Should we teach Tableau or Power BI or both? In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. https://lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb &
https://lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7.
We do our best to go in-depth in all these 3 areas. Based on the feedback received from students, they are interested in learning about all 3 areas & found them helpful during their job search. However, it is not possible to talk about both Tableau & Power BI visualization because of the time limitation. Therefore, we decided to cover Power BI in 1 section & Tableau & Tableau data prep in the other section. As you know, ETL is 1 of the most important skills they need for visualization. Therefore, we always teach Power Pivot a & Query, which are foundations for Power BI in both sections. There are 8 assignments in the class. At least 2 are about Power Query & Power Pivot & 2 about Visualization in Tableau or Power BI.
I personally would encourage students to have an open mind on tool usage. The whole reason of teaching both Tableau & Power BI in our curriculum is backed by industry evidence, rather than by 1 or 2 individual companies. Both visualization tools have been in the best quadrant (i.e., leaders-visionaries quadrant) of Gartner’s “magic quadrant” survey for analytics & business intelligence platforms for years. So, it is not true that Tableau is not used at many companies. Kellogg’s (a major local employer), for example, is a Tableau shop.
The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter which tool students learned (as long as there is industry evidence to support the tool selection). The two tools share similarities. Usually one should be able to transition from one tool to another w/ minimal learning.
I think one way going forward is probably this: If students already know what tools they are going to be using at the internship or job, they might want to talk to us first before taking CIS 3640. This will help them pick the desired course section. Otherwise, it is hard for us to predict what analytics & visualization tools each student will be using and which company they will end up working.
What if you are a student that wishes to learn both Power BI & Tableau, but your instructor only covers 1? Unfortunately covering both in 1 single class will not give either one a fair coverage. In the end, students won’t have good skills in visualization. This is the reason we offer 2 sections, one for each tool. The good news is that Power BI is a free download. Here is what I recommend students do:
- Download Power BI
2. Go through the video tutorials of Power BI online (e.g., https://lnkd.in/gEYERYay)
3. Work on class assignments in both Tableau & Power BI. Many things are available in both tools. That makes it possible to replicate certain parts of class assignments in Power BI.
You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda+Jupyter Notebook+Python+visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. We have no plan to change it unless industry tells us otherwise. Agreed?
CIS courses in our BA minor:
https://lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb
CIS 1020 (Business Computing), CIS 2640 (Business Analysis & Reporting), CIS 2650 (Programming for Data Analytics), CIS 3640 (Business Analytics), & CIS 4640 (Business Data Mining).
The reason for this design is the following:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_anacondajupyter-notebook-pythonvisualization-activity-7018201758933934080-mGc8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
CIS 2650 is not just a Python class, but instead a Python class for analytics.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_machinelearning-deeplearning-datascience-activity-7036306188229099520-b7rb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
You could make the case that many business grads should have some of these skills…We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top. The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? Thousands of vacant jobs on LinkedIn say yes.
A while back, I made these points about our CIS 2650 class (Programming for Data Analytics) and our Business Data Analytics minor in general. We think these points still largely apply.
CIS 2650 is not just a Python class, but instead a Python class for analytics. There is a difference there. In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with so much of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS and CS. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science and business analytics programs do).
· We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills.
· The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools.
· Tableau & Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics & visualization are not available in Tableau & Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions).
·All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths with escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff.
·Python are “R” are both number one & two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R.
·Past experience in our SCM program (3+ semesters of experience in CIS 2650) shows that non-technical students (SCM, marketing, accounting, etc.) are able to handle the content that we designed.
·Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, and smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, and other SC related solutions, etc.
We believe the above points are still valid. Here is some evidence:
·We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills.
·Python is among the top skills for data analysts (Skill number 4 in the list): https://lnkd.in/e6r8_KBy
·https://lnkd.in/e7xyUYGs
Will tech replace SCM jobs?
https://lnkd.in/eu7ANq6
hashtag#powerbi hashtag#tableau hashtag#bigdata hashtag#datavisualization