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BUSA3020 – Advanced Analytics Techniques

2025 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Elias Maroun
elias.maroun@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(STAT2170 or STAT2372) and BUSA2020
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This is an advanced applied-skills unit which extends concepts and analytical techniques from earlier units. Students will use data to create graphical representations of data for analysis. Students will clean data in commonly-used spreadsheet formats and make extensive use of proprietary software from big-data orientated companies. Students will develop skills in data visualisation that can be applied to competitive behaviour, target customer analysis, criminology and security intelligence problems.

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: Develop sound solutions to a range of business problems using an analytical approach.
  • ULO2: Demonstrate competence in applying basic forecasting techniques to a range of business issues.
  • ULO3: Apply critical thinking to strategy in analysing firm behaviour.
  • ULO4: Analyse contemporary challenges commonly facing business organisations and how to respond to them.
  • ULO5: Successfully work in teams to achieve group and organizational objectives

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Professional Practice: Modelling Task Analysis 30% No Week 13
Professional Practice: Modelling Analysis 30% No Week 6
Formal and Observed Learning: Exam 40% No Exam Period

Professional Practice: Modelling Task Analysis

Assessment Type 1: Modelling task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 30%

 

The purpose of this assessment is for you to develop your ability to tackle challenging predictive tasks and deliver sophisticated solutions using Python, in line with industry standards.

You will work with your peers in a group and propose an analytics-based solution for a business problem, and implement it in Python code by cleaning the data, developing discussing the proposed solution.

Skills in focus :

  • Discipline knowledge
  • Digital skills (Python)
  • Critical thinking and problem solving
  • Work readiness

Deliverable: Modelling task.

Group Assessment

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop sound solutions to a range of business problems using an analytical approach.
  • Demonstrate competence in applying basic forecasting techniques to a range of business issues.
  • Apply critical thinking to strategy in analysing firm behaviour.
  • Analyse contemporary challenges commonly facing business organisations and how to respond to them.
  • Successfully work in teams to achieve group and organizational objectives

Professional Practice: Modelling Analysis

Assessment Type 1: Modelling task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 30%

 

The purpose of this assessment is for you to develop your ability to tackle challenging predictive tasks and deliver sophisticated solutions using Python, in line with industry standards.

You will work with a messy dataset, clean the data, develop predictive models, and implement them in Python to produce accurate forecasts and submit a brief discussion of your results.

Skills in focus:

  • Digital skills (Python)
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Work readiness.

Deliverable: Modelling task.

Individual assessment

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop sound solutions to a range of business problems using an analytical approach.
  • Demonstrate competence in applying basic forecasting techniques to a range of business issues.
  • Apply critical thinking to strategy in analysing firm behaviour.
  • Analyse contemporary challenges commonly facing business organisations and how to respond to them.

Formal and Observed Learning: Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Exam Period
Weighting: 40%

 

The purpose of this assessment is for you to formally demonstrate the expertise you have gained in this unit.

You will participate in a 2-hour exam with 10 minutes reading time, held during the University Examination period. Important information about the exam will be made available on the unit iLearn page. You should also review the MQ Exams website for general tips.

Deliverable: Formal exam

Individual assessment

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Develop sound solutions to a range of business problems using an analytical approach.
  • Demonstrate competence in applying basic forecasting techniques to a range of business issues.
  • Apply critical thinking to strategy in analysing firm behaviour.
  • Analyse contemporary challenges commonly facing business organisations and how to respond to them.

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

Classes

  • Number and length of classes: 3 hours face-to-face teaching per week, consisting of 1 x 2 hour lecture and 1 x 1 hour tutorial.

 

Recommended Textbook

  • Python Machine Learning (Third Edition) by Raschka and Mirjalili

 

Technology Used and Required

  • You will need a decent quality laptop
  • Students will use Python and Jupyter Lab

Unit Schedule

Available on iLearn.

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 connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

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

Academic Success

Academic Success provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

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

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

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.

Unit information based on version 2025.05 of the Handbook