BSIS 501: Advanced Excel Analysis and Reporting

Course Description

The purpose of this course is for students to develop and apply advanced Excel skills. The primary learning outcome is that students will gain advanced skills to use Excel productively. The course delivery is online including short lectures, activities, assessments, and scheduled virtual office hours. Functions explored include VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP functions; IF, and Nested IF Statements with OR/AND conditions; Use of the Data Tab (e.g., What-If analysis, and Forecasting Sheet); Simulations and Solvers. High-level overview includes:

Analyzing Data with Pivot Tables
Exchanging Data with Other Programs
Sharing Excel Files and Incorporating Web Information
Customizing Excel and Advanced Worksheet Management
Programming with Excel

The course is an elective in the online Master of Business Administration.

Course MODALITY

The course modality for BSIS 501 is online asynchronous.

Student engagement is primarily assessed through timeliness and quality of assignment submissions, as well as participation in drop-in and scheduled office hours.

A guide for weekly focus is provided to help students work through the materials and assignments, but using it is not required

Elements of Course Design

Organized by week

The required workbook for the class is organized by modules 12 through 16, so the weekly modules need to be titled using week instead of module.
Each week contains information focused on (a) various functions identified as being important to know to apply to industry data analysis and reporting and (b) assignments related to the modules in the required workbook including terminology activities.

Learning modules

Week 00 is intended to help orient students to how the course is designed prior to the official start of the class and refer back to as they work through the material, tutorials, assignments, and activities.
Week 01 focuses on a review of basic functions in Excel and modules 12 and 13 in the workbook.
Week 02 continues to focus on a review of functions in Excel and modules 14 and 15 in the workbook.
Week 03 focuses on how Excel is typically used in industry and module 16 in the workbook.

Module-specific learning objectives

There are objectives for the week and specific learning objectives for the modules

Student Engagement

Recognizing Participation

BSIS 501 is a three-week course with one optional virtual meeting each week. The first semester this certificate was used for students who wanted to demonstrate their skills in specific techniques.
For future courses this certificate will be used for recognizing students who participate in the weekly meetings or 1:1 zoom meetings and complete an assignment/activity tracking worksheet. There are no point values associated with the certificate.
Weekly optional zoom meeting

There is a different case study that can be used to facilitate discussion each week and the students are also encouraged to bring samples of how they use Excel in their work.

Drop-in office hours

There is a schedule of set drop-in office hours.

Office hours by appointment

Students are also able to set 1:1 appointments to meet with the instructor.

Action Tracking Worksheet

To help promote practical use of Excel, an Action Tracking Worksheet is provided and can be used to help the student earn their YEP certificate.

The workbook is designed similarly to the project management phase tracking workbook used in Week 03 in the class.

Assessment of Student Learning

Week 01 Focus

Review of Excel’s commonly used functions
Monday focus: Review of basic equations
Wednesday focus: Identify appropriate types of charts
Thursday zoom class: Bring an Excel spreadsheet to share and discuss. Instructor will bring one on food program management.
Friday focus: Building/manipulating charts – analyze and interpret data to make business decisions
Module 12: Analyzing Data with Pivot Tables
Module 13: Exchanging Data with Other Programs

Action items

Complete and submit the following assignments:
M-12 Independent Challenge
M-12 Visual Workshop
M-12 Terminology Xword
M-13 Independent Challenge
M-13 Visual Workshop
M-13 Terminology Xword

Week 01 Objectives

Review basic equations
Identify appropriate types of chart
Exploring working Excel Spreadsheets
Build/manipulate charts
Explore analyzing data with PivotTable
Explore exchanging data with other programs

Week 01 Learning Outcomes

M-12 Analyzing Data with PivotTables
Develop guidelines for a PivotTable
Develop an understanding of PivotTable vocabulary
M-13 Exchanging Data with Other Programs
Plan a data exchange between Office programs
Develop an understanding of data exchange vocabulary

ACTIVE LEARNING & EQUITY

Board games based on traditional games like tic-tac-toe can connect students with the broader community. A three-week course is a great opportunity explore industry and course concepts using quick and fun formats.

To help promote equity, diversity, and inclusion the characters used are different races, people in leadership roles are various genders, and includes the use of non-binary pronouns.

STUDENT RESOURCES

Because the course is a three-week course, I think it is important to provide the students with as many resources as possible that they can use after the course concludes.
Individual tutorials include material from the required workbook instructor resources, tips and tricks, original screencaps working through processes, resources from Microsoft Support, and links to relevant videos.
I used Doodly to create various videos and resources
One of the techniques I started using during the QLT training was creating an instructor intro video. I modify it each semester to include references to current events.

QLT, 2018–2019 Cohort
ACUE, Spring 2020
GO Virtual, Spring 2021
Closing the Equity Gap FLC, Spring 2021
AEL Institute, Summer 2021
- I began advising at the graduate level in academia in 2005 and teaching in 2007 and have used active and experiential teaching approaches from the start. I was certified as an instructional designer in 1998, where I first learned flipped classroom approaches while designing corporate training programs in various industries.
- The QLT and ACUE learnings contributed significantly to the course design for BSIS 501. What I learned in the Go Virtual and Closing the Equity Gap FLC motivated me to look for ways to incorporate techniques that support the use of technology and explore ways to apply approaches for increased inclusivity. I specifically chose the AEL Institute to be able to focus on applying improvements to BSIS 501 for F21.
- I am familiar with the high-level concepts of many of the active and experiential approaches and the ongoing learning is introducing me to specific tools and new ways of engaging with students. I am interested in learning more about the COIL program in Fall of 2021 to consider using in my MGMT-447 courses.

TRAINING IN COURSE DESIGN

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