Not quite about Excel

Covoluted Mess

Not understand

When the instructor for the course expresses amazement at the level of difficulty people are expressing in the forums that tells you a lot about how out of touch he is with what he is teaching and what is really required prerequisite knowledge.

There is minimal actual instruction in excel-most often concepts are taught much like Khan Academy, on a digital blackboard. Nothing inherently wrong with that but when your course title has the word 'EXCEL' in it one would reasonably expect the instructor to actually demonstrate using excel. Nope, not here.

If you've never heard of linear regression or Bayes Theorem don't bother with this course. Honestly. While those things may be easy to explain without the math they are very difficult concepts to implement and a simple 10 minute video won't clear the fog.

You absolutely will not 'master' data analysis with this course. I've used Excel for over 15 years, daily, and to have the gall to say your course will 'master' something with a few videos is misleading and deceptive.

If it wasn't for the TA/Mentors who do the lions share of work in the forums answering questions and deciphering the questions so students can understand them this course would be an abysmal failure.

If you're wanting to jump on the data analysis/ scientist bandwagon look elsewhere. i.e. EdX has a great course on a true introduction to data analysis that is more in line with people's impression of actually using excel in that context.

Now, having bashed the course I do believe the instructor to be a very competent and knowledgeable individual, but I feel he's been in academia too long and has grown accustomed to teaching those who've been in school continuously and still have algebra/ stats fresh in their minds vs. those who need to brush away the cobwebs. The course in more on the level of a 201 and in certain parts 401 level but not 101.

I´m quite disappointed in this course. First you should know that the first week doesn´t reflect at all the rest of the course in difficulty and in matter. As I was delighted by the first week presentation and way of explaining as soon I started the second week I was wondering what happen to the clear, concise examples and ideas presented in the first one. First The presentation of the following weeks is done by handwriting on software that give a very very poor graphic view. It´s BARELY READABLE ! It allows really smalls amounts of infos to be displayed. That could be redeemed by good explanations you may say but sadly it´s not the case most of the time. The examples are rarely connected to something real, numbers come up from ... nowhere. The level of difficulty could be challenging if you don´t have a bachelor of sciences like Math or Physics or Bio. It´s NOT A BEGINNER COURSE.

To give more context I have done and succeed more 16 courses , 2 specializations, followed/audited about 3 others courses and that is the first time I´m giving a bad review. I´m sure the teachers put a lot of effort in doing the course , there is a lot subjects presented but I definitely suggest a change in the presentation to start then connect and fully explain examples. With some changes that course will fly high :)

This course was extremely messy compared to the other two I've taken in the Specialization so far (Business Metrics, and Tableau). The quizzes often did not have all the information needed to solve the questions, or had incorrect numbers which lead to being unable to answer the question. I had to look through forums to find out where these inconsistencies were. Also, I felt that the class did not actually teach me Data Analysis USING EXCEL, it moreso tried to teach all the math behind the functions which I found a bit unnecessary because that wasn't what the quizzes would ask. The first few weeks were better, but as the course went on, the quizzes became more messy, and the videos became more math focused than Excel focused. I would have liked to see more walk-through style tutorials on how to use the different functions in Excel to do data analysis, because that feels more in line with what the course suggests it would teach.

The concepts here are useful and Mr. Egger is a knowledgeable instructor but 1) this class is really about gathering information with Excel as the tool - you aren't learning anything about Excel functionality, so the title of this course is really misleading if you just want to become a stronger user in Excel 2) there is a huge disconnect between the video lessons and the excel worksheets used to complete the assignments and since many previous reviewers mentioned this, it seems like that's not going to change. 3) the disconnect between the lessons and the assignments wouldn't be an issue if the instructor could be bothered to respond to forum questions. Mine sat unanswered for 5 days as the deadline passed. You are NOT going to get support if you dont understand something.

Not done with the course yet, but I have to say it started out very well and organized. I was actually learning how to use excel in the first week WHILE the instructor was teaching. The later weeks, however, seem to be completely different. They're disorganized and I'm struggling to see how the material correlates. It's as if I'm being bombarded with random topics, in addition to the fact that the instructor literally stops using excel to teach. After week 1, lessons are just random notes on a blackboard with a link at the end to the excel sheet in which the instructor has already prepared before with A LOT of info that you need familiarize yourself with solo. I had high hopes when I was done with the first week, but now I have to say I'm bored and demotivated!! (so far)

Irrationally difficult and inexplicably sloppy. Having taken first "Business Metrics for Data Driven Companies" I had high hopes that it would be on the same level.

Well, I was wrong. It was extremely messy, jumping around from definition to definition with little to no explanation and there was a general lack of motivation from professor Egger's part.

Apart from week 1 that had some necessary basic knowledge of Excel, all of the next weeks' lessons were fast paced beyond a beginner's comprehension. By week 5 I had lost the motivation to go on and was only able to finish it through a great deal of trial and error on the quizzes

I would not recommend it, unless you have some basic knowledge of the economic theories used in this lesson.

Complex concepts (e.g., regression), which cannot be taught in such a short course format (I know from extensive prior training), are taught here in an arcane way. I don't know how students without prior knowledge on these topics (e.g., regression, ROC curve analysis) could possibly understand this when taught this way.

Course is also in an 'early draft' mode, with plenty of mistakes in the videos/slides. The course (and specialization) really tarnishes - instead of enhancing - this institution's outside image and reputation.

Really a deception; sorry I took this class and specialization, a complete waste of my time and money. The initial presentation was misleading (and I have found online many people sharing the same feeling).

Don't be fooled by how detailed and clear the first weeks videos are. The second thru the final weeks are lacking details and explanations and found myself lost during most of the videos. There were even a few typos and errors. Be ready to do a lot independent research and learning from other sources in order to complete the weekly quiz. I was unable to complete the final project of this course due to the lack of knowledge provided by the lecture videos and some of own research. I was hoping to complete the specialization for this, but it doesn't seem like this course provided me with enough to proceed.

** The use of excel on the weekly basis was poorly integrated with the flow of the course.

Concepts are fantastic but the material developed to deliver the course is short of expectations, especially from a university. Excel sheets do not match what is demonstrated in video lectures, lots of confusion around how to complete tasks, quiz answer options not being correct, and missing Excel spreadsheets (e.g. video lecture says to refer to accompanying excel spreadsheet, but no spreadsheet available). Also, judging from past discussions by students, some inconsistencies around formulas being presented in video lectures versus assignment questions. could have been a great course, but the inconsistencies have made is very disappointing.

The title is very misleading. Excel is an afterthought for this course; instead there is a heavy focus on statistics. The class claims to be for beginners, but that is clearly not the case, as it requires previous knowledge in inferential statistics and calculus.

Excel is hardly used and is certainly not the focus; there are weeks where Excel is not used at all. There are no practice assignments, only quizzes.

It's clear that this course is outdated and poorly maintained, as the videos refer to examples that are not included or content that was not presented.

Needless to say, I will not be taking any other courses in this specialization.

I found the title of the course to be extremely misleading as it turned out to be more of a statistics course. This quizzes and assignments were extremely unfulfilling. Students were given prepared spreadsheets and are tasked to use them to answer questions. It was extremely tedious and messy to have to open many documents for one quiz. Furthermore, there was very little instruction of how to use the spreadsheets. I believe that this course would have had much more practical value if it guided students through the commands, and taught us how to create spreadsheets for data analysis.

Firstly, this is not a course, it is a challenge. The instructor obviously has a solid mathematical background, but he lacks a lot of teaching skills and the ability to convey what goes on in his head, from where numbers and concepts come out. The material in Excel is not explained, it demands that the student unravel the relationships by auditing the worksheets.A complex content as such should be approached with extreme didactics and with several real examples, which facilitate the understanding of someone unfamiliar with the subject.At least I'm glad I did not buy the course.

Says it's a class for people with no experience in statistics or calculus, but it's not true! Use of spreadsheets in the course is poorly explained, examples are not relevant to the spreadsheet you're told to use ; and the material is covered way too quickly. Excel functions are not properly explained and neither is the Solver plug in. Of course you don't know this if you've prepaid for a specialization and are well past the two week refund period. If you do make the mistake of taking this course - CHECK OUT THE FORUMS. They are the only and best help you will get!

Found the course to be really confusing. Took up way more time then it was worth. Left me more frustrated than anything. I don't like to give up and I hate to lose. But I had to cut my losses cause I was so overwhelmed here. I graduated with a double major in Business and I found the teaching to just be really hard to grasp. I expected an entry level course to be really useful and not overly challenging, but this was beyond anything I was planning on. I'm going to try the next course in this specialization, but will look for help on Excel elsewhere.

It is fraud! It is nothing relate to excel! It is about statistics advance. For people like me have no statistic background please don't try this course at all. You will have a miserable time. The only reason I still try to finish this course it to get bad comments for it! Run away from it! The teacher is so bad at teaching. Boring and geeky style. Can people please realize geeky does not mean a good teaching? I hate this course so much! I feel I watch the video again and again but get zero outcome. I just wish I can give it bad comments everyday.l

Really wanted to take this class. Unfortunately, I believe it is more about advanced statistics then excel. It was advertised as a beginners class and that is not the case. I recommend having a significant knowledge of statistics before taking this course. I'm a 15 year senior level accounting executive and I was easily spending 10 to 15 hours a week plus watching the videos 3 or 4 times each in order to understand the content. It was very difficult to understand. Disappointing.

Material given is not enough for the graded quizzes questions. It would de very useful to have a guide with exercises solved with different complexities. Also, I passed various quizzes and I feel that if I face a real-life problem, I wouldn't know how to solve it, and I've seen other people writing the same in forums. Mentors hints given in week 4, are not about the actual questions of the graded quiz, and the last week I posted a question that actually hasn't been answered.

I dislike this course because I have to complete so many assignment in one week. Instructions could have improved and slides could have improved rather than using chalkboard. Sorry there are a number of times I have to rewatch the videos and still dont understand. Hence I even have to place myself in another slot because I could not finish the assignment. Please improve on this module so that it is more enjoyable for learners who really want to learn. Thank you.

What a mess of a course!

It looks like different parts of the course were re-ordered and as a result references to exam are incorrect.

Much of the content on video doesn't match the exercises and terminology in one might not be used in the other. It's an awful course.

I tried the exam and it makes close to no sense. Decided to cancel coursera subscription as a result of taking two courses of poor quality in this specialization. Life is too short.

Muy decepcionado en la baja calidad del material entregado. Sin duda el profesor tiene un excelente manejo del tema, pero los recursos educativos utilizados son muy pobres. Muchos errores en los videos y en los cuestionarios.

Las lecciones pudieron ser mucho mas claras y fluidas usando un simple ppt, pero el uso de la tableta de dibujo de tan mala manera, hace confusas las explicaciones y poco pulcras.

The course is horrible, it is extremely inaccessible for most people in terms of the content that is taught with brushung up on or teaching the basics of the concepts employed. This is just a complex math course that too not taught properly, the video lectures are completely different from the content in assessments and most of your time on this course will be spent on banging your head against them.