Students

BUSA2020 – Fundamentals of Business Analytics

2021 – Session 2, Special circumstances

Session 2 Learning and Teaching Update

The decision has been made to conduct study online for the remainder of Session 2 for all units WITHOUT mandatory on-campus learning activities. Exams for Session 2 will also be online where possible to do so.

This is due to the extension of the lockdown orders and to provide certainty around arrangements for the remainder of Session 2. We hope to return to campus beyond Session 2 as soon as it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Some classes/teaching activities cannot be moved online and must be taught on campus. You should already know if you are in one of these classes/teaching activities and your unit convenor will provide you with more information via iLearn. If you want to confirm, see the list of units with mandatory on-campus classes/teaching activities.

Visit the MQ COVID-19 information page for more detail.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor
Yanlin Shi
yanlin.shi@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(STAT150 or STAT1250 or STAT170 or STAT1170 or STAT171 or STAT1371) and (COMP115 or COMP1000 or ISYS114 or COMP1350)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
Growing quantities of data collected by business, government, the internet and social media provide opportunities for better management and a better society through evidence-based decision-making and the provision of new services. This unit introduces students to quantitative techniques and approaches to achieve these goals. Students will gain hands-on experience with software tools to analyse and present quantitative data. Students will be introduced to the discovery and analysis of social networks, social trends, and relationships amongst industry factors using spreadsheets and data visualisation software. The unit thus is an introduction to the technical and philosophical skills required, and the many applications of business analytics.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Explore different methods of data analysis and presentation for social networks, complex systems and relational links.
  • ULO2: Create interactive models using appropriate software to aid decision-makers in understanding interrelationships and trends.
  • ULO3: Apply intermediate skills in spreadsheets and data visualisation software to demonstrate trends and relationships among factors in industry and society.
  • ULO4: Analyse government, industry and social media data to identify relationships and trends.
  • ULO5: Evaluate conclusions drawn from different data and analytic tools.

General Assessment Information

Assessment criteria for all assessment tasks will be provided on the unit iLearn site.

It is the responsibility of students to view their marks for each within-session-assessment on iLearn within 20 days of posting. If there are any discrepancies, students must contact the unit convenor immediately. Failure to do so will mean that queries received after the release of final results regarding assessment tasks (not including the final exam mark) will not be addressed.

Late submissions of assessments

Sometimes unavoidable circumstances occur that might prevent you from submitting an assessment on time and, in that case, you may be eligible to lodge a Special Consideration request.

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, please note that no extensions to assessment deadlines will be granted. Assessments that are submitted late will attract a late penalty:

  1. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late.
  2. No assessment will be accepted more than 72 hours after the original due date and time (incl. weekends).
  3. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments (e.g., quizzes, online tests) or for tasks with a weighting of 10% or less.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Spreadsheet Functions 15% No Week 4
Data Visualisation 25% No Week 8
Take-home Exam 60% No University examination period

Spreadsheet Functions

Assessment Type 1: Quantitative analysis task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 15%

 

Students will be asked to demonstrate skills in data manipulation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explore different methods of data analysis and presentation for social networks, complex systems and relational links.
  • Apply intermediate skills in spreadsheets and data visualisation software to demonstrate trends and relationships among factors in industry and society.

Data Visualisation

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 8
Weighting: 25%

 

Students will use visualisation software to extract spreadsheet data to demonstrate interrelationships in different ways appropriate to the task.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply intermediate skills in spreadsheets and data visualisation software to demonstrate trends and relationships among factors in industry and society.
  • Evaluate conclusions drawn from different data and analytic tools.

Take-home Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: University examination period
Weighting: 60%

 

The take-home exam will have task-based questions covering both quantitative analysis and data visualisation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explore different methods of data analysis and presentation for social networks, complex systems and relational links.
  • Create interactive models using appropriate software to aid decision-makers in understanding interrelationships and trends.
  • Apply intermediate skills in spreadsheets and data visualisation software to demonstrate trends and relationships among factors in industry and society.
  • Analyse government, industry and social media data to identify relationships and trends.
  • Evaluate conclusions drawn from different data and analytic tools.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Textbook

Camm, Cochran, Fry, Ohlmann, Anderson & Sweeney, (2020) Business Analytics, 4th, Cengage

Camm et al also offer the text book online and the course will be structured around MindTap.

Technology used and required

Students should have access to standard spreadsheet software. We will be using MSExcel® and making reference to similar software by other brands such as Minitab®. We will make extensive use of Data-Visualisation software, Tableau®. We have a teaching license for the session, and students will be given a key to download the full program for use in study at home.

Inherent requirements

Students are expected to install  MSExcel® and Tableau® (either Windows or Apple OS) to their own laptops and/or computers. They will use the software in the online-lecture and tutorials.

Recommended readings

Suggested online readings, and resources are presented in each week's exercises. Without a formal textbook students will need to routinely read the sources shared in the unit website, and contribute others that they find.

Unit Web Page

Course material is available on the learning management system (iLearn). The general online website is http://ilearn.mq.edu.au

Unit Schedule

We are still learning about the expectations of industry, and the capabilities and interests of our students, so we may make small changes to the timing and attention to different topics as the unit progresses.

Week

Content

Text Book Sections

1

Introduction: Text Book (Camm et al) and MindTap.

Basic Spreadsheet Functions

1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5

2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4

Appendix A

2

Spreadsheet Functions continue:

Graphs & Data

2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9

3

Advanced Spreadsheet Functions.

Tidy data, Pivot Tables, Pivot Charts

3.1, 3.2, 3.3

4

Statistical Inferencing

Model building – Regression and Multiple Regression

6.2, 6.5, 6.6

7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5

Spreadsheet Functions assignment (15%) due.

5

Tableau

Guest Speaker

 

6

Dashboards in Tableau

Time Series analysis and Forecasting

8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4

7

Storyboards in Tableau

Guest Speaker

 

8

Spreadsheet Models

10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4

Data visualisation assignment (25%) due.

9

Modelling Uncertainty – Events and Probabilities 

5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4

10

What-if Sensitivity Analysis

11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4

11

Optimisation

12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5

12

Data Mining

4.1, 4.2, 4.3

13

Summary and looking to next semester – Logistical regression

9.3

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

We will use the new edition of the textbook.

There is a final exam to replace the assessments 3 and 4 offered in previous sessions.

Unit information based on version 2021.02 of the Handbook