Evaluation of Database

Bilawal Siddiqi Applied ICT Year 2

Task F: Evaluation of Database

Introduction:

For this assignment I was asked to produce a database for tracking a student’s achievements on a course of study. This database will contain Tables, Forms, Queries and Reports. In the database the course the students are studying consists of 6 units, each of which is marked out of 100. I showed results for each their units by producing reports and showed which student has passed the overall course and on which specific date the student passed it on. In my database I had 35 students divided into 2 Tutor Groups, I produced a relational database with a form to input details of the unit along with a sub-form to enter the student names and their marks along with the date of the results. I also created a form to input student details with a sub-form to enter the units they are doing and the mark obtained along with the date the result was entered.

Creating the database:

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Creating the forms in the database was the longest yet the easiest procedure out of everything, I had to create four tables, which were: tblUnit, tblResult, tblStudent, tblTutorGroupID. All of these tables were linked to each other in a way or other. tblTutorGroup was linked to tblStudent which had a Tutor Group ID and tblStudent was linked to tblResult which had the Student ID and Unit Code. Unit Code was linked to the tblUnit. TblUnit had the unit code and unit no along with the unit title. I had successfully created a working relational database with four related tables. The reason why creating the forms was long because I had to enter details of students and make up their results and there were 35 students divided into two tutor group, so adding those were long because I had to make up their contact details like Name, Address, Postcode, Telephone No, etc. For each table I had to edit settings too in design view like Field size, Format, Input mask, etc. Then after creating all the forms I had to create the queries, which enabled me to create reports later on. I created three queries total for three reports, In the first query I entered “Count” and “Sum” in the total and ticked on “Show”. In the second query I sorted Unit No, Surname, First name and Tutor Group ID in ascending order and ticked “Show” for everything. In the third query I selected Surname, First name, Unit Title and Marks in ascending order.

I produced the following reports in Database:

A report showing each tutor group on a separate page with the students sorted alphabetically by last name and then first name. The report showed the total score that each student has obtained along with a count of the number of units that they have done. If they had done all 6 units I also showed if they passed the course.

A report showing each unit on a separate page, showing each student doing the unit along with their score and the date entered. The students were grouped by tutor group and then sorted by last name then first name. The report showed a count of how many results are shown for each unit.

A report showing each student on a separate page with his or her unit results in numeric order. The report showed a count of how many results they have; the total score that they have achieved and, if they had done all 6 units, it also showed whether they have passed or not.

To create these reports I used the Design Wizard in Microsoft Access, and went through a step-by-step process on creating these three reports while selecting what was required from the options. In my entire database I chose a blue background colour for the reports as well as the forms, it was the theme colour. The reason I chose this is because it suited the font colour, which was mostly black or white. After creating the reports I also used the design view to adjust the titles appropriately.

After that I created a Main switchboard which would have links to view to Forms, sub-forms and reports, Whenever the user would open Database the first thing that would appear is the Switchboard which would have the options/buttons to view the three reports as well as the two forms (Student form and Unit details form)

Strengths/Weaknesses/Problems:

I think one of my main strengths in the database was that I had some experience using the software so I knew the common stuff, using my experience I created most of the tables and queries without any problems. The only weakness I had in this was I did not know how to create a proper switchboard which I had learnt using a book while tutoring myself. During this assignment I experienced some problems while using Microsoft Access for Database, most of the problems were experienced while creating queries and creating a proper switchboard for the system.

Improvements that could be made:

In order to make improvements in this database I would design a better switchboard and use more technical stuff in my work, which will look a more professional database. I will also do more testing as well as create results for more students. I would also meet the deadlines on the correct time for the work and work on a good pace to while planning my work effectively.