Project Overview

The project aims to enhance your career-focused learning experience by bringing real-world scenarios and a real business problem into the classroom, creating a safe space for you to

explore, collaborate and make changes.

The assignment is intended to promote problem-based learning (PBL), in which you learn about a subject by working in teams to solve real-life problems. It is also intended to develop your skills

in research, critical thinking and problem-solving, your data analysis and Excel skills, and your ability to present your ideas and solutions concisely and coherently.

Solving real-life problems is an inherently complex and messy process, but such a process also offers  plenty  of  learning  opportunities.  You  will  learn  about  working  through  problems persistently, seeking creative solutions, and being comfortable changing solution paths where necessary.

In this sandboxed assignment (seeSandbox Education Program), you will have an opportunity to solve a real-world problem and receive feedback from the problem owner (i.e. our project partner). Your experience in this project will be helpful in your transition into the professional environment – you will be prepared to leverage your existing knowledge and skills while at the same time identifying and acting on knowledge and skill gaps, responding to new challenges and seizing emerging opportunities coming your way.

Project Brief

Industry Partner/Problem Owner: Career Accelerator @ UNSW Business School

1. Background: Career Accelerator @ UNSW Business School

The Career Accelerator @ UNSW Business Schoolis a specialised team that provides a suite of opportunities and experiences designed to help UNSW Business School students build

their professional skills and improve student employability and career readiness across all undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA programs.

Career Accelerator provides students with a diverse range of curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular offerings ranging from internships, global opportunities, mentoring programs, industry events and networking opportunities, PASS classes, learning consults, and a suite of technology-driven tools and resources.

2. What is the Excel Certification Program?

The Microsoft Office Excel Certification Program is a free and exclusive offering to UNSW Business School students. Since  launching in 2018 as  a co-curricular opportunity, the program has expanded. It is now embedded in key UNSW Business School programs (e.g. Bachelor of Commerce and its combined degrees), providing students with the opportunity to build their technical skills for data analysis, interpretation and presentation and gain an

industry-recognised digital credential that can be shared on their LinkedIn profile. There are two parts to the program:

1. The Excel Training Program (ETP): This provides students access to online skills modules, resources and practice exams that are self-paced and allow students to develop their skills. For COMM1110 and ECON1203 courses, the training program is mandatory (e.g. in COMM1110, the Excel Training Program is your Assessment 1), and students are required to complete the practice exams at two levels - Associate level and Expert level. Students are graded on their Practice Exam results for their course assessment.

2. The Excel Certification Test (ECT): on completion of the course assessment, students are encouraged (but not required) to take the optional next step to complete the official certification test, to receive their digital credential and be considered fully qualified.

By completing the course assignment, students have undertaken the majority of the work required.  The  official  certification  step  involves  booking  into  a  50-minute  online invigilated test and achieving a pass rate of 70% to obtain the certification.

The key difference between the official ECT and the Practice Exams (i.e. Assessment 1a and 1b students completed in their ETP in the course) is that the ECT is invigilated by a test proctor. Apart from this, the ECT has the same exam length (50 minutes), question types and difficulty levels as the Practice Exams students completed in the ETP as part of their assessment. This means that students who completed their Assessment 1a and 1b and achieved a score over 700 (out of 1,000) would pass the ECT and receive the official industry-recognised Excel Certificate if they choose to sit in the ECT. However, the student participation rates in the ECT have been very low (see section 4 below).

Students must take the ECT within the calendar year that they start the ETP in the course as their access code (i.e. the one received in Week 1 to access GMetrix for your Assessment 1) expires at the end of that year.

The ECT is available to any enrolled student who signs up for the ETP as part of their course (e.g. all students in ECON1203) or as a co-curricular activity. The ECTs are scheduled regularly throughout each term as well as during term breaks, and students are able to select their preferred timeslot through a dedicated Excel Certification Moodle site: https://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au/course/view.php?id=58401 (sign in using self- enrolment key: excel student).

3. Benefits of the Excel Certification Program

Increasingly, employers are  looking for graduates with strong technical skills,  and the Microsoft Excel Certification Program provides students with the opportunity to develop these  essential  skills  and  demonstrate  their  competencies  to  future  employers.  On successful completion (i.e. completion of the ECT), it is a verified skill that students can add to their CV. They also receive an industry-recognised Microsoft digital credential that can be shared  on  their  LinkedIn  profile  to  demonstrate  their  Excel  competency  to  potential employers.

An added benefit is the Excel Certification test earns students experience points towards the COMM1999/COMM3999 requirements of their program. Points are converted to BCoins, which can be redeemed for UNSW Business School merchandise.

The Microsoft Excel Certification Program is offered to UNSW Business School students free of charge, saving them the current fee of approx. $140 if they were to enrol in the program independently.

4. The Business Problem

There is a significant drop off rate between students completing the Excel Training Program (ETP) as part of their course assessment or co-curricular activity and those who take the optional next step to complete the Excel Certification Test (ECT) to receive the official certification. In 2021, almost 3,000 students completed the training component of the program (i.e. the ETP), but only 20% took the next step to complete the ECT to get officially certified.

UNSW Business School recognises the value in the certification that not only allows students to develop key technical skills, but also enables them to demonstrate proven competency at an industry level, ultimately enhancing their employability skills and employer demand for their qualifications. In support of this initiative, approximately $50,000 is allocated to the program every year, but with current participation rates, this is a low return on investment.

The licences that are issued to students are valid only for one calendar year, so students must complete both the training (i.e. ETP, which students already completed in their courses, like ECON1203, as part of their assessment) and the certification test (i.e. ECT, which they need to self enrol via the Excel Moodle site1) within that year. The low participation rate results in unused licences that cannot be carried over to the following year. It also means that if

students fail to certify within the calendar year but choose to do so later, they will be liable for the cost to undertake certification independently.

5. The Task

We would like you to help the Career Accelerator team understand student behaviours with the Excel Program, identify and evaluate the potential barriers to students taking the optional next step of official certification (i.e. take the ECT - Excel Certification Test) and provide any recommendations on how the Career Accelerator team can improve the ECT participation rates – ideally increasing from 20% to 80%.

Note about the data

These data are real-world data provided by Career Accelerator. The data has been anonymised to remove any personal identifiers. Please do NOT share this data with anyone without written approval from the course authority.

IMPORTANT: the R-Shiny app selects a unique sample of 100 observations for each student. This means that the results of identical analyses will vary across students depending on their zID numbers. While this provides markers with a plagiarism check, this is not the primary reason

for providing the data in this form. Instead, it is an opportunity for different students to discuss common modelling issues without necessarily coming to the same conclusion.

The data set contains 100 observations that were collected over a one-year period (over three teaching terms) during 2021. Each observation refers to a different student in 2021. The variables that have been selected for your use are: