A classroom exercise: Teaching problem-solving and Excel features and functions using Wordle

Abstract

For years, researchers have recognized the expectation within the business community that business school graduates possess a working knowledge of spreadsheet applications. Academics continue to seek effective ways to teach these skills in an academic setting. This exercise uses Wordle, a five-letter word guessing game, to teach students problem-solving and Excel skills. In this exercise, I provide instruction on the use of conditional formatting, data validation, cell referencing, error handling, and several Excel functions. This exercise allows students to explore and understand a system or problem and then use Excel to find a solution.

Keywords:

• Cell reference
• classroom exercise
• conditional formatting
• data validation
• Microsoft Excel
• Wordle