Abstract:

The use of data warehouses (DW), business intelligence systems (BI) and some combination of SQL and NoSQL databases by business organizations today is no longer optional - efficient and comprehensive system for quality data storage and analysis has become essential for the business success. The market demands for specialists in this field are constantly growing and cannot be satisfied fast enough. Additional issues are the numerous and rapid changes in current technology and trends. This creates additional pressure on universities for producing more and more capable people with the appropriate base of knowledge and current skills in the field.

This paper presents experiences in teaching a graduate (master) level Data Warehouse and Advanced Topics in Databases (DWATD) course in University of Rijeka, Department of Informatics, over the last three years.

The course uses a comprehensive teaching methodology that combines traditional and interactive lectures, hands-on assignments and computer laboratory work, online assignments, quizzes, practical team projects and creation of research-based scientific seminar papers. The course and its teaching methodology aim at students' in-depth learning and gaining theoretical and practical knowledge of the field, as well as skills needed to successfully solve real-world problems and navigate the business market.

The teaching methodology and course contents are presented in detail, as well as assessment results for the last three years and student evaluations of the course. Also, some challenges and lessons learned are discussed.

The belief is that through this kind of course curriculum students will become adequately familiar with the field of data warehousing and advanced topics in databases and it will be easier for them to adopt new technologies and adapt to current business trends.

The main contributions of this research are:
a) detailed experience report,
b) comprehensive teaching methodology,
c) students’ assessment and evaluation report, and
d) discussion of challenges and lessons learned.

Keywords:

Course experience, Curriculum, Methodology, Higher education, ICT education, Databases, Data warehouse, SQL, NoSQL.