There are three minimum requirements for each Excel homework assignment. First, a copy of the original homework assignment, printed from the assignment web page, must be included and placed at the beginning of the submission. Second, a printout of each spreadsheet in the assignment, including student information, must be submitted. Third, each student must upload their spreadsheet to the correct dropbox in our eCourseware site (click here for information on how to submit your spreadsheet electronically). The printouts and copy of the assignment must be stapled together and placed in the assignment box during the first ten minutes of class. The spreadsheet must be uploaded to eCourseware by 1:00 p.m. of the due date. Late assignments will not be graded.

You must use the following file name format for identifying your spreadsheets: assignment number followed by your last name. For example, if Pat Smith is submitting a spreadsheet for Assignment 2, the file should have the name: assignment_02_smith.xlsx

Groups

Unless stated otherwise, homework assignments can be done in groups of any size. Indeed, you are strongly encouraged to work in small groups. Two or three people in a group is an excellent size; each person has an opportunity to contribute and learn. A group of 50 (the current CIVL 1112 enrollment) is a bit of a stretch.

While working in groups, each person must complete the spreadsheet exercises and submit the assigned problems to eCourseware.

Format

Your name, course information, and assignment number must be printed at the top left corner of your assignment by the computer, not by hand. This information greatly reduces errors during the grade recording process.

No grade will be given for handwritten names on an assignment, which prevents an unprepared student from pressuring their friends to add their name to a previously completed assignment.

If your assignment is more than one page long, the pages must be stapled to prevent losing anything. Do not use paper clips; they snag on other people's assignments.

It is often easier to understand a spreadsheet if you include cell gridlines and row/column labels on your listing. This is very easy to do with Excel. Simply choose the Tools pull-down menu, select Options, then mark the appropriate boxes on the View options sheet.

Most of our assignments will require specific cell formats (e.g., thousands comma with no decimal point) and alignments (e.g., left-justified). Each of the major spreadsheet products allows you to alter these important cosmetic characteristics of your output. This is easy to do with Excel. Simply highlight the cells you want to re-format, choose the Format pull-down menu, select Cells, then choose your desired format (e.g.,#,##0). You can also handle some of this formatting with the button bar. (Beware of Excel's Comma button. It adds a couple of blanks to the right of your number. This often fouls up your desired alignment.)

You can use this same approach to change the way dates are displayed. Simply highlight the cells you want to re-format, choose the Format pull-down menu, select Cells, then choose the Date category within the Number group. Either pick one of the existing format codes or make up your own. For instance, the code mm d, yyyy will display the full month and the four-digit year. If you change the four m's to three m's, then you will get the three-character abbreviation for the month. If you change it to two m's, then you will get the month number (1 to 12). If you change the four y's to two y's, then you will not get the century portion of the year.

One glaring indicator of a novice user is misaligned columns. Most spreadsheet products use default cell alignments of left-justified character values and right-justified numeric values. This is fine unless you have a column of numbers with a character column title. The resulting jagged alignment always looks bad. With Excel, you can modify the alignment of a range of cells by simply highlighting the cells, then clicking the appropriate Left, Center, or Right justification button.

Each column has a default width of about ten characters. This width is probably wide enough for most of your work. Occasionally, however, you will need to adjust the width of a column to see the entire contents. This adjustment is easily done by clicking (and holding) the vertical line separating two column headings. For instance, click the vertical line between the C and D headings if you want to adjust the width of column C. Now, while continuing to hold down the mouse button, you can drag the column to any desired width.

No credit will be given if your column widths are not wide enough to view the entire contents. 

You can save some time and money by previewing your output before printing it. This preview is done by choosing the File pull-down menu, then selecting the Print Preview option.

The Page Setup option allows you to adjust the page scaling (e.g., 80%) and change the page orientation from Portrait (8.5 by 11 inches) to Landscape (11 by 8.5 inches). It also allows you to define page labels (e.g., your name, the time and date), centering, margins, etc.

All assignments are collected at the beginning of class. Place them in the collection box as you enter the classroom. Do not drop off an assignment at the professor's office. Do not turn in an assignment via e-mail.

To be fair to all members of the class, no late assignments are accepted without a University approved excuse. Notification must occur within 24 hours.

Be careful. Re-read the instructions before you turn in your assignment. Points will be deducted for everything in the instructions that you fail to do. The most common mistakes are the failure to align columns, display numeric values in the specified format, adjust columns to an appropriate width, and the failure to list group member names in alphabetic order.

If you have questions about the grade on a homework assignment, immediately direct them to Dr. Camp.