Course Description

This course continues the exploration of major topics in business analytics, with an emphasis on prescriptive and predictive analytics.

Rationale

Technology’s role in society continues to expand in application and influence. The data generated through this digital frontier is growing exponentially, creating new challenges as well as exciting opportunities. Business analytics is the scientific process of transforming data into insight for making better decisions. It is used for data-driven decision-making. What makes decision-making difficult and challenging?

Uncertainty is probably the number one challenge. (Camm & Cochran, et al., 2021). The effective exploitation of analytical techniques and technologies will be an invaluable skill set for the company looking for opportunities to stay competitive while maintaining lean and efficient organizations. Business analytics tools can aid decision-making by creating insights from data, improving our ability to more accurately forecast for planning, helping us quantify risk, and by yielding better alternatives through analysis and optimization.

Measurable Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Analyze data using prescriptive and predictive statistics.
2. Create visualizations using effective design techniques.
3. Explore how unsupervised learning techniques can identify patterns and relationships in observations.
4. Discuss the use of prescriptive analytics in the context of a biblical worldview.

Course Assignment

Textbook Readings and Lecture Presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student should study the Liberty University syllabus before completing the checklist given in the Course Overview.

Discussions (2)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided promptly for each Discussion. Each thread must be 400–500 words, demonstrate course-related knowledge, and include a minimum of 2 scholarly sources. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be 200 words and include a minimum of 1 scholarly source.

Homework Assignments (7)

Using MindTap, the student will complete problem sets in order to practice chapter concepts and demonstrate understanding.

Paper Assignments (2)

The student will write a 3–5-page research-based paper in current APA. The paper must include at least 3 reference(s) in addition to the course textbooks and the Bible. At least 2 biblical references are required.

Quizzes (6)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned Module: Week. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 10 questions, and have a 45-minute time limit. The quizzes will be completed through the Cengage platform.

Quiz: Midterm

The Quiz: Midterm will cover the Learn material from Module 1: Week 1 – Module 4: Week 4. The quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 50 multiple-choice questions, and have a 1-hour and 30-minute time limit. The quiz will be completed through the Cengage platform.

Quiz: Final

The Quiz: Final will cover the Learn material from Module 1: Week 1 – Module 7: Week 7. The quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 50 multiple-choice questions, and have a 1-hour and 30-minute time limit. The quiz will be completed through the Cengage platform.