Excel at Feedback “Using Excel to Generate Individual Grade Sheets for Students & Posting to the Web“ James V. Pinto John D. Eastwood (928) (703) College of Business Administration Northern Arizona University NAU Box Flagstaff, AZ 86011

Overview  Problem Provide information Protect privacy  Traditional Solutions Posting Database Scissors

Excel as a Database  Many faculty already use a “flat file” Students in rows (records) Columns for recorded grades (fields)  Three ways to use this as a database in Excel Excel’s Data – Filter – AutoFilter A template with internal links Excel’s database functions (e.g., DGET)

Data – Filter – AutoFilter  Show titles and one student’s grades Useful when meeting with an individual student  Advantages and Disadvantages Simplest – no work required Printable, but cumbersome  To turn on the filter Place your cursor on the title row Follow the menu commands listed above

 Filter off: Filter on, one student selected: Data – Filter – AutoFilter

Template With Internal Links  Adds a separate worksheet for each student  Advantages and Disadvantages No complicated formulae required Laborious to build, but reusable Difficult to modify Show one student’s grades on one page You create the format you desire Print reports for one student or for everyone

‘Grades’ worksheet: Links on first student’s worksheet: Result:

Formula to Return Grades Nested IF statement =IF($X2>GPA!$B$4,"A",IF($X2>GPA!$B$5,"B", IF($X2>GPA!$B$6,"C",IF($X2>GPA!$B$7,"D", "F"))))

Template With Internal Links Steps: 1.Develop your flat file from your syllabus 2.Develop the report for the first student 1. Edit-Paste Special-[Paste Link button] 3.Copy it n times, editing each 1. Edit-Replace command helps 4.Save workbook as a template 5.Enter or import a class roster into a copy of the template 6.Save the workbook

Database Functions  Add only one worksheet (not n) and get the same results Show or print a one page report for any one student A simple macro will print reports for each student  Advantages and Disadvantages Easier to create, easier to modify Still reusable A bit more complex User must learn only ONE of Excel’s database functions DGET(database range, field, criteria)

‘Grades’ worksheet: Links on report worksheet: Resulting report for first student:

Macro for Printing ' ' GradeReport Macro ' Prints a one-page report for each student. ' Set the upper limit in the FOR statement ' to the number of students in the class. ' Before running the macro, click on cell D2 ' on the Grade Report worksheet, to make it ' the active cell. Sub GradeReport() Dim STUDENT As Integer For STUDENT = 1 To 4 ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = STUDENT ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets.PrintOut Copies:=1 Next STUDENT End Sub

Posting to the Web  Written permission to post by last four digits of student id # or student-selected digits.  Extract w/ “=RIGHT(B2,4)” Returns “1111” from Andrea Ables’s SSN ( )  Excel’s File – Save as Web Page Edit results as desired Hints in proceedings Example on web