D204 - The Data Analytics Journey
The Data Analytics Journey gives an overview of the entire analytics life cycle. Learners gain fluency in data analytics terminology, tools, and techniques. The course contextualizes the data analytics journey firmly with organizational metrics and requirements to position graduates to answer key questions for businesses and other employers.
Course Analysis
The first class in the MSDA program. It serves as mostly a “intro to” course that covers general concepts, the business context, and the fundamentals of the Data Analysis procedures.
For this class, there was a pre assessment that was available, so the first thing I did was take it to gain a sense of the topic being assessed as well as the type of questions that would be asked. On the first try, I failed with maybe only 2-3 questions missed from a passing grade. As for the course material, I went through it fairly quickly. Under the course materials there is a link to a LinkedIn course at the end of the course content, which was by far the most time intensive component of the course. After going through the LinkedIn videos, I retook the PA and passed with maybe 1-2 questions mised out of 60. Afterwards I went through the two recorded webinars, which was basically an hour review of the study guide found in the Course Chatter. However, in my personal opinion the study guide was the most helpful resource in understanding the course materials and what was needed for the Objective Assessment. The phases of the Data Analysis life cycle, the tools utilized, and other important concepts are covered in a table within the Study Guide. The translation to the life cycles found in the LinkedIn content is also included.
The next morning, I glanced over the study guide once more, took the PA one more time to see if I retained from the day before and scheduled the OA right after and passed.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I finished the course in about three days and would consider it fairly easy. This could be in part that I had a former knowledge of some of the concepts and tools before starting the course, most of it was a straightforward reminder. The OA questions were a bit challenging since many of them ask you to make assumptions rather than provide explicit answers based on what you learned in class. However, the PA is a useful benchmark for what to expect on the exam because it is unquestionably consistent with it in this regard. As for the exam in general it wasn’t too hard.
