lesson 16 - curriculum.naf.orgcurriculum.naf.org/packaged/assets/downloads/technolog… · web...

AOIT Database Design

Lesson 5Defining a Database Project

Teacher Resources

Resource Description

Teacher Resource 5.1 Guide: Recruiting Clients for the Culminating Project

Teacher Resource 5.2 Form: Client Information for Project Definition

Teacher Resource 5.3 Sample: Client Information for Project Definition

Teacher Resource 5.4 Presentation and Notes: Defining a Database Project (includes separate PowerPoint file)

Teacher Resource 5.5 Assessment Criteria: Culminating Project Definition Document

Teacher Resource 5.6 Answer Key: Defining a Database Project Anticipation Guide

Teacher Resource 5.7 Key Vocabulary: Defining a Database Project

Teacher Resource 5.8 Bibliography: Defining a Database Project

Copyright © 2009–2014 NAF. All rights reserved.

AOIT Database DesignLesson 5 Defining a Database Project

Teacher Resource 5.1

Guide: Recruiting Clients for the Culminating ProjectFinding the right client(s) for the culminating project can be challenging. This resource provides some recommendations from an experienced database design teacher that might be helpful to you.

How Many Clients Should You Have?Even though it may seem logical for each group of students to have a different client for this project, there are several reasons why you may want to consider having only one client for the whole class or having a small number of clients each of whom is working with a few project groups.

Designing a database from start to finish is not an easy project. If you have several groups with different clients, you are going to have to keep track of all the ins and outs of each database and each client. Since students will certainly need coaching from you, you need to limit the number of clients to the number of databases that you as a teacher can track and coach simultaneously. If this is your first time teaching databases, we recommend you use only one client.

Since some students may not find database design intrinsically thrilling in and of itself, you may want to broaden the scope from one client to two or three clients so that students can choose to work on a project that interests them. (For example, you might look for a small business, a school club that some of the kids belong to, and a school football team that needs tracking of team stats.) This means that you will need to keep abreast of two or three client database projects.

Remember that each semester you will need to come up with new clients. Beware of using up all of your good clients in one semester and not having any for future courses.

This curriculum is written assuming that all groups have the same client. If you choose to use more than one client, you will need to make minor adjustments to some activities.

When all groups have the same client, try to keep interaction between groups to a minimum for most culminating project activities. This is to ensure that groups don’t copy ideas from each other rather than using their own thinking skills. Once the databases are at the beta-test stage, groups will begin to test each other’s databases.

Potential ClientsYou will need to find clients who have database projects that require a limited number of tables and reports so that the project matches the skills and capabilities of your students and the time constraints of a one-semester course. The following type of clients would be good choices:

School clubs: For example, a database for Business Professionals in America could include information about membership dues, sign-up information for competitions, who goes to the competition, and what tests they take.

School business partners: This is a way that students can contribute to existing partnerships.

Small businesses with few employees, such as a small law firm that needs a database to track their cases by type of case, and so on.

Community service projects: For example, track sales and inventory for a community service restaurant to avoid waste.

Apartment or condo complex: Many small complexes are managed by seniors who are not computer savvy. A database could help the manager track rental payments, including late payments; maintenance payments; and so on.



School football team or other sports team: Track statistics for the team.

Client ResponsibilitiesWhen you are recruiting clients, explain to them that they will have the following roles and responsibilities:

The client should have a genuine problem that can be resolved by the creation of a simple, non-web-based database.

The client will be asked to fill out a two-page form providing some information about the purpose of the database before an initial meeting with students.

The client will need to come to the school to present the proposed database project to the students and answer questions. If at all possible, more than one person from the client’s business or organization should come to this meeting.

Early on in the project, the client will review the project definition documents and statement of requirements from each student group and sign off on them.

Once the database and database application are complete, the client will look at each group’s database to ensure that the forms and such are accurate and complete.

The client will be asked to do minimal testing of each group’s database with real data.

The client will be asked to sign off on final delivery of each group’s database and attend the database fair that will take place at the end of the course.




Form: Client Information for Project DefinitionThank you for agreeing to be our client for this project. Please complete this form and return it before coming to meet with students. A form with sample answers is also provided to guide you. Please be prepared to walk students through the form during your meeting with them. Please be as specific as you can.

Client name: Business or organization name: Email address: Phone number (if you will accept questions over the phone):

1. Describe your business or organization in one or two sentences.

2. In a few sentences, state the problem that you want to solve with this database.

3. What is the purpose of the database? What are the goals you would like to reach with this database, and how will it be used?

4. Please walk students through your business or organization to give them the information they need to determine the scope of the database. Be sure to include the following types of information:

o Who are your clients, or who are the people who need to be considered in the database? For example, a small business would have customers, a school organization would have students, and so forth.

o What information about your clients do you need to take into consideration (for example, name, address, year in school, etc.)?

o What are your products or services? Are all of them available to all clients?



o Do your products or services have subcomponents? (For example, do clients buy meals that have more than one dish?) Do they have prices? Do they have varying availability? Are there date constraints? Are there other limitations, such as quantity per client?

o How do clients buy/obtain a product, service, information, and so on?

o Can you think of any specific rules you have for your business, such as the number of any one item that can be ordered?

5. In order to create a database that meets the requirements of everyone in your organization, the database developer needs to know who the stakeholders are and how they interact with the information in the database.

o Who are the people in your organization? What does each of them do?

o How do they get the information they need to do their job? What information do they transmit to other entities? (For example, who places orders? Who fills orders? Are there salespeople who need information about customers? Does management need information about sales?)

6. What are the deliverables that you are expecting? (For example, you want a database that addresses all of your requirements, and some type of documentation.)

7. Do you have written documents you can supply to the database developer that will be helpful for the development of the database? If so, please list them below, and furnish a copy of them along with this form.




Sample: Client Information for Project DefinitionClient name: Ms. Ellen Santiago, Executive Director

Business or organization name: American Dolphin Association

Email address: [email protected]

Phone number (if you will accept questions over the phone):

1. Describe your business or organization in one or two sentences.

We are a small, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing understanding and appreciation of dolphins through education and communication.

2. In a few sentences, state the problem that you want to solve with this database.

About 30% of our income comes from sales generated by our catalog of dolphin-themed items, including books, greeting cards, clothing, and so on. Maggie Reddich, who’s been with us for more than 40 years and is now retiring, managed the whole operation using a paper-based system of file cards and notepads. We want a computer database system because the current system is too time-consuming and error prone. It takes at least two hours for the cumulative task of placing an order, tracking its reception, and updating the requisite file cards and notepads. The file cards are often hard to read, and with the notepads it is sometimes hard to tell which order is the most recent, which orders have been filled, and which items are in stock. The truth is that Maggie keeps much of the information in her head. Training someone to take over this system would be very risky.

3. What is the purpose of the database? What are the goals you would like to reach with this database, and how will it be used?

Our overall goal is a database that assists us in running our store operation effectively and efficiently. We need a Microsoft Access database that will keep track of customers, merchandise, and orders. We want to ensure that customer data is accurate, inventories are always at or below maximum levels, all order data is correct, and merchandise is delivered in a timely fashion.

4. Please walk students through your business or organization to give them the information they need to determine the scope of the database. Be sure to include the following types of information:

o Who are your clients, or who are the people who need to be considered in the database? For example, a small business would have customers, a school organization would have students, and so forth.

Our customers, who are also our members, always come first. The database should also include our suppliers and shippers.

o What information about your clients do you need to take into consideration (for example, name, address, year in school, etc.)?

It’s their contact info that’s key: name, address, phone, fax number, email address.

o What are your products or services? Are all of them available to all clients?

Caps, socks, calendars, screensavers, mugs, Flipper DVDs—any kind of item that is dolphin themed.



o Do your products or services have subcomponents? (For example, do clients buy meals that have more than one dish?) Do they have prices? Do they have varying availability? Are there date constraints? Are there other limitations, such as quantity per client?

Products do have prices. Occasionally a product may be sold out, but we try to reorder on a timely basis. Quantities are limited to whatever we have in stock.

o How do clients buy/obtain a product, service, information, and so on?

All members get our catalog by mail. They can write, phone, or email us their orders. We are not planning to have an online store at this time.

o Can you think of any specific rules you have for your business, such as the number of any one item that can be ordered?

No merchandise item can have more than 15 units in stock.Units on order must be zero or greater.Quantity ordered must be zero or greater.Order date must precede shipped date.

5. In order to create a database that meets the requirements of everyone in your organization, the database developer needs to know who the stakeholders are and how they interact with the information in the database.

o Who are the people in your organization? What does each of them do?

Ellen Santiago, the executive director, has overall responsibility for the organization; she also has specific responsibility for the budget and membership.

Maggie Reddich, the office manager (retiring), is responsible for the office running smoothly, including administration, purchasing, accounting, and human resources.

Andrea Brown, the assistant office manager (new), currently assists Maggie and will assume her responsibilities when she retires.

Reginald Williams, the program manager, conceives and executes member activities and resources, including our quarterly magazine, website, and special events.

Bill Manaski, the program assistant, helps Reggie and is the editor of the magazine.

Maureen Casey is Ellen’s administrative assistant and helps everybody else out as needed.

o How do they get the information they need to do their job? What information do they transmit to other entities? (For example, who places orders? Who fills orders? Are there salespeople who need information about customers? Does management need information about sales?)

Merchandise orders are placed and customer orders are fulfilled by the office manager. The program manager uses the store’s sales data for gauging interest in any merchandise tie-ins for events; the customer list also offers clues about member interest in the organization as well as hints about merchandise tie-ins for events.

The executive director reviews sales reports for budgeting and member information (for example, a breakdown by state of active customers).



6. What are the deliverables that you are expecting? (For example, you want a database that addresses all of your requirements, and some type of documentation.)

The deliverables are to include the following: (a) the completed database with sample records entered; (b) a separate list in Microsoft Word of the business rules (for example, maximum inventory levels) incorporated into the database; (c) a description in Microsoft Word of any special instructions for database use that cannot be found in Access Help; (d) recommendations (books, videos, etc.) for the training of staff; (e) a specific plan for troubleshooting database problems as they arise, either through the database developer or through a third party; and (f) a specific plan for maintaining and upgrading the database.

7. Do you have written documents you can supply to the database developer that will be helpful for development of the database? If so, please list them below and furnish a copy of them along with this form.

Contact info for store customers, suppliers, and shippers. Order data for the past six months.Supplier catalogs with price data.List of merchandise categories and descriptions.




Presentation Notes: Defining a Database ProjectBefore you show this presentation, use the text accompanying each slide to develop presentation notes. Writing the notes yourself enables you to approach the subject matter in a way that is comfortable to you and engaging for your students. Make this presentation as interactive as possible by stopping frequently to ask questions and encourage class discussion.

This presentation explains the main content of a project definition document.

Presentation notes



For your culminating project, you will be using the AOIT Database Design project definition template, which requires the information that is typically part of a simple database project definition.

At the outset, a database designer sets up an agreement with the client about every aspect of the work in a project definition document.

The project definition document helps ensure that clients get exactly the product they want. It also helps ensure that the database designer has a good understanding of the scope of the project before agreeing to a set of deliverables and deadlines.

Most companies that develop databases have their own template for a project definition document. The template ensures that they don’t forget any important information.

Presentation notes



The problem statement is the starting point for defining the data that will be included in the database and its structure. The client and the database developer create the problem statement together. There must be a clear, mutual understanding of what problem the database will solve.

The database will not eliminate all the problems the client has, so you need to agree with the client on the exact problem to be solved before you begin work.

Presentation notes



The project goal needs to be clear, and the database designer and the client must agree on what it is.

You have to know the goal of the database to decide what data it will contain.

You should be able to break down the project goal into measurable targets or objectives.

Database structure depends on the database goal. The two go hand in hand.

Presentation notes



By creating measurable objectives, the database developer and the client develop a clear understanding of what their expectations are. When the client receives the database, he will check to make sure all of the objectives are met and ensure that he is getting exactly the product that he is paying for.

Presentation notes



You need to understand what the organization does and how it functions to define the scope.

Here are some examples of what you would find in the scope section of the project definition:

1. The database includes an inventory of all articles in the store. For each article, it includes the price, the number of pieces in stock, the supplier, the order date, and the delivery date.

2. The database must generate standard reports that the executive director needs to manage the organization.

The scope tells you how big the job is and will serve as the basis for answering important questions:

How long will it take to do this job?

How many people are needed to create the database?

How many hours will it take them to do it?

Will any special equipment be needed?

About how much will it cost?

What’s the deadline for completing the project?

Presentation notes



Stakeholders can be outside the organization, like the media and interest groups. But they’re mostly the people working inside the organization. Here are some examples of how different stakeholders need different information from the dolphin store database:

The executive director needs a printed report for “total” information, like total sales and total customers.

The office manager needs customer, supplier, and shipper contact info.

The program manager needs a breakdown of the number of customers by state.

The program assistant needs telephone numbers of new customers.

Presentation notes



Here are some specific items that could be included in the deliverables of the dolphin store database:

The completed database with sample records entered and user-ready reports created

A list of business rules (for example, maximum inventory levels) incorporated into the database

Special instructions for database use that cannot be found in Access Help

Recommendations or actual materials (books, videos, and so on) for the training of staff

A specific plan for troubleshooting database problems as they arise, either through the database developer or through a third party

A specific plan for maintaining and upgrading the database

Presentation notes



Here are some questions that need to be answered to determine feasibility:

Does the client have a good understanding of the problem the database should solve?

Are there sufficient human resources available, both from the developer and from the client, to complete the project?

Are the deadlines for the project reasonable?

Is the scope of the project reasonable?

Is the budget sufficient for completing the project?

Feasibility doesn’t mean the project will be a success. It means the project can be successful if it is well managed.

Will any special equipment be needed?

About how much will it cost the client?

What’s the deadline for completing the project?

Presentation notes



Defining the database problem isn’t busywork. It’s key to the success of the project.

As you develop the project definition for your culminating project, keep in mind that you are setting the foundation for all of your database work in this course.

Presentation notes




Assessment Criteria: Culminating Project Definition Document

Student Names:______________________________________________________________

Date:_______________________________________________________________________

Using the following criteria, assess whether the students met each one.

Met Partially Met

Didn’t Meet

The project definition document is complete; all of the sections are adequately addressed. □ □ □The problem statement is clear and concise. □ □ □The purpose statement clearly explains the goal of the database. □ □ □The scope identifies the features the database must include in order to be successful. □ □ □The schedule outlines a specific time frame for project milestones (conceptual model, entity-relationship model, relational database, database application, testing, documentation materials, and final delivery).

□ □ □

The document addresses the feasibility of the project and gives an honest assessment of the group’s ability to deliver all of the features promised, identifying any barriers that could prevent successful completion of the database.

□ □ □

The document does not contain spelling or grammatical errors. □ □ □

Additional Comments:

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________




Answer Key: Defining a Database Project Anticipation Guide

Directions: For each of the statements below, underline “I agree” if you think the statement is accurate and “I disagree” if you disagree with it. Write one reason to explain your guess.

A project definition document is an agreement between a database developer and her boss.

My guess: I agree I disagree

My reason:

I learned: A project definition document is an agreement between the database designer and the client about every aspect of the work included in the project.

A database definition should include information about the features that will be included in the database.


My reason:

I learned:A database definition includes a scope statement that states the features the database must include in order to be successful.

The best person to define a database project is a person who will be using the database.


My reason:

I learned:

Those who will be using the database are called stakeholders. It is important to consult them and know how they use the database and what their needs are at the time of the database definition. The database must be designed to meet their specific needs.



A database definition should assess whether the project is feasible.


My reason:

I learned:

A database definition includes a feasibility statement that explains how hard or how easy it will be to solve the problem. This includes elements such as what has to be learned, what software will be available to the developer, what different phases the project will go through, and whether there will be enough time for each phase.

A well-defined database leaves the scope of the project open-ended so that the client can make suggestions or changes in the requirements during the development process.


My reason:

I learned:

The scope of the project must be firmly agreed upon and signed off on before the development process begins, because the developer needs to know exactly what the job entails in order to determine how long it will take to complete the job, any special equipment or knowledge that will be required to do the job, and how much the job will cost.




Key Vocabulary: Defining a Database Project

Term Definition

database definition A description of a database project’s scope, feasibility, high-level schedule, and deliverables—that is, the end product.

feasibility A judgment of whether it is practical or realistic to achieve a goal. (For example, is it feasible to assume you could design a database for an entire airline’s reservation system in just one week? No. Is it feasible to think you could design such a database in one year? Yes.)

features Characteristics of a database, often those that allow you to do something better, faster, or more easily.

milestone Clearly identifiable points that denote the progress toward completion of a large or important activity.

scope A description of everything covered in a project (features, timelines for delivery, depth of detail, etc.).

stakeholder Anyone involved with a project and concerned with its outcome.




Bibliography: Defining a Database ProjectThe following sources were used in the preparation of this lesson and may be useful for your reference or as classroom resources. We check and update the URLs annually to ensure that they continue to be useful.

PrintFuller, Laurie Ulrich, Ken Cook, and John Kaufeld. Microsoft Access 2007 for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007.

Rothstein, Andrew, Evelyn Rothstein, and Gerald Lauber. Writing as Learning: A Content-Based Approach, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2007.

Taylor, Allen G. Database Development for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2001.

OnlineCockburn, Alistair. “Sample System Requirements Document.” Humans and Technology, http://alistair.cockburn.us/Sample+system+requirements+document (accessed April 23, 2014).

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Biomarker Database System Requirements Document (SRD).” Early Detection Research Network Informatics Center, http://cancer.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/applications/biomarker-database/requirements/biomarker-database-system-requirements-document-srd (accessed April 23, 2014).

National Archives, http://www.archives.gov (accessed April 23, 2014).


http://www.archives.gov/

http://cancer.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/applications/biomarker-database/requirements/biomarker-database-system-requirements-document-srd

http://cancer.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/applications/biomarker-database/requirements/biomarker-database-system-requirements-document-srd

http://alistair.cockburn.us/Sample+system+requirements+document

lesson 16 - curriculum.naf.orgcurriculum.naf.org/packaged/assets/downloads/technolog… · web...

Documents