1. Course Details

Summary of Course

This course provides an introduction to the mathematical and statistical tools required in a business     degree. There is an emphasis on problem solving by both manual and computerised methods. The frst half of the course focuses on algebra and graphs, fnancial mathematics and optimisation methods       including linear programming and calculus. The second half of the course focuses on developing           quantitative data analysis skills through probability, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and linear regression (simple and multiple regression using cross sectional data).

Teaching Times and Locations

Please note that teaching times and locations are subject to change. Students are strongly advised to refer to the Class Timetable website for the most up-to-date teaching times and locations.

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Course Policies & Support

The Business School expects that you are familiar with the contents of this course outline and the UNSW and Business School learning expectations, rules, policies and support services as listed below:

Program Learning Outcomes

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Student Responsibilities and Conduct

Special Consideration

Protocol for Viewing Final Exam Scripts

Student Learning Support Services

Further information is provided in the Assessmentand PoliciesandSupportsections.

Students may not circulate or post online any course materials such as handouts, exams, syllabi or similar resources from their courses without the written permission of their instructor.

Course Aims and Relationship to Other Courses

This course aims to enhance your ability to analyse fnancial and economic data and thereby to assist in  making business decisions. It is one of the three data analysis core courses of the MCom program from  which students must select one, and is recommended for students in specialisations where quantitative  skills are required. It is designed for those who have had little or no quantitative training in their                undergraduate degree but who need mathematical and statistical skills for specialisations in the areas of Finance, Economics, Accounting and Business Strategy. Students of these disciplines who already have a good understanding of basic statistics may beneft from selecting ECON5248 Business Forecasting         instead of this course as their data analysis core course. While the skills learned in COMM5005 are also  relevant for other MCom specialisations, students from Marketing, Information Systems and                    Management disciplines will usually fnd COMM5011 Data Analysis for Business more appropriate to

select as their data analysis core course. That course has a lesser focus on mathematics and a greater focus on analysing textual data.

Student Learning Outcomes

The Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) are what you should be able to demonstrate by the end of this course, if you participate fully in learning activities and successfully complete the assessment items.

CLOs also contribute to your achievement of the Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs), which are              developed across the duration of a program for all students. More information on coursework PLOs is     available under PoliciesandSupport . PLOs are, in turn, directly linked to UNSWgraduatecapabilitiesand the aspiration to develop “globally focussed graduates who are rigorous scholars, capable of leadership  and professional practice in an international community” .

For PG research PLOs please refer to the UNSWHDRGraduateAttributesandLearningOutcomes .

2. Staff Contact Details

In addition to the listed consultation times above, a limited number of slots are available per week for       consultation appointments to be made by email at a mutually convenient time. During Weeks 9 and 10,     consultation hours will be announced on Moodle. Other staff contact details will be made available on the course website in Moodle .

Student Enrolment Requests

Students can vary their own enrolment (including switching lecture streams or seminars) via myUNSW    until the end of Week 1. In general, most other student enrolment requests should be directed to The Nucleus:StudentHub(formerly Student Central). These include enrolment in full courses or seminars,     course timetable clashes, waiving prerequisites for any course, transfer-of-credit (international exchange, transfer to UNSW, cross-institutional study, etc.), or any other request which requires a decision about      equivalence of courses and late enrolment for any course. Where appropriate, the request will be passed to the School Offce for approval before processing. Note that enrolment changes are rarely considered   after Week 2 classes have taken place.

3. Learning and Teaching Activities

Use of your Webcam and Digital Devices: If you enrol in an online class, or the online stream of a hybrid class, teaching and associated activities will be conducted using Teams, Zoom, or similar a technology. Using a webcam is optional, but highly encouraged, as this will facilitate interaction with your peers and instructors. If you are worried about your personal space being observed       during a class, we encourage you to blur your background or make use of a virtual background.   Please contact the Lecturer-in-Charge if you have any questions or concerns.

Some courses may involve undertaking online exams for which your own computer or digital      devices will be required. Monitoring of online examinations will be conducted directly by              University staff and is bound by the University's privacy and security requirements. Any data       collected will be handled accordance with UNSWpoliciesandstandardsfordatagovernance. For     more information on how the University manages personal information please refer to the UNSW StudentPrivacyStatementand the UNSWPrivacyPolicy.

Approach to Learning and Teaching in the Course

This course aims to enhance your ability to analyse fnancial and economic data and thereby to assist in   making business decisions. It also aims to prepare you for further MCom courses which require the use    of numerical skills. Mathematical skills can only be acquired by sustained practice in problem solving. It is often some years since postgraduate students have used basic techniques so renewing “rusty” skills is an important objective. You must learn to organise your independent study and practise a suffcient number  of problems to gain a thorough understanding of concepts and how to apply them.

The lectures will be delivered synchronously online, and lecture recordings will also be available to stream and download to accommodate students studying from alternate time zones. Seminars will be offered in two formats: face-to-face and synchronously online. Students should check their individual timetables.     Seminars will not be recorded.

Learning Activities and Teaching Strategies

In this course you are expected to be an active learner rather than just sitting and listening in class. You are expected to dedicate at least 4 hours (per week) of engagement in structured learning activities,     including lectures and seminars.

During the term, short online activities will be available to support your learning, including online quizzes and eLearning tutorials. Feedback on these activities will be provided promptly.

The assignment in this course will test your ability to analyse data, to use the Microsoft Excel program,  and to think critically. Some knowledge of current events in business and research into the relevant local government areas of New South Wales will add to your understanding of the assignment material. You   will need to start early to research the topic of your assignment and prepare materials for the second     phase of the assignment in which you will analyse the data you have collected, and write a report.

You will also need to have, or independently develop, good calculator skills in order to perform well in the fnal exam. Familiarity with the use of memories and built-in functions will increase your speed in solving problems. Students who have not practiced maths for some time can be quite slow in doing calculations and this can affect their exam results adversely.

The object of this course is not to memorise information. Therefore the in-session test and fnal exam will have an open-book format. The focus of the test will be on your understanding of concepts, your ability to apply formulae appropriately, and your problem solving and critical thinking skills.

4. Assessment

Formal Requirements

In order to pass this course, you must:

achieve a composite mark of at least 50 out of 100;

meet any additional requirements described in the Assessment Summary section.

You are expected to attempt all assessment requirements in the course.

Assessment Summary

As a student at UNSW you are expected to display academicintegrityin your work and interactions.         Where a student breaches the UNSWStudentCodewith respect to academic integrity, the University may take disciplinary action under the Student Misconduct Procedure. To assure academic integrity, you may be required to demonstrate reasoning, research and the process of constructing work submitted for assessment.

To assist you in understanding what academic integrity means, and how to ensure that you do comply   with the UNSW Student Code, it is strongly recommended that you complete the WorkingwithAcademic Integritymodule before submitting your frst assessment task. It is a free, online self-paced Moodle        module that should take about one hour to complete.

Online Learning, consisting of two parts (0% of fnal mark; formative only):

A. Online Quizzes (optional)

The online quizzes can be accessed in the assessment section of the course website. They are designed to be used as learning tools as well as assessing your quantitative skills development. They will each be available for a one-week period. There will be 3 quizzes. The results for the frst quiz, if you choose to      complete it, will be available to you prior to Census Date. You will be allowed unlimited attempts for each quiz. Each attempt at a quiz should take approximately 30 minutes.

Final examination marks are higher on average for students who attempt the quizzes than for those who do not.

Occasionally unforeseen technical problems may occur, so try not to leave your attempts until the last minute.

The online quizzes will require input of calculated answers.

Tips for the online quizzes:

1) Avoid rounding errors by retaining the maximum number of signifcant digits during all intermediate calculations.

2) Give your answers to the required number of decimal places. For fnancial maths questions, a tolerance of 10 units around the least signifcant unit will be used. For example, if the correct answer is 1.234, then  answers between 1.229 and 1.239 will be accepted as being correct. In other questions, a lower tolerance may be appropriate.

3) When you enter an answer, do not include symbols such as '$'.

B. eLearning Tutorials (optional)

Five online tutorials have been developed as a project in conjunction with the Adaptive eLearning           Research group at UNSW (now operating as Smart Sparrow Pty Ltd). They will give you feedback to help you while you progress through a series of questions. The frst two tutorials will guide you in graphing    linear equations and later in using the graphical method for linear programming. The other three will      check your use of normal tables and understanding of hypothesis tests and regression analysis output.

The eLearning tutorials will be scored with points deducted for each extra attempt you have at a question up to a reasonable limit. The maximum score for each tutorial will be shown in Moodle out of 100 and can be used by you as a measure of profciency. You are encouraged to attempt all fve tutorials over the term and gain a total score of at least 350/500.

The eLearning Tutorials will be available from Week 1 through Week 10 and you can attempt them         multiple times during that period. To gain most from the tutorials it is strongly suggested that you         complete them shortly after the relevant lectures/tutorials have been completed. You can attempt them earlier if you prefer to use them for lecture preparation. After completing a tutorial you are free to log in again to improve your score or do further revision.

Leaving them all until the end of term should be avoided as technical support may not be available for

such attempts. For further information and the tutorials themselves, please refer to the Assessment section of the course website.

Assignment (30%)

The assignment will be applied work and students will work in groups of 3-4 persons. The assignment will help students to appreciate how economic research is carried out using data and statistical tools. Each    group will need to write a report of no more than 10 pages.

Each group's members are required to complete a team contract and a peer assessment for the              assignment. The team contract will outline the responsibilities of each group member and the peer         assessment will be used to assess the quality of each member's teamwork and individual contribution to the assignment. In the event of a big discrepancy between the peer assessment marks earned by            students in a group, the assignment mark allocated to each person will be weighted by the average peer  assessment earned by the student. Details about the procedure of peer assessment (including the          threshold of discrepancy) will be made available via Moodle.

Further information about the assignment will be uploaded to the course website.

In-session Test (30%)

The in-session test will consist of problems covering topics from Lectures 1-4 (inclusive) and will be in an open-book format. The exact date and time will be announced and confrmed via a Moodle                       announcement.

Final Exam (40%)

The fnal exam will consist of a number of problems in several parts. It will cover all sections of the           course. More details will be provided closer to the exam date. Sample exams will be uploaded to the         course website for preparation. Students should note that some questions from past exam papers for this subject may no longer be relevant. The exam will be in an open-book format.

Assignment Submission Procedure

The assignment should be submitted online through the Moodle assessment section. Only one                  submission per group is required. A pdf fle as well as an Excel spreadsheet is to be uploaded via Moodle. The due date is 6pm, November 18, 2022 (the end of Week 10).

Assessment Feedback

Feedback on student performance from formative and summative assessment tasks will be provided to   students in a timely manner. Assessment tasks completed within the teaching period of a course, other    than a fnal assessment, will be assessed and students provided with feedback, with or without a              provisional result, within 10 working days of submission, under normal circumstances. Feedback on         continuous assessment tasks (e.g. laboratory and studio-based, workplace-based, weekly quizzes) will be provided prior to the midpoint of the course.

Special Consideration

You can apply for special consideration when illness or other circumstances beyond your control interfere with your performance in a specifc assessment task or tasks, including online exams.     Students           studying remotely who have exams scheduled between 10pm and 7am local time, are also able to apply   for special consideration to sit a supplementary exam at a time outside of these hours.

Special consideration is primarily intended to provide you with an extra opportunity to demonstrate the level of performance of which you are capable. To apply, and for further information, see Special          Consideration on the  UNSW CurrentStudentspage.

Special consideration applications will be assessed centrally by the Case Review Team, who will update  the online application with the outcome and add any relevant comments. The change to the status of the application immediately sends an email to the student and to the assessor with the outcome of the         application.

Please note the following:

1. Applications can only be made through Online Services in myUNSW. Applications will not be accepted by teaching staff. The lecturer-in-charge/course coordinator will be automatically notifed when your   application is processed.

2. Applying for special consideration does not automatically mean that you will be granted a supplementary exam or other concession.

3. If you experience illness or misadventure in the lead up to an exam or assessment, you must submit an application for special consideration, either prior to the examination taking place, or prior to the             assessment submission deadline, except where illness or misadventure prevent you from doing so.

4. If your circumstances stop you from applying before your exam or assessment due date, you must apply within 3 working days of the assessment or the period covered by your supporting                 documentation.

5. Under the UNSW Fit To Sit/Submit rule, if you sit the exam/submit an assignment, you are declaring yourself well enough to do so and are cannot subsequently apply for special consideration.

6. If you become unwell on the day of – or during – an exam, you must stop working on your exam, advise your course coordinator or tutor and provide a medical certifcate dated within 24 hours of the exam,     with your special consideration application. For online exams, you must contact your course                  coordinator or tutor immediately via email, Moodle or chat and advise them you are unwell and submit  screenshots of your conversation along with your medical certifcate and application.

7. Special consideration requests do not allow the awarding of additional marks to students.

Further information on Business School policy and procedure can be found under “Special Consideration” on the PoliciesandSupportpage.

Late Submission Penalties

Late submission will incur a penalty of 5% per day or part thereof (including weekends) from the due date and time. An assessment will not be accepted after 5 days (120 hours) of the original deadline unless      special consideration has been approved. An assignment is considered late if the requested format, such as hard copy or electronic copy, has not been submitted on time or where the ‘wrong’ assignment has      been submitted.

For assessments which account for 10% or less of the overall course grade, and where answers are immediately discussed or debriefed, the LIC may stipulate a different penalty. Details of such late    penalties will be available on the course Moodle page.

Protocol for Viewing Final Exam Scripts

UNSW students have the right to view their fnal exam scripts, subject to a small number of very

for viewing fnal exam scripts, so it is important that you check with your School. Further school- specifc information may be included below.

Quality Assurance

The Business School is actively monitoring student learning and quality of the student experience in all its programs. A random selection of completed assessment tasks may be used for quality assurance, such   as to determine the extent to which program learning goals are being achieved. The information is            required for accreditation purposes, and aggregated fndings will be used to inform changes aimed at       improving the quality of Business School programs. All material used for such processes will be treated   as confdential.

5. Course Resources

Books

There are two required textbooks for this course:

Haeussler, E.F. Paul, R.S and Wood, R.J. 2018, Introductory Mathematical Analysis for Business, Economics and the Life and Social Sciences 14th ed., Pearson.

Berenson, M., Levine, D., Szabat, K., O’Brien, M., Jayne, N. and Watson, J., 2018, Basic Business Statistics: Concepts and Applications, 5th ed., Pearson Australia, Melbourne, Vic

Reference texts that should be available in the library are:

Swift, L. and Piff, S. 2014 Quantitative Methods for Business, Management and Finance, 4th ed

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tannous, K., Brown, R.L., Kopp, S., and Zima, P. 2013 Mathematics of Finance , McGraw-Hill Education

(Australia), North Ryde.

Note that the 13th edition of the Haeussler et al textbook and the 4th edition of the Berenson et  al textbook can be used in this course. However, students should note that some chapters and    exercises will be aligned/numbered differently to the two latest editions used in this course. It is hence the student's responsibility to identify which of the exercises assigned for homework from the current editions align to the exercises in the previous textbook editions.

Websites

The course website can be accessed via Moodle .

PASS

For many years we have offered PASS, the Peer Assisted Support Scheme, for undergraduate students. PASS puts concepts into practice through workshops where pairs of leaders are available to help you   review course materials and attempt problems. The emphasis is on active participation by students.

Now the Business School is supporting PASS for postgraduates, and we are able to offer weekly PASS classes for COMM5005 students, which you can attend on a voluntary basis.

Information on the timetable for COMM5005 PASS sessions of this term will be announced on the course website and in lectures once the dates, times and locations have been confrmed.

Calculator

A basic scientifc calculator is required for this course. It must be able to perform logarithmic and exponential calculations such as ln x, and e x .