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S uden s' Pe cep ions on Engaging Da abase Domains and S uc u es
© 2023 he Au ho s
Published e sion
Miedema, Daphne; Taipalus, Toni; Ai aloglou, E himia
Miedema, D., Taipalus, T., & Ai aloglou, E. (2023). S uden s' Pe cep ions on Engaging Da abase
Domains and S uc u es. In SIGCSE 2023 : P oceedings o he 54 h ACM Technical Symposium
on Compu e Science Educa ion : Volume 1 o 2. ACM.
h ps://doi.o g/10.1145/3545945.3569727
2023
S uden s’ Pe cep ions on
Engaging Da abase Domains and S uc u es
Daphne Miedema
[email p o ec ed]
Eindho en Uni e si y o Technology
Eindho en, he Ne he lands
Toni Taipalus
[email p o ec ed]
Uni e si y o Jy äskylä
Jy äskylä, Finland
E himia Ai aloglou
[email p o ec ed]
Open Uni e si y
Hee len, he Ne he lands
Del Uni e si y o Technology
Del , he Ne he lands
ABSTRACT
Se e al educa ional s udies ha e a gued o he con ex ualiza ion
o assignmen s, i.e., o p o iding a con ex o a s o y ins ead o
an abs ac o symbolic p oblem s a emen . Such con ex ualiza ion
may ha e bene icial e ec s such as highe s uden engagemen and
lowe d opou a es. In he domain o da abase educa ion, ex books
and educa o s ypically p o ide an example da abase o con ex .
These a e hen used o in oduce key concep s ela ed o da abase
design, and o illus a e que ying. Howe e , i emains uns udied
wha kinds o da abase con ex s a e engaging o no ices. In his
pape , we s udy which aspec s o da abase domain and complexi y
s uden s ind engaging h ough s uden e lec ions on a da abase
c ea ion assignmen . We iden i y six ac o s ega ding engaging
domains, and i e ac o s o engaging complexi y. The main ac-
o o domain- ela ed engagemen was Pe sonal in e es , he main
ac o o complexi y engagemen was Ma ching in o ma ion e-
qui emen s. Ou indings can help da abase educa o s and book
au ho s o design engaging exe cise da abases a ge ed o no ices.
CCS CONCEPTS
•Applied compu ing
→
Educa ion;•In o ma ion sys ems
→
Rela ional da abase model.
KEYWORDS
da abase, educa ion, con ex , engagemen , design
ACM Re e ence Fo ma :
Daphne Miedema, Toni Taipalus, and E himia Ai aloglou. 2023. S uden s’
Pe cep ions on Engaging Da abase Domains and S uc u es. In P oceedings
o he 54 h ACM Technical Symposium on Compu e Science Educa ion V. 1
(SIGCSE 2023), Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada. ACM, New Yo k,
NY, USA, 7 pages. h ps://doi.o g/10.1145/3545945.3569727
1 INTRODUCTION
Da a managemen skills a e becoming mo e and mo e cen al o
he asks o a compu e scien is . Da a managemen is o high im-
po ance in ins i u ions using la ge amoun s o da a, o o ganizing
da a dis ibu ion and decen alized que y execu ion. I is also co e
o he a ea o a i icial in elligence, as no model can be ained
This wo k is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons A ibu ion
In e na ional 4.0 License.
SIGCSE ’23, Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada.
©2023 Copy igh held by he owne /au ho (s).
ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-9431-4/23/03.
h ps://doi.o g/10.1145/3545945.3569727
wi hou da a. As such, da a managemen echniques a e also an
essen ial pa o compu e science educa ion.
Da a managemen is ypically augh by means o oy examples
[
23
], wi h domains such as s o e o de ing sys ems, mo ie en als
and company employees [
21
]. These examples a e accessible: mos
s uden s ha e some idea o wha da a could be in ol ed in hese
domains, which hey can use as a sca old o emembe he da abase
schema. As such, he domain o he da a is he inhe en con ex o
he da abase, bu de e mining wha makes a good da abase con ex
no been s udied in-dep h be o e.
We can deepen s uden s in e es in cou se ma e ial by ensu ing
ha he p ojec s hey wo k on a e au hen ic, and by gi ing hem a
choice in he wha and how o he p ojec [
2
]. Fo example, eaching
CS1 in he s uden s majo ’s con ex has led o inc eased s uden
success a es [
22
]. Inc eased in e es in a p ojec may also lead he
s uden s o spend mo e ime on an assignmen [
6
]. Fu he mo e,
inc eased in e es makes s uden s become mo e ac i e lea ne s,
which in u n inc eases mo i a ion and lea ning [
11
]. Howe e , i
has been shown ha mo e complex da abases ha e he possible
downside o making lea ning SQL mo e di icul [21].
In his pape , we examine ac o s ha s uden s hink make
da abases engaging, o answe he ques ion: Wha kind o da abases
do no ices deem engaging o s udy da abase design, implemen a ion
and que ying, and why? We spli his in o wo esea ch ques ions:
RQ1
Which ac o s desc ibe an engaging da abase applica ion do-
main o s uden s?
RQ2
Which ac o s a e key o an engaging da abase in e ms o
s uc u al complexi y?
To answe hese ques ions, we an a s udy in which s uden s de-
signed and implemen ed hei own ela ional da abase and que ies.
We asked hem o elabo a e on wha hey hough was engaging
abou he domain o hei da abase, and he complexi y o i . We
iden i ied six domain ela ed ac o s, and i e complexi y ela ed
ac o s. Ou indings can help eache s and ex book w i e s use
and c ea e mo e engaging examples, such ha s uden s can lea n
mo e e ec i ely.
2 RELATED WORK
Whe he o no s uden s will bene i om eaching and assign-
men s ha a e con ex ualized has been a poin o discussion in he
compu e science educa ion esea ch communi y o some ime
now. On one hand, esea che s a gue ha con ex can inc ease
mo i a ion and educe s uden d opou by engaging he s uden in
a conc e e way by add essing eal-wo ld ques ions [
5
,
7
,
13
,
19
]. On
122
SIGCSE ’23, Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada. Daphne Miedema, Toni Taipalus, and E himia Ai aloglou
he o he hand, con ex ualiza ion can lead o nega i e side-e ec s
such as high cogni i e load [
4
] and hinking o newly lea n hings
as only applying in he cu en si ua ion [12].
In CS educa ion esea ch, con ex ualiza ion has ecei ed a en-
ion mainly ou side he ealm o da abase educa ion. In pe haps he
s udy mos ela ed o his one, Yue used a semi- ealis ic da abase
(Sakila by MySQL) o inc ease engagemen in hei da abase cou se
by mo ing away om he ypical “ oy” example da abases [
23
].
The da abase was ully in eg a ed in he cou se and used ac oss
mul iple assignmen s. S uden s ound hese assignmen s bo h in e -
es ing and use ul, al hough hey also ound i di icul because i is
mo e complex han he examples used in ex books. This inc ease
in da abase complexi y has also been shown o nega i ely a ec
success ul que y o mula ion among no ices [21].
Bou ie e al. an a s udy o see whe he s uden s pe o m be e
on con ex ualized p og amming exe cises, e sus plain, unembel-
lished ones [
4
]. Fo his pu pose, hey made wo e sions o he
same exe cise, wi h and wi hou con ex . The con ex ualized one
used as onomy as i s domain, and he plain one jus men ioned
numbe s. They ound ha he e was no signi ican di e ence in
pe o mance be ween he wo e sions o he exe cise [
4
]. Simi-
la esul s we e also ob ained by Leinonen, Denny and Whalley,
who saw ha , e.g., s uden s ound i easie o implemen a linea
equa ion sol e when hey had con ex o he p oblem, han wi h-
ou . Fu he mo e, con ex led o a longe ime on ask in seconds,
bu he con ex ualized p oblems also equi ed ewe a emp s [
15
].
C aig, Smi h and Pe e son an a s udy in which hey compa ed
pe o mance on con ex ualized p og amming assignmen s wi h
pe o mance on non-con ex ualized assignmen s [
8
]. In con as
o Leinonen e al., hey did no ind a measu able e ec , leading
hem o he conclusion ha o he ac o s, besides con ex , impac
di icul y and pe o mance mo e.
Beyond hese discussions on pe o mance, i is also in e es ing
o see wha s uden s hemsel es hink o con ex ualiza ion. In 2004,
Rich, Pe y and Guzdial an a s udy in which hey compa ed a
con ex ualized CS1 cou se o a s anda d one [
19
]. Thei aim was
o a ac and e ain emale s uden s in hei CS1 cou se, and hei
esul s sugges ha hey we e success ul: emale s uden s exp essed
g ea e enjoymen and in e es in he cou se han hose in he
s anda d cou se [
19
]. In simila ein, Clibu n and Mille ound ha
s uden s liked o ha e a choice as o how o demons a e hei skill
le els, a he han all ollowing he same assignmen [6].
I is also wo h no ing ha while con ex ualiza ion is no a sim-
ple concep , measu ing i s bene i s can also be di icul . Rade e al.
examined whe he s uden s would be mo e in e es ed in socially
ele an con ex ualized p og amming asks han in o he ypes o
asks [
18
]. In a su ey, s uden s esponded ha hey like assign-
men s ha show how compu e science can be used o bene i
socie y. Howe e , when anking p ojec s in o de o mos in e -
es ing o leas in e es ing, s uden s showed a highe p e e ence
o simple game-based p ojec s. This p e e ence may be pa ially
explained by he complexi y and open-endedness o he human-
i a ian p oblem desc ip ions [
18
]. Addi ionally, in he con ex o
compu e secu i y educa ion, DeWi and Cicalese ound ha s u-
den s we e mo e engaged wi h eal-wo ld s o ies o e ic i ious
scena ios. Howe e , con ex and con en need o be in balance o
accommoda e bo h adi ional compu e science s uden s, and hose
ha wan o lea n o apply echniques in eal-wo ld con ex [9].
Finally, choosing he igh con ex may be di icul . Ya osh and
Guzdial applied a na a i e con ex ualiza ion in hei media com-
pu a ion CS2 cou se, in which hey used one unning example
h oughou he cou se [
22
]. They ound ha while mos o he
s uden s ag eed ha con ex made he class mo e in e es ing, some
s uden s ound he con ex o a he aking away om lea ning
he cou se con en s in g ea e dep h. The e o e, engagemen is no
only abou he p esence o absence o con ex . Some o he dimen-
sions o engagemen include connec edness [
10
], posi i e emo ions
[1, 17, 20], passion [1, 17] and mo i a ion [1, 20].
Engaging assignmen s can make ac i e s uden s ou o passi e
ecipien s o knowledge, wi h ac i e s uden s eaching highe le -
els o mo i a ion and lea ning [
11
]. This leads us o he ques ion
o which o hese aspec s o engagemen we can u ilize wi h he
con ex o ou da abase assignmen s. In his pape , we ocus on
s uden pe cep ions on engaging da abase educa ion. Wi h ou
esea ch ques ions, we aim o iden i y ac o s ha educa o s can
use o guide exe cise da abase design, as i emains unclea which
ac o s con ibu e o engagemen in da abase educa ion.
3 RESEARCH SETTING
3.1 Da a Collec ion
The da a we e collec ed om h ee coho s (sp ings o 2019-2021)
o mainly hi d yea so wa e enginee ing and in o ma ion sys ems
science s uden s a a Finnish uni e si y. The s uden s had o ha e
aken a basic cou se on da abases and da a managemen be o e
aking his cou se. The s uden s we e shown a da a p i acy s a e-
men p io o pa icipa ion, and could hen op -in o he s udy,
whe e pa icipa ion ca ied no incen i es o penal ies. Ou o he 68
s uden s, 56 (82%) chose o pa icipa e (15/17 om he i s coho ,
8/10 om he second, and 33/41 om he hi d).
The pa icipan s we e asked o design and implemen a ela ional
da abase ha hey deemed engaging o no ices who a e lea ning
da abase design and que ying. The assignmen consis ed o mul iple
asks, among which he ollowing wo a e ele an o his s udy:
•
Choose an applica ion domain o hei da abase ha hey
deemed engaging o a no ice o p ac ice que ying, and
e lec on why ha pa icula domain is engaging.
•
Design he da abase s uc u e o be engaging o a no ice o
p ac ice que ying, and e lec on why ha pa icula s uc-
u e is engaging. The minimum equi emen o he numbe
o ables is i e.
In his s udy we analyze he s uden s’ e lec ion epo s om he
pe spec i e o ou esea ch ques ions. As he language o ins uc ion
was Finnish, all ques ions (including he ones abo e), da abases and
e lec ions we e w i en in Finnish. All answe s we e ansla ed
h ough Google T ansla e and checked by a na i e speake .
3.2 Da a analysis
F om he 56 pa icipan s men ioned abo e, 2 p o ided he da a-
base bu did no e lec on hei easoning. These s uden s a e no
included in he da a, so we we e le wi h 54 pa icipan s in o al.
These pa icipan s a e indica ed by P01 h ough P54.
123
S uden s’ Pe cep ions on Engaging Da abase Domains and S uc u es SIGCSE ’23, Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada.
Ou analysis was done in ou s eps: mining ac o s, calib a ion
o coding, coding emaining da a, and summa izing. We applied
di ec ed con en analysis, which is ecognized as a iable op ion
when p e ious li e a u e exis s bu is deemed incomple e [14].
Mining ac o s Be o e we s a ed ou analysis, we used exis ing
li e a u e o c ea e a lis o ac o s o sea ch o in he e lec ions.
We s a ed his app oach om he ITiCSE wo king g oup epo
on con ex ualized p og amming educa ion [
4
]. F om his epo
we e ie ed i e ini ial ac o s: Pe cei ed ele ance, Re en ion,
Connec ion o p ac ice, Impac , and Explo ing social and e hical
issues. All i e o hese we e used o coding bo h domain and
complexi y ac o s.
Calib a ion o coding A e se ing up his baseline o ac o s, all
au ho s indi idually coded he same subse o he da a (20%). Fo
his we used bo h he exis ing ac o s and in oduced new ac o s
based on he ex in he e lec ions. A e wa ds, we agg ega ed o
see whe e (dis)ag eemen s a ose in he coding. To calib a e ou
coding, we discussed all cases oge he , as well as any new ac o s
ha may ha e been in oduced by any o he au ho s. New ac o s
we e ei he in oduced sepa a ely, me ged wi h ela ed ac o s, o
disca ded a e discussion.
Coding emaining da a Then, wo au ho s spli he emaining
da a in hal and coded indi idually. Fo all cases ha we e no
immedia ely clea , mee ings we e held o discuss bes i s. No new
ac o s we e in oduced du ing his ime.
Summa izing A e he coding was done, we pe o med analysis
by examining and summa izing all codes pe ac o . This wo k was
calib a ed by wo king acco ding o an example p o ided by one o
he au ho s. Wi hin his p ocess o summa izing, we also decided
o me ge o d op some ac o s, as hey we e no con ibu ing o
ou esea ch ques ion. Fi s , we me ged he wo ypes o e sa il-
i y om bo h domain and complexi y ques ions, he gis o bo h
was e sa ili y in di icul y and e sa ili y in ex ensibili y. We also
d opped a complexi y ac o a ound he concep o enough da a
o p ac ice, no emp y esul ables, and a complexi y ac o whe e
s uden s decided how many columns o c ea e by in ui ion. Nei he
o he la e wo can be used as ins uc ional guidelines, which is
why we decided o lea e hem ou .
4 RESULTS
4.1 Engaging domains
D1. Familia i y. Familia i y, including ease and unde s andabili y,
was men ioned as a ac o by 25 s uden s. They specula ed ha a
da abase domain ha is amilia h ough, e.g., pe sonal li e, p e ious
s udies, o wo k would be engaging. Fo example, P07 w o e:
“The da abase ela ed o lis ening o music is in e es ing o
he s uden , because almos e e yone uses some kind o music
s eaming se ice e e y day.”
Se e al s uden s poin ed ou ha a amilia domain dec eases he
ini ial h eshold o s a ing he lea ning p ocess owa ds da abase
heo y and que y w i ing. P03 w o e:
“[...] simple a ge a eas make i easie o in e nalize new hings
and main ain in e es in he subjec mo e e ec i ely.”
On he o he hand, a domain no necessa ily amilia o many
s uden s, bu in u n easy o unde s and, was conside ed ano he
op ion o an engaging da abase domain. In con as , s uden s high-
ligh ed ha a domain ha would equi e ex ensi e amilia iza ion
would ake away om he in ended p ima y lea ning ou comes o
a da abase cou se:
“[...] inancial da a eposi o y wi h special e ms and complex
modeling can cause g ay hai o beginne s [...] and he e o e I
don’ hink is as well sui ed o aining.” - P20
D2. Connec ion o p ac ice. Rela ed o Familia i y was he ac o
Connec ion o p ac ice, men ioned by 30 s uden s. They specula ed
ha unde s anding he da abase domain and, e.g., lea ning o que y
in his pa icula domain would also help hem in hei u u e wo k.
P07 w o e ha :
“I am in e es ed in he music and en e ainmen indus y in
gene al, so combining he wo ells me abou my own in e es s
and desi e o ge a job in he indus y.”
In con as , a domain ha could be conside ed niche o a e would
be ela i ely useless ou side he scope o a da abase cou se. Ano he
conside a ion included in his ac o was he iew o inc easingly
common applica ion domains such as elec onic spo s and elec-
onic comme ce. Fo example, P01 w o e:
“[...] use ul o wo king li e as i could be eal and buying om
an online s o e is g owing all he ime. This will equi e mo e
da abase wo ke s who can handle ela ional da abases in ha
opic.”
D3. Lea ning oppo uni y o challenge. 27 s uden s indica ed
ha a domain ha p o ides a lea ning oppo uni y o challenge
was engaging.
On he one hand, hese lea ning oppo uni ies and challenges
could be ela ed o applica ion domains ha a e complex in e ms
o he esul ing da abase s uc u e, such ha s uden s lea n mo e
abou da abase concep s:
“The s uden will also lea n o design mul i- ela ionship ela-
ionships, such as wi h mul iple o de s, p oduc s, and p oduc
ca ego ies.” - P08
On he o he hand, he e a e lea ning oppo uni ies o be ound in
s udying he domain i sel in o de o c ea e co ec schemas:
“Wo king wi h a da abase o publica ion in o ma ion can deepen
a s uden ’s knowledge o scien i ic publishing, o example, in
e ms o knowledge o di e en ypes o publica ions.” - P06
D4. Ve sa ili y The e a e wo sides o e sa ili y as a ac o . The
i s is e sa ili y in he dimension o que y di icul y. This is linked
o he concep o g ow h mindse o educa ion, and ha o “low
loo , high ceiling”, meaning ha assignmen s a e accessible o all
s uden s om no ices up, bu ha i also has oom o challenge
ad anced s uden s [
3
]. The o he side is e sa ili y in a da abase
ha is easy o expand in size and complexi y.
Fo e sa ili y in que y di icul y, en s uden s a gued ha his
was a ac o ha made hei domain engaging:
“I wan ed o make a posi ion ha would be clea enough o
new s uden s, as well as ha i would con ain complex da a
ha could also be used o challenge olde s uden s.” - P10
“[...] he e a e s ill oppo uni ies o a bi mo e complex que ies,
which makes his pa icula ly in e es ing.” - P15
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SIGCSE ’23, Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada. Daphne Miedema, Toni Taipalus, and E himia Ai aloglou
The e we e ele en s uden s who deemed e sa ili y in e ms o a
da abase s uc u e ha is easy o expand a ac o o engagemen .
“I also el ha he opic I chose was b oad enough o implemen a
wide a ie y o da abases, bu s ill easy o summa ize.” (P45) Wi h
a lexible s uc u e, a no ice could men ally selec pa s o he
da abase, whe eas an expe could use all pa s.
D5. Pe sonal in e es . The mos p ominen mo i a ion o a io-
nalizing an engaging domain was pe sonal in e es . As many as
33 s uden s a gued ha he applica ion domain should be in e es -
ing o a no ice. S uden s who a gued o an in e es ing domain
ypically also associa ed in e es ing domains wi h connec ion o
p ac ice h ough hobbies, such as P16 and P51:
“The a ge a ea eels pleasan o me, because he e will be a lo
o gigs and lis ening o music, so I imagine ha i will inspi e
o he s in he same way.” - P16
“I chose he simpli ied online gaming s o e [...] Examples o a
eal p oduc a e he Val e S eam se ice o he GOG se ice.
I’ e been playing ideo games in my spa e ime since I was
young, so he opic seemed na u al.” - P51
O he s uden s ocused on business ideas hey o hei iends we e
se ing up, by de eloping a da abase o hei domain:
“The a ge a ea was he business in o ma ion o a small com-
pany called [anonymized]. This company is eally in business,
bu he business is e y small. [...] Agains his backg ound, I
am building a da abase s uc u e and possibly a web applica ion
p og am. ” - P43
No unexpec edly, domains chosen because o his jus i ica ion we e
di e se in na u e.
D6. Social and e hical issues. Fi e s uden s deemed ha an en-
gaging applica ion domain should add ess social o e hical issues.
S uden s a gued ha he applica ion domain should be one ha
has a seemingly conc e e and big impac on ou li es.
“[...] a mo e se ious app oach han handling games, o example.
I someone makes a small ca eless mis ake in a game cha ac-
e ’s ha colo , no one may e en no ice i . On he o he hand, i
a pa ien has access o hospi al d ug s o es o he su geon is
p e en ed om en e ing he ope a ing oom, he consequences
can be e y se ious. [...] The da abase is no designed o en e -
ainmen use, bu o ensu e and p omo e he sa e y o people
in he hospi al en i onmen .” - P12
A domain which, due o i s impo an na u e, equi ed ca e ul
design, was also conside ed a sou ce o engagemen .
D7. O he . The e we e i e s uden s who a gued o some hing
ou side o he a o emen ioned ac o s. They discussed hei chosen
domain’s engagemen wi h espec o he di e si y in da a (1), s uc-
u e o he da a (1), and expanding, complemen ing o i e a ing a
so wa e p ojec ini ia ed du ing ano he cou se (3).
“I wan ed o imp o e my P og amming 2 cou se assignmen ,
S o y S a is ics, which cu en ly wo ks wi h ex iles. Tha p o-
g am is s ill in use by me oday and con ains a ela i ely la ge
amoun o da a, so some e sion ha uses a decen da abase
could be use ul a some poin , especially i I wan ed o de elop
he s uc u e o he da a somehow.” - P32
4.2 Engaging complexi y
C1. Simplici y. A commonly a gued cha ac e is ic o an engaging
da abase schema, men ioned by 24 pa icipan s, was ha i should
be simple and unde s andable. P17 summa izes his as:
“The da abase had o be in e es ing o he s uden so a da abase
ha looks oo challenging will educe he s uden ’s in e es , I
hink.”
The main a gumen s in a o o simplici y we e ha i makes i
easie o p ac ice w i ing que ies (3 s uden s), o popula e he da a-
base (1), o expand i (2), and o a oid e o s (2), which we e also
linked o inc eased complexi y due o no maliza ion.
Fou s uden s explici ly connec ed schema simplici y o lea ning,
as “ he complexi y o he da abase could become a ba ie o lea ning”
(P06) and “in e ms o lea ning, a simple da a model is easie o adop ”
(P20). Fou s uden s designed a simple da abase o ma ch hei
beginne da abase skills, o example:
“I wan ed o keep he model as simple as possible, as his is he
i s da abase I ha e ac ually s a ed o implemen mysel . The
main ocus was on ge ing e e y hing o wo k wi hou a big
headache.” - P42
C2. Ma ching in o ma ion equi emen s. 36 s uden s desc ibed
designing hei da abase acco ding o he pe cei ed use o in o -
ma ion equi emen s. Those equi emen s pe ain o he da abase
domain o he so wa e applica ion ha would be based on he
da abase. In many cases, s uden s p o ided a jus i ica ion pe able
and ela ionship and hey desc ibed he p ocess hey ollowed o
come up wi h he inal schema, o example P30 desc ibes:
“I s a ed by hinking abou he ea u es I would like o ha e in
an imagina y se ice. I se ou o implemen he s uc u e o
he da abase h ough an ER diag am and wonde ed wha i ems
and wha kind o ela ionships he p ope ies I wan ed equi ed.
I d ew an ER diag am and selec ed he app op ia e a ibu es
o he objec s and ela ionships. I ans o med he diag am
in o a ela ional model acco ding o he ans o ma ion ules.”
S uden s commonly desc ibed ha he da abase domain led hem o
he de ini ion o speci ic a ibu es o hei da abase, o example:
“In choosing he numbe o ables and a ibu es, I s a ed by
hinking abou which a ibu es o he games we e essen ial and
impo an o me o include in he da abase [.. ] So I didn’ eally
delibe a ely choose jus ha numbe o ables and columns, bu
he numbe o hem came as dic a ed as needed as he plan
p og essed.” - P37
Fou s uden s explici ly men ioned ma ching how a eal wo ld
da abase would be c ea ed, o example:
“In my opinion, he da abase I ha e c ea ed is use ul o wo king
li e, because he da abase is buil o a speci ic eal pu pose,
al hough he o ma implemen ed du ing he cou se is no
exac ly he same as i is o would be in eal li e.” - P16
Some aspec s ela ed o in o ma ion equi emen s we e men ioned
a ely as d i ing he da abase design. These we e he cus ome
equi emen s (men ioned by P05), enabling sea ch condi ions (P24),
and suppo ing da abase expansion ( wo s uden s), o example:
125

S uden s’ Pe cep ions on Engaging Da abase Domains and S uc u es SIGCSE ’23, Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada.
“[...] hough ha i publishe s o de elope s e e wan ed o
expand wi h new columns, he changes would be easy when
hey al eady ha e sepa a e ables o hem.” - P27
C3. Lea ning oppo uni y o challenge. Nine s uden s a gued
ha he da abase schema should suppo lea ning. Mos o hem e-
e ed o lea ning abou da abases in gene al o in he con ex o he
da abases cou se, bu h ee o hem explici ly e e ed o lea ning
as p epa a ion o wo king li e; o example, P06 men ioned:
“[...] in my expe ience, a da abase wi h i e ables ha mee s he
minimum equi emen s o he assignmen would be oo small
o gi e he s uden a co ec unde s anding o he da abases
ha will come up in la e wo king li e.”
S uden s also ga e us insigh in o how a da abase schema and i s
complexi y a ec lea ning. A complex da abase schema enables
p ac icing wi h “memo izing concep ual en i ies” (P06), encou ages
he use o a da abase schema desc ip ion ( he example o he En i y
Rela ionship diag am was men ioned by a s uden ) when o mula -
ing que ies, and could
“[...] demons a e all he di e en concep s used in da abases
(e.g. di e en ypes o ac ables in he Kimball model, di e en
ypes o dimensions in he ables, mo e me ada a columns and
ables co esponding o he co ec implemen a ion, ables on
log da a)” - P20
P21 ag eed wi h he lea ning bene i s o a simple da abase schema:
“I hink lea ning he basics is suppo ed by mo ing om simple
schemes o mo e complex ones. Wi h a simple schema da abase,
i is good o p ac ice making que ies and lea n o unde s and
logic ela ed o joins, o example.”
A complex schema can also make que y o mula ion mo e challeng-
ing, as P55 exp esses:
“Su e, he e could ha e been mo e ables and columns o he
cus ome ’s add ess, o example, bu I eel i wouldn’ ha e
con ibu ed mo e o my lea ning. I hink he e we e enough
ables and columns o lea n how o use he en i onmen , bu
no oo many o make i oo di icul in sol ing p oblems.”
C4. Ve sa ili y. Eigh s uden s men ioned ha a da abase schema
should be complica ed enough o ep esen a ious da abase cha -
ac e is ics ( h ee s uden s) and o enable p ac icing wi h que y
w i ing ( i e s uden s). The da abase cha ac e is ics ha s uden s
e e ed o we e da a ypes, able ela ionships, and numbe o
columns, o example:
“[...] he e mus be enough columns in a leas a ew ables
o ask meaning ul ques ions. In addi ion, o que ies ha use
agg ega e unc ions, g ouping, and so ing a he same ime,
i is a good idea o ha e mo e columns in he able han he
numbe o unc ions o exp essions used, so ha he unc ion,
g ouping, o so ing can be assigned o di e en columns and
mo e da a- ich” - P06
The da abase schema should also be e sa ile enough o suppo
ex ension o mo e complex que y p ac ice, as summa ized by P21:
“In i s cu en o m, he s uc u e o he da abase is, in my opin-
ion, sui ably simple, bu a he same ime i makes i possible
o ca y ou a wide ange o da abase que ies.”
C5. P ac ical cons ain s. 15 s uden s exp essed ha in hei
da abase design hey ook in o accoun p ac ical cons ain s, speci -
ically assignmen es ic ions (9), ime limi a ions (4), o challenges
wi h gene a ing model da a (2). Assignmen es ic ions pe ain
mainly o he minimum numbe o i e ables ha was se . The
e ec o ime limi a ions is desc ibed by P51:
‘The bigges ac o limi ing he size o he exe cise a he mo-
men is ime. The wo k and o he cou ses ake up mos o
my ime and I migh ha e liked o build he da abase mo e
ho oughly.”
Finally, P47 men ioned he e ec o limi a ions o he ool ha was
used o popula ing he da abase wi h da a:
“Mock da a con ibu ed in pa o he ac ha i la gely de e -
mined he ypes o da a I used in he ables [...] I also added
some o he columns because o he e ec o he mock da a,
because as I looked a i I no iced mo e hings I had p e iously
o go en abou in he design.”
C6. O he . Th ee s uden s men ioned desi able cha ac e is ics o
he da abase schema ha did no i in o any o he a o emen ioned
ones. Those we e o limi he schema o he mos signi ican in-
o ma ion and “ ocus only on he mos impo an [ ables]” (P08), o
ma ch he scope o he cou se and he e o e a oid adding passwo d
da a “because wi h passwo ds you should be awa e o secu i y issues
ha he cou se doesn’ ocus on anyway” (P27), and o a oid adding
calcula ed columns (P33).
5 DISCUSSION
In Sec ion 3.2 we in oduced ha ou con en analysis was led
by bo h he da a and he wo k by Bou ie e al. on con ex in CS
Educa ion [
4
]. We’ll now e lec on whe he he ac o s we iden i ied
a e in ag eemen wi h hei s.
Pe cei ing ele ance. This heme is e lec ed in mul iple iden-
i ied ac o s, bu mos p ominen ly in D3: Lea ning oppo uni y o
challenge. The s uden s who men ioned his ac o we e looking o
lea n abou ei he hei domain o da abases in mo e de ail, show-
ing ha hey saw he ele ance o hese hings. We can also a gue
ha i links o D2: Connec ion o p ac ice and D6: Social and e hical
issues, bu as we adap ed hese di ec ly om al e na i e ac o s by
Bou ie e al. [4], we lea e hem ou o he discussion he e.
Re en ion. This ac o did no come up in any o ou s uden s’
answe s. Howe e , his is likely o be an a i ac o he assignmen
as a sho - e m e lec ion. We’d like o a gue ha his heme is
implici ly e lec ed in D3: Lea ning oppo uni y o challenge, as
s uden s ocused on lea ning which hope ully leads o e en ion.
Connec ion o p ac ice. We adop ed his heme in ou con en
analysis and ound enough e idence ha we kep i in as a s and-
alone ac o .
Impac . Bou ie e al. w i e abou his ac o as impac on he
b oade use communi y. This ac o came up egula ly and is
mos ly coded unde Pe sonal in e es , whe e s uden s men ion
using hei assignmen da abase o a s a -up by hemsel es o o
helping hei iends.
Explo ing social and e hical issues. This was kep as a sepa-
a e ac o : D6, bu i was men ioned only spo adically. In li e a u e,
his is desc ibed as a ac o ha may help emale s uden s s ay
126
SIGCSE ’23, Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada. Daphne Miedema, Toni Taipalus, and E himia Ai aloglou
engaged in he ma e ial. Un o una ely, as we do no ha e gende
iden i y da a o ou s uden s, no conclusions can be d awn on his.
A ac o ha a ose om ou indings, and is no men ioned by
Bou ie e al. is Ve sa ili y. I is wo h no ing ha he wo no ions
o e sa ili y (in business domains (D4), and in da abase complexi y
(C4)) had sub le bu dis inc di e ences. By domain e sa ili y, he
s uden s a gued o engagemen h ough being able o men ally
di ide he da abase in o sel -con ained subse s. This allows s uden s
o ake he subse ha i s hei expe ience le el and p ac ice wi h
ha . On he o he hand, a da abase wi h s uc u al e sa ili y was
seen o acili a e engagemen h ough being easy o expand.
On he pe o mance side o he con ex ualiza ion discussion,
he e a e some conce ns wi h he cogni i e load associa ed wi h
con ex ualiza ion. Howe e , we wan o no e ha da a managemen
and da abases canno be augh ully de-con ex ualized: we need
da a on some domain o ill ou da abases and in o m ou que ies.
As such, i seems be e o adap (some o ) he ac o s ha ou
s uden s wish o han o selec some hing andomly o keep doing
wha we ha e always done.
Fu he mo e, ou indings expand on he no ion o “use ul and
in e es ing” exe cise da abases p esen ed by Yue, who ound ha
s uden s p e e mo e ealis ic da abases in lea ning da abase ela ed
opics, as hese da abases a e pe cei ed o mo e closely e lec
he da abases he s uden s a e likely o encoun e in hei u u e
wo k [
23
]. Howe e , Taipalus showed ha mo e complex da abases
migh nega i ely a ec how s uden s lea n o que y [
21
]. Howe e ,
Taipalus also poin ed ou ha mo e complex da abases a e no
necessa ily synonymous o mo e ealis ic da abases, and s uden
engagemen migh no depend on ealism, bu a he on pe cei ed
ealism. I a eache can use a ela i ely simple exe cise da abase
ha is also a gued o be a ealis ic one, his migh be he key o
suppo ing bo h que y o mula ion lea ning and engagemen .
Ou indings suppo Yue’s obse a ions, as se e al s uden s
poin ed ou ha lea ning oppo uni ies and challenges sus ain hei
engagemen . Howe e , we also obse ed ha he e a e many o he ,
some imes con adic ing ac o s which all ela e o s uden engage-
men . A guably, and al hough i is possible ha a single exe cise
da abase may no ul ill all he engagemen conside a ions, each-
e s should conside he ac o s p esen ed in Sec ion 4.1 when hey
design exe cise da abase domains and complexi ies.
Finally, o ou analysis, we chose o wo k wi h a da abase as-
signmen and e lec ion, ins ead o he mo e common ques ionnai e
app oach. Rade e al. [
18
] in hei s udy ound ha wha s uden s
say hey wan o do, di e s om wha hey ac ually do. The ad an-
age o ou app oach is ha s uden s had o commi o he domain
hey chose. They could no a bi a ily selec some hing, bu had
o conside he implica ions o hei choice o he de elopmen o
he da abase and que ies.
5.1 Limi a ions and h ea s o alidi y
We no e se e al limi a ions o ou s udy. Fi s o all, he assignmen
equi ed all da abases o con ain a leas i e ables. Al hough we
do no d aw any conclusions om calcula ed complexi y me ics,
his equi emen was o en echoed in s uden s a gumen a ion on
engagemen . Gi en he indings o Rade e al. [
18
] ha s uden s
p e e simple games, and ac o C1: Simplici y, we belie e ha s u-
den s’ beha io migh ha e been di e en wi hou his es ic ion.
Second, he e is he issue o s uden s sel -selec ion o pa ic-
ipa ion in his s udy. Al hough all s uden s in he cou se had o
comple e he exe cises we s udy in his pape , i may be ha pa ic-
ipa ing s uden s we e mo e mo i a ed o deli e a good esul .
Finally, we e lec on he alidi y o ou s udy based on he
de ini ions by Maxwell [
16
]. As ou s udy consis s o documen s
con aining s uden a gumen a ion, he e is li le isk o misunde -
s anding o misin e p e ing s uden s’ accoun s on he side o he
au ho s (high desc ip i e alidi y). Howe e , he e is a h ea he e,
as we canno gua an ee ha all s uden s unde s ood he ques ions
co ec ly. One clea example o his issue is shown in ac o D5: Pe -
sonal in e es , whe e some s uden s ou lined engagemen in e ms
o hei own pe sonal in e es , ins ead o in e es o all no ices.
All au ho s wo ked oge he on he con en analysis, leading
o highe likelihood o eliable da a coding. Al hough some in e -
p e a ion o s uden answe s is equi ed o ex ac he ac o s, we
belie e ha he equi ed le el o in e p e i e alidi y is me , gi en
ha ou analysis is quali a i e and uses quo es om he s uden
answe s. Finally, al hough ou sample size can be conside ed small
o quan i a i e s udies, i is on he la ge size o quali a i e s ud-
ies. As such, we belie e ha he ac o s a e ep esen a i e (bu no
exhaus i e) o o he s uden popula ions as well.
We wan o conclude his discussion sec ion by acknowledging
ha , al hough we can gain in o ma ion abou s uden s’ leisu e
pu sui s, i is di icul o c ea e app op ia e assignmen s based on
his in o ma ion. To co ec ly con ex ualize acco ding o Coope
and Cunningham, we should make he chosen con ex a heme
h oughou he cou se [
7
], which is a di icul unde aking. One
ba ie iden i ied by Blumen eld e al. is ha he assignmen s need
o be di icul enough o s uden s o lea n abou he subjec in he
equi ed dep h [
2
]. I may be ha no all con ex ualized assignmen s
a e o he same di icul y, as Clibu n and Mille hypo hesize abou
he assignmen s in hei wo k [
6
]. Rade e al. also concluded ha
some o hei con ex ualized assignmen s we e oo complex and
open-ended [
18
]. The e o e, he e is a ade-o o be na iga ed
be ween how open we can lea e assignmen s o ma ch s uden
in e es , and how consis en and in-dep h assignmen s a e.
6 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
In his pape we in oduced ac o s ha s uden s pe cei e as engag-
ing o Da abase Educa ion. Ou indings a e based on an assign-
men in which s uden s designed hei own da abase schema, da a
and que ies. S uden s we e asked o e lec on why hei da abase is
engaging. Fo engaging domains, we ound he ac o s Familia i y,
Connec ion o p ac ice,Pe sonal in e es and Social and E hical issues.
Fo engaging complexi y, we iden i ied Simplici y,Ma ching in o -
ma ion equi emen s and P ac ical cons ain s. Two sha ed ac o s
a e Lea ning oppo uni y o challenge and Ve sa ili y.
This pape ep esen s an explo a ion o wha aspec s o con ex
make da abases engaging. Al hough he cu en indings can al-
eady be used o upda e da abase assignmen s, u u e wo k should
explo e in mo e de ail wha he e ec o adop ing ou indings is
on s uden engagemen , and possibly pe o mance. Fu he mo e,
i would be in e es ing o compa e how such new ma e ials com-
pa e o commonly used ma e ials and oy examples om ex books.
Finally, we should explo e which domains s uden s seem o ind
in e es ing, and whe he any ends can be ound in his da a.
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S uden s’ Pe cep ions on Engaging Da abase Domains and S uc u es SIGCSE ’23, Ma ch 15–18, 2023, To on o, ON, Canada.
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