Portfolio database

[szticks]

I am fairly newbish at handling databases but I've come to think that it's the most powerful tool for what I want to accomplish.

I work as an English teacher and I am trying to create a database that will keep track of the students' language levels. Kind of like a language porfolio, if you will.

I want each student to be able to go into a form and assess their own skills in different categories like; listening comprehension, reading comprehension, writing skills, etc.

So far I have a table with category IDs, a seperate table for each category, a student list table, and a table to handle queries to the student list and category list.

I also need three checkboxes connected to each question in each category table. The point of the checkboxes is that the student can check one themselves if they can answer yes to the question, I can check another if I can answer yes to the question and the third checkbox is for the student to check if it's a goal they want to reach.

If you're still reading, thank you. Now for my issue. How do I store the data from the checkboxes? I want every student to be able to go in and see that the checks they made are still there. I also want to be able to do that and get an idea about what each student has done and need to be doing next.

I would be grateful for any response. If you need clarification on anything I'll try and make things more clear, as I'm not sure if I've conveyed what I want to accomplish properly.

[Netcode]

So far I have a table with category IDs, a seperate table for each category, a student list table, and a table to handle queries to the student list and category list.

In my opinion, having a table with just categoryIDs is needless. why not have
1. a table with two columns(categoryID and CategoryName)
2. a table with as many columns as the student data you want to capture(maybe StudentID, Name, Age,.......)
3. a table maybe named "Grade or Student_Progress" where you have the studentID, categoryID and then the level_of_comprehension.

this way, the Student_progression table is tied to the Table holding student data using the StudentID and is also tied to the Category Table using CategoryID

then, for storing the checkBox data, you would need to write some codes to do that which would depend on the DBMS you would be making use of.

For now, its a good start and we would love to help more as you proceed.

[szticks]

I think I have most of the things you mention. I'm including a print screen of the database. I'm currently making it in MS access since it's a good way to get a graphic view of what I'm doing. I will makie it in mySQL once it's planned enough to work.

Please point out any glaring errors or possible hiccups that might occur in the future. As I said I'm fairly new at this so all help is greatly appreciated.

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I should add that l_a1, for instance, is a table that contains a few questions regarding reading comprehension. Those questions are what the checkboxes will be connected to.
A1 stands for a level of English and more levels will be added once I get this database working. There will be A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. Each student will be able to check each category in each level, eventually.