Sessions

Managing Assessment Data in Windows Excel & Google Sheets

Digital literacy is an ever evolving and increasingly necessary aspect of education. The recent transition to synchronous, asynchronous, and even hybrid classes in the COVID-19 era has led to a reliance on a multitude of online services (Xreading, MReader, Flipgrid, Edmodo) and web-based learning platforms (Google Classroom, MS Teams, WebClass, Blackboard, Moodle) – all with their own unique User Interface (UI) – increasing the difficulty of learning to navigate the services and manage assessment data. Additionally, free online gradebooks are not always reliable. Notably, Engrade, once free and popular, now requires complex registration and pricing options, and Learnboost, a once reliable Engrade alternative, has been dropped altogether. Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are both deep calculation tools, but the basics can be easily learned and applied to assessment data management. This paper seeks to demonstrate the basic workflow of Excel and Sheets by reviewing three simple formulas (adding, multiplying, and dividing), simple organization options (spacing and color), and finally how to create a usable template and mock gradebook with weighted categories. Participants will thus be further prepared to effectively approach Excel and Sheets to practically manage assessment data.