Big data: motivating the development of an advanced database systems course

The creation of massive data sets, commonly referred to as Big Data, has motivated the development of new database systems and techniques for managing, monitoring, querying, and analyzing data [5]. As data sizes grow, so do the technologies developed to the meet this new demand, which in turn generates new employment opportunities for graduating students. Preparing students for these new positions requires the integration of these new techniques and methodologies into the curriculum. The growth of Big Data is motivating the development of advanced database courses. This paper presents an approach to creating such a course using flexible modules.