Empowering Database Manipulation Skills: A Holistic Approach Integrating User-Friendly Database Tools and Spreadsheet Software

Amid the era of digital transformation, a heightened need for adept database manipulation skills has emerged, particularly within data-driven decision-making contexts. While many Japanese universities offer database exercise courses centered on SQL and programming languages for web application development, they lack a holistic approach encompassing database construction, manipulation, and efficient data retrieval for subsequent analysis. This paper introduces an inventive teaching methodology that seamlessly integrates an accessible, open-source database tool and a widely utilized spreadsheet software. This approach facilitates effortless data interchange between users and databases and has been progressively refined within the “Database Exercise” curriculum since 2017. The methodology empowers students to proficiently construct and manipulate databases through the database tool, in addition to enabling the creation of programs facilitating streamlined data retrieval from databases to spreadsheets.