Greta\u27s Gym: A Teaching Case for Term-Long Database Projects

The following case supports a term-long team project for a senior-level or graduate-level Database course. It describes a gymnastics facility whose business processes are primarily manual. Students design and implement a database supporting the automation of competitive gymnastics team processes. In the analysis and design phase, students gather data from real gyms, produce a conceptual data model, design and normalize relational tables, document field definitions, and calculate storage space requirements. In the implementation phase, students write instructions for installing and using their tables, implement the tables, and write queries, triggers, and stored procedures that manipulate data stored in their tables. This case contributes to IS teaching in that it provides a fuller integration of database tasks than many existing cases, particularly in its inclusion of data gathering from actual facilities, installation instructions, storage space calculations, and both stored procedure and trigger requirements. Information on when and how the project is introduced and managed, and grading tips, is provided to potential adopters of this case. Proposed solutions are provided for most project deliverables. Feedback from students indicates that the case provides a satisfying challenge to them, and that skills gained from the project have been invaluable in their subsequent MIS jobs