Beginning Spreadsheets using Excel

Course Number:
CAS 170
Transcript Title:
Beginning Spreadsheets using Excel
Created:
Aug 04, 2022
Updated:
Jun 29, 2023
Total Credits:
3
Lecture Hours:
10
Lecture / Lab Hours:
40
Lab Hours:
0
Satisfies Cultural Literacy requirement:
No
Satisfies General Education requirement:
No
Grading Options
A-F, P/NP, Audit
Default Grading Options
A-F
Repeats available for credit:
0
Prerequisites

Placement into IRW 115 or WR 115 and MTH 65 or MTH 98

Course Description

Introduces the basic features of spreadsheet concepts to design and create accurate professional worksheets for use in business and industry. Includes entering data, creating formulas, professional formatting, creating charts, creating, sorting, and filtering lists, creating and using templates, and working with functions. Introduces the basics of Pivot Tables, Pivot Charts, and Solver. Focuses on ways to ensure accuracy including proofreading techniques and critical thinking to determine what data to present and how to present it. Recommended: placement into IRW 115 or WR 115, and MTH 65 or MTH 98. Audit available.

Course Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, student will be able to:

  1. Use critical thinking skills to design and create personal and/or business spreadsheets following current professional and/or industry standards.
  2. Communicate in a business setting using spreadsheet vocabulary.
  3. Demonstrate understanding of relative, absolute, and mixed cell references when using mathematical and statistical formulas and/or functions.
  4. Analyze worksheet data using datasets, tables, Pivot Tables, Pivot Charts, and Solver.

Suggested Outcome Assessment Strategies

Assessment may include:  Projects with original work, reflection journals, group discussions, open ended assessment, objective tests on basic document functions. 

Course Activities and Design

The determination of teaching strategies used in the delivery of outcomes is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: lecture, small group/forum discussion, flipped classroom, dyads, oral presentation, role play, simulation scenarios, group projects, service learning projects, hands-on lab, peer review/workshops, cooperative learning (jigsaw, fishbowl), inquiry based instruction, differentiated instruction (learning centers), graphic organizers, etc.

Course Content

Outcome #1: Use critical thinking skills to design and create personal and/or business spreadsheets following current professional and/or industry standards.

  • Building basic worksheets by entering text, numbers, and formulas.
  • Generating various styles of charts by using the chart wizard.
  • Developing skills in managing multiple-sheet worksheets.
  • Creating lists and using sort and filter features.
  • Creating a spreadsheet from data with no specific instructions.
  • Creating Templates
  • Using linking and embedding concepts.
  • Generating Web pages from spreadsheet documents.

Outcome #2: Communicate in a business setting using spreadsheet vocabulary.

  • Discuss and describe spreadsheet functionalities.  
  • Developing skills in formatting, and saving, accurate, readable worksheets.
  • Developing decision-making skills by using what-if analysis on spreadsheets.
  • Using help features.

Outcome #3: Demonstrate understanding of relative, absolute, and mixed cell references when using mathematical and statistical formulas and/or functions.

  • Creating formulas using absolute and relative references, if functions and average functions, AutoSum, and grand total.
  • Using Statistical Functions
  • Using 3-D referencing.
  • Using additional functions such as PMT, maximum, and minimum.

Outcome #4: Analyze worksheet data using datasets, tables, Pivot Tables, Pivot Charts, and Solver.

  • Using Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts.
  • Using Solver.
  • Insert tables to organize and present data.

Suggested Texts and Materials

Open source: Beginning Excel, First Edition by Barbara Lave, Diane Shingledecker, Julie Romey, Noreen Brown, and Mary Schatz