Module: Business Analytics 1

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Business Analytics 1
Module Code	BAA1012 (ITS: MT120)
Faculty	DCU Business School	School	DCU Business School
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

The module aims to develop the relevant skills and knowledge to effectively use basic IT tools to manage and manipulate data and provide a basic IT data management ‘literacy’ that is now an essential feature of work in modern organisations. Online tools are used to provide students extensive training in MS EXCEL, an Introduction to Data Visualisation and Viulaisation Software (Power BI and Tableau) and support in developing their MS WORD, POWERPOINT and other IT skills that are needed to collect, critically assess, manipulate data to provide useful information for management. Students are also introduced to data types, data collection, data management and basic data analysis and given an introduction to Data Analytics and the growth of data and data driven functions in organisations.

Learning Outcomes

1. Will be able to describe the fundamental concepts of Data Literacy and Analytics, the key steps in the analytics process, and the applications and implications of data analytics.
2. Distinguish between different data types, choose the appropriate techniques for gathering reliable and valid primary data and identify and extract data from reliable secondary data sources.
3. Apply the basic principles of effectively communicating data visually using software applications, including MS EXCEL, POWER BI and TABLEAU.
4. Use the appropriate descriptive statistics techniques to effectively summarise a wide variety of data types.
5. Be proficient in the use of MS EXCEL spreadsheet software.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	12	Lectures
Online activity	50	Online Training in MS EXCEL and Fundamentals of Data Analytics
Assignment Completion	10	Ms EXCEL Assignment
Assignment Completion	25	Weekly Exercises
Independent Study	15	No Description
Workshop	12	Workshops in MS Excel
Total Workload: 124

Section Breakdown
CRN	10092	Part of Term	Semester 1 & 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Gerard Conyngham	Module Teacher

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
In Class Test	MS EXCEL Proficiency Exam	50%	As required
Participation	Completion of Online Courses and Digital Exercises on Loop on schedule* Students must complete the 4 Mandatory Online Courses to Pass Module Overall.	15%	Every Week
Digital Project	Ongoing Digital exercises: Loop quizzes, Technical exercises, online tests,.....	15%	Every Second Week
Digital Project	Descriptive Statistics assignment using MS EXCEL	20%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

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Indicative Reading List

Books:
None

Articles:
None

Other Resources

Online Training: Kubicle, Online Analytics Training for Business,
Book: Frye, Curtis., 2016, Microsoft Excel, Redmond, Washington, USA:, Microsoft Press,
Ebook: Michael Alexander, Richard Kusleika, 2019, Excel 2016 Formulas, John Wiley & Sons,
Website: Microsoft Online Support, https://support.office.com/
Ebook: Justin Bateh and Bert G. Wachsmuth, 2016, Using Statistics for Better Business Decisions, Business Expert Press,
EBook: Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, 2015, Storytelling with Data : A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals,, John Wiley & Sons,
Book: Tufte, Edward R., 2001, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd edition., Graphics Press USA,
EBook: EMC Education Services, 2015, Data science & big data analytics: discovering, analyzing, visualizing and presenting data, Indianapolis, Indiana, John Wiley, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/lib/DCU/detail.action?docID=1908952
Book: Bocij, Paul, Andrew Greasley, and Simon Hickie, 2014, Business Information Systems, 5th Edn: Technology, Development and Management for the E-Business, Harlow, England ;, Pearson,
Ebook: Mark N. K. Saunders, Adrian Thornhill and Philip Lewis, 2017, Research Methods for Business Students, Pearson Education Limited,
Ebook: Jaggia S, Kelly A., Lertwachara K. and Chen L., 2020, Business Analytics: Communicating with Numbers, McGraw Hill,