The Structured Query Language (SQL) is widely used and challenging to master. Within the context of lab exercises in an introductory database course, this thesis analyzes the student learning process and seeks to answer the question: ``Which SQL concepts, or concept combinations, trouble students the most?'' We provide comprehensive taxonomies of SQL concepts and errors, identify common areas of student misunderstanding, and investigate the student problem-solving process. We present an interactive web application used by students to complete SQL lab exercises. In addition, we analyze data collected by this application and we offer suggestions for improvement to database lab activities.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Structured Query Language (SQL) is widely used and challenging to master. Within the context of lab exercises in an introductory database course, this thesis analyzes the student learning process and seeks to answer the question: ``Which SQL concepts, or concept combinations, trouble students the most?'' We provide comprehensive taxonomies of SQL concepts and errors, identify common areas of student misunderstanding, and investigate the student problem-solving process. We present an interactive web application used by students to complete SQL lab exercises. In addition, we analyze data collected by this application and we offer suggestions for improvement to database lab activities.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Von Dollen, Andrew C"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Computer Science","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Alex Dekhtyar"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:32:13Z","subjects":["Databases","Structured Query Language","SQL","Relational Model","Databases and Information Systems"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2019.78"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2019.78","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2019.78","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2068","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Alex Dekhtyar"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Von Dollen, Andrew C"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-07-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Computer Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Databases","Structured Query Language","SQL","Relational Model","Databases and Information Systems"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2068","10.15368/theses.2019.78"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Structured Query Language (SQL) is widely used and challenging to master. Within the context of lab exercises in an introductory database course, this thesis analyzes the student learning process and seeks to answer the question: ``Which SQL concepts, or concept combinations, trouble students the most?'' We provide comprehensive taxonomies of SQL concepts and errors, identify common areas of student misunderstanding, and investigate the student problem-solving process. We present an interactive web application used by students to complete SQL lab exercises. In addition, we analyze data collected by this application and we offer suggestions for improvement to database lab activities.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Data-Driven Database Education: A Quantitative Study of SQL Learning in an Introductory Database Course"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Alex Dekhtyar"],"dc:creator":["Von Dollen, Andrew C"],"dc:date.available":["2019-07-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Structured Query Language (SQL) is widely used and challenging to master. Within the context of lab exercises in an introductory database course, this thesis analyzes the student learning process and seeks to answer the question: ``Which SQL concepts, or concept combinations, trouble students the most?'' We provide comprehensive taxonomies of SQL concepts and errors, identify common areas of student misunderstanding, and investigate the student problem-solving process. We present an interactive web application used by students to complete SQL lab exercises. In addition, we analyze data collected by this application and we offer suggestions for improvement to database lab activities.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2068","10.15368/theses.2019.78"],"dc:subject":["Databases","Structured Query Language","SQL","Relational Model","Databases and Information Systems"],"dc:title":["Data-Driven Database Education: A Quantitative Study of SQL Learning in an Introductory Database Course"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Computer Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:32:13Z"}