A Generic Tool for Generating and Assessing Problems Automatically using Spreadsheets (original) (raw)

Power to business professors: Automatic grading of problem-solving tasks in a spreadsheet

Journal of Accounting Education, 2014

This paper presents an innovative approach based on Excel files and a detailed implementation guide that allows a professor with proficient spreadsheet skills to develop individualized problem-solving tasks for assignments and examinations that test students on cognitive thinking processes beyond memorizing and drilling. The professor accomplishes this goal by requiring the students to model a business problem-solving task in a worksheet environment. Each student's work is marked automatically by a generic "plug and play" Visual Basic for Application (VBA) algorithm. The scores and feedback provided are tailored to each individual student and address not only the problem-solving outcome but also the problem-solving process. The learning objective discussed in this work is implemented at a Norwegian university business school.

Automated assessment and marking of spreadsheet concepts

Proceedings of the second Australasian conference on Computer science education - ACSE '97, 1996

This paper discusses the use of methods for automating the testing and marking of spreadsheet concepts within an introductory service subject offered at the University of Newcastle. The methods reduce logistic and management problems encountered with large classes and enhance individual student learning outcomes. Future extensions to the present work are also described.

Use of a Spreadsheet Based Marking System for Assisting Learning and Assessment

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...

Automated formative feedback and summative assessment using individualised spreadsheet assignments

Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2004

This paper reports on the effects of automating formative feedback at the student's discretion and automating summative assessment with individualised spreadsheet assignments. Quality learning outcomes are achieved when students adopt deep approaches to learning (Ramsden, 2003). Learning environments designed to align assessment to learning objectives and learning activities encourage these approaches (Biggs 1999). A crucial part of any learning or assessment activity is the degree to which students receive timely and ...

Understanding complex calculations: Automated spreadsheets with built-in feedback

Paper submitted to ASCILITE conference, 2006

The e-Learning team at the University of Sydney was approached to help develop a resource that would address some areas of learning difficulty that had been identified in two engineering units of study. Complex spreadsheets were developed, then automated with VBA code to provide the students with a formative assessment resource, based on scaffolded learning with immediate feedback. Twenty spreadsheets were eventually made available to second-and third-year students. Student evaluations have led to further development of the feedback features to make it clearer to students why some answers were correct or incorrect, and thus to improve their conceptual understanding of the principles behind the mathematical calculations.

LEVELS OF STUDENT RESPONSES IN A SPREADSHEET-BASED ENVIRONMENT

2004

The purpose of this report is to investigate the range of student responses in three domains -hypothesizing, organizing data, and algebraic generalization of patterns during their work on a spreadsheet-based activity. In a wider context, we attempted to investigate students' utilization schemes of spreadsheets in their learning of introductory algebra. Twenty students' responses to an investigative assignment were analyzed. The findings indicate a wide range of student responses. In each of the three domains analyzed, most student responses fell into several clearly definable categories. However, an attempt to establish a hierarchy of performance levels led to less clear results.

Are you having fun teaching Excel? Using an electronic classroom management system

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2010

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.

Ucv-Test: A Flexible Model for the Interactive Analysis of Multiple-Choice Questions Based Exams Implemented in a Spreadsheet Software

ICERI2018 Proceedings, 2018

In this work, we present a method to analyse exams based on multiple-choice questions. The method has been implemented in a spreadsheet context with Microsoft Excel software. The analysis of an exam with UCV-Test has a double perspective: the evaluation of the students and the evaluation of the exam and its questions. Both perspectives interact because the analysis of the psychometric properties of the exam, applied to a group of students, allows us to refine the parameters of the model. The refined parameters in turn change the students’ grades and the psychometric properties of the exam. After several iterations, the final grades of the students and the final evaluation of the quality of the questions and the exam, considered as a measurement instrument, converge in the refined model. Keywords: UCV-Test, multiple choice questions, assessment.

Spreadsheets: A Tool for e-Learning — A Case of Matrices in Microsoft Excel

International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 2016

Spreadsheets made their first appearance for personal computers in 1979 in the form of VisiCalc, an application designed to help with accounting tasks. Over the years the application area for spreadsheets has multiplied. One application that is becoming more pronounced is in the teaching and learning of pupils and students. A Spreadsheet can be used as a powerful learning tool for both primary and secondary school pupils. Spreadsheets offer concrete ways to explore abstract concepts in mathematics and other subjects. Mathematical ideas are conveyed in several different ways using pictures, colored squares, and number lines. A spreadsheet can be a helpful tool for visual learning. Using spreadsheets also promotes higher order thinking skills. Spreadsheets contain a variety of formulas, which can be used in teaching mathematics. These formulas can be generalized, so that students can see how the outcome is changed when one of the variables in the formula is altered. The spreadsheet tool also promotes the development of problem solving skills and supports "What if..." type questions. Apart from using ready-made formulas pupils can make up their own formulas to manipulate numbers. This paper proposes the use of Ms Excel in the teaching and learning of Algebra in secondary schools. The paper gives a specific example on how a topic such as matrices can be delivered using Ms excel.