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Admin Tasks Made Easier using MS Excel Helen Dixon

Tracking Students Progress using MS Excel

In this exercise you will use the AVERAGE function, the IF function, Nested IFstatements, the RANK function, named cell ranges, and the VLOOKUP function.

Task 1 - Getting Started

In order to complete this exercise you will need to download the students.xlsfile and saveit to your Homespace.

1. Start Internet Explorerand go to the following URL:http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/Training/FlexibleTrainingSolutions/

2.

Click on the studentsfile under Admin Tasks Made Easier using MS Excelandsave it to your Homespace.

3. Close Internet Explorer when you have finished.

4. Start the MS Excel application and open the studentsworkbook.

5. Select the Module1worksheet. The assignment and exam results for a group ofstudents have already been entered. To the right of the spreadsheet is a tableindicating the maximum percentage for each grade.

Task 2 - Using the Average Function

The Overall Mark for the module for each student is the average of the result forAssignment 1, Assignment 2 and the Final Exam.

1. Enter the following function in cell H2to calculate the Overall Markfor the firststudent:=AVERAGE(B2, D2, F2)

2. Press the key to display the result.

3. Use the Fill Handleto copy the formula into cells H3:H27and display the OverallMarks for the rest of the students.

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Task 3 - Using the IF Function

The IF function can be used to return one value if a condition is TRUE and another value ifa condition is FALSE. The syntax of the IF function is:

=IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)In this example we can use an IF function to return Passif a student has an Overall Mark of40 or more and Failif the student has scored less than 40.

1. Select cell K2and enter the following IF statement:=IF(H2>=40, Pass, Fail)

2. When you press the key, the word Passwill be displayed in cell K2 as thevalue in H2 is greater than or equal to 40.

3. Use the Fill Handle to copy the function into cells K3:K27.

Task 4 - Using Nested IF Statements

Up to seven IF statements can be nested to create more elaborate evaluations. In a nestedIF statement, Excel will evaluate each condition until it finds one that is true and then it willreturn the value_if_true for that statement. The last value is the value_if_false and will bereturned if none of the IF statements are true (E in this example). The following stepswill show you how to use a nested IF statement to include the grade for each students

Assignment 1 result.

1. Select cell C2and type the following nested IF statement:=IF(B2>N3, A, IF(B2>N4, B, IF(B2>N5, C, IF(B2>N6, D, E))))B2 is the cell containing the percentage for that assignment and N3, N4, N5 and N6represent the cells where the maximum percentage for each letter grade appears,respectively.

2. Press the key and the grade for Assignment 1 for the first student will bedisplayed.

If you want to use AutoFill to complete the grades for the other students, you will need touse Absolute Referencing instead of Relative Referencingfor the cell references of thecells containing the maximum percentage for each letter grade. Absolute references willnot change when a formula is copied using the Fill Handle. To make a cell referenceabsolute, you need to add a dollar sign ($) to the row or column reference (or both). Forexample, N$3 will prevent the row number from changing, $N3 will prevent the columnfrom changing and $N$3 will prevent both the row and column from changing. As we are



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going to fill downwards we want to stop the row reference from changing so we need tomake it absolute. We will also copy the statement into columns E, G and I so we will needto make the column absolute as well. Therefore, the references N3, N4, N5 and N6 must bechanged to $N$3, $N$4, $N$5, and $N$6.

Note: The cell reference for the percentage mark (B2 in the example above) must remain arelative reference so that it will update for each student as the function is filled downwardsand copied to the other columns.

3. Select cell C2and adjust the nested IF statement to read as follows:=IF(B2>$N$3, A, IF(B2>$N$4, B, IF(B2>$N$5, C, IF(B2>$N$6, D,E))))

4. Press the key to replace the original statement.

5. Use the Fill Handle to copy the formula into cells C3:C27 to display the grades forthe other students. Click in cell C27to see how the IF statement has changed: B2

will have updated to B27 but the other references will remain unchanged.

6. Use Copy and Paste to complete the Gradecolumns for Assignment 2and FinalExam and the Overall Grade column. Note how the reference for the cellcontaining the percentage mark is updated for each column.

Note: You could replace the cell references $N$3, $N$4, $N$5, and $N$6 with theircorresponding values however using a table like the one in this example allows for greaterclarity and means that any changes to the grading scale will be automatically reflected inthe spreadsheet.

Task 5 - Using the Rank Function

The Rank function will display the position of a cell in relation to a range of cells. In thisexample we can use the Rank function to display the position of each student within theclass as regards their Overall Mark. The syntax of the Rank function is as follows:=RANK(number, reference, [order])where numberis the value or the cell whoseposition you want to find, and referenceis an array of, or a reference to, a list of values. Iforderis zero or omitted, the list will be evaluated in descending order; if order is anynonzero value, the list will be evaluated in ascending order.

1. Select cell J2and enter the following function to return the position of the firststudent:=RANK(H2, H$2:H$27)

2. When you press the key the function will return 1 indicating that the firststudent has achieved the highest Overall Mark in the class.



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3. Use the Fill Handle to complete the rank for the remaining students.

4. Save the studentsworkbook.

Task 6 Naming Cells and Calculating Weighted Averages

The Final Results worksheet contains a summary of each students marks across the threemodules. Each module carries a different weightdepending on its importance as shown bythe values in cells B2:D2. A weighted averagetakes into account the weights allocated tothe modules when calculating the average. Before calculating the weighted average, youwill need to add the data for Module1.

1. In the Module1worksheet, select cells H2:H27 and go toEdit/Copy.

2. Switch to the Final Results worksheet and select cell B5.

3. Select Paste Special from the Editmenu and click Paste Link. This means thatany changes to the Module1 worksheet will be reflected in the Final Resultsworksheet.

You are now going to name the cells containing the weightings.

4. Select cells B1:D2in the Final Resultsworksheet containing the weightings andtheir labels.

5.

Select Insert/Name/Createand make sure Top rowis selected. Click OK.

6. Click on cell B2. Note that the name wt1is displayed in the Namebox.

7. Select cells B2:D2. Click in the Namebox and type the name weightsand press.

8.

Click on the down arrow to the right of the Namebox and select each of the namesin turn. As each name is selected the appropriate cell or range is selected in theworksheet.

Once you have named cells or cell ranges, the names can be used instead of references informulas and functions. As well as improving the readability of a formula, using namedranges will also ensure that the reference to the weightings will remain constant when theexpression is copied, in the same way as using absolute cell references does.



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9. Select cell E5and enter the following expression:=(B5*wt1+C5*wt2+D5*wt3)/SUM(weights)

10. Press to display the weighted average for the first student.

11.

Use the Fill Handle to calculate the weighted average for all the students.

Task 7 Using a Lookup Table to Assign a Degree Class

You are now going to use the VLOOKUPfunction to assign a class of degree to eachstudent based on the weighted average. The syntax for a VLOOKUP function is:=VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num) wherelookup_valueis the value to be found in the first column of table_array,

table_arrayis the table in which data is looked up, andcol_index_numis the column in table_array from which the matching value must bereturned.A table indicating the minimum weighted average required for each class has already beencreated.

1. Select cells I5:J9and name the range deg_table.

2. Select cell G5and enter the following expression:=VLOOKUP(E5, deg_table, 2)

This means look up the value in E5and find the corresponding value in deg_table,go to the secondcolumn and return the contents of that cell.

3. Use the Fill Handle to copy the function and display the degree class for the otherstudents.

4. Sort the records in descendingorder of Wt Averageby clicking in any cell in the

Wt Averagecolumn and clicking the Sort Descendingbutton .

5. Saveand closethe studentsworkbook.


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