Milestones for Teaching the Spreadsheet Program

There are different manners of teaching a spreadsheet program. In any case, it is intended that the teacher settles the objectives of the course and adapts them to the particular audience he/she has to deal with. This paper aims at providing any teacher whatever his/her specific objectives and his/her audience with elements to help him/her building a course. It focuses mainly on two important issues: 1 - select in all that may be said about such complex tools, what is prior to know and to teach, i.e. what leads to autonomy in using but also to autonomy in learning (because everything cannot be taught) and 2 - show how concepts are closely related to good formatting considerations. A method based on the "invariants of information processing" is outlined, partially illustrated and an implementation is described throughout a course designed for students preparing a master in Education Sciences.Comment: 11 Page

A Simple Low-Cost Institutional Learning-Outcomes Assessment Process

Law school institutional learning outcomes require measuring nuanced skills that develop over time. Rather than look at achievement just in our own courses, institutional outcome-measures assessment requires collective faculty engagement and critical thinking about our students’ overall acquisition of the skills, knowledge, and qualities that ensure they graduate with the competencies necessary to begin life as professionals. Even for those who believe outcomes assessment is a positive move in legal education, in an era of limited budgets and already over-burdened faculty, the new mandated outcomes assessment process raises cost and workload concerns. This essay addresses those concerns. It describes a relatively simple, low-cost model to measure institutional law school learning outcomes that does not require any initial changes in individual faculty members’ pedagogical approach or assessment methods. It explains how a rubric method, used by the Association of American Colleges and Universities [AAC&U] and medical educators to assess a wide range of nuanced skills such as critical thinking and analysis, written and oral communication, problem-solving, intercultural competence, teamwork, and self-reflection, could be adapted by law schools. The essay explains a five-step institutional outcomes assessment process: 1. Develop rubrics for institutional learning outcomes that can be assessed in law school courses; 2. Identify courses that will use the rubrics; 3. Ask faculty in designated courses to assess and grade as they usually do, adding only one more step – completion of a short rubric for each student; 4. Enter the rubric data; and 5. Analyze and use the data to improve student learning. The essay appendix provides sample rubrics for a wide range of law school institutional learning outcomes. This outcomes assessment method provides an option for collecting data on institutional learning outcomes assessment in a cost-effective manner, allowing faculties to gather data that provides an overview of student learning across a wide range of learning outcomes. How faculties use that data depends upon the results as well as individual schools’ commitment to using the outcomes assessment process to help ensure their graduates have the knowledge, skills and values necessary to practice law

Database Concepts in a Virtual World

This project explored the use of a 3-D virtual world in an introductory database course to reduce the amount of time required to learn database concepts. A Second Life 3-D model was built to clarify database concepts and students used the model to create a Microsoft Access inventory database. Thereafter, the students provided feedback by answering a voluntary survey. Eighty two percent of the students surveyed agreed that the 3-D model clarified terms such as records, tables, primary keys and relationships. Seventy five percent of the students believed that the model reduced the amount of time required to learn these concepts

Spreadsheet As An Algorithm Visualization Tool

This paper first presents the definition of algorithm visualization (AV) and its potential in increasing students’ engagement in the learning process according to Bloom’s taxonomy. Then it demonstrates in detail that not only can spreadsheet develop and support computational and algorithmic thinking, but it can also be used as an AV tool. Authors give examples as well on how learners can reach increasing levels of engagement using spreadsheet as an AV tool

The First Accounting Course: An Outcomes Assessment Approach Project

This paper discusses a class project that can be used in an introductory accounting class as an outcomes assessment tool.  The project is done in groups of four to five students.  Each student analyzes one company’s ratios for a two year period and compares their firm’s ratios with their firm’s industry’s ratios.  When this is complete, the group then uses the individual firm data to make an investment decision.  The investment decision must be based on the data from the individual firm ratios.  Once the group has decided which firm to invest in, they then have to complete a pro-forma income statement for the firm assuming a $2 billion expansion.  Overall, the project is done in steps that help the students build their final project throughout the semester.  The project is submitted at the beginning of the 13th week of classes so that the instructor can grade it and hand it back to the students at the beginning of the 14th week of classes.  The groups present their projects during the last two class periods of the semester.&nbsp