Database frameworks: Textbooks vs. student perceptions

This research examines the framework used by Computer Science students at the conclusion of their first semester of study of database concepts. To discover which concepts are considered as essential components in students' mental frameworks for database systems, a questionnaire listing 31 database concepts was given to Computer Science students upon completion of their first database course. This survey was given to two student groups: one during the last week of their first database course, and the other during the first meeting of a second database course. To identify which topics were crucial, students were asked to rate each concept on a ten-point scale. From their responses, we calculated the average perceived importance for each concept. This paper analyses the results of this survey for the two student groups. We then compare the student ratings with word frequencies exhibited by authors of database textbooks. In this way, we are able to show how the database framework of students relates to frameworks presented in textbooks.