Introduction to Databases

Office Hour Calendar:

Overview

Grading

Updates in grading due to unprecedented change of circumstances under COVID-19:

• 90% or more of the total number of points available will receive a grade in the A range (A+, A, A-);
• 80% or more guarantees a grade in the B range (B+, B, B-);
• 70% or more guarantees a grade in the C range (C+, C, C-);
• 60% or more guarantees a grade in the D range (D+, D, D-).

• Homeworks (30%): There will be short weekly homeworks (due in 7 days), with a mix of written, programming, and gradiance problems. They will be based on the last 1-2 lectures. All homeworks will have the same weight.
  
  Late policy: There are no late days for gradiance assignments (it will automatically close after the deadline).
  
  Parts of the other homework problems that are submitted late will receive an automatic deduction of 5% per hour late, and will receive no credit after the sample solution becomes available.
  
  Exceptions will only be made in the case of documented excuses; follow the standard university procedure for filing them - in other words, you must submit an Incapacitation Form, Religious Observance Notification Form, or Notification of Varsity Athletic Participation Form (as well as send an email to the instructor copying your academic dean requesting the extension); or you must arrange for your academic dean to email the instructor regarding your circumstances. You must have an email from the instructor granting the extension - otherwise the standard late penalty would apply.
  
  
• Project (20%): The course projects are to be done in groups of about five members. Details can be found later in the project description under Schedule.
  
  
• Midterm (20%) and final (20%): Both midterm and final exams are open-book and open-notes. Final is comprehensive but will focus on materials not already covered by the midterm.
  
  
• In-class labs (5%): To practice and learn the material covered in some of the lectures, there will be some in-class labs on SQL, other programming assignments, and sometimes conceptual questions too for 15-45 mins (depending on the task). They will be announced in advance (at least on the previous lecture). All the labs will have equal weight and we will drop the lowest lab grade while calculating your final score. You have to finish the problems in the labs within the next day after the class ends (i.e. by 11:59 pm of the next day). If you correctly finish and upload all the problems before the class ends (by 4:20 pm), you will get 10% bonus points (you can attempt multiple times until they are correct). There will be TAs present in class to help you in the labs. For the labs in class, you can work in groups of 2-3, but need to submit your own solution.
  
  What if you miss a class with a lab? Well, you can submit by the same day or within the class time for the bonus points even if you miss a class, but you would miss the fun of discussing with others and TAs help. The lowest score will be dropped as well.
  
  Late policy: After the deadline, like homework assignments, there will be a 5% per hour penalty (or you need to follow the formal procedure for extension requests as mentioned above).
  
  
• In-class pop-up quiz (5%): Again, to practice and learn the material covered in some of the lectures, there will be some in-class pop-up quizzes that will remain open for 5-10 mins. They will be announced in advance too (at least on the previous lecture) but the schedule may change based on the pace of the lecture. All the quizzes will have equal weight and we will drop the lowest quiz grade while calculating your final score. For each quiz, there will be 50% grade just for attempting while it is open, and the other 50% for answering it correctly. For the quizzes in class, you can work in groups of 2-3, but need to submit your own solution.
  
  What if you miss a class with a quiz? Well, you can still submit the solution while the quiz is open, but you would miss the fun of discussing with others. Further, we would drop 25% (ceiling) of the lowest grades while calculating your final score for quiz, i.e. if we have 4 quizzes 1 dropped, 5-8 quizzes 2 dropped, and so on.
  
  Late policy: The answers will be discussed in the same class right after the quiz closes, so late submissions are not allowed.

Information

Help

• Online SQL tester: We prepared two online SQL tester pgweb and pgAdmin4 for you to try SQL queries on a toy database 'beers'. Follow the intruction to connect and test: pgweb instruction, pgAdmin4 instruction.
• Virtual Machine Instructions
• How to prepare RA in your VM
• RA document
• Quick RA tips
• Flask/Python Tips

Schedule