DEPARTMENT OF Accounting and INFORMATION SYSTEMS
IS 441 DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Summer 2019, Ticket # 10350

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The design and implementation of computerized databases. Provides background for the selection and use of database management systems. Topics include types of available systems, functions of database administration, conceptual database design, data independence, integrity, privacy, and query. The student will design and implement a database utilizing a commercial database management system. Prerequisite: Grade of “C” or higher in IS 312, a grade of “C” or higher in BUS 302, a grade of “CR” in BUS 302L and Upper Division Writing Proficiency Exam (UDWPE) score of 8 or higher.

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE 1: IS 441 is a *VERY* CHALLENGING course - requires high level of logic and precision. Please have the correct expectation and put in the amount of effort that is appropriate to the (HIGH) level of difficulty of this course. (A concrete suggestion: treat this course as if it were a math course - for the amount of reading, analysis, problem-solving type of homework, and for the highly logical thought processes and precise verbal expression it requires)
ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE 2: The instructor's feedback is CRITICAL to the learning of the students; over the years I have found that the most effective feedback is those given "right at the spot", by the specific mistakes shown in the submitted homework. Therefore, it is important that the students follow the instructor's requirements on the font size (12-point font) of the prints for their homework/project:
*** Homerowrk submitted with small font size would NOT be accepted***
ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE 3: Attendance to EVERY class is required - missing one single class would mean tremendous difficulty in catching up, and missing two classes would very likely mean failing the course.

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TEXTBOOKS & COURSE MATERIALS 

* Textbook: Hoffer, Ramesh, and Topi. Modern Database Management,13th Edition, Pearson, 2019.  (ISBN-10: 0134773659, ISBN-13: 978-0134773650)

* Removable media for submission of the group project.
* CSUN email account:

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POLICIES 

0. Course Requirements 
0.1 General requirements
(1) Attend EVERY classe on time. 
- The course contents are highly logical and tightly built upon the previous contents; missing one class could result in tremendous difficulty.
(2) Submit all assignments/projects on time. 
(3) Take all the exams on their scheduled date and time. 
(4) Contribute one's fair share in team projects. 
(5) Read assigned work in textbook, slides/handouts, and/or other materials prior to attending each class. 
(6) Turn off your cell phone during class time. You will receive a warning for the first offense, and a 5-credit-point reduction for each subsequent offense.

0.2 Specific requirements
(1) Always bring your textbook with you to class. We will be referring to it on DAILY basis, so you need to keep it handy.
(2) Before each class session, go to the instructor's website to download the materials for that session. Bring the PPT/handout (hard or soft cop)y with you to class. No printing will be allowed during lectures.
*** (3) All homework is due 7 days from the assignment date (except announced otherwise). Projects have their specific (announced) due dates.
(4) ALL homework/project are due at the beginning of class on the due date - walk to the front to submit the due homework even if you arrive late.
** (5) Email subject line: When communicating with the instructor, please use the subject line "IS 441, [your last name], Re [subject of the email]" (Example: "IS 441 Smith, HW2, Problem 3")

1. Attendance 
1.1 Students MUST try their best to attend every class on time. Attendance will be randomly taken at the beginning of some classes. Some bonus quizzes may be given at the beginning of classes.
1.2 It is the responsibility of the student (should s/he miss a class) to contact the instructor or classmates to obtain the assignments, handouts, announcements, and other items that may have been given/assigned in the missed class. 

2. Tests
2.1 Two midterm exams and the final exam (100 points each): given on the dates/times indicated in this syllabus. 
    The final exam will be comprehensive (covering all contents). ALL exams are close-book, close-note.
2.2 Exam study guides indicating the scope of the exam will be posted before each of the three exams (usually one week before the exam in spring or fall semster, about 5 days before in summer session).
2.3 NO MAKE-UP EXAM. A student who must miss one midterm exam will have his/her final exam percentage applied to the missed midterm exam (see "2.4" below for details). If a student misses two midterm exams, the second missed midterm = 0.
2.4 Using final exam percentage for one midterm is NOT automatic: a student who must miss the midterm exam must contact the instructor more than 24 hours in advance   in order to have his/her final exam percentage applied to the missed midterm exam. Failure to do so will result in a zero score for the missed exam. 
2.5 There is no exception for the "no makeup midterm exam" policy.

2.6 Three quizzes of 10 points each will be given on pre-announced dates (dates will be announced in class). These quizzes serve to be "intermediate tests" to help the students evaluate their command of materialls between exams. They also serve to remind students of the portions of the concepts/skills that they need to brush up. At the end of the semester, the one quiz with the lowest score will be dropped, therefore only the two quizzes that have higher scores will be counted toward the final grade (i.e., total quiz scores: 20).
2.6.1 If a student misses one quiz, that missed quiz will automatically receive the score of zero (0), and would be dropped at the end of the semester, according to the above "2.6". It is not anticipated that a student would miss two quiizzes.
There will be absolutely no makeup for missed quizzes.

3. Projects and Homework Assignments

3.1 All homeworks are due 7 days from its assigned date (may be shorter in summer session and will be announced), at the beginning of the class on the due date.
Six chapter assignments (individual HW; 20 points each mostly). [For some homework, the homework data or some problem(s) might be different for different students]
3.2 One team project (60 points).
3.3 For the team project , students are required to form teams of 5 persons for the project. A team evaluation will be conducted, which will affect a student's grade on the project. 
***3.4 All individual homework must be completed INDEPENDENTLY. This requirement is to avoid disputes over academic dishonesty. BOTH parties involved in copying (the "taker" and the "giver") will be punished.

[In Fall 2018, there were FIVE students caught copying]

***4. Late Submission is NOT accepted
4.0 All homeworks/project are due at the beginning of the class on due date (HWs are due 7 days after their assignment unless announced otherwise)
4.1 There will be ABSOLUTELY no late submission for any homework/project. [This policy will be STRICTLY enforced: for the benefits of students - will explain in class]
4.2 Staying away from a class to finish a due assignment is prohibited. Any assignment submitted 30 minutes after the beginning of the class is considered late and will be rejected. No excuse will be accepted and no exception will be made regarding late submission. [The above "grace period" is given for traffic/parking difficulties STRICTLY. I never meant for you to use those 30 minutes to complete (including printing) your assignments]
*** 4.3 Email submission will not be accepted [will explain in class].

5. Retention of Submitted Material
5.1 All submitted materials become properties of the instructor.
5.2 The instructor will try his best to give the students prompt feedback. When a graded homework/project is brought back to the class and a student misses that class, the instructor is NOT responsible for the homework/project that is not picked up.
5.3 Project/assignment submissions will be kept for one week after the grades are made known to the students.
5.4 Exams will be kept for one semester plus one day.
5.5 Any dispute on grades must be brought up within one week after the grades are made known to the class. After that, it will be assumed that there is no disagreement on the said grade.

6. Academic Integrity
** This issue is brought up on Day 1 of the semester; Please review this section when the first homework is assigned. Any cheating behavior happens is against two wartnings given - one on Day 1 and one on the day of the first assignment. So any offense is NOT tolerated or excused since the class has been warned TWICE.

***COBAE Student Core Values Statement and Ethical Conduct Pledge***
Academic integrity is of critical importance to all business students, especially Accounting and Information Systems students..
Academic dishonesty of any form will NOT be tolerated. Acts of academic dishonesty include: 

The Accounting and Information Systems Department has an official "Academic Honesty Message" for all students taking courses offred by the Department: "In striving for excellence in your academic work, consider honesty to be a part of your grade.  In creating a network among your peers, think about how your actions may be judged by future employers who could easily learn of the manner in which you handled both the opportunities and pressures to cheat in your schoolwork"; "Our renewed vigilance in preventing cheating includes a commitment to rigorously enforce penalties for such actions, including but not limited to barring access to the EY Center for Careers in Accounting and Information Systems and recruiting activities such as firm tours and campus interviews, as well as assigning grade penalties.  Faculty members have been instructed to report all suspected cheating activities to me as Department Chair". For the complete Message, please click the link.

An act of academic dishonesty will automatically lead to zero credit for the exam or project/assignment where the act happens, and may lead to a grade of "F" for the course for the student(s) involved. The instructor may take additional action in accordance with the CSUN policies. See CSUN Catalog (http://catalog.csun.edu/policies_/academic-dishonesty/ ) for further information on the policies and procedures concerning plagiarism and cheating. 

[My records of catching cheating behaviors]

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METHOD OF EVALUATION

(1) Total possible points: 

(2) Grade scales: 

There will be NO curve on individual exams . At the end of the semester, *IF* the class GPA is lower than 2.5, a curve MAY be applied. 
Seven to ten days before the final exam, a cumulative grade will be reported to EVERY student; that is for the student's reference on his/her standing. Also one should roughly know, based on the cumulative grade, what grade s/he is going to earn finally, since with the heavy weight in points completed right before the final, the chance of a major change is unlikely (said one had a 65% before final, then the student should not be surprise if s/he had an overall D or D+ for the semester).

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 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

 COMPUTER FACILITIES 

Computers are available for use in the College of Business' Microcomputer Lab (BB2129 / BB2125).  COBAE Computer Lab Web Site 
The computer labs in the Oviatt Library and Sierra Hall are available for you to use. These labs are open longer hours and on the weekends. Follow this link to find the days and hours:  Other Campus Computer Labs. 
If you plan to do the assignments on your own computer, you will need to have Microsoft Access 2007/2010/2013. {We may use Oracel Database on Windows - depends on my pre-test}
Low Cost Licensed Software at the CSUN Matador Bookstore: Due to an agreement between Microsoft Corporation and California State University, students may now purchase Microsoft Software, including Microsoft Office Professional, at discounted prices.  Many other software packages are also available at an educational discount price, about 50% below normal retail.  (In order to be eligible to purchase this software, students must show proof of enrollment in a degree-granting program at CSUN and a photo ID.)

ADA STATEMENT 

Qualified students with physical or documented learning disabilities have the right to free accommodation to ensure equal access to educational opportunities. The student, if seeking special accommodations, must notify the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) (110 Bayramian Hall) and the instructor by the end of the second week of the semester.

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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (Usually updated Sundays and Thursdays, and less likely, Tuesdays. Contents below the "Green Zone" are NOT updated yet)

In the following "Tentative Schedule", I keep the old schedule of Spring 2018 for your reference, while updating ONLY the CURRENT week for operation. Please pay attention to the announcements in class, on class web, and on classCanvas site.

2019 Summer Session III schedule "Grand View" (Screenshot; no link. For links to docuiments, please use the schedule below).

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The Instructor's Motto

C onsistent 
O rganized 
K nowledgeable 
E nthusiastic

Self portrait:
A nice person of PRINCIPLE:
- Respects the students while be honest with them on their weaknesses – to help them grow
- Always says “Yes” when he can, but never hesitates to say “No” when he must

Favorite Quotations:  

* By Nature all men are alike, but by education become different -- Anonymous
* 学如逆水行舟，不进则退。Learning is like rowing upstream, not to advance is to drop behind -- Chinese Proverb
* 知之者不如好之者，好之者不如乐之者。He who has a knowledge in a matter is not as good as he who is interested in it; he who is interested in it is not as good as he who enjoys doing it -- Confucius (Chinese philosopher and educator, 551 B.C. - 479 B.C.)
* The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don't like to do. They don't like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose. -- Stephen R. Covey: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
* We must do what America does best, offer more opportunity to all and demand more responsibility from all . - Inaugural Address of United States President William J. Clinton, January 20, 1993
* (Last, but not the least) Eureka! - California State Motto

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Last update: 08/13/2019