Integrating Health Information Systems Into a Database Course: A Case Study

Computer Science is a rich field with many growing application areas, such as Health Information Systems. What we suggest here is that multi-disciplinary threads can be introduced to supplement, enhance, and strengthen the primary area of study in a course. We call these supplementary materials threads, because they are executed alongside the material presented in the course, reinforcing and augmenting it but not replacing it. Many studies have been performed on how making a topic more meaningful and relevant to students can improve their outcomes. Integrating Health Information Systems into the Computer Science curriculum can achieve this. In this paper, we present a case study in which the development of a health system is integrated into a Database course. The results indicate that students enjoyed the course more, were more motivated to complete the course project, and were able to learn and apply the core course materials more readily.