Timeline for What is a good analogy to introduce databases and SQL?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
34 events
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| Mar 19, 2021 at 13:54 | answer | added | Hileamlak Yitayew | timeline score: -1 | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 22:06 | comment | added | user737 | I put the adult-education tag in because I teach adults, and one of the first answers uses a childs game. Now we have an answer for first graders. Someone saw fit to remove the tag. What do I tell people who are older than I am and know what a spreadsheet is? | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 19:15 | answer | added | pojo-guy | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 17:40 | history | edited | thesecretmaster♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Updated to use "relational" word and removed irrelevant tag
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| Jul 16, 2017 at 16:45 | comment | added | auden | @AIG would you consider making your comment into an answer? | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 16:45 | comment | added | auden | @pojo-guy would you consider making your comment into an answer? | |
| Jul 15, 2017 at 17:40 | history | edited | Buffy |
edited tags
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| Jul 10, 2017 at 16:26 | comment | added | user737 | @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen but before you know anything (about a subject), the first step is to take it on faith that there is something worthwhile to be learned, or else you would never have come in the door. My students don't know, they don't even know what they don't know, they have no problems, and nothing to relate to. That is why I put the introductory-lesson tag on this. How do you introduce something to a clueless newbie? It is like pouring the foundation of a building: it is not fancy, or pretty or interesting, it just gets you off the ground. | |
| Jul 10, 2017 at 16:12 | comment | added | Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen | @nocomprende I would expect Computer Science educators to educate people who program. If I didn't yet know what a database is, and program, I would like to learn which of my problems it can solve. | |
| Jul 10, 2017 at 12:20 | comment | added | user737 | @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen I am guessing that few people really require databases in their personal lives, but they need to learn about them because they are trying to get jobs (where I work) and everyone already knows that they are useful. I just want them to relate to the essential qualities of databases. Maybe I am looking for something very different from a 'metaphor' here, but I don't know what else to call it. Do you? | |
| Jul 9, 2017 at 0:37 | comment | added | Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen | @nocomprende "What problems can I use this technology to solve?" "How do I talk to this technology so I can solve the problems I have?" Then when you have understood the usefulness, you can start generalizing. | |
| Jul 8, 2017 at 23:58 | comment | added | user737 | @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen how do you relate to databases and SQL? | |
| Jul 8, 2017 at 23:16 | comment | added | Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen | My experience is that you need something to relate to. Abstract notions are not good for that. | |
| Jul 8, 2017 at 18:48 | comment | added | user737 | @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen right, that is a more direct route, but I am trying to give the students something similar that they can relate to, but also build more ideas on. I am looking at the concept of a "notional machine" as very much like what I want to convey. | |
| Jul 8, 2017 at 17:07 | answer | added | Nuno Gil Fonseca | timeline score: 7 | |
| Jul 7, 2017 at 17:57 | history | edited | user737 |
added tag
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| Jul 7, 2017 at 17:49 | comment | added | Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen | Instead of using abstract words to describe what it is, instead describe what it solves. "You want to save information from one invocation of your program to the next". "You don't have memory enough for all your data." "You need to do extract and generate data without writing a new program for it every time". The list is endless. | |
| Jul 7, 2017 at 2:59 | comment | added | pojo-guy | When my daughter was 6 I introduced her to Ruby and Postgresql because she wanted to know what i did at work. She soon lost interest, but the analogy I used for her was "cubbies" like she stored her stuff in at kindergarten. Cubbies come in blocks, which are assembled into larger installations. A database is just a very large wall of cubbies, and the DML side of SQL is about getting stuff into or out of the cubbies. DDL side of SQL is making the rules about what is allowed to be put into the cubbies. | |
| Jul 6, 2017 at 14:10 | history | reopened |
user737 Gypsy Spellweaver ItamarG3 thesecretmaster♦ |
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| Jul 6, 2017 at 14:00 | history | edited | thesecretmaster♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Clarified that the question is about SQL; edited tags
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| Jul 6, 2017 at 6:48 | history | edited | ItamarG3 |
edited tags
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| Jul 6, 2017 at 1:36 | history | edited | user737 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Please state your answer in the form of a question
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| Jul 5, 2017 at 21:54 | review | Reopen votes | |||
| Jul 5, 2017 at 23:57 | |||||
| Jul 5, 2017 at 21:36 | history | edited | user737 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Refocused the question on databases and sql
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| Jul 5, 2017 at 20:28 | history | closed |
auden ItamarG3 Gypsy Spellweaver thesecretmaster♦ |
Needs details or clarity | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 18:03 | comment | added | Gypsy Spellweaver | For a growing list of analogies, try teaching-analogy. | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 18:00 | vote | accept | CommunityBot | ||
| Jul 5, 2017 at 17:55 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| Jul 5, 2017 at 18:30 | |||||
| Jul 5, 2017 at 16:52 | answer | added | Buffy | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 16:13 | comment | added | AlG | I use the "post office" model to explain a lot of CS concepts; from DNS & IPs to memory. You need a (even if imperfect) model that people can relate too. These days, students may relate better to mobile phones; each one has a unique address, you can set up linked lists (call forwarding) etc. | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 15:38 | review | Close votes | |||
| Jul 5, 2017 at 20:32 | |||||
| Jul 5, 2017 at 14:47 | comment | added | Ben I.♦ | What is the post office box model? I have never encountered that. My very first first lesson involves a stack. | |
| Jul 5, 2017 at 13:55 | history | edited | user737 |
added tag
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| Jul 5, 2017 at 13:48 | history | asked | user737 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |