Data-handling, processing, and analysis skills are an integral part of a chemist's skill set and, more generally, are highly sought by employers. We report a self-directed workshop to develop and advance these key skills using the popular spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel. Making use of its accessible user interface, various contextualized…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of randomized versus nonrandomized data using an Excel case study project to measure students' academic performance. Specifically, the study examines whether randomized data strengthens students' analytical, problem-solving, and Excel skills while manipulating and analyzing accounting data. The…

Most sales management undergraduate courses teach students about sales management rather than how to successfully manage a sales team. A desire to change this paradigm resulted in a newly designed hands-on, skill-based sales management course that uses business case studies in combination with students developing, practicing, and performing the…

This inquiry-based activity designed for the fifth through 12th grade allows students to engage in an outdoor, place-based experience, working collaboratively both in groups and as a class to accomplish the class goal of creating a local tree map linked to student-collected data about each tree. During Local Tree Mapping, students explore the…

Many potential employers expect that newly hired students will arrive on-the-job with the ability to analyze data, utilize spreadsheets, and communicate findings and recommendations. We designed the Ocean State Circuits, Inc. Forecasting Project to address these gaps in our students' knowledge of analytical tools (such as the "vlookup()"…

The outline for half of a one-credit-hour course in analysis of chemical engineering data is presented, along with a range of typical problems encountered later on in the chemical engineering curriculum that can be used to reinforce the data analysis skills learned in the course. This mini course allows students to be exposed to a variety of ChE…

Decision makers have always relied on a mixture of qualitative and quantitative information. Recently, two technological tools--spreadsheets and the Internet--have dramatically altered how decision makers analyze quantitative information, thus necessitating curriculum changes in programs to prepare students to use these tools effectively. Harvard…