Introducing Business Analytics with a Collaborative Learning Activity using Mobile Social Apps

Teaching business analytics requires imparting a good understanding of the role of analytics in organizational activities to students at the very beginning of the course. This paper proposes a pedagogical approach aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of teaching and learning of business analytics, especially teaching large classes having students from different disciplines. The proposed approach emphasizes setting up a long-duration collaborative learning activity spanning several hours - supported by a suitable mobile social app – at the beginning of the course, focusing on identification of applications of different types of analytics in a familiar business environment. Preliminary findings resulting from an application of the proposed approach in three sections of a graduate course on business intelligence are discussed.