California State University, Chico
Department of Computer Science

Syllabus/Course Requirements

Course Number: CSCI 276/397C

Course Title: Advanced Database Management Systems: Oracle 8 Database Administration

Course Times and Locations:      MW 10-noon OCNL 431 (Lecture and Lab)

Instructor: Dr. Melody Callan

Instructor's Office Hours: MW noon-1 pm, Third Office Hour TBA, in OCNL 208

Faculty Phone: (530) 898-5617 , message 898-6442

Email: melody@ecst.csuchico.edu

Textbooks:

• Mandatory Texts: Oracle Course Manuals for Oracle 8: Database Administration 
• Optional: Oracle 8 DBA Handbook, by Kevin Loney, published by Oracle Press of Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1998,                 ISBN # 0-07-882406-0

Course Description: This course will cover the basic principles and techniques of Database Administration using the Oracle 8 DBMS.  We will cover all 22 lessons in the Oracle Course Manuals and complete the bulk of the lab exercises from these manuals.   Time permitting, we will also cover the Net 8 Administration Course Topics, and possibly some Tuning and Recovery topics.

Course Goals: Students will understand the architecture of an Oracle 8 DBMS and how to perform the basic duties of DBA.  Students who perform well in this course by comprehending the lectures, scoring well on quizzes and completing all laboratory exercises have a strong chance of passing the Certification Exam for Oracle 8 Database Administration.

Course Notes: In Oracle Course Manuals, the Oracle Lab (OCNL 431) and on the web from my web page.

Web Page: www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~melody/ (watch for Live Courses for Spring 2000 -  CSCI 276/397C materials)

Mandatory Attendance Policy:  It is mandatory that you attend both the lectures and labs for this course.  You will be dropped from the course for non-attendance.  If you are ill, you must notify Dr. Callan via email right away.   If you are ill for more than one class in a row, you must provide a Doctor's excuse.  You may be excused for family emergencies.  Non-attendance due to workload in this course or other courses is not acceptable as an excuse.   A seating chart will be made and your attendance will be noted daily.  There are more than a dozen students that were trying to add this course and were turned away, so your seat in this course is quite valuable.

Note:  Are you sure you are taking the right course?  This course assumes some maturity in database management systems in understanding good relational database design (ER and Object Modeling, normalization) along with SQL programming and Transaction Management (recovery, concurrency, logging, etc.).  It is mandatory that you have had the equivalent of 273M as a prerequisite.  If you have not had this prerequisite, you need to drop the course and enroll in 273M.

Plagiarism/Cheating Policy:  Anyone who as determined by the Instructor/TA has copied any part of another students work will automatically receive a grade of "F" for the course.  Anyone cheating on an exam will receive a grade of "F" for the course.

Course Assignments:

For CSCI 276: There will be lab exercises assigned from the Oracle Course Manuals.  Students will need to demonstrate completion of these exercises.  There will also be additional labs assigned in additon to those in the Course Manuals.

For CSCI 397C: Graduate students enrolled in the 300 level course will be assigned additional lab exercises above and beyond those assigned to the students enrolled in CSCI 276.  They will also be asked to demonstrate additional techniques in the labs.  Each graduate student will need to write a Masters project proposal.

Policy on Turning in Lab and Homework Assignments:   Due dates are firm.  No late assignments will be accepted unless serious illness or other excused absences merit allowances in the judgment of the instructor.

Grade Evaluation Procedures:  Students will be graded based on their performance in the following course components -

For CSCI 276:   

• Lab Exercises/Assignments/Demonstrations                       30%
• Quizzes (2 midterm at 15% each)                                         30%
• Attendance/Pop Quizzes                                                        20%
• Final Quiz                                                                               20%

For CSCI 397C:

• Lab Exercises/Assignments/Demonstrations/Proposal       30%
• Quizzes (2 midterm at 15% each)                                         30%
• Attendance/Pop Quizzes                                                        20%
• Final Quiz                                                                               20%

First Assignment: Read Lesson 1 and 2 from your Oracle 8: Database Administration Course Manual.  Complete Exercise 1, page A-3 of Volume 3 of your Oracle Course Manuals.  Send email to melody@ecst.csuchico.edu right away with your full name, the courses you have taken including whether or not you have had the equivalent of our CSCI 273M, the languages and applications you know, your experience with database management systems and your interest in this class and in computer science in general.