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- Spreadsheet and File Management Concepts Using 123
-
- The following are brief descriptions of the the 123 spreadsheet files
- (*.WK1), student handout files (*.HDT) and assignment files (*.AST)
- that I use in teaching spreadsheet concepts with 123.
-
- WORKSHEET FILES
-
-
- I. BASIC CONCEPTS AND TERMS:
- II. FORMATTING AND RANGES:
- III. WHAT-IF MODELS:
- IV. DATA FILE OPERATIONS:
- V. MISCELANEOUS TOPICS:
-
- I. BASIC CONCEPTS AND TERMS:
-
- SILLY.WK1
- Demonstration spreadsheet to illustrate cell addressing and the
- LABEL data type.
-
- SCRNFMT.WK1
- Used in first demonstartion session, along with a matching
- handout (not on disk) to show the idea of labels, formulas,
- current cell, command and status areas on the screen.
-
- COLADD.WK1
- Used in first demonstration session, along with a matching
- handout (not on disk), to illustrate the idea of a formula.
-
- STUDENT.WK1
- Student income/expense example, introduces the FORMULA data type
- and used in STUDENT.AST.
-
- FORMULAS.WK1
- This spreadsheet illustrates various formuli and their values.
-
- II. FORMATTING AND RANGES:
-
- FORMATS.WK1
- This spreadsheet illustrates the various format options.
-
- DODGBEF.WK1
- Unformatted baseball statistics, which the student is asked to
- format in DODGER.AST. The formatted version is used in
- DODGPRNT.AST and DODGXFR.AST.
-
- DODGAFT.WK1
- Formatted version of DODGBEF.WK1.
-
- III. WHAT-IF MODELS:
-
- INTMODEL.WK1
- This spreadsheet introduces the idea of a "what if" model, as
- opposed to a form-automation application. I demonstrate it in
- class along with INTMODEL.HDT.
-
- REINVEST.WK1
- This is a real 16-parameter "what if" model (I used it in making
- a real-estate investment). I demonstrate it to illustrate what-
- if analysis, screen-splitting, and as a jumping off point for
- discussing sources of errors in spreadsheets and "style" and
- "debugging" tips to avoid them. (Would you make an investment
- based on the results of this model? Do you trust it, or would
- you be suspicious of errors? ...). The spreadsheet is documented
- in REINVEST.HDT, and it is used in the REXFR, WHATIF and
- REINVEST assignments.
-
- IV. DATA FILE OPERATIONS:
-
- DATASORT.WK1
- This is the real estate data file, which I use for an in-class
- demo to illustrate the sorting of a data file. It is the first
- data file illustration, and I use it to introduce the DATA
- commands, the ideas of file, record, and field, and the column-
- heading conventions of 123.
-
- DATAFIND.WK1
- This spreadsheet illustrates database search for a single-field
- boolean criterion. I use it as an in-class demo along with the
- handout in FIND.HDT.
-
- DATAONLY.WK1
- This is the real estate data file, which is used as input for the
- assignment DATA.AST.
-
- DATAFND2.WK1
- This spreadsheet illustrates database search for a two-field
- boolean criterion. I use it as an in-class demo along with the
- handout in FIND.HDT.
-
- DATAASST.WK1
- This is a solution to DATA.AST.
-
- V. MISCELANEOUS TOPICS:
-
- BINOMIAL.WK1
- This spreadsheet displays a binomial distribution, given P and N.
- It illustrates the fact that there are many non-administrative
- spreadsheet applications.
-
- LAUGHS.WK1
- Illustrates the idea of macros with a simple example.
-
- MULTABLE.WK1
- Generalized multiplication table. Assign the students to
- duplicate it, as an exercise in learning the difference between
- relative and absolute addresses with the COPY command.
-
- FNS.WK1
- This spreadsheet combines several independent, one-screen sized
- spreadsheets, each of which illustrates a different function. I
- use them in an in-class demonstration, along with the three
- handouts in FNS.HDT. If possible, go through them in the lab
- with the students on the computers. Demonstrating all of the
- functions requires about two hours. The functions illustrated
- are: SUM, AVG, MIN, STD, IF, IRR, NPV, VLOOKUP, and DAVG.
-
- HANDOUT FILES
-
- The following are student handouts I use. Several of them document
- the spreadsheets listed above.
-
- MENU.HDT
- This handout summarizes selected menu commands, the function key
- assignments and the use of the <esc>, <period>, and <cursor
- control> keys in pointing to ranges.
-
- INTMODEL.HDT
- This handout shows the INTMODEL.WK1 spreadsheet model.
-
- FNS.HDT
- This is a three-handout set on functions. The first handout is
- an explanation of the idea of present value for students who have
- not studied finance. The second handout is a short "manual"
- giving the general form of the functions used in FNS.WK1, with
- space for the student to write notes. The third handout is a
- listing of each of the FNS.WK1 spreadhseets and models.
-
- DATAFND.HDT
- This is a two-handout file. The first, used with DATAFIND.WK1,
- illustrates a single-field search in the real-estate data file.
- The second, used with DATAFND2.WK1, illustrates a two-field
- search.
-
- CONSULT.HDT
- A listing of the CONSULT.WK1 model. I combine this with a screen
- shot of the resultant spreadsheet in the handout, but I do not
- have it in machine-readable form. (I will add it as soon as I
- get a screen-save utility from somehwere).
-
- REINVEST.HDT
- This handout doucments the REINVEST.WK1 spreadsheet. It shows
- the model parameters and describes the remaining portions of the
- model (intermediate results, operating income and expenses, cash
- flow, accumulated capital, and opportunity cost).
-
- CONSOLID.HDT
- This handout illustrates consolidation of spreadsheets by
- appending and addition.
-
- MULTABLE.HDT
-
- This handout illustrates the multiplication table
- spreadsheet which is used to teach relative versus absolute
- addresses in COPYing.
-
- ASSIGNMENT FILES
-
- The following files contain the assignments I use in teaching 123.
- Many use the spreadsheets listed above.
-
- STUDENT.AST
- This assignment introduces spreadsheet formulas. It is based on
- STUDENT.WK1.
-
- LABEL.AST
- This is the first spreadsheet assingment, introducing spreadsheet
- terms, entering labels, moving the cursor, and using commands.
- The student creates a spreadsheet with a few labels in it and
- answers a few simple questions.
-
- OWNSS.AST
- This assignment asks the student to create a personally useful
- spreadsheet. If they cannot think of one, they are asked to
- prepare a 1040 tax form.
-
- SSEVAL.AST
- This is a software evaluation assignment -- a quick "test drive"
- of a spreadsheet program. The student does simple experiments to
- measure memory capacity, recalculation speed, disk I/O time and
- storage requiremnts.
-
- PRINT.AST
- The student prints from DODGAFT.WK1. The entire spreadsheet,
- selected portions, and the underlying model are printed.
-
- DODGER.AST
- This assignment covers spreadsheet formatting. The student is
- asked to clean up the format of DODGBEF.WK1. Some questions also
- deal with formulas. The handout includes a listing of the
- DODGBEF model. The formatted spreadsheet is used in
- DODGPRNT.AST, so the student should save it.
-
- DODGPRNT.AST
- This assignment familiarizes the student with the spreadsheet
- printing and gives practice with the 123 print submenu. The
- formatted version of DODGBEF is used.
-
- REINVEST.AST
- This assignment gives practice with a realisticly sized what-if
- model.
-
- WHATIF.AST
- This is a variation on REINVEST.AST.
-
- DODGXFR.AST
- In this information transfer assignment, the student transfers
- portions of DODGAFT.WK1 spreadsheet to a word processing program.
- The assignment uses the same skills as REXFR.AST, but is not
- business oriented.
-
- REXFR.AST
- In this information transfer assignment, the student transfers
- portions of REINVEST.WK1 to a word processing program. This
- assignment uses the same skills as DODGXFR.AST, but is business
- oriented.
-
- DATA1.AST
-
- This assignment introduces file management terms and query
- operations. The student SORTs and FINDs records in
- DATAONLY.WK1.
-
- DATAEXT.AST
- This assignment gives practice with the EXTRACT command. The
- studeent extracts selected records and fields from the file
- DATAONLY.WK1.
-
- APARTREC.AST
- This assignment asks the student to build their own
- spreadsheet. I use it toward the end.
-
- INTMODEL.AST
- This is the first model-building assignment. I use it after
- the DODGER assignment.
-
- MULTABLE.AST
- This assignment illustrates relative versus absolute
- copying.