Public Affairs 5514: Excel 2

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This is a sample syllabus to provide general information about the course and it's requirements. Course requirements are subject to change. This syllabus does not contain all assignment or course detail and currently enrolled students should reference the syllabus provided by their instructor. For a specific syllabus, please email us a request.

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Course Overview

1 Credit Hour
Modalities Available: Online

Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool to collect, organize, and analyze data. It has many advanced analytical and visualization features. Because Excel is part of Microsoft Office, it is widely used by private enterprises, nonprofits, and governments. Unlike traditional coding languages, working in Excel is hands-on. You work directly with data, and it provides immediate feedback. However, like traditional coding languages, Excel’s blank grid does not provide guidance on how to begin a project. It expects you to know what do. In the course, you will learn the steps on to how to approach a project, use procedures to analyze data, and present the analysis.

 

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will:

  1. Gain proficiency with the advanced analytical tools in Microsoft Excel
  2. Use Excel to analyze data
  3. Produce complex organized spreadsheets where others can follow your analysis
  4. Present data and analysis in clear professional manner using visualizations
  5. Be confident using Excel in future projects

Requirements and Expectations

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

Excel refresher exercise, 13 points

Pivot table and pivot chart exercise, 17 points

Debugging exercise, 17 points

Final project progress report, 3 points

Final dashboard project, 50 points

Excel refresher exercise
Description: Goes over skills you will have learned in the basic Excel course. The exercise involves formatting and the use of different formulas.

Pivot charts and dashboards
Description: Will require you to create a table, pivot tables, and a pivot chart. 

Debugging exercise
Description: Will require you to find errors in a spreadsheet, correct the errors, and improve the organization.

Final dashboard project
Description: Will require you create an original interactive dashboard that can be used assist others in understanding your
data. You will choose the topic, gather the data, and produce the dashboard. The assignment has two components: a progress report and final dashboard.

The progress report is a form you will submit containing the following information:

  • Research topic.
  • At least one data source with either a link to the data or the actual data.
  • Questions you hope the data will answer.

Final dashboard must include two different data sources joined into one table, at least three computed fields, two named objects, a pivot table to summarize the data, and a pivot chart for interactive analysis. In addition, the dashboard you create must have interactive elements that another person can use to quickly manipulate the data. One worksheet must show how you used the data to answer an initial research question. Ideally, you can place all the elements so can it produce a professional printed output. At least one example of a project is available on canvas.

Course Schedule

  • Week 1 – Introduction to the course, assignment expectations, and lookup functions
  • Week 2 – Data tables and pivot tables
  • Week 3 – Slicers and pivot charts
  • Week 4 – Debugging, named objects, and array formulas
  • Week 5 – Error handling, data validation, and dynamic arrays.
  • Week 6 – Descriptive statistics, identifying outliers, and frequency tables
  • Week 7 – Forecasting functions and regression
  • Finals Week – Due: Final dashboard project

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