Teaching database systems using a practical example

This article describes how practical lectures can be innovated by the experience of a practical case study. The design and implementation of the geographical information system BotanGIS brought several innovations to the study branch Geoinformatics at the Faculty of Science of Palacky University in Olomouc. This article deals mainly with introducing a new practical example into the course Database Systems. This new theme explains the design and inner structure of the relational database BotanGIS. The valuable contribution lies in the way a real database example from practice is explained to the students in the process of education. The instruction started with a visit to the botanical garden and the collection greenhouses. Subsequently, students worked at a computer laboratory, trying to find some information about plants by various queries in the botanical portal BotanGIS. Finally, a detailed model of the relational database was explained. The teacher’s experience enriched the students’ knowledge in the field of the conceptual database design.