Using Moneyball to Introduce Students to Data Analytics: Illustrating the Data Analytics Life Cycle

Abstract

In this data-dependent world, competency in data analytics is quickly becoming critical for success in business. In a quantitative-intensive course that introduces data analytics concepts, engaging students quickly and exposing them to more nuanced parts of the data analytics lifecycle is critical. This exercise uses the movie Moneyball as a framing tool to achieve these goals. Leveraging an appealing movie can help increase student engagement in the subject by presenting concepts in a less foreboding way. This exercise highlights scenes in the movie which embody the various stages of the data analytics lifecycle and allows faculty to present concepts via an engaging story adapted from a real-world example. This exercise provides faculty with different options of how to incorporate this movie into classes to introduce and develop a better understanding of the various steps of the data analytics lifecycle for students.