ISEDJ

Information Systems Education Journal

Volume 23

V23 N5 Pages 44-52

Sep 2025

Assessing the Impact of Prerequisite Courses on Student Performance in Relational Design

Kevin Slonka
Saint Francis University
Loretto, PA USA

Matthew North
Utah Valley University
Orem, UT USA

Neelima Bhatnagar
University of Pittsburgh Greensburg
Greensburg, PA USA

Anthony Serapiglia
St. Vincent College
Latrobe, PA USA

Abstract: Continuing to fill the literature gap, this research replicated and expands a prior study of student performance in relational design in an introductory database course. The data was collected from four different universities, each having different prerequisite courses for their database course. Student performance on a relational design exam was compared between students who took the various studied prerequisite courses (CS1 procedural programming, CS2 object-oriented programming, and discrete mathematics) and those who did not. These comparisons were conducted using quantitative methods and produced non-significant results, different from those results of the prior study. With the current research design and sample size, the researchers are confident in their results that suggest these prerequisite courses do not impact student performance.

Download this article: ISEDJ - V23 N5 Page 44.pdf

Recommended Citation: Slonka, K.J., North, M., Bhatnagar, N., Serapiglia, A., (2025). Assessing the Impact of Prerequisite Courses on Student Performance in Relational Design. Information Systems Education Journal 23(5) pp 44-52. https://doi.org/10.62273/WXHU2709