Power to business professors: Automatic grading of problem-solving tasks in a spreadsheet (original) (raw)
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In modern education, computer applications are capable of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. Instructors teaching spreadsheet applications such as Excel are faced with a variety of assessment and teaching methods to assign and grade homework projects that guide students in mastering the essentials of spreadsheet operations. Several grading software packages are available in the market to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching an Excel course. This study discusses a system designed to create and grading Excel assignments. The system's advantages and drawbacks are discussed and compared to the packages available in the market.
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A myriad of higher education degrees including science, engineering, business and economics could integrate activities using spreadsheet into the teaching-learning process. In the present article, we aim to introduce and describe a new tool that generates, individually assigns, corrects, provides feed-back and grades exercises and activities using spreadsheets all completely automatically. The system’s versatility means it can be applied in a range of areas of knowledge and subjects including mathematics, statistics, physics, accounting and economics, among others. It is usable for both formative and summative assessment based on students’ answers, providing them with the corresponding feed-back and/or the resultant grades. The proposed solution has been developed and implemented at the University of Girona (Spain) and forms part a wider family of tools that aim to contribute to the continuous improvement of higher education.
Journal of Technology and Science Education, 2017
The combination of two macro trends, ICT proliferation and novel approaches in education, has resulted in a series of opportunities with no precedent in terms of content, channels and methods in education. The present contribution aims to describe the architecture, functionality and impact of an automatic spreadsheet corrector responding to a problem-solving approach in an e-learning environment. A total of 179 students coursing technical studies attended a basic course on business administration in the framework of which the experiment was conducted. Subjective perception of students demonstrates a very good opinion about the learning experience using the proposed ICT tool. Objective results show that it is a valuable learning tool, while students who obtain a high final qualification are the ones that have been positively evaluated in the sessions using the automatic spreadsheet corrector. Beyond these highlighted benefits for students, teachers gain time, effort and workload redu...
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This paper describes the development of a spreadsheet-based marking system and its use in first and second year accounting courses at the University of Sydney in 1994 and 1995. A live demonstration of the system is conducted as an integral part of the paper. The paper begins with a relatively brief depiction of the two-fold motivation for the system’s development: (1) the desire to provide large numbers of students with timely and accurate feedback on assignments in a resource constrained environment and (2) to foster use of the personal computer as a problem solving tool through development of expertise with a computer spreadsheet. The first motivation is in essence an integral part of one institution’s strategy to deal with both the current economic environment and the needs of its customers (students and employers). The second motivation is a direct response to the changing needs of today’s students in that the degree of data analysis required for much of their work cannot, in pr...
TEACHERS' ASSESSMENT AND STUDENTS' SELF-ASSESSMENT ON THE STUDENTS' SPREADSHEET KNOWLEDGE
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Proceedings of the 9th International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED) , 2015
Most recent studies suggest that approximately one third of business data in modern organizations is generated using EUD applications developed by non-IT-specialist end-users, most frequently by use of spreadsheet applications. One of the causes of the pandemic of spreadsheet errors, which has been referred to in numerous articles, are inadequately developed end-user spreadsheet applications. Contents pertaining to spreadsheet development offered in Serbian university and LLL courses are primarily based on spreadsheet techniques and capabilities, with complete disregard or marginal recognition of the need to raise awareness of risks and devastating consequences associated with spreadsheet errors. Results of a research on the use of spreadsheets in Serbian SMEs suggest that spreadsheet error prevention and reduction techniques are used rarely. Based on a selection of current best practices, this paper presents several proposals for updating/innovating courses related to spreadsheet d...