Excel/VBA for Creative Problem Solving, Part 1
"Excel/VBA for Creative Problem Solving, Part 1" is aimed at learners who are seeking to augment, expand, optimize, and increase the efficiency of their Excel spreadsheet skills by tapping into the powerful programming, automation, and customization capabilities available with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This course is the first part of a three-part series and Specialization that focuses on the application of computing techniques in Excel/VBA to solve problems.
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- Level Foundation
- Duration 20 hours
- Course by University of Colorado Boulder
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About
"Excel/VBA for Creative Problem Solving, Part 1" is aimed at learners who are seeking to augment, expand, optimize, and increase the efficiency of their Excel spreadsheet skills by tapping into the powerful programming, automation, and customization capabilities available with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This course is the first part of a three-part series and Specialization that focuses on the application of computing techniques in Excel/VBA to solve problems. In this course (Part 1), you will: 1) create macros to automate procedures in Excel; 2) define your own user-defined functions; 3) create basic subroutines to interface with the user; 4) learn the basic programming structures in VBA; and 5) automate Excel's Goal Seek and Solver tools and use numerical techniques to create "live solutions" to solve targeting and optimization problems. New to computer programming? The extremely intuitive and visual nature of VBA lends itself nicely to teaching and learning - what a fun way to learn to code! No prior knowledge in programming nor advanced math skills are necessary yet seasoned programmers will pick up new and creative spreadsheet problem solving strategies. After you have learned the basics of VBA, each module will introduce foundational and broad problems inspired by situations that you might encounter in the real world. To pass each module, you'll need to pass a mastery quiz and complete a problem solving assignment. This course is unique in that the weekly assignments are completed in-application (i.e., on your own computer in Excel), providing you with valuable hands-on training.Modules
WELCOME!
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- Unlock quiz for Week 1 files
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- What about you?!
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- Welcome!
- What can you do with Excel/VBA?
- How the course works
- How to switch sessions of the course
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- For Mac users
- The power of Excel/VBA
- The importance of a Course Certificate and the future of higher education
- Auditing the course vs. purchasing a Course Certificate
- (OPTIONAL) Will Office Scripts replace VBA?
- Course improvement and my philosophy on learning
- If an assignment is not showing up for you
- How to get help
- VBA Tutorial
- Opening macro-enabled workbooks
- Week 1 files
Need to improve your Excel skills?
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- Need to improve your Excel skills?
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- (OPTIONAL) Week 1 reflection
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- Week 1 preview
- Getting your feet wet
- Saving your files as macro-enabled workbooks
- Recording basic macros
- Absolute vs. relative referencing during macro recording
- Overview of procedures in VBA
- Why use Option Explicit?
- Declaration of variables, data types, and scope of variables
- How to troubleshoot when your code is not working properly
Quiz 1 and Assignment 1
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- Week 1 Quiz
- Assignment 1 Submission
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- Assignment 1 Discussion
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- Assignment 1 preview and instructions
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- Assignment 1
- Week 2 files
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- (OPTIONAL) Week 2 reflection
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- Week 2 preview
- VBA syntax and expression entry: Part 1
- VBA syntax and expression entry: Part 2
- A warning about exponentiation and ampersands
- Introduction to objects, properties, methods, and events
- Common objects, properties, and methods
- How to borrow functions from Excel
- Examples, Part 1: Basic input and output in subroutines
- Examples, Part 2: Basic input and output in subroutines
- Examples, Part 3: Basic input and output in subroutines
Quiz 2 and Assignment 2
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- Assignment 2 submission
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- Assignment 2 Discussion
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- Assignment 2 preview and instructions
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- Assignment 2
- Week 3 files
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- (OPTIONAL) Week 3 reflection
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- Week 3 preview
- How to make your own user-defined function
- How to convert a user-defined function to an Excel Add-In
- How to troubleshoot your user defined functions
- Why you don't use input and message boxes in functions
- How to handle basic user error in your subroutines
- An introduction to modular programming
- Running a subroutine that resides in another file
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- Remember to use your DEBUGGING skills!
Quiz 3 and Assignment 3
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- Week 3 Quiz
- Assignment 3 submission
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- Assignment 3 Discussion
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- Assignment 3 preview and instructions
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- Assignment 3
- Week 4 files
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- (OPTIONAL) Week 4 reflection
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- Week 4 preview
- How to implement One-Way If...Then selection structures
- How to implement Two-Way If...Then selection structures
- All about the Multi-Alternative If...Then
- Variable iteration loops (Do...Loops)
- Validating user input using a Do...Loop
- Creating a guessing game using a Do...Loop
- All about fixed iteration (For...Next) loops
- Iterating through a Selection vs. a Range
- Putting it all together: Example 1
- Putting it all together: Example 2
- Example: Highlighting max and min values in a range
- Using the For Each... Next statement
- Worked mini-project: Searching through high and low temperatures in an Excel workbook
Quiz 4 and Assignment 4
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- Assignment 4 preview and instructions
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- Assignment 4
- Week 5 files
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- (OPTIONAL) Week 5 reflection
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- Week 5 preview
- Filtering basics
- Filtering for multiple criteria: Part 1
- Filtering for multiple criteria: Part 2
- Highlighting or deleting rows that satisfy a certain criterion
- Sorting basics
- Removing duplicates
- Example: Removing duplicates
- Putting it all together: Cleaning data
Quiz 5 and Assignment 5
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- Assignment 5 submission
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- Assignment 5 preview and instructions
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- Assignment 5
- Week 6 files
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- (OPTIONAL) Week 6 reflection
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- Week 6 preview
- When macro recording fails
- What is R1C1 style?
- The Cells property
- The Resize property
- Example 1: R1C1 style
- Example 2: R1C1 style
Quiz 6 and Assignment 6
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- Week 6 Quiz
- Assignment 6 submission
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- Assignment 6 preview and instructions
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- Assignment 6
Auto Summary
Excel/VBA for Creative Problem Solving, Part 1, is designed for learners aiming to enhance their Excel skills using VBA for programming, automation, and customization. Taught by Coursera, this foundational IT and Computer Science course spans approximately 1200 minutes. It covers macro creation, user-defined functions, basic subroutines, programming structures, and automating Excel tools. Ideal for both beginners and seasoned programmers, it offers hands-on training through real-world inspired assignments and mastery quizzes. Available with a Starter subscription, it promises a fun introduction to coding and practical problem-solving.
Charlie Nuttelman