DESIGNING AN EXCEL MINI-UNIT

B Y JE N N IFE R S P A N N

ANALYSIS
The client I decided to support is myself as a classroom instructor for Computer Applications I. As I thought about what I needed in my classroom I considered what concepts my students struggle with most and came upon the concepts concerning spreadsheet formulas and functions in conjunction with cell referencing. There are two state standards that support this instructional need. This had the added benefit that I could apply this teaching in the classroom. One of the main barriers Im facing at this time is that I do not want to use a classroom based textbook for instructional purposes since not all my pupils have access to the books (students in out of school suspension, home-based students, and students who are out for other various reasons). Everything each student needs to be able to do the various assignments must be found within the assignment found on the class webpage or on the Internet. The classroom has 29 computers with Internet and Excel on them. Each student has access to the computers during their 55 minute class period and has permission to come back during other class periods to work if needed with permission from both me and the sending teacher. I also offer an hour and a half open lab on Monday afternoons after school so that the students can finish work. Instructional delivery takes place in the classroom in the form of lectures and exercises the students do (traditionally) out of a book. Since this is a computer course, the students MUST have access to a computer in order to be able to show proficiency in the tasks assigned. The students in my classroom range from low level learners to gifted and talented and everything in between. There needs to be supports in place to assist with instructional delivery for all special students needs. By the time the students start working on this unit, they should already be familiar with basic vocabulary terms, moving within a spreadsheet, formatting cells, and inputting basic data. Students in class have access to two different textbooks they can use for resource material but I try to give them everything they need without resorting to the book. I also try to teach the students to find answers by using the in program Help feature and research on the Internet (I call this Teaching Them to Fish) The standards that Im covering are: E2 Create worksheets using spreadsheet commands, functions, and formulas.

E5. Create worksheets requiring the copying of formulas using absolute, mixed, and/or relative cell references.

I would like to try to get this leaning completed in a week if possible but no more than 2 weeks. Right now it takes upwards of three weeks to cover this material to understanding which doesnt leave much time for the remaining standards.

DESIGNING INSTRUCTION
I started by looking at the tools I have available to me to teach the material. As stated above, I really want to stay away from using the text book because I only have a classroom set and there is not an electronic version the students can use. This year I also have the problem of having more students than available books. The overall objectives are: By the end of the unit, the student will be able to: Apply formulas and functions to defined needs such as word problems in a spreadsheet application Use cell referencing when applying formulas and functions in a spreadsheet application Be able to copy formulas and functions as needed within a spreadsheet application Use cell referencing when copying formulas and functions within a spreadsheet for desired effect.

One change I have made to the course is my heavy reliance to the use of an online environment called e-Chalk. Students log into e-Chalk in order to see the daily assignments, standards and objectives, due dates, any videos for the lesson that are available, etc. E-Chalk also contains an area for resources the students can use (including documents, websites, and other support materials), an area for class announcements, and a discussion area. For this unit I plan to have students work on problems similar to ones they have seen before in math as it applies to spreadsheet programs. Students will have questions to answer during the lesson to show that they understand the lesson and will assist me in setting up the functions and formulas. Students will need to have access to videos to watch if they forget how to do something and Im not available to help them. The videos should be closed captioned to assist in understanding of the material and to help improve literacy. Students will have a set of flashcards they will need to make to help re-enforce the vocabulary for the unit. These flashcards can be made either by using the website StudyBlue or by using the traditional method of index cards. StudyBlue allows students to create flashcards and then quiz themselves on them. Students can then share their scores and compete to see who can get the highest score. If the students create the flashcards using StudyBlue, they will have access to these cards on their Smartphones. These flashcards will be an extension activity to work on when other work has been finished.

When students come into the classroom, they are required to do a Starter that reflects on the previous days learning and foreshadows todays content. The Starter allows the students to prepare mentally for the work ahead. Once I have taken role and am prepared to start the lesson, we go over the starters and the students are supposed to correct their answers. I use several methods to check for correctness, the most preferred method is to ask the students the questions and give them feedback (That is a good answer but not the answer Im looking for and Star Student) to encourage student response. I also do a mixture of calling on hands and volunteering students to give answers in order to get everyone involved. These Starters are expected to be used as notes for both class work and for the quiz at the end of the week. Once I have gone over the Starters, I discuss with the students the new learning for the day, using the Promethean Board to put the demonstration directly on each students desktop. Periodically, throughout the lesson, I use questioning to probe for understanding, using a mixture of reflection on the lesson and a simple thumbs up, thumbs down signaling system to get visual feedback from the students. As the situation merits, I allow students to come up to the board to demonstrate understanding as well. There will need to be 5 assignments for students to use to work on cognition and learning. The two assignments are worksheets that have students walk through the steps of creating formulas or cell references in Excel. As they work through the worksheets, they are asked questions about what they are doing to force them to think about the concepts they are using. The worksheet has pictures that the students can use for examples as well as some of the formulas written out to help with cognition. Other assignments are just the steps without the questioning that allow students to work through new understanding cognitively. OVERALL CHANGES TO DESIGN AND INSTRUCTION OF THE UNIT In this section, I talk about the changes Ive changed and the principles and theories that guided my decisions to make this change. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Use of e-Chalk Discussion (Online Learning Environment) Instructional Questioning (Problem Principle) Starters used to activate prior knowledge (Activation Principle) Use of Videos for instruction (Dual Code and Multimedia Effect) Closed Captioning the videos (Multiple Representation Principle) Creation of assignments that step the student through the concepts being introduced (Perceptual-Motor Grounding) Creating each assignment using pictures and steps in the worksheet making assignment easier (Goldilocks Principle) Creation of assignments with examples (Contiguity Principle) Assignments are created with step-by-step instructions (Discovery Learning) Putting pictures in assignment instructions (Split Attention Principle) Create flashcards in StudyBlue (Use of games) Using the Smartphone to study vocabulary with StudyBlue (Andriod App) Use video to show the steps of completing assignment (Worked Out Example)

14. Creation of assignments that allow students to apply new learning (Application Principle) 15. Questions within the worksheets provide the why of learning (Multiple Means of Engagement, UDL) 16. Varying question types on assignments allow for depth of understanding (Deep Questions) 17. Both video instruction and in-class lectures show different ways to access the features of Excel (Multiple Means of Action and Expression, UDL) 18. Quizzes given twice during mini-unit to help re-enforce and check understanding (Testing Effect) 19. Giving feedback during Starters and questions during lesson (Feedback Effects) 20. Creating an assignment that includes pictures, step-by-step instructions, and varied questioning (Anchored Learning)

DEVELOPING THE PRODUCTS

Since this is unit was created from scratch for this semester, there is no before but the after screenshot is attached at the end of this document. I only did an after example of one assignment but all assignments are posted.

IMPLEMENTATION
This unit takes approximately 2 weeks to complete with 5 assignments and 2 quizzes in place to assist with learning assessment. The assignments are graded on completion, not correctness and the students are given feedback on problem areas. Quizzes are given on Fridays and students are allowed the remainder of the period after the quiz to work on unfinished assignments and the vocabulary terms that are assigned as an extension activity. Instruction will take place in the classroom by way of teacher lecture, use of videos, and worked out examples and materials are posted on e-Chalk (the learning environment) for easy access for the students. All materials will be placed on e-Chalk at the beginning of the week and the students are encouraged to work through them at their own pace with the understanding that each days work will come with an in-class lesson as well (this allows the students who work faster to be able to work ahead if they want). Students who have all work completed by the end of the week are allowed time on Fridays to work on outside projects in class.