PG-DSA-ECM38IS-Sprg-17-R-CW2-PMM

Database Systems and Administration

(ECM38IS)
Spring 2017
Individual Assignment - Draft

Hand out Week: Week 3 Duration: 9 weeks

Submission Date: Week 12 Total Marks: 100

Objective: The assignment constitutes 70% of the module mark. Assessment focuses on design
and research issues related to Database Management Systems. Each student submits a detailed
report as per the task specifications through Moodle. The assignment has two sections (Part A
and Part B) focusing on advanced database concepts: Part A focuses on analysis of key factors
of database systems. In part B you are required to write a scholarly academic article based on
critical engagement with work done in Part-A.

Outcome:

1. Evaluate the role of conceptual modeling in the development of database systems

and apply the entity-relationship modeling approach to a realistic scenario

2. Apply the essential concepts of relational databases, (including keys, normalization

and referential integrity) to sample data sets and demonstrate best practice in the
development of an appropriate and effective database system
3. Select and apply appropriate techniques involved in database administration

4. Critically evaluate security issues relating to database management systems and

propose appropriate strategies to address security problems

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Part A

Scenario:

Aaliya Institute of Management and Technology (AIMT) conducts courses to award Bachelors
and Masters Degree programmes in various specializations. It has a well-established manual
system to manage almost all the day to day business of an academic institute and is inclined to
proceed with automation of all the process. AIMT has a Dean and few Associate and Assistant
Deans to assist the Dean in academic matters. It has many departments and each department
can offer different programmes. Each department is chaired by a Head of the Department
(HoD). Further, each department is identified with a unique ID, department name, and
employee_ID of the person who is heading the department. Within a department, each
Programme is managed by a Programme Manager (PM), who in turn reports to the HoD.

Each department offers a bunch of courses spread across different programmes which
necessitates the need of interaction between the PMs and HoD during allotment of modules to
teaching staff. A module to be offered can have multiple sessions and each module is identified
by a unique module code, module name and number of credit hours. Each teaching faculty is
allocated with a teaching load of minimum of 18 credits. If the module that is offered belong to
Master's level, then one credit load is considered to be equal to one and a half credit.

In order to be familiar with the responsibilities of HoDs, AIMT has decided to bring in some
changes at the administrative level by introducing one or more Assistant HoDs who can assist
the HoD in overall functioning of the department. Existing staff members instead of directly
reporting to HoD, will now be directly reporting to one of the Assistant HoDs. After the
introduction of Assistant HoDs, the teaching work load of staff who are serving as Assistant
HoDs has been reduced to 10 credits and that of the PMs also.

It is to be noted that Dean, Associate/Assistant Dean, HoD, PM, teaching staff such as Professor,
Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Lecturer are all employees and every employee is

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identified with a unique ID, name, gender, date of birth, designation, department to which
he/she belongs, skills of the faculty.

Propose a conceptual model after an in-depth research on AIMT operations and processes. In
order to come up with an appropriate design/solution, you must study the requirements, issues
and best practices in this problem context. You can make relevant assumptions required to
formulate business rules, security, administration and modelling.

Based on the above information execute Task 2, 3, 4 and Task 5. You may have to make
additional assumptions to execute the above tasks.

Task 1:

Submit a work proposal for this assignment on or before 23:59 on Saturday (end of Week-5),
which must include:

Understanding of deliverables a detailed description of deliverables.

General overview of the given tasks (Part A and Part-B) - initial understanding of
solution to all tasks with timeline to complete them and identification of literature
resources. (For more clarity, please refer to criteria of evaluating the work proposal
given on the last page of this assignment). (10 marks)

Task 2:
Design an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) to model the above scenario. Identify the different
entities and attributes of each entity. Suggest and justify the choice of relationship and
cardinality of the relationship. State the assumptions (if any) made by you to develop the ERD
based on your research. Provide detailed analysis and justification for the selection of entities
and attributes based on your research. (12 Marks)

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Task 3:
Derive a set of relational tables from the ER diagram (Task 2), using appropriate choices for the
table attributes. List the integrity rules and business rules, which you would recommend to
ensure the quality of data. Indicate all necessary key constraints. Critically analyze the
constraints and business rules based on your study of the clinic. (12 Marks)

Task 4:

Outline the kinds of anomalies that can arise in the scenario given above by using un-normalized
tables. Show how the table created in task 2 could be re-organized into separate tables to avoid
anomalies (Decompose the table structures to a set of 3NF tables). (14 Marks)

Task 5: As a database administrator identification of specific roles for users, authentication

policy, storage management and database recovery are critical. The efficiency and complexity of
database administration depends on the identified strategy and tools. Propose and critically
review user management, backup/recovery strategy, storage management/techniques
formulated for the system discussed in Task 1-3. (12 Marks)

Part B

Write a research article in IEEE Format describing the solution to the scenario given in Part-A.
The research article can be approximately 2500 words. (25 Marks)

Present the research article using a poster presentation covering the following aspects of
research:

Problem specification, importance of research and research questions

Theoretical framework

Rigor of literature review

Methods or empirical analysis techniques;

Key findings and conclusions; (15 Marks)

As a Post Graduate student, you are required to spend time in research and study. Apply the
research skills (such as ability to formulate research questions; technical and analytical skills to
solve those questions, ability to communicate results) to prepare your article. It is expected that
a Post Graduate student demonstrates the research abilities to expand his/her knowledge on

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latest database technology. Importantly, to achieve the above goal, you are expected to learn
with much greater independence and need to do a significant background reading on the
chosen topic. The template (Microsoft word file) for the article will be made available on the
Moodle soon.

The date, venue and specifications of the poster presentation will be communicated to you. No
marks will be awarded if poster presentation is not done.

Guidelines

Follow the guidelines mentioned below for your assignment.

i. Students are expected to do a critical analysis of the tasks and present their analysis by
drawing on relevant theoretical concepts. Marks will be awarded based on the ability
of students to undertake the task in a logical manner by drawing on appropriate
concepts and theoretical frameworks/literatures.
ii. Report should have a Title Page. Title Page should contain the following information.
a. Assignment Name
b. Student name
c. Student ID
iii. It should have Table of Contents.
iv. Use page numbers.
v. Assignment should be typed in your own words using Times New Roman font.
vi. Use Diagrams to explain in detail.
vii. Use suitable notations in your diagrams.
viii. Use appropriate SQL syntax wherever applicable.
ix. Copy paste from the Internet is strictly not acceptable.
x. References should be included in the last page and literature under pinning is needed at
the point of explaining the concept.
xi. Attach the evidences (if any).

The purpose of assignment is to do some research work so you can consult books in Library or
use internet or computer magazines or any other source. We are obliged to establish
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assessment criteria and then mark you upon how well (or otherwise) you meet those criteria. In
turn, our assessment of you will be scrutinized by the external examiners, so we must be able to
defend the marks we award. We will be far more impressed by a student who demonstrates
their active participation, interest and understanding of the module subject matter than by a
meticulously presented submission.

Plagiarism Policy

Please refer to the plagiarism policy in the PG student handbook.

Clarification on Late Submission Policy (Dated. Tuesday, May 03, 2016):

Students may contact their teachers for clarification on specific details of the submission time if
required. The recommended practice at MEC is to set the cutoff time to 23:59 on the due date
for all assessment submissions.
As per the Assessment Policy at MEC, for any late submissions, a penalty of deduction of 5% of
the marks obtained for the resubmitted work will be imposed for each working day following
the last date of submission till the date of actual submission. Assessment documents submitted
beyond a period of one week after the last date of submission will not be accepted and will be
awarded a zero for that assessment.
In cases where the submission has been delayed due to extenuating circumstances, the student
may be permitted to submit the work without imposing the late submission policy stated above.
The extended period of submission will be one week from the original last date of submission. In
such cases, the student is expected to submit the supporting certificates on or before the
original last date of submission of the assessment and the decision of extension rests with
faculty responsible for the assessment .The late submission policy shall be applied if the student
fails to submit the work within one week of the original last date of submission.

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Each criteria will be graded as follows:
Marks Evidence of research
Range
Shows evidence of extensive investigation
of relevant concepts, technologies and
issues.
Clearly defined argument/ problem
definition and source for lucid
70-100 argumentation.
Shows evidence of investigation of relevant thinking about the issues with adequate
concepts, technologies and issues.
Presentation of data, arguments and
decisions in a useful form. Accurate data based on literature. Good logic and
60-69 and conclusions of the analysis.
Reasonable level of investigation.
Adequate application of theoretical
50-59 framework and research methods.
Less adequate research into the relevant
concepts, technologies and issues.
Satisfactory conceptualization of the area
45-49 of study.
Poor research. Inadequate, inaccurate or
irrelevant treatment of the task
specifications. Poor application of
theoretical framework and research
40-44 methods.
Lack of evidence of research or weak
0-38 report.
PG-DSA-ECM38IS-Sprg-17-R-CW2-PMM
Critical evaluation Overall
Shows clear evidence of reflective
thinking about the issues presents a
clear and relevant argument.
Substantial originality of innovation and Work of a very high
thinking. standard
Shows reasonable evidence of reflective
evaluation. Demonstration of detailed
analysis and clear expectations are set
coherence of argumentation. Work of good quality
Adequate evaluation, lacking in depth
of reflective thinking with respect to
major points. Demonstration of
adequate ability to conduct critical Acceptable And adequate
analysis. work
Work with some merit but
at the lower end only just
Largely descriptive, with little reflective achieving what is
thinking. required.
The work is only just
Clear signs of understanding, but Acceptable in its present
presentation, reflection and analysis are form.
poor.
No discernible reflection or evaluation.
Inability to deal with the chosen The work is deemed
research question in a critical manner. weak and inadequate.
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CRITERIA Maximum Marks

Marks Obtained
Work Proposal: (Turnitin based Submission)
A brief explanation of understanding of deliverables for Part A: (2 Marks)
Time schedule to carry out tasks for Part-A (2 Marks)
Identification of literature for Part B: (2 Mark)
Brief understanding of topic for Part-B (2 Marks)
Time schedule/Plan for Part B: (2 Marks); 10
Part A: (Turnitin based Submission):
Task 2:
Extent of clarity in evaluating the role of conceptual modeling in the
development of database systems and apply the entity-relationship
modeling approach to a realistic scenario 12
(a) 8 entities with attributes including justification (8M)
(b) Justification of choice of relationship and cardinalities (4M)
Task 3:
Ability to apply the essential concepts of relational databases to sample
data sets and demonstrate best practice in the development of an
appropriate and effective database system. 12
(a) Formation of 8 tables with PKs and FKs (8M)
(b) Critical analysis of constraints and business rules (4M)
Task 4:
(a) Outline the 3 anomalies with appropriate examples(3*3=9M) 14
(b) Normalization and normal forms (5M)
Task 5:
Ability to review
(a) User management (4M) (b) Backup/recovery strategy (4M) 12
(c) Storage management (4M)
Part B: Research article: (Turnitin based Submission)
(a) Quality, originality and relevance of research article (5M)
(b) Evidence of independent research and critical thinking (3M)
(c) Depth of understanding of problem context (3M)
(d) Literature review (3M) 25
(e) Concise objectives of research problem (3M)
(f) Research methodology (3M); (g) IEEE format (5M)
Part B: Poster presentation:
(a) Contents: Innovative / Creative (5M)
(b) Design: Organization, compliance with documentation,
grammar and spelling (5M) 15
(c) Presentation: Presentation skills and Q&A (5M)

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Student's Name:

ID

Marks Awarded for Part A:

Marks Awarded for Part B:

Marks obtained out of 100:

Penalty (if any):

Marks Obtained out of 100 (after deducting penalty)

Marks Obtained out of 70:

Name of the Assessor (Instructor)

Signature of the Assessor

Comments:

Module Title: Database Systems and Administration (ECM38IS)

Module Leader/
Dr. Syed Zakir Ali / Dr. C. Jayakumari
Instructor:

Semester: Spring 2017

Programme: MBA(IT)