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This text book is very thorough: It provides excellent pictures, so there is no guess work as to whether you did something right or not; it walks you through everything step-by-step; gives you real life scenarios of projects; and also gives you necessary information as to what is and is not professional - when certain visuals should be used as opposed to other for given information, data, statistics. This is definitely a book that I will not be selling back to the school bookstore :0). I'm tabbing it up so I know where to jump to when I need help and keeping it until Excel 2012 comes out.
Starting from scratch and using your own wits entirely, develop the information. (This might be a disadvantage for fast-track users of the book who do not need or want that much "hand holding," but it does mean that just about any motivated person who works conscientiously with the book can achieve success).(3) Each of the 12 chapters is set in the context of a "case" providing meaningful settings within which the application potential of Excel is brought into focus, usually in a "business-related" way. (Although some of the exercises include "explore" steps, the exercises do largely tend to take a "follow the bouncing ball" approach, which helps the user ease into the material but probably falls short for fast-track users who might want to be challenged to be more creative in applying the material, i.e., "Here's a situation, and here's the information that is to be developed in this situation. exercises at the end of the chapter.
In my opinion, Parsons et al. (b) Do the corresponding Crews and Murphy case, keeping at it until you score 100% on it. Starting-point workbooks for these exercises (and for the case presented in the body of the chapter itself) can be downloaded from the publisher's website. Peripheral benefit: the book provides an informal introduction to some aspects of business, in the sense of extracting information from data to provide insights and perhaps support fundamental decision making.(4) Each chapter concludes with a set of five exercises or "cases," starting with an exercise in which the reader is asked to extend the material developed in the body of the chapter. The books are designed for successful use (either on a self-study basis, or in formal courses) on the part of those who, starting with no prior knowledge, want to bring themselves up to a skill level corresponding to what Microsoft terms "Microsoft Certified Application Specialist." Here are some of the distinguishing features of this Excel 2007 book:(1) The book makes effective use of color, including frequent and well annotated screen shots.(2) The book presents material in a highly readable, step by step way.
(6) There is a companion book ("Casegrader," by Crews and Murphy, ISBN 978-1-4239-9823-5) consisting of twelve "cases" integrated with the Excel material presented in the corresponding chapters in the Parsons, Oja, Auer, and Carey book. After developing the workbook for a Crews and Murphy case, the workbook can be uploaded to a website for automatic scoring, with a step by step analysis and report produced as a result. (Ditto for similar certifications for Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Access, and so on). Workbook "solutions" for the cases can be downloaded by instructors using the book in a course setting. No step by step approach is provided for your use.
Go to it."(5) The book is certified by Microsoft as containing the Excel material that, when mastered, puts the user in a position to pass Microsoft's "Certified Application Specialist" exam. Three cheers for this book and the other Thomson/Course Technology "Comprehensive" books addressing various applications in Microsoft Office 2007 (and, earlier, in Office 2003, etc). (The Crews and Murphy cases fall into the "follow the bouncing ball" category, but have the virtue of forcing use of the Parsons et al. material after the material has been studied.
and Crews and Murphy are best used together in this sequence: (a) Study a Parsons et al. chapter. (d) Proceed to the next Parsons et al.
(This contrasts with some books that describe "how to do this" and "how to do that," but might lack motivation for WHY it might be of interest to be able to do this or do that). chapter, etc). You're on your own.
This certification, in turn, can be a valuable resume' entry for some people in the workforce. (c) Do at least two of the Parsons et al. All best wishes for success to users of Parsons et al.
This product is great for anyone wanting to increase their working knowledge of Excel and especially for those who do not have time to go to a class. Being a trainer, I will use this book to teach others in my profession. Being able to download the ready-made files for tutorial reviews and case problems helps the student to progressive try all the techniques taught. I highly recommend it.
I needed this book for a class. It was good at showing me step-by-step how to do various tasks in Excel 2007. Glad I bought the book.
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