MIS 220 Overview

MIS 220: Introduction to Computer Information Systems
Course Overview, Test-out Exam, and MS Excel Skills Covered

Posting Date: Fall 2023

Overview of course and test-out exam

The MIS 220 course covers a significant amount of content related to MS Excel spreadsheet skills, plus additional MS Office skills. The course focuses on helping students gain proficiency with a range of intermediate to advanced-level spreadsheet skills that will be useful in the workplace and will prepare students to succeed in other courses in the Western business curriculum.

The MIS 220 test-out exam focusses on MS Excel skills. In order to test out of the course, a student needs to demonstrate a strong skill set with MS Excel. Due to the comprehensive course content, it is not easy to test out of the MIS 220 course. While the test results vary from quarter to quarter, on average, approximately 20% of the students who have attempted the test- out exam during recent quarters have passed the exam.

Excel skills covered in MIS 220

Provided below is a summary listing of the Microsoft Excel skills that are covered in the MIS 220 course. As indicated, the course is comprehensive and spans a variety of intermediate- advanced Excel skills including PivotTables/Charts, specialized functions (e.g., lookup and logical functions), and statistical functions. Students who wish to pass the test-out exam will need to have a strong working knowledge of the following skills.

Note: A review of the following skills may be found in a variety of textbooks including “Exploring Microsoft Office 365 Excel Comprehensive” (2019) by Poatsy, et al. (see chapters 1-5, and 7).

Summary Listing of Excel Skills

  1. Excel Basics
    1. Entering data
    2. Creating formulas
    3. Managing worksheets
    4. Formatting
  2. Quantitative Analysis with Excel Functions
    1. Formula and function basics
    2. Financial, Logical and Lookup Functions
    3. Range names
    4. Autofill
  3. Depicting Data Visually
    1. Chart Basics
    2. Chart Styles and Design
    3. Manipulate charts
  4. Datasets and Tables: Managing Large Volumes of Data
    1. Freezing rows and columns
    2. Excel Tables – Sorting and Filtering
    3. Conditional formatting
    4. Total rows
  5. Subtotals, PivotTables, and PivotCharts
    1. Subtotals
    2. PivotTable Design
    3. Pivot Table Modification
    4. PivotCharts Design
  6. Specialized Functions: Logical, Lookup, Databases, and Finances
    1. Logical and Lookup Functions
    2. Creating a Nested Logical Function
    3. Using Match and Index Lookup Functions
    4. Logical and Lookup Functions
    5. Database Filtering and Functions
    6. Using Advanced Filtering
    7. Manipulating Data with Database Functions
    8. Financial Functions
    9. Creating a Loan Amortization Table
    10. Performing Other Financial Calculations
  7. Statistical Functions: Analyzing Statistics
    1. Math and Statistical Functions
    2. Using Conditional Math and Statistical Functions
    3. Calculating Relative Standing with Statistical Functions
    4. Math and Statistical Functions
    5. Descriptive Statistical Functions
    6. Measuring Central Tendency
    7. Descriptive Statistical Functions
    8. Inferential Statistics
    9. Performing Analysis Using the Analysis ToolPak
    10. Calculating Covariance
    11. Creating a Histogram