Benjamin J Maas Buena Vista University Workshop Objectives Introductions Why I use Excel based assignments Example assignments Growth of students Excel abilities Things to consider Time to work on assignment ideas ID: 743715
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Using Excel for Quantitative Skill Devel..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Using Excel for Quantitative Skill Development
Benjamin J. Maas
Buena Vista UniversitySlide2
Workshop Objectives
Introductions
Why I use Excel based assignments
Example assignmentsGrowth of students’ Excel abilitiesThings to considerTime to work on assignment ideasQ & A
http://bigcommunity.net/big_news/organizational-gains-from-a-technology-driven-big-data-strategy/Slide3
Introductions
What do you want to gain from today?
What are the most important Excel abilities students should have?
When do you allow students the chance to practice them?
https://mashable.com/2017/03/01/clippy-chrome-extension-microsoft/
https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/excel-2003-the/0596006640/apas02.htmlSlide4
*Note* Can Use Google Spreadsheet Instead
Has all capabilities of Microsoft Excel
Free and many students use it because editable onlineSlide5
Why Do I Use Based Excel Assignments?
Was not happy with my “old” assignments
Provided limited opportunities for reflection on concepts
Did not incorporate the interpretation of dataAs a result key ideas were being missedBuilds on concepts introduced in the coursesStudents can sift through the data
Take ownership of the dataIdentify different ways to represent dataStudents learn ExcelMany have limited practice with it
http://slideplayer.com/slide/8041596/Slide6
Courses with Excel Assignments
Intro. to Environmental Science
Global Climate Change
Environmental HydrologyWater Treatment and Lab MethodsOceanography
Physical GeologyIntro. to Soil ScienceAgriculture and the Environment
Why?
Applicable to jobs
Students have little exposure to making graphs
Students have little exposure to organize data
Students are able to take ownership of the assignmentSlide7
Examples of Homework AssignmentsSlide8
Examples of Graphs for Assignments
Excel techniques learned:
Independent y-axes, values in reverse order, column spacing, picking the ‘right’ graphSlide9
Student Graphs
Early Graphs
Graphs at end of the semester
Many students improved on
Axes labels
Axes location
Chart type
Formatting
Chart design
Excel confidenceSlide10
Things to consider
What are the objectives?
For me, problem solving ‘signature skills’
Wanted more critical thinkingHow long are the assignments?And how frequentNumber of studentsWhat is the ‘right answer’
For me it was coming to a logical answerNeed to provide enough introduction to ExcelMany students have limited experience using ExcelSlide11
Data set to brush-up on Excel Skills
Pick one of the data sets loaded to webpage and produce a graph similar to the one below
Alternatively, you may work on crafting your assignment idea if familiar with these graph typesSlide12
Bubble Chart
Allows three data sets to be compared at once
X-variable
Y-variable“bubble” variableAlternative graph type if you feel comfortable on the other graph typesSlide13
Sites to Access Data
http://www.geomapapp.org/
https://www.usgs.gov/science/mission-areas/water-resources?qt-mission_areas_l2_landing_page_ta=0#qt-mission_areas_l2_landing_page_taSlide14
Your Turn
How can you utilize Excel in your courses?
Outline an idea
Learning objectives?What are the data?Important graph(s)?After forming your idea, start working on the assignment or deliverablesWill reconvene towards the end of the mini-session to share ideas