System Design & Analysis

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MODULE 4MODULE 4

Data modelling

Introduction:

Welcome to Module 4!

In this module, you will look at data modelling. Understanding data

entities and their relationships is crucial to the development of any

information system. A data model ensures consistency and integrity of

data in an information system, as well as helping to identify

redundancies. You will explore the di�erent types of data models

including conceptual, logical and physical data model.

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An Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is the most commonly used

diagram in conceptual data modelling. Conceptual data modelling is not

concerned with the implementation details of a Database Management

System (DBMS). The purpose of conceptual data modelling is to identify

and describe data entities and their relationships in a system. An entity is

an object or concept that is of interest and important to a system. Take

student record system for example, “student”, “subject”, “course” are

entities that are of interest to the system. You should note that an entity

does not refer to individual data object. A student entity does not refer to

any speci�c student. It represents the structure or a blueprint for all

“students” stored in the system.

An entity may have one or more attributes. For example, a student entity

may have student ID, student name, date of birth and other attributes.

Entities in a system are not independent of each other: they are in fact

related to one another. For example, a student can enrol into a course. It

is important to capture and model this relationship, because it provides

the system the capability to list all students enrolled in a particular

course. You will learn more about entity, relationship and attribute in

Module 4.1.

In Module 4.1, we will also introduce you to another diagramming tool,

that is, the State Transition Diagram (STD). Unlike ERD, STD is not

concerned with modelling all the data entities and their relationships.

Rather, it looks at the various states that a data entity can transition to

through the lifecycle of that data entity and what actions trigger the

transition.

Module 4.2 focus on system design with a particular focus on database

design Module 4.2. In doing so you will learn how to transform an ERD to

a logical and physical design of database. In particular, you will learn to

map unary and binary one to one, one to many and many to many

relationships to relational database design. You will also learn database

normalisation, a process to ensure the database design conform to a

series of normal forms to reduce data redundancy. In addition to this,

you will explore three normal forms that is �rst, second, and third normal

form (1NF, 2NF, and 3NF). You will be required to rectify a database

design that is not in its right normal form.

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This Module will cover:

Module 4.1 – Data modelling I

Module 4.2 – Data modelling II

This Module will help you achieve the following outcomes:

a) Identify, critically evaluate and recommend information systems solutions for ine�ciencies in business processes, procedures and work practices using data and process modelling techniques.

b) Formulate, validate and document business requirements for a medium-scale information system development project and e�ectively communicate these requirements to the stakeholders.

c) Demonstrate the ability to e�ectively analyse, design and develop information systems using Uni�ed Modelling Language (UML) models.

d) Demonstrate team work skills and empathy while maintaining high level of ethical and legal behaviour and standards as a professional.

Time Management:

Your workload expectation is 20 hours for this module.

12 Week Delivery:

20 hours per module (two weeks): facilitated study: 3 hours / week. Personal Study: 7 hours / week.

3 hours facilitated study consists of attending class, responding to facilitator feedback.

You are to allocate 7 hours of personal learning. This includes essential time spent on pre-reading and viewing materials, assessment progression and learning activities.

Assessment Progression:

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Assessment 2 is due at the end of Module 4.2. Both Module 3 and

Module 4 content is highly relevant to Assessment 2. Please make sure

you review Module 3 and complete all learning activities in Module 4 in

preparation for your forthcoming assessment.

Class Expectation:

You are expected to have worked through the essential learning resources and activities for this module before attending the facilitated session (face to face or online session) – this enables informed discussion and full participation in learning activities.

Participate in all scheduled facilitated sessions.

This time is intended to be used by you and your learning facilitator to work through activities and engage in discussion about the module content.

These sessions provide a space for you to raise questions about the module content and seek guidance on writing your assessments.

You will review, explore and discuss more deeply the information presented in the learning resources.