Preparing a Data Scientist: A Pedagogic Experience in Designing a Big Data Analytics Course

ABSTRACT In this article, we present an experiential perspective on how a big data analytics course was designed and delivered to students at a major Midwestern university. In reference to the MSIS 2006 Model Curriculum, we designed this course as a level 2 course, with prerequisites in databases, c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDecision sciences journal of innovative education Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 161 - 190
Main Authors Asamoah, Daniel Adomako, Sharda, Ramesh, Hassan Zadeh, Amir, Kalgotra, Pankush
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Atlanta Wiley-Blackwell 01.04.2017
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Alignment (Education)
Analytics
and Pedagogy
Assignments
Big Data
College Seniors
College students
Colleges & universities
Course Content
Course Design
Course Objectives
Course Organization
Data Analysis
Data Collection
Higher education
Instructional Design
Management Information Systems
Network Analysis
Outcomes of Education
Social Networks
Student Educational Objectives
Studies
Surveys
Visual Aids
Web analytics
United States > US
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Summary:ABSTRACT In this article, we present an experiential perspective on how a big data analytics course was designed and delivered to students at a major Midwestern university. In reference to the MSIS 2006 Model Curriculum, we designed this course as a level 2 course, with prerequisites in databases, computer programming, statistics, and data mining. Students in the class were mostly seniors or at the graduate level, and had a strong technical and quantitative background. We include details of concepts covered in the course, as well as summaries of four major sample course assignments used. Some of the concepts covered include large‐scale data collection and management using the Hadoop ecosystem, stream mining, visual analytics, and social network analytics. Besides Hadoop, the course also introduced various IBM and Teradata big data tools. We show how the course modules align with the intended learning goals and course objectives. A post‐course survey indicated that the structure and organization of the course helped students clearly and concisely assimilate the course content.
ISSN:1540-4595
1540-4609
DOI:10.1111/dsji.12125