Classroom Resources: From Data to Knowledge

Skill Resource: Using a Database (Sample Company Database, Local Company Database)

SESSION 1

Before You Teach

A CRITICAL MISTAKE

Assign the seven roles from the role play to students in the class. They will need some time before this session to study their characters, using RM 1.1 E.R. Role Play.

SESSION 2
DATA IN A SPREADSHEET

You must save the files to your computer before working on them. Right-click on the links, and "Save Target As" . . .

Divide the class into teams to review the Beewel Spreadsheet. Teams should reorganize the data in the spreadsheet to highlight patients who are over 40 and who have high blood pressure, which is defined as having a systolic pressure of over 140 and/or a diastolic pressure of over 90.

Imagine that you work in a medical office in Beewel Hospital and that you keep data on patients who visit the doctors. These data represent the patients’ medical histories. The doctors want to send a note to each patient who is more than 40 years old and has high blood pressure. High blood pressure is defined as having a systolic pressure of over 140 and/or a diastolic pressure of over 90. How would you organize the data in the Beewel Spreadsheet so that these patients can be easily identified?

SESSION 3
COMPARE SPREADSHEETS AND DATABASES

You must save the files to your computer before working on them. Right-click on the links, and "Save Target As" . . .

Divide the class into Database Design teams. Give the teams time to view and explore the Dakota Therapies Spreadsheet and the Dakota Therapies Sample Database. Then, as a class, have students compare the spreadsheet and database, using the questions in the Student Guide.

Dakota Therapies Logo Explore the Dakota Therapies Spreadsheet and the Dakota Therapies Sample Database.Compare how the same data are displayed in both places. Then answer the following questions:

What are the similarities between the spreadsheet and the database?
How are they different?

Skill Resource: Related Tables

SESSIONS 5 AND 6

Before You Teach

Download, print, and read Creating a Relational Database.

CREATE A RELATIONAL DATABASE

Students use a tutorial to learn to build a simple relational database using data from the Dakota Therapies example. Distribute copies of Creating a Relational Database and ask students to follow the step-by-step directions in the tutorial.

Download the tutorial Creating a Relational Database if you don't have it already.

SESSIONS 7 AND 8
DATABASE CHALLENGE

You may want to view the online version of the Beewel Database with teh whole class to show that there are several tables in the database, and then discuss possible next steps for the teams.

View one possible way to design the Beewel Hospital database that meets all of the requirements listed in Guidelines for the Database Challenge.

If your students may benefit from seeing a different example of how to create related tables, refer them to skill resource Related Tables, which uses the example of a school’s database to illustrate how to design a set of related tables.

TIP: If students need more examples of how to design a relational database, suggest that they view another online tutorial:

The current Beewel Database, is not well organized and doesn’t have all the features that the doctors, support staff, and administrators need.

How could you use the features of a relational database to make a more efficient and comprehensive database that would allow Beewel Hospital staff to keep track of patients and their data? Your challenge is to work with your Database Design team to redesign the Beewel Database to keep better track of Beewel Hospital’s patient data. First, read Guidelines for the Database Challenge. Next, download and save a copy of the Beewel Database to a computer and view its current layout. Finally, refer to The Relational Database on page 15 for ideas about how to design the database to meet the guidelines. Also review the Database Challenge Assessment before you begin.

EXTENSION 2.2

Go to the Solvent Substitution Data Systems Web site to locate the databases of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that identify substitutes for harmful chemical solvents used in industry. Describe the most likely users of these databases, and compare the various levels of assistance offered to them.

EXTENSION 2.3

Use this link to learn more about enterprise systems. Find an example of one successful implementation of an enterprise system in a company and explain how the company profited from its use. Or, find an example of a company that had difficulties launching an enterprise system and summarize the problems that were encountered.

SESSION 14

Before You Teach

Use the link provided to sign up for and preview the GIDEON infectious disease knowledge management tool.http://web.gideononline.com/loginy.php?user=FORDPAS.

Make sure that all students’ computers have online access to GIDEON.
Preview Teacher Information: Alexander the Great’s Symptoms on page T 44.

Access GIDEON Online with one of the following user IDs:

User ID : FORDPAS_100
User ID: FORDPAS_101
User ID: FORDPAS_102
User ID: FORDPAS_103
User ID: FORDPAS_104

User ID: FORDPAS_105
User ID: FORDPAS_106
User ID: FORDPAS_107
User ID: FORDPAS_108
User ID: FORDPAS_109

Password: fordpas

If you find that one of these user IDs does not work please send an email to info@fordpas.org, or call Ford PAS TA at 1-888-338-3267 immediately. Thank you!

SESSION 14

HOW SMART CAN A SYSTEM BE?

Now you’re going to have the opportunity to use an actual decision support tool to help make a decision and investigate a mystery. Read Alexander the Great—A History and review the Questions for Reflection. Then, access the GIDEON infectious disease knowledge management tool using the user ID and password provided by your teacher.

A knowledge management tool can enhance an organization’s ability to achieve desired results. Using Alexander the Great—A History and GIDEON, diagnose Alexander the Great’s illness, using the symptoms you’ve identified in the reading. What does GIDEON identify as the most likely disease that Alexander might have had?

Refer to the information and questions in your Student Guide.

EXTENSION 3.3

Find out what has happened to SBDS. How is the system being used today, and what changes have been made as technology has advanced in this field? Write an article that updates Machines Making Decisions.

SESSION 15

Before You Teach

Bus Routes [Whole Class]

Find and print an electronic map of your local city or town or obtain a large wall map of the area.

JOHN SNOW'S DILEMMA

A larger version of John Snow's Map, 1854 with Elevations is available here.

SESSIONS 17 AND 18

Before You Teach

ELECTRONIC MAPPING IN TIME AND SPACE

In the ESRI book Mapping Our World, read pages 5–8 and complete the student pages of “Module 1: ArcView: The Basics.”
Install ArcView® GIS software on all student computers. Refer to Teaching Suggestions—Software: ESRI ArcView.

SESSION 19

SITE A FACILITY CHALLENGE

Divide the class into Site teams and distribute the Siting a Facility Assessment (RM 4.1). Have each team brainstorm the criteria a company might use to site the assisted living facility. Students should use the links provided below as a starting point for comparing the results of their brainstorming to the criteria that companies actually use.

Suppose you are working for a company that develops assisted living facilities for elderly adults who can no longer live on their own. Before you begin working on this project, look over the Siting a Facility Assessment. Then, working as part of a Site team, brainstorm and research what types of criteria would be used to pick a location for an assisted living facility. Answer the following questions:

What characteristics of a population, such as age, sex, marital status, family size, education, geographic location, and occupation, might you look for in the community surrounding your location?
Should your facility be located near any existing facilities? Which ones, and why? Should it be located farther from any existing facilities? Which ones, and why?

Use the following resources for your research:

SESSION 20
CLASS CRITERIA

The Site a Facility challenge can be carried out using data on Providence, Rhode Island. As an alternative, the class may choose to examine your own area, or students may suggest that areas with high elderly populations, such as Florida or Arizona, would have a greater need for the facility than your own area. If you choose to have students complete the exercise with data from another area, consult the instructions for acquiring these data and using them in ArcView.

SITE YOUR FACILITY [Teams]

Site teams use the company’s criteria to carry out their Providence site selection by downloading the Providence data, analyzing the data in ArcView, and making their assisted living facility site selections. If the class or some teams choose a different location, students will need to use separate instructions to help them obtain their data and enter them into ArcView.

Download the Providence data and directions for how to use those data. If your team is researching a city other than Providence, download the directions for a different city.

The company also needs to determine the size of the facility: If the facility is very small, it may leave a gap in supply. If the facility is very large, it may need to draw residents from a larger area, which could be problematic, as most residents want to be located near, if not in, their home community.

Following your analysis and selection, you’ll be expected to present your findings to company executives, supporting your recommendation with data and maps. You will only have a few minutes to share your findings, so your presentation should be clear, brief, and convincing. (You might want to figure out now who will present which parts of the required presentation components—look at the Siting a Facility Assessment to see what they are.)

Data and Directions
Providence Directions (PDF)
Providence Data (Zip file)
Different City Directions (PDF)

Reference Documents
ArcView Buttons Quick Reference Sheet (PDF)
Census SF1 Reference Guide (Shows categories of available information)
Census SF3 Reference Guide (Shows categories of available information)

SESSION 23

Before You Teach

SEEING GIS IN ACTION

Arrange for the class to have a worksite visit to a local college or a hospital that uses GIS.
Prepare for the visit by reading Teaching Suggestions on page T 14 and following the guidelines in the toolkits.

SESSION 25

Before You Teach

A NATIONAL DATABASE

Read The Debate over a National Database on pages 69–73 in the Student Guide.
Decide how to conduct the debate with the eight teams. Structure the debate so that all students get to participate in some way.
Prepare name cards for each Debate team’s stakeholder and position as listed in the table on page T 59 in Session 26.

HOMEWORK 5.1

Refer to Structuring a Debate for specific information about what you’ll need to do in the debate. Start to prepare for the National Database debate by creating a list of points for your position (either pro or con). Consider the information given in the reading, and keep track of information that you’ll need to research further. You may also begin to research your position, using the resources provided below and any other research materials you have access to.

The Ethics of Access to Online Genetic Databases: Private or Public?
Breaking the Code
Medical Privacy
Personal Privacy and Access to Medical Databases

SESSION 26
PREPARE FOR THE DEBATE

You will now work as part of a Debate team to create an argument for the class debate, either in support of or in opposition to the national database in Iceland. Research the debate topic, using the resources provided below. Be prepared to support your position with evidence from your research. Prepare your arguments to fit into the amount of time allotted to your team by your teacher. Also, anticipate any arguments your opponents might make, and prepare rebuttals for those arguments. Finally, prepare a closing statement. Continue to refer to Structuring a Debate to help you complete your preparation.

Attention Shoppers: Special Today -- Iceland's DNA
For Sale: Iceland's Genetic History
Iceland's adventures in the gene trade
Genetics Scandal Inflames Iceland
Iceland's Genetic Jackpot

SESSION 27

Before You Teach

HOLD THE DEBATE

Invite one or more guests to observe or moderate the debate and offer expert opinion as to which argument is strongest.

No student module resources for this activity.

Using a Database (Activity 1)
Creating a Database (Activity 2)
Related Tables (Activity 2)

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