COMP9311 Notices

Exam results

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 17 December 2021, 03:56:42 PM, last modified Friday 17 December 2021, 05:41:34 PM.

There seems to be quite a few students who were disappointed about the final exam results. I just want to point out that I do apply strict marking criteria for final exam questions - and we don't tend to mark based on 'effort'/'sympathy' for exam. This means even if you'd written something, you might have been given 0 because the answers were deemed not relevant.

As a result, just on the exam marking results, the average marks were on the low side.

It's your choice to apply for formal reviews, etc. But I am most certain that the tutors followed the marking instructions correctly. So unless there was a mistake in adding up marks, etc. your final exam marks are not likely to change.

The course results

Posted by Helen Paik Wednesday 08 December 2021, 06:36:58 PM.

Hello everyone,

Busy marking !! I have updated all mark components up to assignment 2. You should be able to check through WebCMS3. If you cannot see your marks, please contact me.

Also, just a forewarning for some students. Unfortunately, we have discovered a few misconduct cases in the final exam. I am obligated to report those cases with evidence to the relevant university authority - and those students will get "WD" until the cases are investigated and resolved. I presume the relevant office will follow up with those students. There is absolutely no point contacting me, as I cannot do anything for you if you happen to be one of those cases.

Anyway, for the majority of the class (!!), hope you enjoyed the course and learned something practical that you can take with you for the rest of your study. It was a pleasure to be in the course with you.

Exam closing at 5:15

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 26 November 2021, 05:14:43 PM.

any submission made after 5:15 is ignored (but we will allow for a few minutes of grace period, considering the network delay). Exam is closing now.

Exam paper Link

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 26 November 2021, 02:02:41 PM, last modified Friday 26 November 2021, 02:23:55 PM.

Here is the link.

The WebCMS3 is being hammered (by you!!) ... You will get extra 10 mins, so don't worry.

The exam link is now available from the Menu Item (look for Final Exam on the left of the screen).

Release of the exam paper and submission links

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 26 November 2021, 11:29:44 AM.

Hello class,

So the exam is today! The link to the exam paper will be released via WebCMS3. I will post a notice here (in WebCMS noticeboard) - which should be emailed to you.

The exam paper link will open from 1:55pm

The exam starts from 2pm, submissions close at 5pm. Any submission made after 5pm will be ignored (we may have a few minutes of grace period allowing for network latency, but no more than that).

Thursday 4pm - exam Q/A

Posted by Helen Paik Tuesday 23 November 2021, 07:21:39 PM.

Just letting you know that I will be online from 4pm this Thursday in the regular Zoom room we use for lectures. See you there.

Mockup exam - open

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 19 November 2021, 12:02:41 PM.

Hello Class, the mockup exam is ready for you to try. I will be online from 1pm or so. Any problem, please post a question on the forum in the meantime. Do try it and make sure that you can work with the environment comfortably.

Week 10 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Monday 15 November 2021, 08:18:19 AM.

Hello everyone. Yep. It is the last week of the term.

This week:

• The lecture materials are released (Week 10 topic on 'non relational databases'). There is no problem exercises for this topic.
• Tuesday - there is no live session this Tuesday . Keep working on your assignment.
• Wednesday 5pm - Assignment 2 due. Submission is through WebCMS3, follow the assignment two link
• Thursday - 3pm, we will do a live wrap up lecture + Q/A via Zoom . Hope to see many of your then.
• Last quiz is to be released Thursday 6pm, Due Sunday 6pm (note the unusual deadline for the last quiz)

Assignment 2 Submission is available now

Posted by Helen Paik Sunday 14 November 2021, 12:13:36 AM.

Via the assignment two link - submit through WebCMS3. You only need to submit ass2.sql

Week 9 Quiz available

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 12 November 2021, 03:22:18 PM.

Hello Class, somehow I did set the release time of the Week 9 quiz wrong. It is available now. Due Monday 10am.

Assignment 2 deadline - extension

Posted by Helen Paik Monday 08 November 2021, 10:42:34 PM.

New deadline - 17th November 05:00pm (Week 10, Wednesday)

Week 9 Activity Summary (updated)

Posted by Helen Paik Monday 08 November 2021, 02:10:46 PM, last modified Monday 08 November 2021, 02:12:01 PM.

Hello class ... my apologies for the delay this morning. I will also answer the questions on the forum sometime today as well.

Here is the summary of this week:

• Week 9 lecture materials will be uploaded later this afternoon.
• Week 9 lab (the last one!) is released later this afternoon.
• Assignment 2 deadline - according to the poll, Week 10 Wednesday seems good. So I will move the deadline to Week 10 Wednesday.
• Tuesday 12pm, we will use the Zoom live session for Assignment 2 Q/A (open session, so do not share your code)
• Thursday 3pm, live Zoom session on problem solving/exercises on Week 9 topics.
• Thursday 6pm (or so), Week 9 Quiz (due Monday Week 10)
• As usual, check the online help sessions with the tutors ...
• The Ass1 results are out - you can check them via the little "graph" icon next to your profile.

Quiz reminder and Assignment 2 deadline survey

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 05 November 2021, 09:44:11 AM.

Hello Class ... Don't forget that there are two quizzes due next Monday 10am.

i have opened a survey/poll for assignment two deadlines. You can find it under Activities.

I have marking results for Ass1 now. I just need to collate them and put them into the system. Hoping to do that sometime today or tomorrow. Will send a notice once that is done anyway.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Lecture videos uploaded

Posted by Helen Paik Wednesday 03 November 2021, 06:17:41 AM, last modified Wednesday 03 November 2021, 06:18:59 AM.

Week 7 Thursday and Week 8 Tuesday live lecture videos are uploaded ... (it may take a little bit more for Echo360 to process them).

I will also get onto the forum questions later this evening. I have a couple of hard deadlines myself this week ;-)

Week 8 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Monday 01 November 2021, 11:03:42 AM, last modified Monday 01 November 2021, 04:45:46 PM.

Hello class ... heading into the last couple of weeks of the term!

• Monday (later in the afternoon) - lecture materials released (slides and video), no new lab this week, continue the Week 7 exercises.
• Tuesday: 12pm a live Zoom session with Helen - on PLpgSQL triggers
• Thursday: 3pm a live Zoom session with Helen - on Normalisation (problem solving session)
• Thursday 6pm: Week 8 Quiz on DB storage and query optimisation - Due Week 9 Monday.
  • NOTE: Both Week 7 and Week 8 quizzes are due on Monday Week 9 10 am.
• Start working on Assignment Two!!

Check out the online help session schedule for this week as well.

Happy Week 8 everyone!

Week 7 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Sunday 24 October 2021, 09:49:45 PM, last modified Friday 29 October 2021, 08:59:49 PM.

Update: Friday October 29 - The Week 7 quiz is released. 4 questions only for this one. And You have until Week 9 Monday 10am.

Hope everyone had a nice and quiet enough Week 6.

Assignment Two is now available (follow Assignments, MyMyUNSW Database - SQL and PLpgSQL ) - Ass2 is due Monday 10am Week 10.

Here is what is expected for Week 7.

• Monday (by midday):
  • Week 7 lecture materials released (videos and lecture notes).
  • Lab #04 solution is uploaded ... check it out ...
  • New Lab, #05 is uploaded ... (on PLpgSQL)
• Tuesday:
  • 12-2pm - we will go through the lab04 PLpgSQL together . I will be available on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room )
• Thursday
  • 3-5pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). Problem solving session on relational design theory
  • Thursday 6pm - Week 7 online quiz released. This is due 10am Monday Week 8.

Week 7 Online Lab Help Sessions - check out the Help Session Schedule for Week 7. ALL online lab help sessions are via Blackboard Collaborate .

Week 6 is QUIET WEEK (consultation time updated)

Posted by Helen Paik Sunday 17 October 2021, 05:58:40 PM, last modified Wednesday 20 October 2021, 11:19:43 AM.

We are going to be quiet for one week :-) This means no new materials (no new lectures, no new labs, no quiz, no online help sessions with tutors, no online lectures with Helen).

Let's use this week to catch up!!

Here are some reminders for the coming days though.

1) Quiz 5 due Week 6 Monday 10am (don't forget to hit that submit button!, no more "I forgot to submit" excuses.)

2) Online consultation with Helen (via the regular zoom link). I will open the following 4 x 30 min online consultation sessions, spread over Week 6 ... Each session is open Q/A ... Ask me anything about the course so far.

• 20th Oct, Wednesday 5pm-5:30pm
• 21st Oct, Thursday 6pm-6:30pm
• 22nd Oct, Friday 12pm-12:30pm (sorry I have to cancel this one)
• 22nd Oct, Friday 4pm-4:30pm

3) Assignment 2 on PLpgSQL will be released on Saturday 23rd October. I will announce it, of course, when the spec is released.

Enjoy some quiet time ... Hope you have a good week!

Quiz 5 is released

Posted by Helen Paik Thursday 14 October 2021, 06:22:37 PM.

Don't forget to hit that submit button!! (due Monday 10am).

Assignment 1 (Stage 2) - Submission ready

Posted by Helen Paik Wednesday 13 October 2021, 01:35:59 PM.

Use Course Menu -> Assignments -> ER Modelling and SQL Schema Mapping (Stage 2) -> 'Make Submission' Tab at the top of the page ...

Week 5 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Sunday 10 October 2021, 10:16:10 PM, last modified Sunday 10 October 2021, 10:24:26 PM.

Here is what's on for Week 5 (a week before the quiet week !!)

• Monday:
  • Week 5 lecture materials released (videos and lecture notes are now uploaded).
  • Lab #03 solution is uploaded ... check it out ...
  • New Lab, #04 is uploaded ... (on PLpgSQL)
• Tuesday:
  • 12-2pm - there is no lecture or walk-through for Tuesday this week . I will be available on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ) for Q/A. You can ask questions on the assignments or any other topics we have covered so far. This is NOT recorded .
  • Submission instructions for Assignment 1 will be released
• Thursday
  • 3-5pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). I will run through some of the PLpgSQL code from the lecture with you. This will be recorded and released soon after the scheduled time.
  • Thursday 6pm - Week 5 online quiz released. This is due 10am Monday Week 6.
• Friday 6pm Stage 2 of Assignment 1 Due !!

Week 5 Online Lab Help Sessions - check out the Help Session Schedule for Week 5. ALL online lab help sessions are via Blackboard Collaborate .

Week 4 Quiz is released ... due next Monday 10am.

Posted by Helen Paik Thursday 07 October 2021, 06:29:35 PM.

Week 4 Quiz is available now.

Week 4 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Monday 04 October 2021, 03:41:12 PM, last modified Monday 04 October 2021, 03:51:15 PM.

Here is a summary of Week 4 (wow ... almost half way there!)

• Monday:
  • Week 4 lecture materials released (videos and lecture notes are now uploaded).
  • New Lab (Lab #03) on SQL coding released
  • Assignment 1 Due - do not miss this deadline. We cannot accept late submissions.
• Tuesday:
  • Assignment 1 Stage 2 specification is released
  • 12-2pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). I will mainly go through some of the Thursday SQL exercise on Tuesday together. This will be recorded and uploaded to Echo360.
• Thursday
  • Thursday 3-5pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). I will run through some more of the SQL exercises with you. This will be recorded and released soon after the scheduled time.
  • Thursday 6pm - Week 4 online quiz released. This is due 10am Monday Week 5.

Week 4 Online Lab Help Sessions - check out the Help Session Schedule for Week 4. ALL online lab help sessions are via Blackboard Collaborate .

Week 3 Quiz is released ... due Monday 10am

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 01 October 2021, 09:54:13 AM.

The quiz for this week is released ...

IMPORTANT NOTICE: moving the class today to Friday (tomorrow) 3pm-5pm

Posted by Helen Paik Thursday 30 September 2021, 09:16:19 AM.

Hello everyone,

I cannot make 3pm Thursday class today. I am sorry for the last minute change/notice - but I will have to move this class to 3pm Friday (tomorrow, 1st October). This is just a one-off change for this week. We will use the same zoom link. It will be recorded. Hope many of you can still make it. My sincere sincere apologies again.

Week 3 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Sunday 26 September 2021, 09:57:30 PM, last modified Sunday 26 September 2021, 09:57:48 PM.

Here is a summary of Week 3 for you:

• Monday 10am - Week 3 lecture materials released (videos and lecture notes should be available by this time). No new lab this week ... Continue Week 2 lab exercise. The solution for Week 2 lab will be released at the end of this week.
• Tuesday 12-2pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). I will mainly go through Lab02 together. This will be recorded and uploaded to Echo360.
• Thursday 3-5pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). I will run through the exercises with you. This will be recorded and released soon after the scheduled time.
• Thursday 6pm - Week 3 online quiz released. This is due 10am Monday Week 3.
• Assignment 1 continues ... Start early . We cannot accept late submission for Stage 1.

Online Lab Help Sessions - check out the Help Session Schedule for Week 3. ALL online lab help sessions are via Blackboard Collaborate .

Assignment One released, Quiz 2 due Monday 10am

Posted by Helen Paik Friday 24 September 2021, 09:16:56 PM.

The first assignment (stage 1) is released. The assignment is individual work and is carried out in two stages. The spec is under "Assignments" in WebCMS3. All discussions about the assignment in ed Discussion.

Don't forget Quiz 2 - it is due Monday 10am.

Late enrolling students, email addresses, Ass1 release date

Posted by Helen Paik Thursday 23 September 2021, 12:44:51 AM.

Hello, a few mixed bag of notices to go out here ...

(1) if you are a late enrolling student, you have already missed Week 1 quiz, I am afraid. I cannot open it again for you as the solutions are out already. Try to catch up the materials and attempt the quizzes from Week 2.

(2) I noticed that occasionally students use email addresses other than the official UNSW one to enquire things about the course. I won't reply back to those email inquiries from now on. Please use UNSW email addresses.

(3) I am still working on the outline of Ass1 spec ... and it is taking a bit longer than I anticipated. The release of Ass1 spec maybe delayed by 1 day (i.e., Friday instead of Thursday). I will announce it here when it is out anyway, so stay tuned :-)

Week 2 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Sunday 19 September 2021, 08:30:42 PM, last modified Thursday 23 September 2021, 12:45:41 AM.

Here is a run-down of what to expect in Week 2.

• Monday 10am - Week 2 lecture materials and lab exercise released (videos and lecture notes should be available by this time)
• Tuesday 12-2pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). I will mainly cover how to work with Grieg remotely and basic PostgreSQL commands. This will be recorded and uploaded to Echo360.
• Thursday 3-5pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). I will run through the exercises with you. This will be recorded and released soon after the scheduled time.
• Thursday 6pm - Week 2 online quiz released. This is due 10am Monday Week 3.
• Thursday evening - (now Friday evening) Assignment 1 specification is released. This is an individual assignment. I will make an announcement when this happens.

Online Lab Help Sessions - check out the Help Session Schedule from Week 2. As a general rule, we will have one tutor per session, except around the assignment due weeks where we will have two tutors per session. ALL online lab help sessions are via Blackboard Collaborate .

Week 1 Quiz released (reposting - reminder)

Posted by Helen Paik Thursday 16 September 2021, 05:03:41 PM, last modified Saturday 18 September 2021, 09:16:36 PM.

Hello everyone,

Week 1 Quiz can be found under 'Activities' - Week 1 quiz. It is due 20th Sep Monday 10am.

The Week 1 exercise suggested solutions are available under "Lectures/Week 1".

Looking at the forum messages, maybe it would be worth going through the setup of PostgreSQL together - and talk about how to use SSH to Grieg, text editors, etc. So I will do that in next Tuesday 12-2pm lecture.

Also, from Week 2, there will be online help sessions with the tutors open.

Week 1 materials released ...

Posted by Helen Paik Monday 13 September 2021, 11:47:39 PM.

The following Week 1 content is available now:

• The first lab (environment setup) - under Labs
• Lecture notes and pre-recorded lecture videos for Week 1 topics - under Lectures. The videos are available from Moodle > Echo360

See you tomorrow (Tuesday 14th) at 12pm. The Zoom meeting link is available under Lectures. This isn't going to be a regular lecture - I am just going to do a welcome and run-through of the course intro, plus Q/A from you.

Week 1 Activity Summary

Posted by Helen Paik Saturday 11 September 2021, 05:25:11 PM, last modified Saturday 11 September 2021, 05:42:03 PM.

Hello everyone ...

We will use Week 1 to kick start things ... Here is a summary of what to expect in Week 1 (which is soon~!)

• Tuesday 10am - Week 1 online lecture materials and lab exercise released
• Tuesday 12-2pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). Besides the usual course intro and welcome, I will explain how the course will run this term. This will be recorded and released soon after as well.
• Thursday 3-5pm - a live lecture on Zoom ( Zoom Meeting Room ). The second lecture will be focused on problem solving, not topic content delivery. This will be recorded and released soon after the scheduled time.
• Thursday 5pm - Week 1 online quiz released. This is due 10am Monday Week 2. The quiz will be available from WebCMS3 and instructions will be given.

All of you must have been sent an invitation to join "ed Discussion" - which is our course forum for this term. I heard good things about the system, so let's give it a go. The course announcements are through WebCMS3 noticeboard. All other discussions will be through ed Discussion.

Looking forward to meeting you all and have a good weekend.

Welcome to 2021 Term 3 offering of Database Systems

Posted by Helen Paik Tuesday 07 September 2021, 08:49:13 PM, last modified Saturday 11 September 2021, 05:08:45 PM.

Welcome to the course. We are about to start!

The web site for the course is: https://webcms3.cse.unsw.edu.au/COMP9311/21T3

More information about the course will be posted here soon, but please check out the course outline in the meantime. See you in Week 1.

Course Outline Term 3 2021