By: Kara McNish

EXCEL PROJECT:TOOLS FOR DATA

ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTIONClass: Personal Finance/Careers, Full

year course, graduation requirementUnit: Income and TaxesClassroom: Computer lab with

desktop computers, 2010 Microsoft Offi ce and SMART Board

Students: All freshman, range of Advanced to SPED, 504, ELL

Objective: Students will understand how taxes aff ect net income and be able to show this through the Excel Payroll Project.

Standards: 9.2.8.A.7., 9.2.8.A.9, and 9.2.12.A.9

Activities: Day 1:

Bellwork: Question via Edmodo Prime Time 1: Whole group instruction Day 1 of gross vs.

net pay and parts of a pay check (tax and non tax deductions)

Down Time: Complete Questions on class discussion via Google Forms

Prime Time 2: Whole group demonstration of completed examples of Excel Payroll Project they will be starting tomorrow.

Exit Ticket: Poll questions via Edmodo polling students on their comfort level with Excel for tomorrow’s project

INTRODUCTION

Activities: Day 2:

Bellwork: Question via Edmodo Prime Time 1: Whole group instruction Day 2 of and

overview of the Excel Payroll Project and how to utilize the formulas in Excel using a Screen-Cast-O-Matic video (video will also be linked on Class Edmodo page so students can view individually and reference throughout project)

Down Time: Students being work on their Excel Payroll Project

Prime Time 2: Discuss any questions they may have regarding the project

INTRODUCTION

Activities: Day 3:

Bellwork: Question via Edmodo Prime Time 1: Whole group instruction Day 3 review

yesterday’s Excel formulas and functions, answer any questions, review rubric

Down Time: Students being work on their Excel Payroll Project

Prime Time 2: Discuss the analyzing of the data to complete the questions for Homework

INTRODUCTION

Abstract Sequential: Logical, conceptual learners Working in Excel, working with

numbersConcrete Sequential: Organized,

perfectionists Detailed directions, video (step by

step)Abstract Random: Spontaneous,

social Class discussion, being a student

ambassador (helper)Concrete Random: Practical, hands-

on Working with real life situation that is

relatable to everyone especially students with a job

BRAINY BITS- LEARNING STYLES

Frontal: Planning, thinking, and direct problem solvingTemporal: Sound, music, face and object recognitionOccipital: Exclusively used for visual processingParietal: Calculations

BRAINY BITS- THE LOBES

Data in rows in columnsFormatting (bold, font, underline, borders, fi ll)Column width adjustments, text alignments

BASIC SKILLS

BASIC SKILLS

• TODAY function was used to set the date that the payroll is being done and can be used in the template for future week’s payrolls. This function automatically updates for the present days date.

• SUM function was used to calculate the sum of all the deductions for each employee, as well as the sum of each individual deduction categories and, gross and net pay totals for all employees.

• ADDITION & MULTIPLICATION formulas were utilized to calculate gross pay & net pay. MULTIPLICATION was used to calculate the tax deductions (only one shown).

1.

2. 3.

BASIC SKILLS

• Freeze Panes were used to see the employee names with their gross pay and net pay.

• Cell references on different sheets, were used to reference the gross pay sheet where the gross pay for each employee was already calculated via a formula, rather than recalculating.

• Auto Fill was used to fill the number for employee numbers.

• Conditional Formatting “Data Bars” was used to visually show how many hours each employee worked. The longer the green bar the more hours worked, the shorter the bar the less hours worked.

BASIC SKILLS

• Absolute reference, was used when calculating overtime pay. Every employee earns 1.5 their regular rate of pay so to calculate overtime pay, we referenced cell B21, which was the overtime pay rate, and added the $ to make it absolute and stay the same throughout all the overtime pay calculations.

• Cell references on same sheets, we references the overtime pay rate to calculate overtime pay, this was located on the same sheet in the “rates” chart.

ChartGraph IF Function

ADVANCED SKILLS

Graph comparing gross vs. net pay of each employee.

IF function used for regular & over time hours. Function for regular hours states, if hours worked is <40.5, then regular hours worked is“40”, if not then it is equal to D3. Function for overtime hours states, if the hours worked are >40.5 then subtract total hours worked (D4) from Regular hours worked (F4) and use that number, if not then “0”.

Chart used to reference “rates” for taxes and overtime rates.

Students will be graded based on this rubric. They will also have follow up questions to help them evaluate their data and not just input numbers and formulas. They will be asked to analyze the gross vs. net pay and the tax deductions.

EVALUATION

Examples of a finished project:

EXAMPLES

Examples of a finished project:

EXAMPLES

Examples of a finished project:

EXAMPLES

Advanogy. 2015. February 2015 <http://learning-styles-online.com/overview/>.

Cherry, Kendra. About Education. n.d. February 2015 <http://psychology.about.com/od/biopsychology/ss/brainstructure_2.htm>.

Serendip Studio. 2012. February 2015 <http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html>.

Wiggins, Dr. Sandy. CES. n.d. February 2015 <http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/Professional%20PDFs/10a%20Gregorc%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Styles.pdf>.

RESOURCES