Powering up your Grade book: A Spreadsheet Designed to Teach Students Excel© Skills and to Make Assigning Students' Grades Easier

Abstract In a survey by Bain et al. (2002, Table 13), they found that 72% of business professionals recommended teaching spreadsheet applications as part of an AIS course while only 36% of the faculty polled reported using spreadsheets in the AIS course. This gap between what professionals thought should be taught and what professors teach could lead to students beginning the work force with less than desired spreadsheet skills. The purpose of this article is to provides a scenario (teacher's electronic grade book) in which students are taught advanced Excel© skills to better prepare them for future job requirements. An added bonus of this example tutorial to instructors is an efficient, re-usable spreadsheet to make assigning students' grades easier.