Public Affairs 5513: Excel 1

By the end of this course, students should successfully be able to:

1. Gain an understanding of essential functionality of Microsoft Excel
2. Utilize Excel to optimize the formatting, usability, and comprehension of data and reports
   1. Create formulas comprised of simple and advanced functions to produce calculations, clean and manage text, lookup data, handle error conditions, and provide conditional responses
   2. Become familiar with the many Excel options for presenting data in charts and graphs
3. Create and Use PivotTable and PivotCharts to summarize and analyze data
4. Understand important limitations of Excel and best practices for ongoing data management and collaboration
5. Practice connecting Excel data management and presentation to real world policy issues
6. Become proficient at recognizing, identifying, and implementing reliable information for future Excel applications

Texts may be required for this course. Consult your instructor's syllabus for details.

• Individual Introduction - Carmen Discussion Posts, 3 points

• Cautionary Tales - Carmen Discussion Posts, 11 points

• Project 1 - Excel Skills Projects, 13 points

• Project 2 - Excel Skills Projects, 14 points

• Project 3 - Excel Skills Projects, 14 points

• Initial Proposal [part 1] - Original Final Project, 8 points

• Data, Research Questions, Analysis Plan -  Original Final Project, 12 points

• Analysis and Memo - Original Final Project, 25 points

Description: Students will have the opportunity to engage in multiple class discussions during this course, but two will be graded, the individual introduction due when the semester begins and the response to the Excel cautionary tales articles found in Module 1. Details about due dates and response expectations (e.g. length where applicable) can be found in the Carmen assignment along with the scoring rubric. Due dates for each graded activity will be posted on Carmen and are in the Course Schedule on the last page of this syllabus. Because this is a collaborative activity and classmates’ ability to participate depends on others, no late assignments will be accepted for discussion posts and responses.

Description: Detailed assignment instructions and the scoring rubric will be posted on Carmen well in advance of the due date. Because these are individual skills assessments, students must complete each project individually.

Project 1 will assess formatting and introductory formula and functions skills. 

Project 2 will cover nested/advanced formula and functions skills.

Project 3 will assess PivotTables

Students may submit these assignments up to seven days late. One point will be deducted per day late. To maintain fairness in assessment, no late submissions will be accepted for grading after seven days. 

Description: For this project, students will select a data set, craft one to three questions that will be answered through Excel analysis, construct and execute an analysis plan, and present the results in a succinct memo. To support students, this project is scaffolded, i.e. there are due dates for the initial proposal, analysis plan, and results. These will be indicated on Carmen and can be found in the course schedule on the last page of this syllabus. Students lock in their project plans early in the term, so clear and specific guidance on topic and data selection considerations will be provided on Carmen. The initial proposal and analysis plans may be submitted up to one week (i.e. seven days) late with a one point per day deduction. To maintain fairness when assessing student work, no late submissions will be accepted for grading after seven days. The final analysis and memo cannot be accepted late as they are due at the end of the term. Because this is a summative assessment of individual skills, each student must complete this project individually.