(AY2019/2020, Special Term 2) DAO2702: Programming for Business Analytics

Module Title: Programming for Business Analytics 

Module Code: DAO2702 

Taken in AY2019/2020, Special Term 2

Lecturer: Professor Xiong Peng

Components	Percentage
Participation	10%
Project	35%
Final	55%

Final Grade: A+

What is it about?

     DAO2702 is a core module for all business students. You get to learn the Basics of Python Programming, how to analyse data using Python, Statistical Inference (including sampling and inference, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing) and Linear Regression through the module. And no, it can't be S/U-ed (in case you are wondering if you can S/U it).

    Students are evaluated through three modes of assessment -- Participation, Project and Final. 

     For Participation, students will be asked to pose and answer questions on LumiNUS forum. Don't get taken aback by that few students who perform exceptionally well (i.e. provide answers beyond the scope of the module) because at the end of the day, you can still score by answering the simple ones posted by other students. 

    For Project, it is a group project and you will be required to produce a report (on Jupyter Notebook) and submit it after Final. You can choose any data-sets to analyse, but please take note of all the hints he dropped in class (like having "readable font", "big graphs" and so on) for the project.

    For Final, you will be required to sit through a Python paper. The paper is extremely manageable as it is open-book. There is a total of 5 or 6 questions and you are allowed to leave one of the questions unanswered. Should you choose to do all questions, he will just pick the best 4 or 5. 

Review

    DAO2702 is one of the most "revered" modules in NUS business and most of my friends dread taking it. This is definitely not unfounded considering the heavy workload and the fact that a handful of students were already proficient in Python before taking the module. 

    Professor Xiong Peng is a really nice and thorough lecturer. I like him a lot because he puts in a lot of effort in his teaching. I understand that there are reviews out there complaining how dry his lecture is and what not, but he is not to be blamed for it.

    The project work is, in my opinion, the worst component. I did 50% of the report by myself, with the other 45% done by 2 others. The other 3 are, mark my words, leechers, considering that the remaining 5% is just formatting (which I ended up taking over cause they did a terrible job). The Professor did allowed us to form our own team but as I took the module alone, I was randomly matched with 5 others. I was doing an internship then, and it was an extremely stressful period for me. But, I did learnt a lot through the process. 

    As for the Final, I find it ridiculously easy. I mean, come on, it is open-book and you can literally copy-paste the codes and just change parts of it according to the questions' requirement.... I got 99/100 for it without much revision.

    A lot students complained how difficult DAO2702 is. But, so long as you under the concept behind each code (i.e. know what the code is for), it is actually real easy.

   Last but not least, programming is an important and essential skill. So, take this opportunity to learn, don't dread it!

Ratings

4.92/5 (for the lecturer)