Power to business professors: Automatic grading of problem-solving tasks in a spreadsheet

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative approach based on Excel files and a detailed implementation guide that allows a professor with proficient spreadsheet skills to develop individualized problem-solving tasks for assignments and examinations that test students on cognitive thinking processes beyond memorizing and drilling. The professor accomplishes this goal by requiring the students to model a business problem-solving task in a worksheet environment. Each student's work is marked automatically by a generic "plug and play" Visual Basic for Application (VBA) algorithm. The scores and feedback provided are tailored to each individual student and address not only the problem-solving outcome but also the problem-solving process. The learning objective discussed in this work is implemented at a Norwegian university business school.

Improving the learning experience of business subjects in engineering studies using automatic spreadsheet correctors

“…Basically its value consists in generating individualized problem statements. Bertheussen (2014) presented a financial problemsolving application formed by an Excel workbook composed of four worksheets and two VBA code modules. The teacher creates three differentiated sheets, a solution worksheet, a marking worksheet and a problem worksheet.…”

Improving management accounting educationthrough the use of interventionist action research

“…The innovative feedback system is able to provide instant and valid feedback as well as advice to learners and teachers concerning future learning strategies, based on the learners' individual needs (Bertheussen, 2014a). More recently, the feedback tool has been enriched to include tasks, which are more authentic and allow for business constructs, which have been difficult to assess such as regression analysis and optimization problems (ibid.…”

“…The formative feedback system as well as the summative assessment systems reported were both underpinned by interactive problem-solving tasks, which can be tailor-made by a teacher based on their individual needs (Bertheussen, 2014a). However, the interactive concept requires that the problem-solving tasks should have an undemanding structure and limited scope.…”

“…By means of VBA, the programming language embedded within the Excel spreadsheet software, I was able to build 'artificial intelligence' into the spreadsheet-based problem-solving tasks and make them interactive. In this regard, an interactive problem-solving task is basically an inactive traditional spreadsheet-based task with a marking and feedback algorithm attached (Bertheussen, 2014a). The interactive tasks, which are digital learning resources in micro format, are considered an educational innovation in this study.…”

“…First, the new construction in itself may be a contribution to the design knowledge in the area (e.g. Bertheussen, 2014a). This requires that the researcher is able to show how the new construction has contributed to a desirable result in a given situation (Bertheussen, 2014a;2016).…”