In this project, students use a real-world, complex database and experience firsthand the consequences of inadequate data modeling. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency created the database as part of a multimillion dollar data collection effort undertaken in order to set limits on air pollutants from electric power plants. First, students…

Information systems curricula are increasingly using active learning methodologies to help students learn "through" technology rather than just "about" technology. While one way to achieve this is through the assignment of semester-long projects, previous research suggests that real-world projects provide more meaningful…

All Computer Information Systems programs require a database course for their majors. This paper describes an approach to such a course in which real world examples, both design projects and actual database application projects are incorporated throughout the semester. Students are expected to apply the traditional database concepts to actual…

This case describes a database redesign project for the United States Department of Agriculture's National Animal Germplasm Program (NAGP). The case provides a valuable context for teaching and practicing database analysis, design, and implementation skills, and can be used as the basis for a semester-long team project. The case demonstrates the…

This case focuses on learning by applying the four integrating mechanisms of Nonaka's knowledge creation theory: socialization, externalization, combination and internalization. In general, such knowledge creation and internalization (i.e., learning) is critical to database students since they will be expected to apply their specialized database…

This article presents a project-based case study that was developed for students with diverse backgrounds and varied inclinations for engaging technical topics. The project, called History Places, requires that student teams develop a vision for a kind of digital library, propose a conceptual model, and use the model to derive a logical model and…

Describes a database course project which engages students in designing and developing their own data files. Asserts that the discussions which take place as students collect, organize, share their data, and consider ethical issues which arise from the proliferation of information systems, are most important. (RAE)

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a seminar on planning and policy analysis is offered for doctoral students who wish to conduct planning and forecasting studies for their doctoral dissertations or who simply wish to learn such techniques. One of the major projects of the seminar is the development of an environmental scanning…

Describes the work of four Wyoming high school students who created a CD-ROM collection of Oregon Trail documents for use by fourth graders. The students reviewed 60 boxes of diaries, government documents, prints, and artifacts, becoming historians themselves as they created the electronic database. Includes photographs and illustrations. (MJP)