Flipped Classes

The course follows one variation of the flipped (or inverted) class model, with three basic components represented each week: (1) pre-class introduction to basic concepts; (2) in-class remediation on and exercise of basic concepts; and (3) post-class followup and reinforcement of material. In particular, each week students will watch video lectures on basic concepts before Tuesday’s class, submitting evidence that this was done by the start of Tuesday’s class. Tuesday’s class will answer questions students might have on the material, as well as contextualize and exercise the concepts in small groups with help from the instructor and TA. After Tuesday’s class, students will sometimes return to the online material, and complete material, and/or peer review work that was done in class on Tuesday, then return to Thursday’s class for further contextualization and exercise of concepts in small groups

Online Material

Each week you will have video lectures, quizzes, and exercises to do outside of class from the course’s multimedia reference, Jennifer Widom’s Self-Paced Database Course (WSPDC) at https://class.stanford.edu/courses/DB/2014/SelfPaced/about. I’ve indicated clearly on the Schedule when you have to be done with materials. To be sure that you are aware of upcoming deadlines, look a week or two ahead in the Schedule. Professor Widom’s course is actually divided into fourteen mini-course, numbered DB1 through DB14. These mini-courses are hosted on Stanford|Online OPENedX platform

Before signing up for an account on Stanford|Online platform and the first mini-course, DB1, read the statement on Privacy.

While you will be graded for CS 265 on exams and projects done outside WSPDC, WSPDC material that you turn in on time guarantees you lower-bound scores on your mid-term and final exams. See Grading for details.

There is also an optional additional reference, A First Course in Database Systems (Ullman and Widom (http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/fcdb.html or U/W for short).

Additional Advantages of Self-Paced Course

An additional advantage of using the WSPDC material in your study for CS 265 is that by the end of CS 265 you will have completed most of the WSPDC online mini-courses, and you will receive separate statements of accomplishments for each mini-course (except DB1) from world-renowned database expert, Professor Jennifer Widom, of Stanford University. She is among the world’s most highly cited computer scientists. For example, see my statement of accomplishment for one mini-course on relational algebra.

In-Classroom Activities

You will be watching video lectures and otherwise studying conceptual material about database outside of class time,  so that inside of class, we will be discussing these concepts in the context of real database designs and do other active learning exercises in small groups.

The small in-class groups of approximately five students each will vary from week to week. I have already determined a rotation. Each week you will have a table number (1-9) to sit at and you will work with members of that group for both Tuesday and Thursday. The intent of your rotation through different in-class small groups in intended to introduce you to different personalities, styles, potential collaborators, and potential friends.

Over the last several years, I have used Jennifer Widom’s materials in a flipped model of instruction in database, and my overall instructor rating and the overall course rating in database, have gone up. In a flipped model, if done well, you should feel and be more engaged with your instructor, not less engaged. The flipped model may relieve an instructor of some of the lecturing in class (though you will be watching a few lectures by me, and I hope to record more), but the flipped model does not relieve the instructor of the more general imperative to be engaged with her or his students! Quite the opposite!