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Unit context

Unit: QBUS5010 Intro to Dashboarding and Data Visualisation

Unit coordinator: Stephen Tierney

Discipline of Business Analytics
~500 students
Postgraduate

Assessment details

Group project: In small groups students will integrate their design, user experience and programming skills to build a working dashboard. Students will submit their dashboard, a video walkthrough and a final design report.

Weighting: 30%

Assessment goals

The goal of the assessment is for the students to work in groups (maximum 3 students per group) to develop a dashboard to solve a problem (real or fictional). Students submit a project report, their dashboard code and a 2–3-minute video presenting their dashboard. Each group as the option of having a 1-on-1 consultation with the coordinator to gain feedback on their work before the submit.

This assessment is the 3rd in a series of 3 assessments: (1) students propose a dashboard (2) in groups students evaluate each other's dashboard (3) in groups students implement one of the group's dashboards.

Relevant unit learning outcomes

LO1. Students will be able to distinguish between visualisations and dashboards as well as utilise dashboards by converting visualisations to dashboards and replicating existing dashboards
LO2. Students will be able to differentiate between different principles of dashboard building as well as to apply these principles to build dashboards themselves
LO3. Students will be able to critically analyse dashboard designs using principles of visual analytics and make well-argued recommendations for improvement
LO4. Students will be able to design dashboards using a range of visualisation types, statistical, and programming techniques

What did the students see as part of the assessment?

Exemplars from students in previous years
QBUSS5010 assessment information page S2 2024 - click to see a copy of this page

What did the markers/educators see as part of the assessment?

The marking rubric
The report, dashboard code and video submissions for each group (1 marker by group)
Markers attended a calibration session prior to marking

What were the AI elements integrated into the assessment?

Students were required to add an acknowledgement outlining their use of AI to the start of their submission. From these statements we know students were using tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Grammarly, and Quillbot to:

directly suggest readability improvements to their text in terms of grammar and expression
suggest, refactor and debug code
generate fictional data

Commentary from the educator

Authentic assessment

The authenticity of the assessment stemmed from students being tasked with solving a problem that genuinely interested them from their personal life, hobbies, work or public service. As a result, the dashboards created by the S2 2024 cohort showcased a diverse range of real-world applications. For instance, one dashboard was designed to compare medication side effects, another explored the impact of AI on job markets, and another promoted sustainability by assisting users locate thrift shops. These varied projects demonstrated not only the students’ technical skills but also their ability to creatively design solutions to issues they found personally significant.

Students were also required to collaborate in groups, which along with the usual benefits of teaching student team-work skills, aimed to create a culture of accountability and of academic integrity. By working together, students had to take responsibility not only for their individual contributions but also for the collective success of their team. Additionally students were held accountable to their peers, not just their instructors, which reinforced ethical academic practices and discouraged reliance on unverified AI-generated content.

Developing AI-relevant skills

Students reported using AI tools for code generation, refactoring, and debugging. These skills are becoming increasingly prevalent, especially as many modern coding platforms now incorporate built-in AI-powered code generation features. This particular assignment focused on dashboard design rather than underlying code. By leveraging AI for coding assistance, students could explore advanced design concepts that might have been challenging to implement if they had to code everything from scratch. It also provided a valuable opportunity for students to learn how to integrate AI tools effectively into their workflow to elevate the quality of their work.

Designing for diversity

Optimise choice and autonomy: Students choose the theme of their dashboard from one of the group member’s proposed themes submitted in an earlier assignment. This autonomy provides students with a greater sense of ownership over their work, and as a result, the project becomes more meaningful and relevant to their personal learning journeys. Additionally, when included in their professional portfolio, the project not only showcases their technical skills but also reflects their personal values and interests.
Offer action-oriented feedback: This assessment was the culmination of a structured sequence of assessments, each intentionally designed to build upon the previous one. This progressive structure not only helped students manage their workload effectively throughout the semester but also provided them with opportunities for targeted and timely feedback at key stages of their work that could be used to refine and improve their subsequent assessments.

Promote individual and collective reflection: As part of this assessment, students are required to write a brief group reflection, summarising the key challenges they encountered during the project and considering potential future improvements. This reflection is strategically placed at the end of the course, after students have completed their final project, to encourage students to recognise their growth, acknowledge the difficulties they overcame, and reflect on their overall learning journey. One student wrote in the end of semester survey, "By processing with team members in the group assignment, I get to communicate with their ideas and their designs of the dashboard and we can work together to try to achieve the dashboard that we want that is meaningful and can actually solve real world problem."

Sample student video

Excerpt from a S2 2024 video.