Self-paced Learning and On-line Teaching of Entity-Relationship Modeling

We present a detailed plan to teach Entity-Relationship modeling in an undergraduate course in Database Systems. The course syllabus fulfills the requirements of a first database course in the IS 2002 model curriculum. It is designed to be offered on-line for self-paced learning within the 15 weeks of a regular term. Our goal is to ensure the scope of coverage and the quality of delivery, and at the same time provide sufficient flexibility for student learning. Our teaching plan comprises 19 modules: from the introduction to Extended ER modeling covering specialization and generalization, including two optional modules for alternative ER diagram notations. The teaching plan is complete and yet very compact. The dependency graph governs the flow of the learning modules. Students will then have the flexibility to work out their schedules for their effective use of time and materials on-line. The critical design factor in each module is in the selected ER modeling features to cover, and very specific learning objectives. We believe our design will engender effective self-paced learning. The plan also prepares very well for on-line delivery. We are eager to further develop the plan by gathering a very large collection of illustrative examples, together with exercises and test questions.