[AccessD] Re: Teaching Access Course

Jim,

I think you are trying to cover way too much in too short of a time.  I 
have taught Access, from people who were not sure of the spelling of it to 
people who thought they knew everything there was to know about it.

What are they wanting to accomplish?  You should tailor the sessions to the 
purpose they want to accomplish.  For example, I am teaching a 3 hour 
introduction to queries a week from Saturday to a class of 4 or 5 
people.  The purpose is for them to be able to query the database for 
themselves to get information, create mail merge lists, etc.

Normalization itself is a two day class.  But here is the 10 minute version 
of it.

We are going to build a database to hold recipes. Write down on a sheet of 
paper the things we need to store about a recipe.  Now, look at each item 
and ask the question, "Can there EVER be more than one of this item?"  If 
the answer is "Yes," then you will need another table to hold the data.  If 
you follow that without wavering, you will get to 5th normal form.  ;-)

For example "ingredient"  Can a recipe ever have more than one 
ingredient?  Yes, then there needs to be a table to hold them.  Can an 
ingredient ever use more than one kind of measure?  Yes.  Then the 
measurement method needs to be in a table.  Can a recipe fit into more than 
one category (dessert, main course, bread, etc)?  Yes.  Then there needs to 
be a table to hold it.

My guess would be that they want to be able to query the database and do 
reports.  Day 1 - Queries  Day 2 - Reports  ;-)

Robert

At 11:52 AM 2/10/2004 -0600, you wrote:
>   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>