SpreadsheetsAn EXCEL-lent Way to Learn

Group 6 Jackie Beck Heather Haney Bobby Sargent Amy Toelaer February 16, 2004

Introduction
How can Excel spreadsheets be used in the classroom? What are some problems with the use of spreadsheets in the classroom? What age level and curriculum area is most appropriate for using spreadsheets? Many teachers have these same questions. Excel seems as if it can only be used by adults to do complex tasks, but that is a myth. Excel spreadsheets hold such potential for todays students, no matter the age level or curriculum area. Spreadsheets can be used in many fun and interesting ways. Teachers can benefit from learning about the advantages of using Excel spreadsheets in the classroom.

Spreadsheets in the Classroom

A spreadsheet is a page with columns and rows. You can enter just about anything in the columns and rows. Excel spreadsheets hold many uses for teachers within the classroom and outside of the classroom. Within the classroom, spreadsheets can have a purpose in many different subject areas. For example, in math, spreadsheets can be used to make graphs, surveys or in language, the students can compile or work word search or do their definitions. Below is a table with some examples for teachers on using Excel spreadsheets in the different subject matters. (ExcelIntegrating, n.d.)

Classroom Use
Math Estimation Math facts Probability Survey Conversions Formulas Graphs Data analysis-comparing temperature changes, measuring average of time spent on TV watching Budget Science Social Studies Science experiments Timeline - lung capacity Weather log Presidential database Language Alphabetize a list Word search General/All Presentation Memorization - hide/unhide columns

Data analysis from Ancient Civilization experiments chart Graphs How I spent my day Data analysis

Cross Word puzzle Graphs Definitions Charts Tables Pictographs Logs

Mail merge with Word

(ExcelIntegrating, n.d.)

Students can be taught to get ready for the real world using the Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all sorts of things. They can learn how to keep a list of bills, when they were received, when the bills were paid, and the amount paid. The spreadsheet can be arranged so that the bills are listed by month and by category such as utilities, groceries, clothing, health care, and so forth. This can be made into a year-round project. Give them a monthly income and a sheet of what type of bills to pay and how much they cost. Then give them a checkbook and use Excel spreadsheets to teach them how to live on a budget and balance a checkbook (Angelo, 1997).

In the next chart are examples of spreadsheet uses outside the classroom for teachers. Teacher Use outside the Classroom
Examples of ways teachers can use spreadsheet outside the classroom Grading work - grade book (If/then or lookup formulas) Classroom organization - templates, class charts, student database, emergency information database (auto fill or pivot tables) Planning lessons - Internet resources, classroom activities, Worksheets/Activities - templates, math, vocabulary, word search Quizzes, tests Awards Graphs Timelines Attendance
(Excel--Integrating, n.d.)

Problems With Excel

Although spreadsheets can be a useful learning tool, there are disadvantages associated with using them in the classroom. The biggest problem with incorporating spreadsheets into lesson plans is that they have limited uses related to subject areas. Spreadsheets are much more suited to math and science than they are to subject areas such as English or social studies. In a math or science class, spreadsheets are a great tool because they organize large amounts of data. In an English classroom, however, the content is not as well suited to being organized in the same form as numbers or scientific data. One only has to search the Internet for ideas about using spreadsheets in the classroom to see that the majority of ideas for teaching students to use spreadsheets are designed for use in math or science classes. Spreadsheets can also be problematic if they are used frequently in math classes because the software does the calculations for the student, according to the Murdoch University in

Australia (Spreadsheets and Mathematics, n.d.). Although this can be helpful because it allows students to manipulate the variables in the spreadsheet and see the consequences of changes in the variables, because the calculations are completed for the student he or she loses out on a chance to practice their math skills.

Benefits of Using Excel

The majority of the resources we found seemed, on the surface, to point toward the use of spreadsheets in mathematics and science classrooms. Upon further investigation, we discovered that there are multiple uses for spreadsheets in the liberal arts classroom also. The teachers and students at Ss. Peter & Paul School in Naperville, IL, have come up with some very imaginative uses for spreadsheets. In the reading and language arts content areas, spreadsheets are useful for making a reading list, a grammar worksheet, and a self-scoring spelling test. In the area of social studies they have developed spreadsheets that compared the stances on key issues of Presidential candidates, listed the Party affiliations of past and present Presidents of the United States, and, used as a graphic organizer, compared characteristics of ancient civilizations (School spreadsheet, 2001). Spreadsheets are useful in the lower elementary grades for helping students organize and analyze data that they collect. For students at the kindergarten and first grade level this could be something as simple as classifying animals by their like characteristics. Second or third graders can track the number of books and/or minutes read each week through the use of a spreadsheet. Students in the fourth and fifth grades can use a spreadsheet to track how their time was spent each week and discover how many hours they were in school, played sports, watched television, etc. (Why do I need, 1997). On another Website we found examples of students in the elementary

grades using spreadsheets to construct Bingo grids, to record temperature readings, for graphing, for making timelines, and for learning multiplication facts (Adkins, 2000). As early as the third grade, the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) recommends that students use spreadsheets to solve problems, analyze data, and examine patterns. Students in middle and high school can also use spreadsheets to perform higher-order mathematical calculations and analyses. By using a spreadsheet, students can concentrate on mathematical reasoning without worrying about performing cumbersome calculations (OzgunKoca, 2000). It is important that the students understand and are able to perform these calculations on their own before using a spreadsheet to save time in performing them. Students at all grade levels are engaged by learning through the use of computers. Using EXCEL spreadsheets as a teaching tool allows teachers to introduce and reinforce concepts where students can actually see them illustrated as opposed to only reading about them. The use of spreadsheets also allows students to examine real-world situations such as housing and mortgage costs, and making predictions about stock market trends (Bulion, 2001).

Conclusion
Excel spreadsheets have such a wide variety of uses in the classroom, from a math graph, to a science weather log, to a social studies timeline. Although there may be a limited use in certain areas of the curriculum, there are at least a few options of using spreadsheets in the content areas. Students and teachers alike will benefit from using spreadsheets. Learners at all age levels can also profit from the interaction and skills learned in the development and utilization of spreadsheets. Students and teachers alike will benefit from using spreadsheets in schools.

Spreadsheets are not a wonder tool by which all teaching can be simplified, but they definitely provide a method by which data can be more easily organized and analyzed.

References Adkins, K. (2000) Classroom strategy. To Excel is Elementary. Retrieved February 4, 2004, from http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/kadkins/strategy.htm. Angelo, M. (1997). Use Excel 97 to Organize, Analyze, & Publish Data & Info. Retrieved February 11, 2004, from http://www.intac.com/~aboutcmp/Excel97a.html. Bulion, L. (2001) EXCEL-lent middle school math lessons. Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved February 4, 2004, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech079.shtml. ExcelIntegrating into the Curriculum. (n.d.) Retrieved February 11, 2004, from http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/lenglish/Excel/excel_integration.htm. Madison (WI) Metropolitan School District. (1997) Why do I need a spreadsheet, anyway? Retrieved February 4, 2004, from http://danenet.wicip.org/mmsd-it/tlc/ssintro.html. Murdoch University. (n.d.) Spreadsheets and Mathematics Education. Retrieved February 11, 2004, from wwwstaff.murdoch.edu/au/~kissane/spreadsheets.htm. Ozgun-Koca, S. A. (2000) Using spreadsheets in mathematics education. ERIC Clearinghouse for Science Mathematics and Environmental Education. Retrieved February 4, 2004, from http://www.ericfacility.net/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed463951.html. Ss. Peter & Paul School (IL) (2001) School spreadsheet safari. Retrieved February 11, 2004, from http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110054/.