ETC1000: Business and Economics Statistics

group presentation (20%?) + workshop stuff (20%?) + exam (60%)

was alright, not really a big maths wiz but the content isn't too difficult to grasp. the group presentation was a bit of a shitshow, but overall if you understand the concept visually, then it'd be a piece of cake. i personally found the exam difficult (and genuinely thought I failed it, but ended up getting a 60% for the exam, with a 70% overall score). just knock out past practice exams and you'll be fine. brett inder, the lecturer, is fantastic. he usually would post a pre-exam video which was extremely helpful as it tackled on what to expect for the exam.
my methods and further maths study score was average, but i still didn't find the topics in this unit too challenging, so should be relatively beginner friendly to non-stats kids.

Brett Inder

2016 and onwards

3 out of 5

Yes, on YouTube

Nope

2 hour workshop each week + prerecorded lectures

2021 sem 1

D

7 x submitted computer lab work (24.5% total)
You have 8 computer labs which involve a quiz, but only the best 7 results are counted. Results are usually released the week after, and you are allowed to review it afterwards. These were generally accessible, provided you watched the online videos and did the homework.

Group Project (15.5%)
My cohort was the first to do this assessment, so as expected, there were a few things that still need refining. The group project involved analysis of a large set of data about African households (from which you were required to generate your own sample) around a particular theme, which you will then present to your lab class. Your group (usually 3-4 people) had a choice of about 3 different themes (schooling and farming are the ones I can remember). There were questions to help guide your project, as well as a general structure. I think a problem for me was the lack of an assessment criteria from which we could follow. One of the lecturers/unit coordinators will be present in each computer lab to assess the (10 minute max) presentation, and gave general class feedback after everyone had finished. I found there was no detailed feedback given to the individual groups, so you couldn't really tell where you lost (or gained, for that matter) marks. Hopefully this is something that will be addressed in the future.

End of Semester Exam (60%)
2 hours, closed book. The exam comprised of short answer questions grouped into 3-4 sections. The exam generally involved analysing a set of data and answering relevant questions. Quite accessible in my opinion, provided you kept up with the content. The questions were generally 'analysis' questions, rather than using actual maths (although there were still a few of these).

This is a Commerce core unit, and serves as a brief introduction to statistics. If you've done Specialist Maths in VCE, you'll find a lot of the content here similar to the statistics taught in spesh (p-values, confidence intervals, etc.) plus more. Like the previous reviews have said, this unit is more focused around the analysis of statistics rather than the actual mathematics side (which was probably a bit disappointing for me ). The unit is not difficult to keep up with week by week, but that is not to say you can leave everything to the week before exams, especially since the computer labs assess the previous weeks material anyway. There are also consultation helpdesks available throughout each week if you require any extra help.

Prof. Brett Inder (unit coordinator)
Dr Daniel Melser

The lecturers generally take it in turns to deliver the case studies. Brett also loves telling mid-lecture stories - there's a few very interesting ones (although you'll have to go or listen to them yourself to find out )!

Yes, the exams from the most recent 8 semesters were provided. Solutions only provided to the most recent 2 though. Note that the exam structure and content has changed somewhat over the past few years.

3.5 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture. Also uploaded to the unit YouTube channel.

Essentials of Business Analytics by Camm et al. Probably not essential to have (I didn't really use it myself), but I guess it could be quite useful for clarifying concepts (especially for those who are new to statistics, or have not done methods/specialist maths in VCE). Perhaps loan/have a look at a copy from the library before deciding to buy.

Throughout the semester: 9 x 1.5 hour computer labs, 8 x 1.5 hour live lectures, 8 x sets of online videos

The first 8 weeks of semester involved an online 'lesson' (basically pre-recorded videos) where you watch 2-4 videos to learn the content.

The computer labs consisted of an online Moodle quiz which involves you manipulating spreadsheet data in Excel to answer questions. Note: there is assigned homework to do before each lab class - do these. The questions can be quite similar to that of the actual lab, and the homework sheet will contain information which may not have been explained in great detail in the online videos. Also be careful with things such as units (e.g, $, cm) as you can lose half marks for these. The final lab class did not involve a quiz - it was entirely dedicated to the group oral presentation.

Live lectures generally did not involve teaching new content - they were generally used to go through 'case studies' and applying the content learnt in the videos. It might be worth paying attention here, as some of it may be useful for your group project. There were also 2 lectures explaining the group project and how to present it/what to do. The week 12 lectures involved the lecturer going through a practice exam, as well as going through what you need to know for the exam.

S1, 2017

HD

30% Weekly computer labs - 10 labs, out of which only your top 8 results are taken into account. 70% - Exam.

This unit was not particularly enjoyable. As a forewarning, it is basically about the interpretation of statistical outputs by Excel, given businessy examples. The actual mathematical concepts are not at the forefront of the unit, although they are touched on, and some level of understanding might be occasionally required. Some statistical business concepts (mostly GDP, real vs nominal value of money) are covered. So that's what's meant by 'business statistics'. In some ways, there are some parallels with Further Maths. There is certainly a lot of overlap in the content, with the first half of the unit being the Core section of Further.

The way this unit is organised as follows: Initially, the content is delivered through YouTube videos, which are supposed to accompany PowerPoint notes. In reality, the notes do not cover most of the things that are in the video, or might not make sense without them. I would like to take this opportunity to commend you if you manage to actually watch the videos. This is then followed by a live lecture, which I commented on above. It partly re-teaches the content again, but mostly is concerned with interpreting some given data on a particular topic (some of them are actually quite interesting!) using Excel. The latter is much more succinctly covered by the live lecture notes, which will save you a lot of time should you decide not to turn up (and let's be honest, who actually ends up watching the lectures online?)
You are given weekly homework. It is basically a walkthrough of how to get the statistical output through Excel, and how to interpret it.

Brett Inder. Lectures are very slow, and most people feel that they are unnecessary. Some of the examples used in the lectures though might pop up on the exam - so make sure that you grab the live lecture notes (they're on moodle) and read through them. If you're unclear about anything, it might be worth watching the lecture.

All exams (both semesters) since 2008 are available, with solutions released in the final week of the semester. Some of the content has been cut in recent years, so don't panic if something looks entirely unfamiliar.

2 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture. Also on YouTube, I believe.

No prescribed textbook. Australasian Business Statistics is "highly recommended", with readings highlighted, but I don't know if it's actually any good. You probably won't need it.

1 x 1.5 hour lecture, 1 x 1.5 hour lab (will probably only take you 20-60 minutes).

Semester 1, 2014

HD

30% Lab quizzes, 70% Exam

When I first started this unit, I HATED it, but once I gave it a chance I actually quite like it! Although not advised, I ended up doing a lot of learning for this unit during SWOTVAC and to be honest, it's pretty easy to pick up all the concepts in such a small timeframe so don't panic if you get to that stage, although just don't do that to make your life easier haha You can score well in this unit if you put in the work. So it's really important to keep up to date and understand everything as you go because (especially with the last few topics) you need to understand the past topics' content in order to be able to successfully get through the rest of the topics.

In terms of workload, this subject is really good if you're looking for something that doesn't take up much time. All you really need to do every week is watch the YouTube lectures for the week (which go through the slides anyway), watch the live lecture (i.e. the lectures conducted at uni) and do the lab homework.

Lectures: To be honest, I didn't physically attend a single lecture (only because the time was too inconvenient for me).. I watched most online, but it got to a point where I stopped watching the live lectures. Only because Brett made YouTube video lectures for each topic which were SO useful, so definitely don't skip those. The videos are pretty much Brett talking through the powerpoint slides for the relevant week's lectures. The live lectures were more application of the content, so honestly, don't miss those either. I definitely wish I didn't, because although they got boring at times, the knowledge would've been pretty useful come exam time.

Computer Labs: Most of the lab quizzes were usually able to be finished in 30 mins-1 hour, but took longer to complete in the last few weeks. The labs were a really good way of applying all the excel processes and procedures, and were generally not too hard to get through. It's recommended that you complete the homework (not compulsory) prior to the week's lab, because the homework pretty much contains step-by-step instructions that really come in handy when doing the lab quizzes.
Exam: A two-hour, non-calc exam. It wasn't too bad considering the fact that there's a plethora of past exams WITH solutions available to you, on top of revision during week 12 (going through exams). Even though maths is required in the exam, you pretty much just need to show working to get the marks, not the actual answer (since there's no calculators allowed). If you do as many past exams as you can and know your content, you should be fine for the exam. Keep in mind that in order to pass this unit, you must score at least 40% on the exam.

Brett Inder - he's a really laid back, friendly guy who's really good at explaining the concepts, not to mention that he's been teaching the unit for quite a while so he's VERY familiar with it.

Yes, 12 exams including solutions

3 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture

No compulsory textbooks

Weekly 1.5hr lecture and 1.5 hour computer lab (starting in week 2 and ending in week 11)

Semester 1, 2014

3x5% Online multi choice tests, 5x3% Tute pracs, 70% exam

Found the lectures boring, not because of the lecturer, but the fact that I never watched the online videos, and the content was stuff that you could read and learn very quickly. Ended up attending two lectures in the semester, but this subject is very easy to study for if you're a quick learner. Everything you need to know is in the notes. I do warn people doing it that the Multi Choice tests will give you a surprise, as they are highly mathematical in some instances. Come exam time, getting a hold of more past exam solutions will help you a lot. That said not everyone learns in the same way, so I definitely suggest you attend the first few lectures.

Brett Inder - Pretty cool guy, pretty interesting to listen to, funny. Can be a bit strict with noise, but fair enough.

Many past exams available, 3 with solutions + Practice exam with solutions

3.5/5

Yes, with screen capture

Never ever used the textbook

12x1.5 hr lectures, 13x45 min online lectures (need these for real lectures), 12x1.5hr Tutes

2011 Sem 1

86/HD