(AY2019/2020, Sem 1) NUS DAO1704 Decision Analytics using Spreadsheets

Module Title: Decision Analytics using Spreadsheets
Module Code: DAO1704
Taken in AY2019/2020, Semester 1

Lecturer: Senior Lecturer Liu Qi Zhang

Components	Percentage	Grade	Marks
Discussion	20%
Project	10%
Presentation	5%
Quiz	10%		14.5/18
Assignment	15%
Final	40%

Final Grade: A-

What is it about?

     DAO1704 is an essential core module for Business Student and it is the pre-requisite for DAO2703.

    Students are assessed through class Discussion, Project (and accompanied Presentation), Quiz, Assignment and Final. For Discussion, Senior Lecturer Liu Qi Zhang utilises an application in which we "raise hand" to indicate our interest to answer and he will pick students with a lower participation point to answer. This is a rather fair system in place and you will also be informed on whether you are at the top 10% range or bottom 10% range in terms of participation point. For Project, students are required to utilise the concepts taught in class and demonstrate their knowledge in Excel. It is quite taxing for a 10% weightage. For Quiz, it is held only in certain weeks and they are quite simple. Some questions, are however, tricky but you do not need to study so long as you understand the content. For Assignment, you will be given weekly tutorials to work on and submit your answers as a group. Some assignments are easy while some are tough. For Final, it is a 2-hour open-book paper. Students are allowed to bring in cheat sheet. Excel is, once again, tested albeit in a different format in the sense that you do not need to work out your answer using Excel but simply write down the formula.

Review

    Senior Lecturer Liu Qi Zhang is a great lecturer though I am not really fond of the module. He does try to prompt students to think further and seeks to interest us by sharing us interesting stories that involves statistics. For instance, he shared with us O.J. Simpson case and how his attorney uses statistics to "trick" the judges into thinking that O.J. Simpson is innocent. I also heard from my batch-mates that he is considered to be the best DAO1704 lecturer so do keep a look out for him.

    As a year 3 student then, I was extremely lucky. It was a free A- for me considering that I have already learn some of the concepts that he taught in class. My participation was average, project was badly done (we started on it 2 days before submission) and I only studied for the Final paper for 4-5 hours as I had another major exam on the same day. Nevertheless, I still got an A- out of it. I would posit that it is a generally non-competitive module. As long as you put in consistent work, even if your project is crap (which I believe most of the projects are), you can still attain an A. In addition, I do not think that it is necessary for you to work hard for the project as it is ultimately just 10% of your grade.

   Overall, it is a non-competitive module so don't waste your S/U on this.

Ratings

2.37/5