Instructional Strategies for Teaching Database Query Languages

Abstract

This chapter addresses the differential effects on leaming outcomes of two instructional strategies in an introductory course on solving database query problems using a relational database. In both strategies a problem-solving method was explicitly presented to grade 10 high school students. One strategy involved a top-down approach in solving the problems, while in the other strategy problems were approached in a bottom-up fashion. Although the top-down approach is considered to be superior in solving problems in general, it is hypothesized that for novices this is only the case if they possess relatively much relevant knowledge and skills. For querying a relational database logical reasoning, knowledge of set theory and the ability to identify relevance and sufficiency of data are supposed to be important. It is hypothesized that for high-ability students (with respect to the knowledge and skills mentioned) the top-down approach will be superior to the bottom-up approach, but for low-ability students the bottom-up approach will yield better results. For low-ability students the data supports the hypothesis; for high-ability students however, presenting different problem-solving strategies did not result in significant differences in learning outcomes. After discussing these results, plans for further research will be presented.

Keywords: bottom-up design, database query language, implemented models, instructional strategies, problem solving, relational database, Structured Query Language, top-down design

JEL Classification: C88, C93, I21