Jim Hewson
JHewson at karta.com
Tue Feb 10 08:27:38 CST 2004
Kath, Great suggestions! I will remove the VB and all queries except select. Your idea of using Excel or Word as a tool to discuss normalization and relational concepts is superb. I will use that. I had thought of walking them through the creation of a simple database. I like your idea better, discussing databases the students have been asked to design. Or, ideas of a "real world" scenario for a database. Thank you, Jim -----Original Message----- From: Kath Pelletti [mailto:SDSSoftware at optusnet.com.au] Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 4:50 PM To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Subject: Re: [AccessD] Teaching Access Course Jim - I have also given many intro courses for intro, intermed and advanced and I think your suggested content is good - the only changes I would make are to remove VB (other than to explain why the tab for modules is there) and to remove advanced queries for intro. I think that it is really important to discuss how they would create a database in Word or Excel and then show them how that flat file structure could simply create duplicate records and unneccessarily repetitive data. That gives them an idea of the purpose of a relational database and basically gets you into normalization in a concrete way. I think it is good to create a course framework which has a point, ie., not just discussing design for the sake of it which will lose people but make the intro course all about creating a simple database to solve a business scenario - and make all exercises part of that - at the end they will have created a simple system.. Your suggested work on queries is a great idea as that is something they will probably all do straight away - either want to query an existing database or set up a simple one with queries (the and / or and like are really important there). But I think that I would stick to only select queries, and select queries with parameters for intro level. If you want to add another query topic then I would add calculated queries, but maybe not the delete / update / make table queries which could get beginners into a lot of trouble (only my opinion). It's great to be able to leave some time at the end of the 2nd day and ask people to discuss databases they have been asked to design (there are always some who are on the course as they have been asked to set something up). This gives the group the chance to tackle it together, throwing up suggested table structures and primary keys and relationships on the whiteboard - they can list their requried output and see if the design will work for that. If you have time to do 2 of these workups it seems to really help the students. Best of luck. Kath ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Hewson To: 'AccessD' Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 2:55 AM Subject: [AccessD] Teaching Access Course Our customer has added a tasking on our contract. I have developed several Access databases for this customer on several different contracts. They want a two-day course to teach 6-10 people. A classroom with computers and Access loaded on them will be on their site. The student's experience ranges from someone who knows how to spell Access to someone who thinks they know how to use it. I do have experience conducting courses - just not Access. My first cut of a syllabus is below. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Jim 1. Introduction to Databases a. Systems [Software] Development Life Cycle (SDLC b. Database Nomenclature c. Naming Conventions d. Normalization e. Relational Database f. Database design concepts 2. Introduction to Access a. Access Specifications b. Short cut keys c. Reserved Words d. Access Objects e. Relationships between tables 3. Access Tables a. Primary keys b. Fields and records c. Navigate through records d. Enter, edit and delete records e. Format tables f. Filtering data in tables 4. Designing Access Tables a. Design view b. Adding and naming fields c. Assigning Field types d. Assigning Field Properties e. Creating Key Fields f. Creating relationships 5. Designing Access Queries a. Using "And" and "Or" statements b. "=" vs "like" c. Parameter Queries d. Auto lookup Queries e. Advanced Queries (Nested Queries, Sub-queries) f. Insert/Update/Delete/Make-Table Queries 6. Access Form Design a. Designing a Form b. Formatting forms c. Adding controls d. Combo boxes / list boxes e. Groups f. MS Visual Basic g. Using Wizards 7. Access Report Design a. Creating a report b. Formatting reports c. Using Wizards Jim H. Hewson Marketing/Proposal Support Manager Karta Technologies, Inc. 5555 Northwest Parkway San Antonio, Texas 78249 210-582-3233 jhewson at karta.com <mailto:jhewson at karta.com> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com