Everyday Excel, Part 1

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/everyday-excel-part-1

Introduction

**Course Review: Everyday Excel, Part 1 on Coursera** In today's data-driven world, mastering Excel is more important than ever. Whether you're a student, a professional, or simply looking to improve your data management skills, "Everyday Excel, Part 1" on Coursera is an excellent choice for individuals looking to learn Excel from the ground up. This course is especially designed for beginners, but even advanced users may find valuable insights and techniques to enhance their proficiency. **Course Overview** "Everyday Excel, Part 1" serves as the first installment in a three-part series aimed at teaching a broad spectrum of Excel skills—from introductory to advanced techniques. The course is structured to gradually build your knowledge and confidence using Excel, allowing you to gain practical skills along the way. The syllabus is well-organized into weekly modules, each focusing on key aspects of Excel. This structured approach not only makes it easy to follow the material but also allows learners to progress at a comfortable pace. **Weekly Breakdown** 1. **Navigating Excel**: In the first week, you’ll dive into the basics of navigating Excel worksheets, understanding cells, rows, and columns. This foundational knowledge is crucial for efficient use of Excel. You’ll also explore formatting options and be introduced to basic macro recording with VBA, setting you up for more advanced topics later on. 2. **Expression Entry and Common Excel Functions**: Week 2 focuses on Excel syntax and mathematical formulas, covering essential built-in functions. You'll learn to troubleshoot errors, which is an invaluable skill. This module builds your confidence in creating formulas, offering a solid base for the more complex functions you will encounter later. 3. **More Excel Functions**: The third week introduces logical functions, advanced logical functions, and financial functions, along with array formulas. These functions are powerful tools that can save time and enhance calculations across various scenarios. This week also emphasizes Auto Fill features and the use of text functions, adding depth to your skill set. 4. **Managing Data**: Week 4 highlights the data management prowess of Excel. You’ll learn how to filter and sort data, clean datasets, and effectively use lookup functions such as VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH. This module is especially relevant for anyone involved in spreadsheet management and data analysis. 5. **Plotting, Importing Data, and Converting to Other File Types**: The final week focuses on data visualization. You will gain skills to create charts, use PivotTables, and share and convert your work effectively. The knowledge gained here is essential for presenting data in a compelling format. **Course Format and Evaluation** Each week includes quizzes and hands-on assignments that allow learners to apply newly acquired skills. The tiered approach—unlocking new material upon completion of assessments—ensures a solid grasp of each topic before progressing. This method both motivates learners and reinforces their knowledge. **Recommendations** I highly recommend "Everyday Excel, Part 1" to anyone looking to become proficient in Excel. Here’s why: 1. **Structured Learning**: The well-defined weekly breakdown cuts through the clutter, making learning manageable and organized. 2. **Hands-On Approach**: Practical assignments help solidify your understanding, allowing you to apply concepts immediately. 3. **Beginner-Friendly**: The course starts with no assumed knowledge, making it accessible to anyone keen to learn. 4. **Advanced Insights**: Even advanced users may discover new tools and techniques to enhance their workflow. Overall, "Everyday Excel, Part 1" on Coursera is a comprehensive entry point to mastering Excel, equipping you with essential skills and techniques. Upon completion, you’ll not only earn a course certificate but also arm yourself with a set of valuable tools that will significantly enhance your professional capabilities in today’s data-centric landscape. So grab your digital pen and get ready to explore the fascinating world of Excel!

Syllabus

Navigating Excel

In Week 1, you will learn basic worksheet navigation, how to open and save Excel files, and all about worksheets and workbooks. You will learn the difference between cells, columns, and rows in Excel, as well as cell references. You will learn how to move around the worksheet effectively using shortcut key combinations, and you will learn how to edit the worksheet. You will also learn how to format cells, conditionally format cells, and how to change between number, text, date, currency, and other cell formatting options. There will be particular emphasis on relative vs. absolute cell addressing modes and you will learn how to name cells and cell ranges. You will be introduced to basic macro recording using VBA and you will learn how to set personal preferences in Excel. Week 1 will conclude with a required quiz and an on-computer, in-application assignment. When you successfully complete Assignment 1, you will be given a "completion code", which you can input into the Assignment 1 submission quiz to earn credit for the assignment. The Week 2 material will be released when you have successfully passed Quiz 1 and Assignment 1. Good luck!

In Week 2 you will learn about how to properly write Excel syntax. You will learn the order of operations, how to input mathematical formulas into Excel, and how to troubleshoot when things don't go as expected. You will be introduced to just a few of the thousands of built in functions in Excel. The functions that you will learn about in this module relate to summing, counting, averaging, how to round numbers and calculate remainders, random number generation, and combinations and permutations. Week 2 concludes with a quiz and an on-computer, in-application assignment. Upon successful completion of these items, the Week 3 material will be unlocked. Good luck and have fun!

In Week 3, you will learn more advanced functions in Excel. These include logical functions (IF, AND, OR) and advanced logical functions (SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF). You will learn how to effectively use Auto Fill and Fill Series but then I explain how to use text functions, which overcome some of the limitations of the Auto Fill feature. You will be introduced to Excel's financial functions (many more financial functions will be covered in Part 2 of the course), and you will learn how to use array formulas in Excel. Finally, I show how you can create your own user-defined function in VBA. Week 3 concludes with a quiz and on-computer, in-application assignment. When completed successfully, the Week 4 material will be released. Good luck!

Week 4 really gets at the heart of why Excel is so great for managing data. You will learn how to apply a filter, how to create an Excel Table, and how to validate data (for example, by only allowing items in a drop-down list). You will learn how to sort data, how to clean up data prior to using, how to remove duplicates in your data, and how to consolidate data from multiple sources. Finally you will learn how to use one-way lookup functions in Excel (VLOOKUP and the INDEX/MATCH combination). Quiz 4 and the on-computer, in-application Assignment 4 will test your understanding of the material in Week 4. Once you've completed these assessments, the Week 5 material will be unlocked. Good luck and have fun!

Week 5 is all about data visualization. You will learn the differences between and how to use scatter plots, column charts, and pie charts. You will be introduced to Pivot Tables, Slicers, and Sparklines, which all represent different and exciting ways to visualize your data. I will show you how to share data (embed vs. linking) with Word and PowerPoint as well as how to print your worksheets and how to convert them to .pdf documents. Like the other modules, Week 5 concludes with a quiz and an on-computer, in-application assignment. When you've completed those assessments, you will earn the Course Certificate! Good luck!