9451489 Dietrich This Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement project involves the revision of an undergraduate database course to include a laboratory project that allows students to acquire practical experience using a commercial database product. A unique aspect of the work is the way in which cooperative learning techniques are used in administration of the group projects. Each project is divided into different phases corresponding to different functional aspects of database development. Those phases include requirements analysis, conceptual modeling, relational database design and view modeling, forms/report design, and application programming. Students assume different roles during the course of the project, such as phase leader for leading group activities, phase recorder for organizing documentation activities, phase checker for evaluating group members on the concepts that they have learned, and phase technical advisor for leading the technical activities of each phase. The advantage of this approach is that it not only allows students to become more active participants in the learning process but it also allows students to develop good leadership and communication skills while learning the practical use of database system software. This project is therefore establishing a teaching environment that provides a well-balanced mix of theory and practice with emphasis on cooperative learning.
