UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Frustrated with incoming students' lack of familiarity with basic computing tools, a University of Connecticut sociology professor incorporated Microsoft® Excel and Microsoft Word for Windows™ into his courses. The result: students are becoming adept at using computers earlier in their college careers, strengthening their academic performance, and becoming better prepared for the business world.

For several years, Edgar Mills, Associate Professor of Sociology in Residence, University of Connecticut at Storrs, has built the Introductory Sociology course around a software package from MicroCase and Wadsworth Publishing Co. Using the software and a textbook and lab book by Rodney Stark, the students learn how to link ideas and data, analyze data with elementary statistical methods, construct hypotheses and test them with data, and write up their results.

While the MicroCase/Wadsworth software was more than adequate for helping Mills teach the basics of sociology, he discovered that most freshmen and sophomores lack familiarity with basic tools for personal computing, most notably word processors and spreadsheets. "This lack of computer skills was evident not only in the appearance of the students' written papers, but also in their efforts to generate tables of data to support their arguments," says Mills.

His challenge: to teach students to use these tools in the preparation, analysis, and writing of their sociology data analysis projects. "It seemed silly," says Mills, "to have students learn to use a sophisticated data analysis application yet remain ignorant of such basic tools."

Mills went to work to find a solution that he could integrate into his courses without changing their basic format and approach.

Developing a Solution

Since his goal was to familiarize students with real-world computing tools, Mills wanted his courses to use word-processing and spreadsheet software that was widely accepted in both academic and business environments. He also wanted programs that would be easy for students new to computing to learn and use.

Mills says he considered WordPerfect® because of its wide use on campus. But in the end, he decided Microsoft Word for Windows offered greater flexibility and better cross-platform capabilities. Finally, Mills preferred the Word for Windows graphical user interface over WordPerfect's character-based interface.

He then selected Microsoft Excel as his spreadsheet program. "My own familiarity with Microsoft Excel made me prefer it over other spreadsheet options," he says. "And the natural combination of Word for Windows and Microsoft Excel further supported the decision to use them in this course."

While maintaining the basic structure of his course, Mills introduced Word for Windows and Microsoft Excel as tools for writing and formatting tables and charts, pointing out that charts created with Microsoft Excel can be incorporated easily into Word documents.

To help the students become familiar with the use of the programs, he assigned the Word for Windows tutorials as homework during the second week of the course. The following week he distributed a "problem sheet" that gives the students a series of tasks or problems to be solved using Word for Windows. Other problem sheets were assigned later in the semester, along with instructions and practice in using Microsoft Excel for formatting data tables and creating charts for use in reports.

Mills says the tutorials and problem sheets, combined with supervised work in the computer lab, enable students to move as quickly as they wish toward mastery of Word for Windows and Microsoft Excel.

The Benefits of Early Instruction

Mills says the solution he is implementing addresses one of his major concerns. "Much is made of the need by college graduates for computer-based competence across a wide range of applications," he says. "But less is said about their need for these same skills while students." Mills adds that faculty can be slow to take up new technology as part of the teaching process, and even slower to accept skill instruction as part of their teaching mission.

According to Mills, there are three broad benefits that result from projects such as his.

Students acquire, early in their college careers, basic computing skills that strengthen their academic performance while equipping them for later work careers.

A model is provided for faculty inclusion of skill instruction in academic courses-a model that includes procedures and materials that can easily be adapted by instructors in different fields.

The computing resources of the university are further integrated into its teaching functions, reducing the gap between instruction and technical services that plagues most universities.

Mills plans to evaluate his program periodically to determine its effectiveness.

Expanding the Solution

Mills expects to expand his solution in two ways in the future. First, he hopes to refine his approach to teaching Word for Windows and Microsoft Excel to introductory students. "I've already learned a lot, and I want to apply that knowledge to future courses," he says. Second, Mills plans to require Word for Windows in other courses that do not have the quantitative component of his sociology course.

Overall, Mills is happy with the direction of his program, and says his original objective has been met. "The mastery of Word for Windows and Microsoft Excel provides introductory students with the means to produce professional-looking papers," he says. "And not only in my course, but throughout their student careers."

Solution Overview

       School University of Connecticut at Storrs
              Storrs, Connecticut
     Solution Instruction of basic computing skills within context of introductory sociology courses
 Architecture Combined use of word processing and spreadsheet software
Products Used Microsoft Excel for Windows
              Microsoft Word for Windows
              Microsoft Windows operating system
      Benefit Teaches students basic computing skills early in their
              college careers; provides a model for other faculty to
              follow in developing similar instruction; further
              integrates computing resources of university
              into its teaching functions

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