Course A Introduction to Computing
Multi-campus Modular Non-major Curriculum in Computing

Goals

• Enter and edit data in cells of a spreadsheet.
• Use simple formulas
• Cut/copy/paste data and formulas
• Give names to ranges of cells, and use those range names in formulas
• Create a spreadsheet to represent numeric dependencies for simple problems
• Use a spreadsheet to answer "what if" questions about simple problems.
• Create a simple graph from a number of data points

Prerequisite Skills

• Familiarity with normal file and editing operations (opening/saving files, using the mouse, etc.)
• Some familiarity with word-processing concepts

• Basic arithmetic including familiarity with fractions and percentages at the grade-school level.

Contents

• Discussion
  • History
  • What is a spreadsheet?
  • "What if..." questions
  • Problems that lend themselves to spreadsheets
  • Problems that spreadsheets aren't good at solving
• Spreadsheet Concepts
  • Cells
  • Ranges
• Putting information in a spreadsheet
  • Entering new data
  • Editing Data
  • Deleting data
• Things you can do to cells
  • Change the width of a column of cells
  • Change the appearance of the cell's value
• Formulas
  • Some quick examples
  • Some things to notice about formulas
• Copying and Pasting formulas
  • What Happened?
  • What's going on?
  • Why on earth does it work that way?
  • Steps for using formulas
• Absolute Addresses: No More Magic
  • Absolute cell addressing
• Naming Ranges
  • Why name a cell or cells?
  • Things to know about named ranges
• Graphs and Charts
  • Parts of a graph
  • Types of Graphs
  • Misleading with Graphs
• Laboratory Assignment
• Vocabulary
• Summary