my name is Patty Lopez I'm accounting professor valencia college and a digital
faculty consultant for mcgraw-hill higher education
during my 20 years a teaching managerial accounting I've constantly look for ways
to incorporate Excel into my class
I know how important Excel knowledge is to my students' education
and their future careers unfortunately many students lack basic Excel skills
I don't have time to teach them those skills and the consideration it manually grading
Excel projects is also an issue therefore I'm very excited to have partnered with
mcgraw-hill
on their development on a new autograded simulated Excel question type
this question is going to be assignable with in connect accounting
just like every other homework and it's going to be
available for fall use there will be one question per chapter with the garrison brewer
and noreen franchise
this example is from the job order costing chapter in each chapter students
will be building their Excel skills
in the context have managerial accounting as you look at the problem
you can see that it looks just like Excel
and actions like Excel but it is a simulation
therefore students do not have to have Access to Excel
in order to complete this question type I would like to demo this one for you
from the viewpoint of a student as a student I can see that the first input
required is actual manufacturing overhead cost
and that that amount is 302 750 if I type that in however
I'm going to be told that I'm incorrect because I must use formulas
or cell references in order to get credit for the cell
notices as I move through the spreadsheet I get immediate feedback for each cell
whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong what if I come up on a cell and I'm not
sure what to do
well there are two types of optional help available I say optional because
you as the instructor determine whether or not these are turned off or on
the first is a hint the predetermined overhead rate
is calculated using estimated manufacturing overhead cost
and labor hours so the hint gives me some idea of what belongs in to sell but it
doesn't tell me how to input that information
what if I am one of those students who does not have basic Excel knowledge
then I can try show me type equals e5 divided by e6
and press Enter so show me
actually shows me the formula that belongs in the cell
but once I see it it goes away and I have to input it myself
in order to get credit for the cell in addition to the hints and show me
I can also see how many attemps I have available for each cell
and how many are still available this is something else that you as the
instructor controls how many attempts are loud per cell
the default is 3 if I get my first attempt wrong
and I get my second attempt wrong
I get a warning that I have one more attempt available
if I get my final attempt wrong a couple of things happen
first of all I no longer have access to the cell
however I'm not prevented from continuing with the spreadsheet the
correct answer
as well as the correct formula appears and I can continue
the system is very user-friendly
so as long as I input a valid formula
order doesn't matter if I want to type
i can type if I want to point click I can do that as well
as I work my way through the spreadsheet I can move around
I can work out a order if I like for example if I wanted to input my direct
labor
before I calculated my materials I can do that
and remember as I worked through I get that immediate feedback
so if I do make a mistake I have an opportunity to correct my mistake
before I continue now I need my total raw materials available
there are a few different ways that a total can be input
into Excel as long as I do something that is valid
I will be correct and as an aside for those students who are learning how to
use Excel
show me changes from chapter to chapter so students will be showing
different ways to write formulas in different ways to make cell references
now I need to deduct my raw materials inventory ending since it is a deduction
I can input it is a positive I can also input it as a negative
and my show me adjust accordingly
type equals e36 plus e37
and press Enter
when I'm finished with my assignment I submit for grading
just like any other connect assignment of course use an instructor control
how many attempts the student has not just per cell but for the spreadsheet you
control how many points it's worth
and when students can see their reports with their answers
and the correct answers in this case I earned 3.75 out of 10
and when I look at my report I see what I got correct
and when I got incorrect or left blank
remember I input the actual direct labor hours incorrectly
even though the simulation input the correct answer
when I see my report it shows me that I got that cell wrong
and what my wrong input was so as you see
students have the ability to practice their Excel skills if necessary they can learn
some Excel skills
they can complete Excel projects that are graded for you automatically so all of
this can be incorporated into your class
with no work on your part I'm very excited to use it in my classes this
fall
and I hope you are too thank you for your time and if you have additional
questions please contact your Rep