Developing visualization support system for teaching/learning database normalization

In tertiary institution, some students find it hard to learn database design theory, in particular, database normalization. The purpose of this paper is to develop a visualization tool to give students an interactive hands‐on experience in database normalization process.

The model‐view‐controller architecture is used to alleviate the black box syndrome associated with the study of algorithm behavior for database normalization process. The authors propose a visualization “exploratory” tool that assists the learners in understanding the actual behavior of the database normalization algorithms of choice and also in evaluating the validity/quality of the algorithm. This paper describes the visualization tool and its effectiveness in teaching and learning normalization forms and their functional dependencies.

The effectiveness of the tool has been evaluated in surveys. It shows that students generally viewed the tool more positively than the textbook technique. This difference is significant to p<0.05 (t=1.645). The mean interactions precision and calculated value using expert judge relevance ratings show a significant difference between visualization tool and textbook performance 3.74 against 2.61 for precision with calculated t=6.69.

The visualization tool helped students validate/check their learning of normalization process. Consequently, the paper shows that the tool has a positive impact on students' perception.