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ABSTRACT
"Not only SQL" (NoSQL) databases have become widespread across organizations, enabling sophisticated, data-driven applications to be highly available, distributed, and cloud-based, such as e-commerce, social media, online multiplayer games, and video streaming. However, NoSQL is still sparsely found in MIS and analytics curricula. This teaching tip presents an experiential learning-based, five-module course structure for teaching analytics students structured query language (SQL) and NoSQL databases. We describe our implementation, where students learned relational databases and four types of NoSQL databases, with assessments conducted using use cases, projects, and exams. Students reported high levels of engagement and positive first-hand practice experiences with NoSQL beyond general concepts. We believe this course design will empower students to broaden their skill set and communicate more effectively about the Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) and Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) processes.
Keywords: NoSQL, Database, Data management, ETL, Data analytics
1. INTRODUCTION
Data analytics has become a central component of information systems curricula at universities. Some business schools have restructured their Management Information Systems (MIS) departments to place greater emphasis on this area (Urbaczewski & Keeling, 2019). Data engineering and the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes-also referred to as Extract, Load, and Transform (ELT) in some paradigms- are crucial foundational steps in data analytics (Boehler et al., 2020). Relational databases and structured query language (SQL) are staples of database syllabi (Wang & Wang, 2023). Along with the rapid development of big data analytics and cloud computing, more and more organizations are using "not only SQL" (NoSQL) databases in addition to traditional relational databases (Bajaj & Bick, 2020). The NoSQL database market has been projected to reach USD 36.46 billion by 2029, with a remarkable annual growth rate of 30% from 2023 to 2029 (Maximize Market Research, 2022).
Teaching NoSQL databases to typical information systems students lags far behind the development of NoSQL databases (Gessert et al., 2017; Wang & Wang, 2023). Even after decades of widespread adoption of NoSQL databases, the information systems community continues searching for effective pedagogical approaches to include NoSQL in traditional undergraduate database courses (Bajaj & Bick, 2020).
The ability to use NoSQL databases is a critical skill for business students (Wang & Wang, 2023). This knowledge allows them to understand NoSQL use cases and develop the...