Trainer Preparation Guide: DP-3011 January 2024

DP-3011: Implementing a data analytics

solution with Azure Databricks
January 2024
Contents
Purpose ............................................................................................................................................................ 1
Course description ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Learning objectives .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Audience profile ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Audience prerequisites .................................................................................................................................... 2
Prerequisite knowledge to teach this course .................................................................................................. 2
Required materials to prepare for and teach this course................................................................................ 2
Student training content .............................................................................................................................. 3
Preparation tasks ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Course timing ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Agenda ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Labs .................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Azure subscriptions ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Tips and tricks for teaching DP-3011 ............................................................................................................... 6
Course timing ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Hands-on Labs .............................................................................................................................................. 6

Purpose
This document is for Microsoft Certified Trainers preparing to teach DP-3011: Implementing a Data
Analytics Solution with Azure Databricks. This course is designed for students who are planning to take the
corresponding certification exam, or students who are using Azure Databricks solutions in their daily tasks.

Course description
This course is designed to be delivered in one full day.
The course is designed as a blended learning experience that combines instructor-led training with online
materials on the Microsoft Learn platform (https://learn.microsoft.com). Students are encouraged to use
the content on Learn as reference materials to reinforce what they learn in class and to explore topics in
more depth.

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Learning objectives
After completing this course, students will be able to:
• Explore Azure Databricks.
• Spark in Azure Databricks.
• Use Delta Lake in Azure Databricks.
• Use SQL Warehouses in Azure Databricks.
• Run Azure Databricks Notebooks with Azure Data Factory.

Audience profile
You should be an Azure data engineer with subject matter expertise in designing, implementing,
managing, and maintaining Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop experiences and remote apps for any device.

Audience prerequisites
None

Prerequisite knowledge to teach this course

To successfully teach this course, instructors must have in-depth skills and knowledge of using Azure
Databricks. Experience delivering DP-203 course will ensure full preparation. Instructors should have
completed every link MS Learn course and lab exercise.
Note: These guidelines are not inclusive of the requirements to become a Microsoft Certified Trainer
(MCT).

Required materials to prepare for and teach this course

You need the following materials to prepare for and teach this course:

Resource
Microsoft PowerPoint files
Change Log
Lab environment provided
by your lab hosting provider
Lab instructions
Description
Download the DP-3011-ENU-PowerPoint.zip from the MCT Download
Center
Download the DP-3011-ENU-ChangeLog.pdf from the MCT Download
Center.
Contact your lab hosting provider for instructions on using their lab
environment.
Provided in the lab environment and in the DP-3011 GitHub repository:
mslearn-databricks

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Student training content See the following section for a detailed breakdown of each Learning Path
covered in the course.
Student training content
The student training content for this course is located in Microsoft Learn. The following table provides a
breakdown of each Learning Path, the modules covered in each, and the link to each LP in Microsoft
Learn. The student training content includes links to additional reading material to help you prepare for
specific topic areas.
Slide content section Online training in Microsoft Learn
1 - Explore Azure Databricks Explore Azure Databricks
Lab: https://aka.ms/mslearn-adb
2 - Use Apache Spark in Azure Use Apache Spark in Azure Databricks
Databricks
Lab: https://aka.ms/mslearn-databricks-spark
3 - Use Delta Lake in Azure Use Delta Lake in Azure Databricks
Databricks
Lab: https://aka.ms/mslearn-databricks-delta
4 - Use SQL Warehouses in Azure Use SQL Warehouses in Azure Databricks
Databricks
Lab: https://aka.ms/mslearn-databricks-sql
5 - Run Azure Databricks Notebooks Run Azure Databricks Notebooks with Azure Data Factory
with Azure Data Factory
Lab: https://aka.ms/mslearn-databricks-factory

Preparation tasks
Instructors should complete the following tasks to prepare for teaching this course:
• Always check the Change Log to take note of any updates to the course.
• Review all the course material and feel comfortable with all content.
• Review the PowerPoint slides.

• Practice presenting the slides and reading the presenter notes

• The bulleted items on each slide should NOT be read verbatim to the students.

• As a trainer, your experience is a real value-add beyond the bulleted talking points.
• Review the Additional Reading links and other linked resources provided in the student training
material.

• It’s recommended that you present key points from this material to supplement the value-
add you provide as an instructor.

• Identify where to offer a demonstration in addition to the provided slides. Again, your expertise
helps students learn the real-world expectations.
• Be comfortable with the Knowledge Check (KC) questions and answers in case a student challenges the
question or answers.

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• Ensure you’re able to perform all labs confidently to assist students who may struggle.

Course timing
Agenda
There’s a large amount of content and you cannot spend longer than 3 minutes per slide and complete all
material. Any questions will have to be fielded after the course. Introductions and breaks will have to be
short.
The following agenda provides estimated times to complete each classroom activity. However, the
estimated times may vary depending on the background of your students, which may affect whether you
can move faster or slower through the course material.
Estimated times for each section includes the time to complete as part of a 1-day course:
• The module’s PowerPoint slide deck presentation.
• Any pre-defined product demonstrations.
• Time to review Knowledge Check questions (see the section on Additional Timing Notes below).
• Time to complete a classroom discussion activity if a Discussion slide is included in the module
slide deck.
The following table provides delivery specifications for a 1-day course.

Estimated Classroom activity

Time
45 minutes Explore Azure Databricks | Microsoft Learn Training Module
Lab: 30 minutes
60 minutes Spark in Azure Databricks | Microsoft Learn Training Module
Lab: 45 minutes
60 minutes Use Delta Lake in Azure Databricks | Microsoft Learn Training Module
Lab: 45 minutes
75 minutes Use SQL Warehouses in Azure Databricks | Microsoft Learn Training Module
Lab: 45 minutes
75 minutes Run Azure Databricks Notebooks with Azure Data Factory | Microsoft Learn
Training Module
Lab: 45 minutes

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Labs
The labs must be completed within the lab environment provided by your lab hosting provider. Detailed
step-by-step instructions are provided for each lab and presented as part of the UI experience within your
lab environment.
At the time the courses were released, the lab instruction had been thoroughly tested and the lab steps
were 100% accurate. However, given the nature of Microsoft’s cloud products and the fact that Microsoft
releases UI updates on a regular basis, it’s possible that at some point in time, the UI for a given feature
may change so that it no longer matches the lab instruction.
If students encounter lab steps that don’t accurately reflect the UI, they’ll have to work through the UI to
determine what needs to be done. Typically, UI changes are quite subtle, so hopefully you don’t find
yourself in a situation where a feature was completely overhauled.
However, if you do run into major UI changes, challenge your students to work through it, and only offer
help if they definitely need it. Product UI changes will be part of their daily life in today’s cloud-centric
world. As IT/Pros, they must learn how to work through such situations.
One thing Microsoft does ask of you is that if you run into situations such as this where lab instructions no
longer match the corresponding UI, please document the issue in the course’s GitHub repository. This will
help Microsoft’s World-Wide Learning team update the lab instructions to keep them as up to date as
possible. For information on how to submit an issue, please see GitHub User Guide for MCTs.

Azure subscriptions
To complete the labs and any additional demonstration exercises in this course, students will need an
Azure Subscription. If you are not using a hosted lab environment, you will be provided with Azure passes
for you and your student. Additional information can be found on Access to Microsoft Learning Azure
Passes for Students of Authorized Microsoft Learning Partners. Please ensure that your Learning partner
has requested Azure passes for both you and the students. After receiving the passes, each student will
need to activate their pass.
The Azure pass effectively functions in the same way as the publicly available Microsoft Azure Trial
Subscription. This means there are limitations on what you can do with the pass.

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Tips and tricks for teaching DP-3011

Are you looking to improve when teaching this course? Maybe you don’t teach the course very often, or
you haven’t taught the course before? If so, this section offers some tips from our top trainers to help you
deliver the best course possible.
We recently conducted a survey of course Metrics that Matters responses. Overall, the comments were
very positive. However, there are always opportunities for improvement.
So, here are three specific areas we would like to highlight: Course timing, Hands-on labs, and Classroom
interactivity.

Course timing
Typical comments:
The course timing is too tight, days ran too long, pace is too fast, course should be an additional day, and
not enough time to absorb the material.
Discussion:
DP-3011 provides a lot of content for you to select from based on your audience and teaching style. It is
not intended that you cover every slide, demo, lab, discussion, and review question.
You must select the combination of course elements that fit best within the allotted classroom time.
Consider your audience, consider your ability to tell the story, and consider the depth of coverage.

Summary:
To improve in this area, we ask that you fit the course to your audience and teaching style. Plan your time
and set the students’ expectations of what will be covered and how it will be covered. You do not have to
cover everything that is provided. It is better to cover a few things well than a lot of things incompletely.

Hands-on Labs
Typical comments:
Labs are too complicated, labs are too lengthy, labs should be more real world, labs should follow the
lecture, and lab steps do not match the UI.
Discussion:
DP-3011 provides GitHub labs throughout the course. These labs assume a level of student familiarity with
the UI portal and scripting. However, students may not have this knowledge, which means you need to
consider your audience and their ability to complete various labs.
Summary:
To improve in this area, we ask that you use your best judgment when selecting which labs to do with
your students. Alternative labs have been added to the GitHub pages where we think they are
appropriate. You can suggest students go through those shorter and less complicated labs.

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