Running Head ER Diagram Description

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The database design involves development of an information management system for a school. The database design for the system is to ensure proper functioning of the management system through incorporating features like management of student information, courses, enrolment, causes taught and teachers. The database is also in line with the business requirements because it utilizes referential integrity through primary and foreign keys.

The Entity Relationship Diagram drawn uses the basic shapes like rectangle, lines, kite and ovals to model the database for the school management system (Cagiltay, Tokdemir, Kilic, & Topalli, 2013).

The diagram uses rectangle shape to depict the entities of the system. The models depicted include students, courses, enrolment, causes taught and teachers. Each entity is surrounded with their respective attributes joined to then by a narrow line. The attributes are indicated in ovals attached to the entities and the entity names enclosed in the oval. For instance, the student entity include entities like student number, first name and last name.

Each entity has a unique key that is called a primary key. The primary key for each entity is indicated with an underlined attribute name. For example, the underlined attribute, student number for student entity is the primary key for the student entity. Relationships are also evident in the ERD diagram drawn. A kite is used to enclose the relationship name in the drawn diagram.

There are various relationship in the described database. These relationships include enrolls, teaches and belongs to. The student entity has a one to many relationship with the courses. A student can enroll in several courses. A teacher teaches one or several courses and a course can have several teachers teaching it.

This relationship is effective because of the primary key and foreign key. Primary key helps to enforce a one-to-many relationship while a foreign key enforces a many-to-many relationship. The course taught entity belongs to one course. This implies that one cause taught can only be associated with one course table. Courses taught entity has entities like course number, start date, teaching number, remarks and teacher number.

The teaching number is the primary key because it is unique to the entity. The teacher number and course number attributes are foreign keys to the teacher and course respectively. These foreign keys help to establish a relationship with the two foreign table appropriately (Yeh, Li, & Chu, 2008). Teacher entity contain information about the teachers in the institution. Therefore, the entity contain attributes like teacher number, first name, last name, education, date of birth gender, salary and experience.

The primary key is the teacher number and it is underlined in the ERD diagram. Enrolment entity contain information about the students enrolment in the institution’s courses. Therefore, the entity contain attributes like enrolment number, course number, status, student number and date. The student number is the foreign key and it helps to establish a one-to-many relationship with the student entity. The enrolment number is the primary key while the relationship is called enroll.

Course entity is to handle the information about various course that the organization offers. The course entity should therefore contain attributes like course number, course type, description, duration and course name. The course number is the primary key of the entity and it helps to ensure that a particular course is associated with one a particular student. However, one or many students can enroll in one or many courses.

References

• Cagiltay, N. E., Tokdemir, G., Kilic, O., & Topalli, D. (2013). Performing and analyzing non-formal inspections of entity relationship diagram (ERD). Journal of Systems and Software, 86(8), 2184–2195.
• Yeh, D., Li, Y., & Chu, W. (2008). Extracting entity-relationship diagram from a table-based legacy database. Journal of Systems and Software, 81(5), 764–771.

Paper For Above instruction

Developing an effective database system for a school environment necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) that models its core components and their relationships. The ERD serves as a blueprint for structuring and organizing data to facilitate efficient management of various school-related entities such as students, courses, enrollments, teachers, and courses taught. This paper delves into the architecture of the ERD, examining the entities, their attributes, primary and foreign keys, and the inter-entity relationships that underpin the school management system.

At the heart of the ERD are the primary entities—students, courses, teachers, enrollments, and courses taught—each represented by rectangles in the diagram. These entities are further characterized by their attributes, modeled as ovals attached to their corresponding rectangles. For example, the Student entity includes attributes such as student number, first name, and last name, with the student number serving as a unique primary key. The use of primary keys ensures each record within an entity is uniquely identifiable, which is fundamental for establishing relationships between entities.

Relationships between entities are illustrated via lines enclosed within kite shapes, indicating the type of association. The relationship 'enrolls' connects students to courses, reflecting the fact that a student can register for multiple courses. Conversely, each enrollment record links a specific student to a specific course, capturing the dynamic between students and their course selections. The 'teaches' relationship connects teachers to courses, indicating that one or multiple teachers can instruct a particular course. Conversely, each teaching assignment is represented within the 'courses taught' entity, which includes attributes like start date, remarks, and teaching number, with the teaching number serving as a primary key.

The 'courses taught' entity establishes a link between the teacher and course entities via foreign keys such as teacher number and course number, which reference primary keys within their respective entities. These foreign keys enforce referential integrity and facilitate the many-to-many relationship where courses can have multiple teachers, and teachers can teach multiple courses. For example, the teacher entity comprises attributes such as teacher number, first name, last name, education, date of birth, gender, salary, and experience, with the teacher number being the primary key.

The enrollment entity is crucial for tracking student participation in courses. It contains attributes including enrollment number, course number, student's status, student number, and date of enrollment. The student number forms a foreign key that links each enrollment to the respective student, establishing a one-to-many relationship. The enrollment number, being unique, acts as the primary key. This structure ensures that each student's enrollment data is appropriately captured and managed within the system.

The course entity is designed to encompass various attributes such as course number, course type, description, duration, and course name. The course number is designated as the primary key, guaranteeing the uniqueness of each course within the database. The ERD thus captures the many-to-many relationships between students and courses, and between teachers and courses, through the use of foreign keys and composite relationships, providing a robust framework for managing the school's academic operations.

Overall, the ERD comprehensively models the school's data environment, facilitating data integrity, consistency, and ease of retrieval. The logical structuring of entities, attributes, keys, and relationships exemplifies best practices in database design, integral to the development of an efficient school management system.

References:

• Cagiltay, N. E., Tokdemir, G., Kilic, O., & Topalli, D. (2013). Performing and analyzing non-formal inspections of entity relationship diagram (ERD). Journal of Systems and Software, 86(8), 2184–2195.
• Yeh, D., Li, Y., & Chu, W. (2008). Extracting entity-relationship diagram from a table-based legacy database. Journal of Systems and Software, 81(5), 764–771.