Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

Google spreadsheets are very much like Excel in their usefulness to me. I have to admit, it is nice to have that autosave, so that I don't have to remember to do it. Also, the gadgets are pretty cool, although it does take some time and patience to figure them out and get them to show what you want. I did not find the gadget help page very helpful at all, but I rarely find help pages helpful. It was interesting to play around with this data, and I learned how to squeeze columns together to make them less visible but still there.

As a quick overview, my data showed me that although all the students have improved over the course of the 5 tests, their paths have been very different. Some improved linearly, one showed huge improvement followed by a slight regression and leveling off, and one student was pretty level although slightly improving. Some students improved much more than others overall. Also, the students did not all achieve the same final scoring level. A more detailed analysis is included in my document.

Here is a link to my actual Google sheet.



Spreadsheets would be a great way for students in a Spanish class to create vocabulary lists that they can access from any computer with internet by using the Foreign Language gadget. This would be a great way to do side by side comparisons. It could be used as a personal journal or record of all the things they have learned. In my math classes, Google Sheets is a great tool for students to work on projects in groups or to work on projects individually. Especially over the breaks (Spring break, Fall break and holiday break), when I don't have any meeting times with students, I can assign projects and be available to help them as they work on it. All they would need to do is share it with me.