A practical introduction to Data Analysis designed for complete beginners. This curriculum focuses on helping students understand how analysts think, work with data confidently, and build simple but impactful projects using industry-relevant tools.
Highlights
Students work with a simple sales dataset to clean formatting, calculate totals and averages, and create simple charts.
Build a simple sales performance summary in Excel showing totals, averages, and a basic chart.
Students clean and analyse a messy customer dataset using the techniques above.
Create a customer insights report using Pivot Tables and charts that answers at least two business questions from the data.
Build an interactive Excel dashboard from a provided business dataset.
Design a business performance dashboard built for management reporting.
The dashboard must answer at least three business questions using charts, KPI cards, and slicers — and include a two-sentence written summary of the key finding.
Import and transform a dataset in Power BI, create relationships, and build three visualizations.
Create a basic interactive dashboard in Power BI from a clean dataset. Must include at least one slicer and three chart types.
Students build a complete dashboard from a business dataset, applying filters, slicers, and at least two DAX calculations.
Build a complete Power BI dashboard from a real business dataset.
Must include: monthly trend, a top-performers ranking, at least one DAX measure, filters, and a one-paragraph written brief explaining what each panel shows and what decision it supports.
Write beginner SQL queries using a sample retail database — filtering records, grouping by category, and computing totals.
Students present three completed deliverables:
Each deliverable must include a two-sentence written interpretation of the key insight it reveals.
| Week | Project | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Week 3 | Business Performance Dashboard | Interactive Excel Dashboard |
| Week 5 | Business Intelligence Dashboard | Live Power BI Dashboard |
| Week 6 | Final Portfolio Presentation | Excel · Power BI · SQL Exercises |
Students finish the course with a documented beginner portfolio, foundational analytical skills, and a clear path to entry-level data opportunities.
Students learn Excel and Power BI — the two tools that appear most consistently in Nigerian analyst job listings. Every hour in class maps directly to a skill employers ask for.
The course begins with raw spreadsheet fundamentals and ends with students publishing interactive Power BI dashboards and writing real SQL queries. Each week is a foundation for the next.
Charts are treated as answers to business questions, not decorations. Every visualization students build must be accompanied by a written interpretation of what it means — a habit that separates useful analysts from people who just make graphs.
Week 6 closes with a portfolio presentation, career roadmap, and interview preparation — so students leave with shareable work and a clear understanding of what comes next.