By David Phillippi (Belmont University)
Information
At a private university in the southeast, graduate nursing students taking an asynchronous statistics course with typically 25 students in the course are required to work with Excel and frequently encounter challenges during times when help from their instructor is not immediately available. Building automated feedback into an Excel assignment can help students work through these challenges on their own, can help them check their own interpretations of statistical outcomes and can help gamify an otherwise tedious assignment.
In the fall of 2023, a collection of Excel spreadsheets were created to assist students with statistical concepts while working independently. Portions of some spreadsheets were automatically graded creating a gamified experience and providing instant feedback when students were performing a calculation incorrectly. Interactive features were also created to help illustrate challenging concepts.
Students experienced a 23% increase on exam questions on odds ratios over the previous year after a self-grading spreadsheet on the topic was incorporated into the class. Also, Feedback from university administered course evaluations were very positive regarding Excel. Two examples:
""Also amazing work teaching us how to use excel…”
“…assignments…were SO SO helpful in…applying the material to our excel sheets…”
I recommend downloading the files and using the Excel app, but the spreadsheets do work in the online version of Excel.
Example of Interpretation and Interactive spreadsheet used to calculate ANOVA: https://1drv.ms/x/c/3b0f6404a221c8a5/EWGv59qzwbhBge-Cd5lflMgBKEuOMkAAmtURTWdAF9QfNg?e=3MU0EG
Example of a self grading spreadsheet:
https://1drv.ms/x/c/3b0f6404a221c8a5/Ee-AD9A0BKBGjA_KoFg2cVgBYdunpW5H5FoGbWn2I-n96w?e=6mqAa3