Teaching Tip Scaffolding in Business Analytics Education: Using Python for Web Scraping

A significant activity in the business analytics process is enrichment, which deals with acquiring and combining data from external sources.While different strategies for enrichment are possible, it can be accomplished more efficiently through automation using Python scripts.Since business students may not be immersed in technology skills and may be new to coding activities, instructional scaffolding may be of considerable importance.This paper describes the use of a mixed scaffolding approach involving piecewise integration and progressive integration to help students learn web scraping using Python in the limited amount of time available.Specifically, piecewise integration enables students to learn different chunks of knowledge separately and selectively integrate them as required.In contrast, progressive integration enables students to begin with the first chunk of knowledge and expand it with related chunks of knowledge.Based on performance in a segment-ending assignment and knowledge transfer to other settings, the scaffolding approach seems effective in imparting the necessary knowledge and skills to students.