Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
BU500 Course Assessment Report
Overview of Course Assessment
Introduction to Microcomputer Applications, BU500, is an introductory productivity software course
designed for business majors. The course has no prerequisite and is taught in a computer lab. This course is
required for several Business Department majors and each semester the Business Department offers at least
10 sections of this course. The course content includes operating system and presentation software essentials,
and intermediate features of word processing and spreadsheet software. By the end of the course, students
should be able to:
 Select the word processing software, spreadsheet software, and graphics presentation software best
suited to solve a variety of business problems and address a variety of business needs.
 Understand the fundamental concepts of operating systems, word processing, electronic spreadsheets,
and graphics presentation software.
 Complete hands-on assignments using Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Windows 7.
This report includes an assessment of the following Spring 2015 sections: B13, D13A, D13B, D24, and F13.
In total, 75 student submissions were assessed.
Student Learning Outcomes & General Education Objectives
Table A includes a list of the learning outcomes for BU500 students. Each learning outcome corresponds to
one or more of the following General Education Objectives.
General Education Objectives:
1. Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking
2. Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make
informed decisions
3. Reason quantitatively and mathematically as required in their fields of interest and in everyday life
4. Use information management and technology skills effectively for academic research and lifelong
learning
5. Integrate knowledge and skills in their program of study
6. Differentiate and make informed decisions about issues based on multiple value systems
7. Work collaboratively in diverse groups directed at accomplishing learning objectives
8. Use historical or social sciences perspectives to examine formation of ideas, human behavior, social
institutions, or social processes
9. Employ concepts and methods of the natural and physical sciences to make informed judgments
10. Apply aesthetic and intellectual criteria in the evaluation or creation of works in the humanities or the
arts
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Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
Table A – Learning Outcomes
General
Education
BU500 Student Learning Outcome
Objective
1
1. Students will use application software to format, organize and present
information clearly and concisely.
3
2. Students will use application software to create calculations to process
mathematical information.
3. Students will use application software to organize and interpret data and use
the data to draw conclusions.
4
4.
4. Students will use information and technology to support business/organization
functional needs.
Assignment to Assess
Students were assessed on the MS Excel GPA textbook assignment, which was completed during one class
session. This assignment was chosen because it allows students to demonstrate a comprehensive set of
software knowledge as it is applied to a real life situation. In this assignment, students use MS Excel to
calculate student GPA data for multiple semesters and to determine the grade requirements for students to
achieve a certain performance level.
Please refer to Appendix A for a copy of the Assessment Assignment.
Evidence to Examine
The primary investigator used a spreadsheet application assignment to assess student software use in the
following areas:
1. Formatting Cell Contents – This area assesses a student’s ability to present information
clearly. Applying formatting to text and numbers greatly enhances the appearance and
readability of worksheet data. Students were assessed on their ability to format numeric data
using decimal places.
2. Organizing Information for Printing – This area also assesses a student’s ability to present
information clearly and concisely. However, this specifically relates to the appearance and
layout of the entire document. Students were assessed on their ability to apply page
orientation features, global document data, and cell and document scaling options.
3. Working with Formulas – This area assesses a student’s ability to use application software
to create calculations to process mathematical information. Performing calculations is a key
feature of MS Excel. Students were assessed on their ability to understand the calculations
required to address an organization’s information needs and create the formulas to calculate a
student’s semester GPA and Cumulative GPA, among other values.
4. Applying Sheet References – This area also assesses a student’s ability to use application
software to create calculations to process mathematical information. However, this
specifically relates to the advanced feature of MS Excel that allows the user to create
calculations using data from multiple worksheets. Students were assessed on their ability to
understand the structure and relationship of multiple worksheets and create calculations to
address an organization’s information needs using global worksheet values to create formulas
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Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
to calculate the total credits earned for a student over multiple semesters.
5. Forecasting Values – This area assesses a student’s ability to use information and
technology to support business/organization functional needs by applying the Goal Seek
feature of MS Excel. Goal Seek is an analytical feature of MS Excel that is specifically
designed to help the user project future data values in relation to an existing set of known
data values. Students were assessed on their ability to understand this complex feature and
apply it to calculate the projected grade a student would need in a course to achieve a
particular GPA.
Students completed the in-class assignment and printed the following documents for assessment:

1 worksheet with student grade data


1 worksheet with formulas to support the student grade data
1 document demonstrating student use of the MS Excel Goal Seek feature
The domains of the scoring rubric correspond to the Student Learning Outcomes as indicated in Table B.
Table B – Rubric/Learning Outcome Relationship
Scoring Rubric Domain
BU500 Student Learning Outcome
A. Formatting Cell Contents
B. Organizing Information for Printing
C. Working with Formulas
D. Applying Sheet References
E. Forecasting Values
1. Students will use application software to format,
organize and present information clearly and
concisely.
2. Students will use application software to create
calculations to process mathematical information.
3. Students will use application software to organize
and interpret data and use the data to draw
conclusions.
4. Students will use information and technology to
support business/organization functional needs.
In this assessment, each of the five domains listed above were scored by three BU500 instructors. The scores
from each instructor were averaged for each domain. Percentage values for satisfactory and unsatisfactory
student performance were then calculated for each domain.
Please refer to Appendix B for a copy of the Assessment Rubric.
3
Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
Analysis of the Assessment Results
Summary
As indicated in Table C, overwhelmingly, students were able to demonstrate proficiency in all of the
assessment component areas and student learning that were assessed in this study outcomes are being
achieved. In Table C, Satisfactory represents students that achieved in the Excellent or Good category for
each domain and Unsatisfactory represents students that achieved in the Fair or Poor category for each
domain.
Table C – Assessment Results
Component
A. Formatting Cell Contents
Satisfactory
95%
Unsatisfactory
5%
B.
Organizing Information for Printing
95%
5%
C.
Working with Formulas
92%
8%
D.
Applying Sheet References
81%
19%
E.
Forecasting Values
87%
13%
Improvement Areas
Improvement areas are identified for two major categories. The first category for improvement focuses on a
“knowledge gap” area. This is the Assessment Component with the lowest satisfactory rating. For this area,
potential sources for the knowledge gap are identified and a plan of action is suggested. This is important
because improvements in this category will move students from the unsatisfactory area to the satisfactory
area, thus, increasing satisfactory outcomes. This is where significant additional instructional resources
should be focused.
The second category for improvement focuses on the “boost” skill set. These are skills which, if improved
upon, would move students from the Good category to the Excellent category. While not improving the
overall satisfactory percentage, improvements in these boost skills should improve students’ individual
grades, academic confidence, and overall knowledge about the course topics. In addition, improvements in
boost skills can be achieved with minimal additional instructor resources.
Table D, indicates how many students scored within each category for each domain under assessment. For
example, 66 out of 75 students were able to format cell contents in their MS Excel worksheet accurately, 2
students completed this activity with no more than 2 errors, 1 student was able to apply only 1 formatting
feature accurately, and 3 students were not able to apply any of the required formatting elements accurately.
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Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
Table D – Detailed Assessment Results
Component
Excellent
3
Good
2
Fair
1
Poor
0
A.
Formatting Cell Contents
66
5
1
3
B.
Organizing Information for Printing
39
32
3
1
C.
Working with Formulas
57
12
4
2
D.
Applying Sheet References
59
2
9
5
E.
Forecasting Values
58
7
6
4
It is clear from the assessment results in Table C that the knowledge gap area is Applying Sheet References,
with an 81% satisfactory percentage. This is an area where additional attention would benefit student
outcomes. This knowledge gap may exist because Sheet References is one of the more complex areas
addressed within the course and it relates to the student being able to understand complex relationships
between data and then being able to develop calculations based upon this knowledge. To address this
knowledge gap, faculty teaching this course will be asked to develop 2 new instructional components for this
specific topic. One instructional component will address learning the conceptual aspects of Applying Sheet
References and the other instructional component will address techniques used within the software to create
formulas that use Sheet References. These additional instructional components are intended to provide more
direct exposure and practice with this complex topic and thus, improve student learning in this specific area.
Fifty-eight students placed in the Good category across all components. Table E identifies the boost skills
that were identified during this assessment study. These were specific skills that, if applied accurately, would
have moved a student from the Good category to the Excellent category. To enhance usage of these boost
skills, faculty teaching this course will be asked to provide additional emphasis when referring to these
topics. No additional instructional resources will be needed.
Table E – Boost Skills
Skill Description
Autofit
Calculating formula
Header/footer
Portrait orientation
Center worksheet horizontally
Decimal formatting
Landscape orientation
# of Students
20
13
10
8
7
4
3
Percentage
34%
22%
17%
14%
12%
7%
5%
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Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
Appendix A
Assignment Rubric
Component
A.
Formatting
Cell Contents
B.
Organizing
Information
for Printing
Excellent
3
Formats GPA & Cum
GPA with 2 decimal
places
Good
2
Formats GPA OR Cum
GPA with 2 decimal
places
Fair
1
Formats GPA &
Cum GPA
incorrectly
Poor
0
Does not apply
format to GPA
OR Cum GPA
Worksheet: 1) Header
with required info;
2) centered horizontally;
3) 1 page;
4) portrait;
Worksheet: Accurately
apply 2 or 3 of the
components
Accurately apply
1 of the
components in
either area
Does not apply
any printing
components
Formulas: 1) landscape;
2) Autofit;
3) 1 page;
4) Sp 2015 sheet
Formulas: Accurately
apply 2 or 3 of the
components
C. Working Accurately calculates
with Formulas 1) Total Points,
2) Semester Total for all
Credits Earned,
3) GPA,
4) Cum GPA;
copies 1 & 2 to relevant
rows
D.
Accurately calculates
Applying
Cum Total for Credits
Sheet
Earned;
References
copies formula to E14
Accurately completes 2
or 3 of the 4 formulas;
copies a formula to
relevant rows
Accurately
completes 1 of the
4 formulas
Does not
complete any
formulas
Accurately calculates
Cum Total for Credits
Earned
Incorrectly
calculates
Cum Total for
Credits Earned
Does not calculate
Cum Total for
Credits Earned
E.
Forecasting
Values
Accurately applies
Goal Seek; places 1
Goal Seek dialog in
Word document
Inaccurately
applies Goal Seek
Does not apply
Goal Seek
Accurately applies Goal
Seek; places both Goal
Seek dialogs in Word
document
6
Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
Appendix B
Assessment Assignment: MS Excel GPA Textbook Assignment
1. Obtain the following file from your instructor: GPA.xlsx.
2. Open the GPA.xlsx file. The first worksheet represents grades from the Fall 2014 semester. Each grade on
the worksheet is represented by a number, as described in the following table:
Grade Letter
A
B
C
D
F
Grade Number
4
3
2
1
0
3. Enter the formulas to calculate the Total Points for each course. (HINT: In cell E7, multiply the Grade
times the Credits Earned to calculate the Total Points for BU500. Remember, only use cell references in
the formula, and do not use the values within the cells.)
4. Copy that formula down the column for all the courses.
5. Enter the formula to calculate the Semester Total for all Credits Earned. (HINT: In cell D13, add up
each of the Credits Earned, or you may use the SUM function instead.)
6. Copy the formula in cell D13 across the row into cell E13 to calculate the Semester Total for Total Points.
7. In cell F13, calculate the GPA for the semester as follows:
a. Divide the Semester Total’s Total Points by the Semester Total’s Credits Earned.
b. Format the GPA to 2 decimal places.
8. Use What-If analysis with the Goal Seek tool to determine the grade you would have to have earned in
Business Math to receive a 3.00 GPA for the semester.
9. Capture the Goal Seek screens (with the appropriate values filled in) that you used to determine the above
result and print them in a new blank Word document.
10. Change the grade back to a 2.
11. Copy the worksheet data from Sheet1 to Sheet2 and maintain the column width settings.
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Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
12. On Sheet2, make the following modifications:
a. Change the title in cell A3 to Spring 2015 Grades.
b. Change the following course information:
Course
BU101
EN102
MA128
BU520
FR102
Course Title
Accounting
Composition II
Calculus
Intro to Programming
French II
Grade
3
2
3
4
3
Credits
Earned
4
3
3
3
3
13. In cell D14 on Sheet2, calculate the Cumulative Total for Credits Earned. (HINT: Add the Semester
Total Credits Earned from the Fall 2014 worksheet and the Semester Total Credits Earned from the
Spring 2015 worksheet. You may use the SUM function if you like. Use sheet references to refer to the
cells on the different worksheets.)
14. Copy this formula to cell E14 to calculate the Cumulative Total for Total Points.
15. In cell F14, calculate the Cumulative GPA as follows:
a. Divide the Cumulative Total’s Total Points by the Cumulative Total’s Credits Earned.
b. Format the Cumulative GPA to 2 decimal places.
16. Rename the worksheets Fall 2014 and Spring 2015.
17. Document the workbook file by adding your name as the author.
18. Preview the worksheet.
a. Add a predefined header for each worksheet that displays your full name, page number and date.
b. Center the worksheet horizontally on the page.
c. Scale the worksheet to fit on one page.
19. Print the entire workbook using Portrait orientation.
20. Save the worksheet using the following filename:
GPA_xxxx_yyyy.xlsx
Where xxxx represents your first name and yyyy represents your last name.
21. While your document is still open, display the formulas on the Spring 2015 worksheet.
22. Preview the worksheet again, changing the page orientation to Landscape mode. Autofit the columns so
that all the formulas are visible. Scale the worksheet to fit on one page. Display row and column
headings.
23. Print only the Spring 2015 worksheet with the formulas displayed. You do not need to save this view of the
worksheet.
To be submitted:
 Hand in:
o The normal printed version of the entire workbook file
o The version with the Spring 2015 worksheet formulas displayed
o The Word document with your Goal Seek screen captures with your name.
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Wendy Ford
Assistant Professor, Business
Assessment Institute
Spring 2015
Appendix C
Student Artifact
Fall 2014 Grades
Course
BU500
EN101
MA120
BU201
FR101
Course Title
Intro to MS Office
Composition I
Business Math
Intro to Business
French I
Semester Total:
Cumulative Total:
Credits
Grade Earned
4
3
2
3
2
3
3
4
3
3
Total
Points
12
6
6
12
9
16
45
GPA
2.81
Spring 2015 Grades
Course
BU101
EN102
MA128
BU520
FR102
Course Title
Acountring
Composition II
Calculus
Intro to Programming
French II
Credits
Earned
Grade
3
2
3
4
3
4
3
3
3
4
Semester Total:
Cumulative Total:
Total
Points
GPA
=C7*D7
=C8*D8
=C9*D9
=C10*D10
=C11*D11
=SUM(D7:D11)
=SUM(E7:E11)
=E13/D13
=SUM(Sheet1!D13,D13) =SUM(Sheet1!E13,E13) =E14/D14
9