found using any forbidden software (like MSN, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.).

6.      Since the lectures, grades, assignments specifications, notice board, etc. are in the Official Web Site of the instructor (www.davidsiguel.usc.edu.tt), each student is expected to check for news in the referred site minimum twice a week.

7.      One of the communication channels between the instructor and the student is via E-Mail. Each student is expected to have an active USC e-mail account address and to check for personal messages from the instructor or other members of the course as minimum once a week.

8.      The course schedule is subject to changes. Such changes (if any) will be announced in class and will have the same effect as if they were initially in the schedule.

9.      The labs and the Database Design Project will be based on MS-Access and MS-Visio software; therefore each student should be prepared to use them on the assignments.

Survival Hints

To do well in this class, you should:

1.   Thoroughly read the pertinent sections in the book both before class and again throughout the week, as some points may not become clear until they have been explained and discussed in class.

2.   Do exercises (you should attempt to do problems not assigned by the instructor).

3.   Feel free to stop the instructor and ask questions when questions arise during class discussions.

4.   Know the theory as well as the practical (i.e., resist the urge to simply learn little snippets of code-learn how to come up with those pieces instead).

5.   Practice!  Programming is as much an art as it is a science, and it does not come quickly unless, you take the time to practice often.

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES

Last Revision: May 24, 2006

*** End of Syllabus ***

Database Systems - Design & Implementation (CPTR428)