Georgia Institute of Technology

Spring 2024 MGT 6655 Business Data Preparation and

Visualization Syllabus
Program/School: Business Analytics Graduate Certificate/Scheller College of Business
Delivery: 100% Web-Based, Asynchronous
Dates course will run: January 8th - February 25th, 2024

Instructor Information
Mingfeng Lin, PhD.
● Please use private messaging on Ed Discussions to contact me during the semester
● Weekly office hours via Zoom. Please see Canvas for dates and times.
NOTE: Office hours of this class will NOT be automatically recorded because office hours
are optional for students. Absolutely no new content will be introduced, and no discussions
will be initiated by the instructor or TA during office hours. It is only intended to answer
questions students may have. If the answers to questions raised may be of use or of interest
to the rest of the class, the instructor/TA will post them as additional Q&As, or record
additional videos, and share them on Canvas. You will not be at any disadvantage if you do
not see the need to join the office hour live.
Teaching Assistants: Mr. Jae Sang Rhee, PhD Student, Scheller College of Business; and ____
(TBD)

General Course Information

Description
Visualizing data is an important step in understanding data, exploring relationships, and “making a
case.” With the abundance and relevance of data in almost any type of work, the ability to
understand and interpret data has become an indispensable business skill. Data visualization has
become a fascinating industry, but the ease of creating visualizations also means that there are
many charts out there that are wrong, ineffective, or misleading. The goal of this class is to
introduce principles and tools of data visualizations, and to help you create visualizations for two
different but related purposes: (1) exploration; and (2) explanation / presentation. “Exploration” is
about helping you or other stakeholders understand data and form an opinion, by creating simple
charts or building a dashboard. “Explanation,” in contrast, is when you try to use visualizations to
convince others of your opinion.

Prerequisites
Students should have basic understandings of undergraduate statistics such as statistical
distributions, aggregations, and regression analyses; and be familiar with the basic operations of
Microsoft Excel such as data filtering, sorting, and the use of formulas.

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:
(1) Identify the proper visualization for different use cases.

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(2) Prepare, clean, and transform data for visualization purposes.

(3) Create visualizations using the tools covered in this class.
(4) Use visualization tools effectively to explore data, such as creating a dashboard, and
interpret what you see.
(5) Use visualizations effectively to “make a case” or explain findings; and
(6) Critique visualizations presented by others (pros, cons, and suggestions for improvement).

Course Materials
Course Texts (Recommended)
1. The Big Book of Dashboards: Visualizing Your Data Using Real-World Business Scenarios.
ISBN-13: 978-1119282716
● Available online through Georgia Tech library,
https://gatech-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1vgrnp4/01GALI_GIT_ALMA
51310105940002947
● Companion site (Data, workbook etc. to download):
http://www.bigbookofdashboards.com/dashboards.html
2. Better Data Visualizations. ISBN 978-0231193115
● Available online through Georgia Tech library,
https://galileo-gatech.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01GALI_GIT/1vc2ggp/alma99
14891182802947

Additional Materials/Resources (Optional)

The following are the books that I recommend if you would like to pursue Tableau beyond this class:
1. Visualize this! By Nathan Yau. Available online through Georgia Tech library
(https://gatech-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1vgrnp4/01GALI_GIT_ALMA511584
12810002947)
2. Tableau Your Data! By Daniel G. Murray. Available online through Georgia Tech library
(https://gatech-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1vgrnp4/01GALI_GIT_ALMA513004
50890002947)
3. Practical Tableau, by Ryan Sleeper. Available online through Georgia Tech library
(https://gatech-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1vgrnp4/01GALI_GIT_ALMA513512
29560002947)
4. Information Dashboard Design: Displaying Data for At-a-Glance Monitoring, by Stephen Few.
Available online through Georgia Tech library
(https://gatech-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1vgrnp4/01GALI_GIT_ALMA211534
92250002947).

Course Website and Other Classroom Management Tools

This class will use Canvas to deliver course materials to online students. ALL course materials and
activities will take place on Canvas.

Course Requirements, Assignments & Grading

Assignment Distribution and Grading Scale

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Assignment Weight

Week 1 Quiz 10%

Week 2 Quiz 10%

Week 3 Quiz 10%

Week 4 Quiz 10%

Week 5 Quiz 10%

Week 5 Exercise #1 (visualization) 5%

Week 6 Quiz 10%

Week 6 Exercise #2 (dashboard) 8%

Visualization appreciation/critique 2%

Evidence of class participation 5%

Final Exam (week 7) 20%

Grading Scale
Your final grade will be assigned as a letter grade according to the following scale:
A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
F 0-59%

Description of Graded Components

● Quizzes: There will be six quizzes in this course, one in each of the first six weeks. These
quizzes are either multiple choices questions, or fill-in-the-blank questions. Time limit may
apply.
● Exercises: There are two exercises in the class that you need to work on and submit to the
TA for grading. It is very important that for Tableau work, you must submit TWBX files
instead of the TWB because the TWB does not have data embedded in it. Failure to submit
the TWBX files will result in a loss of at least 1/3 of the credit because the TA will have to
request you to send the right file. Partial credits will be provided, so do your best.
● Final Exam: The questions on the final exams are similar to the quizzes (multiple choices or
fill-in-the-blank). The exam will be digitally proctored with Honorlock. More information on
digital proctoring is available in Canvas.
● Class Participation:
o Visualization appreciation/critique (2%): You must post twice during the first six
weeks to the “visualization critique and appreciation” thread on the online
discussion board by sharing a visualization (cite its source). One of your posts
should be for a visualization that you like; the other should be for a visualization that

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you think is poorly done. For the first one, describe why you think it is great and
what we can learn from it. For the second one, discuss why you think it’s bad – and
how we can make it better. You need to apply what you learned about visualization
principles (slides & first chapter of textbook) and chart type choices (see slides as
well as the textbook chapter).
o Evidence of class participation (5%). Throughout the course, it is very important
for you to participate in the class discussions on Ed Discussions. The instructor may
also occasionally post questions there for you to answer. For those questions,
you’re expected to work on all of them because they are designed to enhance your
learning. You are not expected to write answer on Ed Discussions for all of them, but
you should post an answer to at least half of those questions. It’s okay if you post
your message anonymously. Please note that the instructor may not be able to reply
to every message but your participation will be recorded.

Extra Credit Opportunities for CIOS Participation

The CIOS (Course Instructor Opinion Survey) that you will fill out at the end of the semester is an
important channel for instructors to receive feedback and suggestions about their class. Some of
the contents you see in this class were added because of past student feedback. This extra credit
is intended to encourage you to respond to the CIOS survey request so that we have a complete
and unbiased picture of how the course is doing. A few important points to note:
● I will not see any CIOS results until 5 days after the deadline for posting the final grades.
● I DO NOT ask for individual proof that you submitted the survey (please see below the
computation scheme for extra-credit)
● All CIOS answers are anonymized when shared with instructors
● IMPORTANT: I DO NOT offer this extra-credit opportunity in hopes of receiving a certain
type of review. The extra-credit is only offered as an incentive to participate. I am looking
for honest constructive feedback - what worked? what could use some improvement (and
how can things be improved)? Future students will benefit from this feedback.
● Depending on the proportion of students who fill out the CIOS by 2/25/2024, all students
in your section will receive up to 1 point (1% of the final grade) based on the following table.
You can still answer CIOS after that date and I will still read your feedback, but it will not
count toward the extra credit.

If this proportion of students in your section Everyone will receive this amount of extra
answer the CIOS survey by 2/25/2024… credit…
0-4.99% 0
5-14.99% 0.1
15-24.99% 0.2
25-34.99% 0.3
35-44.99% 0.4
45-54.99% 0.5
55-64.99% 0.6
65-74.99% 0.7
75-84.99% 0.8
85-100% 1.0

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Submitting Assignments
The exercises and quizzes must be completed and submitted in Canvas by the due date stated in
the course schedule. The final exam needs to be taken in Canvas during the exam window.

Assignments and Tests: Independence & Time Limits

The assignments and tests in this class are all open-everything (book, materials, internet) with one
important caveat: You must complete the assignments independently. You must not ask someone
else (any live person) for help to complete your assignments or tests. You can ask the instructor/TAs
for clarifications about the questions or requirements, but you cannot ask them to complete the
tasks for you. In addition, the students must note that the assignments and tests are timed. While
the time limit is set generously and should be more than sufficient, we assume that you have
thoroughly gone through the class materials (recordings and demos) before starting to work on the
assignments and tests. If you are only watching the demos for the first time when taking the
assignments and tests, you will likely run out of time.
Generative AI Policy
Generative AI such as ChatGPT is a powerful tool for learning purposes if used properly. You can
certainly use it to find answers to general questions, with the following boundaries: (1) You are
explicitly forbidden from sending anything you see in the assignments/quizzes/tests to ChatGPT
because they are copyrighted, and they should not be shared with any third party, which includes
ChatGPT or other similar tools. This is the same policy if you work for a company; you would be
liable to share company info with ChatGPT. (2) You should do your best to work independently on
the assignments first, before turning to ChatGPT for help. You do not need to use it at all, but if you
want to use it, use it after you have at least tried. (3) ChatGPT and other generative AI tools may not
always give you the correct answer.

Assignment Due Dates and Time

All deadlines above are in the US Eastern Time Zone. Be sure to refer to the table header for the
specific time of the day. These times are subject to change so please check back often. Please
convert from UTC to your local time zone using a Time Zone Converter.
Late Submission Policy
Submissions that are late but turned in within 24 hours of deadline will be penalized at 10% of the
grades received for that assignment. Submissions that are late between 24 hours after the deadline
but before 72 hours of the deadline will be penalized at 20%. Those that are late more than 72
hours will receive no credit. No late submission will be accepted on the Final Exam.
Timing Policy
● The Modules follow a logical sequence that includes knowledge-building and
experience-building. It is strongly recommended that you take the class according to this
schedule.
● Assignments should be completed by their due dates.
● You will have access to the course content for the scheduled duration of the course.
Grading and Feedback
Results of your quizzes will be released the day after the deadline. Results of the two exercises will
be released once the TA has finished grading, which may vary based on class size.

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Technology Requirements and Skills

Network Connectivity
High-speed Internet connection

Computer Hardware
Laptop or desktop computer with a minimum of a 2 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM, and a
minimum of 2GB hard drive space. Please note: Chromebooks will not be sufficient.
While both PC and Mac should work, windows PC is strongly preferred. Mac users will have to use
GT’s VLAB when they need to use software that cannot be installed on Mac. Since VLAB is
web-based, please be sure to have a stable high speed internet connection, and also take into
account the fact that it will be slower to respond when many other users log in at the same time.
You can access the VLAB by visiting https://mycloud.gatech.edu. Log on with your GT credentials.
Click on CoB-Labs.

IMPORTANT: The instructor and the TA do not host or manage VLAB. If you have trouble with
VLAB, please contact Digital Learning Support (https://b.gatech.edu/digitallearningsupport) for
assistance. The instructor and TA cannot help. Again, a PC will be a better option.

Software
1. Microsoft Excel, preferably the Windows version but the Mac version should also work. If you
don’t have this on your computer, you can access it through Office365 (available to all GT
students) or you can use the VLAB.
2. Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep (available for both Mac and PC)
o Request your student license for Tableau and Tableau Prep at
https://www.tableau.com/academic/students
o Go to https://www.tableau.com/tft/activation and download both Tableau Desktop
(visualization software) and Tableau Prep (data preparation tool). Use the license you
obtained from the previous step.
o Please note that Tableau Desktop is different from the free Tableau Public (available on
VLAB at the time of writing). Tableau Public does not require a license, but you must
know that Tableau Public offers no privacy for data and is intended for use on public
datasets --- if you use your own data you must make sure it does not contain any
private or confidential information.
3. Microsoft PowerBI: Microsoft PowerBI is another very popular data visualization tool that you
may want to practice and we will talk about it later in the class. Its desktop version is free. The
link to download is at https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/desktop/. While there is an online
version, we will use the free desktop version for the purpose of the class.
4. NodeXL Basic for network data visualization.
o You only need the basic version for this class. Register using the link below and you will
receive a link to download the basic version:
https://www.nodexlgraphgallery.org/Pages/RegistrationBasic.aspx
o NodeXL Basic is for PC only. If you have a Mac, you can install it on VLAB.
5. R (open source) and R studio (free version):
o R: http://archive.linux.duke.edu/cran/ or any other mirror site listed on
https://cran.r-project.org/mirrors.html
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o R Studio: https://rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/#download
6. Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and/or Safari browsers. Please note that if you run into trouble in a
browser, a simple fix is to clear your browser’s cache, or use “private browsing” (“incognito” in
Chrome) which creates a sandbox where everything is fresh. Try this first before requesting
assistance.
7. Microsoft Office software (recommended: Office 365 provided by GT)
8. Adobe Acrobat Reader (for PDFs)

Technology Help Guidelines

30-Minute Rule: When you encounter struggles with technology, give yourself 30 minutes to ‘figure
it out.’ If you cannot, then post a message to the discussion board; your peers may have
suggestions to assist you. You are also directed to contact the Helpdesk 24/7.

When posting or sending email requesting help with technology issues, whether to the Helpdesk, or
the message board, use the following guidelines:
● Include a descriptive title for the subject field that includes 1) the name of course 2) the issue.
Do NOT just simply type “Help” into the subject field or leave it blank.
● List the steps or describe the circumstance that preceded the technical issue or error. Include
the exact wording of the error message.
● When possible, always include a screenshot(s) demonstrating the technical issue or error
message.
● Also include what you have already tried to remedy the issue (rebooting, trying a different
browser, etc.).

Course Policies, Expectations & Guidelines

Communication Policy
● Do NOT submit posts of a personal nature to the discussion board unless it is a private post on
Ed Discussions.
● Use private messaging on Ed Discussions to contact me during the semester. During the week,
you can expect to receive a response within 24 hours; on weekends and holidays, allow up to
48 hours. If there are special circumstances that will delay the response from the TA or
instructor, we will make an announcement.
● Student Forum/Q&A discussion boards will be checked twice per day Monday through Friday;
Saturday and Sunday, these discussion boards will be checked at least once.
● Virtual office hours will be held using the Zoom. See my Virtual Office Hours at the beginning of
this document.
● For questions related to technology, please contact: https://b.gatech.edu/digitallearningsupport

Online Student Conduct and (N)etiquette

Communicating appropriately in the online classroom can be challenging. In order to minimize this
challenge, it is important to remember several points of “internet etiquette”
that will smooth communication for both students and instructors:

1. Read first, Write later. Read the ENTIRE set of posts/comments on a discussion board
before posting your reply, in order to prevent repeating commentary or asking questions
that have already been answered.
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2. Avoid language that may come across as strong or offensive. Language can be easily
misinterpreted in written electronic communication. Review email and discussion board
posts BEFORE submitting. Humor and sarcasm may be easily misinterpreted by your
reader(s). Try to be as professional as possible.
3. Follow the language rules of the Internet. Do not write using all capital letters, because it will
appear as shouting. Also, the use of emoticons can be helpful when used to convey
nonverbal feelings. ☺
4. Consider the privacy of others. Ask permission prior to giving out a classmate’s email
address or other information.
5. Keep attachments small. If it is necessary to send pictures, change the size to an
acceptable 250kb or less (one free, web-based tool to try is picresize.com). For large files
such as datasets that’s more than 10mb in size, consider using links (e.g., through OneDrive
or Dropbox) instead of uploading actual files.
6. No inappropriate material. Do not forward virus warnings, chain letters, jokes, etc. to
classmates or instructors. The sharing of pornographic material is forbidden.
NOTE: The instructor and TAs reserve the right to remove posts that are not collegial in nature
and/or do not meet the Online Student Conduct and Etiquette guidelines listed above.

University Use of Electronic Email

A university-assigned student e-mail account is the official university means of communication with
all students at Georgia Institute of Technology. Students are responsible for all information sent to
them via their university-assigned e-mail account. If a student chooses to forward information in
their university e-mail account, he or she is responsible for all information, including attachments,
sent to any other e-mail account. To stay current with university information, students are expected
to check their official university e-mail account and other electronic communications on a frequent
and consistent basis. Recognizing that some communications may be time-critical, the university
recommends that electronic communications be checked minimally twice a week.
Plagiarism & Academic Integrity
Georgia Tech aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic integrity, and honor.
Students are expected to act according to the highest ethical standards. All students enrolled at
Georgia Tech, and all its campuses, are to perform their academic work according to standards set
by faculty members, departments, schools and colleges of the university; and cheating and
plagiarism constitute fraudulent misrepresentation for which no credit can be given and for which
appropriate sanctions are warranted and will be applied. For information on Georgia Tech’s
Academic Honor Code, please visit
https://policylibrary.gatech.edu/student-life/academic-honor-code.
Any student suspected of cheating or plagiarizing on a quiz, exam, or assignment will be reported
to the Office of Student Integrity, who will investigate the incident and identify the appropriate
penalty for violations.

Copyright
You are explicitly forbidden from sharing any of the course materials including the slides, the video
recordings (or their audio, screenshots, or transcripts), the samples (e.g., Tableau workbooks), the
exam questions and answers, assignment questions and answers, with anyone who is not

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registered in the class. This includes generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. You are not allowed to
upload them to any websites, servers or social media without the explicit prior written consent of
the instructor and GTPE.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with learning needs that require special accommodation, contact the Office of
Disability Services at (404)894-2563 or http://disabilityservices.gatech.edu/, as soon as possible, to
make an appointment to discuss your special needs and to obtain an accommodations letter. You
must also e-mail the instructor as soon as possible in order to set up a time to discuss your learning
needs.

Deadline Extensions & Re-Scheduled/Missed Exams

Students with approved institute activities (http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/4/) can request
extensions for their deadlines. The instructor will also make an effort to accommodate other
requests. However, given the compressed schedule of the class, the students should do their best
to keep up with the course schedule, and make a sincere effort to catch up with missed deadlines
as soon as they are able.

Student-Faculty Expectations Agreement

At Georgia Tech we believe that it is important to strive for an atmosphere of mutual respect,
acknowledgement, and responsibility between faculty members and the student body. See
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/22/ for an articulation of some basic expectation that you can
have of me and that I have of you. In the end, simple respect for knowledge, hard work, and cordial
interactions will help build the environment we seek. Therefore, I encourage you to remain
committed to the ideals of Georgia Tech while in this class.

Subject to Change Statement

The syllabus and course schedule may be subject to change. Changes will be communicated via
email, Ed Discussions, the Canvas announcement tool, and edX bulk email. It is the responsibility of
students to check email messages and course announcements regularly to stay current in their
online courses.

Course Schedule

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Due Date
Wee
Topic Overview Deliverables (by Readings
k
11:59pm)
This week introduces Week 1 Quiz 1/14 All course
student to the class videos
and review basic Chapter 1 of
Getting Started:
statistics and data Textbook (will
Course
storage knowledge in be covered in
1 Overview &
preparation for the the exercise)
Visualization
class, and also
Principles Visualization
introduces high level
data visualization appreciation
principles. exercise

Students will learn Week 2 Quiz 1/21 All course

how to prepare data videos (must
Data for visualization in be able to
2
Preparation various tools, follow and
particularly Excel and re-produce all
Tableau Prep Builder. demos)

Students will learn Week 3 Quiz 1/28 All course

about the major videos (must
types of data be able to
Data visualizations and follow and
Visualization when it is appropriate re-produce all
Types and to use each. This is demos)
3 Choices; followed by creating
Visualizing some visualization
Data in Excel types in Excel that Visual
and Tableau illustrates Excel Vocabulary
capabilities, and will
also get started with
Tableau

This week introduces Week 4 Quiz 2/4 All course

basic visualization videos (must
types in Tableau, and be able to
how to create them. (Requested, not required): follow and
Students are also submit course feedback re-produce all
Tableau Data at
4 expected to demos)
Visualization (1)
understand and https://bit.ly/bdpvfeedbac
interpret the results k
appropriately (i.e.,
what the visualization
tells you).

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Due Date
Wee
Topic Overview Deliverables (by Readings
k
11:59pm)
This week continues Week 5 Quiz 2/11 All course
the journey of videos (must
creating flexible be able to
visualizations in Exercise #1 follow and
Tableau Data (visualization)
5 Tableau, and re-produce all
Visualization (2)
introduces more demos)
advanced
visualization types
and features

This week covers (1) Visualization 2/18 All course

the use of custom appreciation/critique videos (must
shapes in Tableau, be able to
and more importantly follow and
the creation of Week 6 Quiz re-produce all
Tableau Dashboards; demos)
(2) the sharing of Exercise #2 (dashboard)
Tableau
Tableau Data visualizations; (3) the
Visualization concept of network
(3), Network visualization, and (4)
Visualization, programming for
6 and charts. The goal of
Introduction to introducing
Programming programming here is
for to give you the
Visualization flexibility of creating
charts that are not
available
off-the-shelf. You will
just need to
understand and
tweak existing codes
so that they can read
your own data.

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Due Date
Wee
Topic Overview Deliverables (by Readings
k
11:59pm)
This week we will Re-produce the PowerBI 2/25 All course
introduce PowerBI demo videos (must
which is also used be able to
widely but generally follow and
less customizable or Complete Final Exam re-produce
PowerBI, flexible than Tableau. the PowerBI
7 Certifications, Certification Complete Course demo)
and Final Exam opportunities in Instructor Opinion Survey
Tableau will be (CIOS)
discussed as well,
and students will
complete the final
exam.

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