Welcome to MET Preparatory Laboratories

As a student at BU Metropolitan College, you have free access to hands-on preparatory laboratories. In these specially designed Preparatory Labs you will be exposed to cloud-based educational tools, software applications, and databases, along with pre-recorded internal and/or external tutorials, lectures, and video conferencing.

Our goal is to provide you with the tools and support to prepare you for excellence and success in your studies and career goals.

MET Labs are self-paced and serve as a resource for your academic program. 

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Preparatory Laboratories Offered by the MET Department of Administrative Sciences

AD100: Pre-Analytics Laboratory

A basic understanding of analytical tools is a gateway to business analytics studies, training you to build advanced analytical capabilities and deep managerial insights. This non-credit, hands-on preparatory laboratory will help you gain the fundamental knowledge of data modeling, business analytics, and decision-support tools necessary to build analytical skills for Business Analytics Foundations (MET AD 571) and subsequent courses. In addition to presentations and discussions, students will apply new concepts directly in an interactive, web-based learning environment incorporating Microsoft M365 & Copilot, SQL for Business, Python Programming for Business, R Programming for Business, and Data Visualization for Business.

AD200: Business Analytics Tools & Applications

AD200 is the second level of our series of labs that offer tutorials on how to use Analytical tools and software. These tools are used by business analytics professionals across the different business sectors. In order to be enrolled in AD200 students must have an AD100 completion badge. This laboratory is free to all BU MET ABA students.

By completing AD200 students will:

• Prepare students for different specialization courses within the BU MET Applied Business Analytics program that uses a variety of tools such as Tableau and Python.
• Match current demands of the job market as many of the jobs in the field require knowledge of different tools. Many employers have specific software and tools that they use and require candidates to have proficient knowledge of them to reduce onboarding training and effort.

ADR100: Introduction to R for Business

ADR100 is a non-credit lab meant to serve one primary purpose – to build your familiarity with the R language and programming environment. It is free to all BU MET students. A solid grounding in the basic syntax and structure of the R Programming language is an important foundation for all students who will specialize in the BU MET Applied Business Analytics Program, or for BU MET graduate students from other AD graduate programs. R is a free, open-source, platform-neutral statistical analysis and data visualization language. R is among the most popular programming languages in the world; with the rise of Big Data, it has become one of the technical skills most demanded by employers.

ADR200: Business Analytics with R

ADR200 is an intermediate-level R laboratory that offers students the opportunity to explore statistical concepts and applications in the field of business analytics and business intelligence. The main learning objectives of the self-paced laboratory are to prepare students for (i) all specialization courses within the BU MET Applied Business Analytics program and (ii) the current demands of the job market – ABA students may wish to use ADR200 as a helpful tool as they prepare for business analytics and data science interviews that contain domain-specific questions related to data visualization, data analysis, statistical distributions, machine learning, and advanced topics in R.

PM100: Project Management Essentials

PM100 is a non-credit lab, focused on project management essentials and tools. Students learn how to apply basic project management concepts aligned with the latest project management standards. Focus is on the Project Management Institute’s 7th Edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), for which the instructor, Rich Maltzman, PMP, served on its Editorial Board.  By completing PM100 students will:

• Acquire some of the key ‘lingo’ that project managers use.
• Engage in hands-on practice with a threaded, Boston-flavored, sustainability-oriented example case. Applying project management concepts to this case, attendees gain insight on how tools such as Microsoft Project Professional and key Microsoft Excel add-ins can be used in project, program, and/or portfolio management.
• Finish with a working PM vocabulary, a boost in their ability to succeed in the project management courses at BU MET, in particular AD 642, Project Management.

PM200: Business Analytics Tools & Applications

PM200 is a self-paced experience which will familiarize you with Program and Portfolio management. In this lab you will master Microsoft PPM and make further progress in your journey as you transition from projects to programs and portfolios. You will have the opportunity to browse through carefully crafted PowerPoint presentations (which are also recorded as tutorials) and then, as AD646 students, to then try it out yourself using Microsoft PPM software. In order to be enrolled in PM200 you must have completed PM100 – which is indicated with the PM100 badge.

PY100: Introduction to Python for Business

Python for Business PY100, is a non-credit lab, offered in an instructor-led format, and at no charge to BU MET graduate students.

In PY100, attendees will learn how to understand basic Python techniques and write code to solve simple problems as this lab offers an introduction to the basics of Python with a focus on data analysis and finance. After completing this self-paced laboratory, students will be able to:

• Use the most common functions and features in Python’s base build.
• Download, install, and use popular extensions like numpy, matplotlib, and pandas.
• Perform basic analysis of financial data and create visualizations of results.

PY200: Python Applications for Business

Python Application for Business PY200 is a non-credit lab, offered in self-paced and an instructor-led formats, and at no charge to BU MET graduate students.

In PY200, attendees will learn how to apply Python techniques and write code to solve specific finance and business problems as this lab offers an advanced application of Python with a focus on data analysis and finance.

After completing this self-paced laboratory, students will be able to:

• Use APIs to work with various finance and business databases.
• Perform regression and clustering analysis.
• Get familiar with supervised and unsupervised Machine Learning techniques.
• Learn how to use random forests, neural networks, and dimensionality reduction techniques.

SwaM: Statistics with Applications in Management

SwaM serves as a recommended skills & test center of selected on-campus and online programs and courses offered by BU MET Department of Administrative Sciences.The laboratory SwaM is intended:

• to extend your knowledge and skills in business statistics;
• to enable you to apply statistical methods to management and decision-making;
• to bring industry-specific examples, methods, and techniques into the educational process;
• to enhance your ability to take full advantage of an interactive digital learning environment.

MwaM: Mathematics with Applications in Management

MwaM serves as a recommended skills & test center of all on-campus and online programs and courses offered by BU MET Department of Administrative Sciences. The laboratory MwaM is intended:

• to extend your knowledge and skills in mathematics and statistics;
• to enable you to apply mathematical methods to management and decision-making;
• to bring industry-specific examples, methods, and techniques into the educational process;
• to enhance your ability to take full advantage of an interactive digital learning environment.

 

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Preparatory Laboratories Offered by the MET Department of Arts Administration

AR100: Commercial Theater Development (CTD)

In this self-guided laboratory course (MET AR100), you will receive an introduction to commercial theater, providing a broad overview of the industry’s various verticals. This serves as a foundation for the coursework in the Commercial Theater Development (CTD) graduate certificate and advanced certificate program offered by Boston University’s Metropolitan College.

The curriculum consists of written lectures from our four core CTD courses: Commercial Production: The Broadway Model (AR 751), Strategies for Performing Arts Businesses (AR 752), Current Trends in the Performing Arts Industry (AR 753), and Global Performing Arts: Presenting and Producing (AR 754). Our instructors, who are industry leaders, include producers, presenters, tour bookers, advertising and marketing executives, production managers, and entrepreneurs.

The CTD laboratory concludes with an exercise to help you discover an intellectual property or original idea to creatively develop, raise investments for, and produce on Broadway. You will compare existing musicals and plays on Broadway with your own theatrical production idea. Ultimately, the property you develop will be integrated into the CTD coursework.

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Preparatory Laboratories Offered by the MET Department of Computer Science

CY100: Foundations of Cybersecurity Laboratory

This self-paced, non-credit laboratory offers fundamental knowledge of cybersecurity and helps students to build background in this domain. It provides a foundational understanding of cryptography, covering key encryption methods, data integrity techniques, authentication mechanisms, and real-world applications. Students will learn how cryptographic tools are used to secure digital communication and protect sensitive information.

HE100: Medical Terminology Laboratory

A basic understanding of medical terminology is necessary for students to advance on Health Informatics studies.  This laboratory will help ensure students from non-medical backgrounds have the fundamental knowledge of human anatomy, pathologies associated with it, and medical terminology. These are tools necessary for everybody who will specialize in the BU MET Health Informatics program. Hence, HE100 is a prerequisite or corequisite for all Health Informatics specialization courses.

After completing this laboratory, students will be able to:

• Understand medical imaging and description of coordinates associated with it.
• Understand prefixes and suffixes of medical terminology.
  
• Understand basics of medical laboratory technologies.
• Understand pathologies associated with human body.
  
• Understand basics of human body.
• Understand Pharmaceutical terminology.
• Understand Clinical trials and associated terminology.

LB102: Foundations of Computer Information Systems

This lab introduces computer information systems concepts and terminology as well as foundational mathematics. It develops analytic and logical thinking and prepares students to take graduate-level courses in computer information systems and health informatics. The lab starts with the fundamentals of computing systems, including hardware and software, and then addresses the processes for designing and building computing systems, including systems analysis and project management. Relational database technology is introduced including beginning SQL. Lastly, students are introduced to software development and receive an introduction to the basics of the Java programming language. The lab reviews the mathematics upon which computing systems are founded including number systems, set theory, algebra, and functions.

LB103: Core Mathematical Concepts

This lab covers the fundamentals of calculus and combinatorics. The material comes from MET CS 546 Introduction to Probability and Statistics. Basic grasp of calculus is essential for understanding how quantities vary, making it indispensable in analytics, engineering, science, and the fields such as finance and medicine. It helps students improve their analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. It also helps students model real-world phenomena. Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics that deals with arrangements and combinations of elements in a set. It provides the tools to solve problems from the fields of probability and statistics. It’s indispensable in the fields of genetics, operation research, pharmacology, and many others. Studying combinatorics develops creativity in problem-solving skills.

LB104: Foundations of Probability

This lab covers the fundamentals of probability and statistics. The material comes from MET CS 546 Introduction to Probability and Statistics. The lab begins with a coverage of fundamentals of combinatorics. It’s a branch of mathematics that deals with arrangements and combinations of elements in a set. It provides the tools to solve problems from the fields of probability and statistics. It’s indispensable in the fields of genetics, operation research, pharmacology, and many others. Studying combinatorics develops creativity in problem-solving skills. Then, we move to the coverage of probability and statistics that are branches of mathematics that deal with uncertainty. Probability is the study of the likelihood of events to occur. It uses concepts like chance and probability distributions. Statistics deals with collecting, analyzing, and presenting data. It helps us make decisions and predictions. Probability and statistics form the foundation for decision-making in various fields such as analytics, engineering, science, finance, etc.

LB115: Database Fundamentals

MET LB115 is a self-paced online laboratory that builds practical, graduate-ready fluency in database fundamentals. Through short modules, you will learn what databases provide for applications and organizations; conceptual and physical schemas with ER diagrams; core SQL to retrieve and modify data; and the essentials of performance, indexing, and transactions. The focus is on understanding and applying standard patterns rather than installing or administering specific software, so no database management system is required. Each unit culminates in an open-book, timed test that checks deeper understanding by asking you to compare options, identify correct patterns, and apply fundamentals to realistic scenarios.

WD100: Web Application Development