Postgraduate Course: Introduction to website and database design (BILG11016)
Course Outline
| School | School of Biological Sciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course is designed to give the students an appreciation and experience of the tasks involved in generating a resource for biological data mining.
Large numbers of websites now exist that give access to meta databases that have been derived from chemical or biological structure databases, for example.
This course is about the techniques required for initial dataset selection, mining of the primary data and creation of a database to hold the results of this mining, and then finally the design of a web based interface to provide access to that data.
The Course Organiser is always available to answer your questions: asking questions is actively encouraged throughout the course. |
| Course description |
Current databases and their development history.
Data set selection methods, screening for redundancy and source bias
Data set preparation and validation
Techniques for dataset mining.
Database creation and curation.
Website development for database access
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework 100%
There are two assessment components to the course, each worth 50% of the final course mark.
Details for both assessments are released near the outset of the course; both are due for submission at the end of the Semester.
1. Write a critical essay about a database chosen from a list of databases provided
2. Design and develop a public-facing website (that uses an underlying MySQL database that you have designed and implemented) to aid biologists
The final course mark awarded will be the average of the two Exam Board reconciled assessment marks.
It should be appreciated that a lot of possible learning source materials are provided contextually during the course, and the expectation is that you will look at them in your own time, applying them when your knowledge deems them as being appropriate.
The Course Organiser is always available to answer your questions: asking questions is actively encouraged throughout the course.
|
| Feedback |
Notes on the essay and website will be given. Both course components are marked and moderated by different individuals. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the technologies that underpin current structural or biological databases
- Demonstrate the ability to successfully mine a small example dataset.
- Construct a relational database system to contain those data.
- Construct web pages to allow access to that database.
- Analyse a biological database and propose an appropriate relational database structure to represent it, and a web application to access that database.
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Database management and Web site development |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
One 2hr lecture/workshop per week, plus substantial Directed Learning tasks (own time, not assessed) that aid achievement of the assessed course work.
Tutorial sessions available on request.
|
| Keywords | IntroWD |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alasdair Ivens
Tel: (0131 6)513605
Email: Al.Ivens@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Alex Ramsay
Tel: (0131 6)50 8649
Email: gramsay3@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage