COMPUTER APPLICATIONS HANDBOOK - Hexco

UNIVERSITYINTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE

20132014

COMPUTERAPPLICATIONS HANDBOOK

UNIVERSITYINTERSCHOLASTICLEAGUE

MAKINGAWORLDOFDIFFERENCE

ContactInformation

OnmostSaturdayswhileyou'regradinginvitationaltests,I'mavailableinmyoffice(830.367.3825),

orthephonemessagewilldirectyoutomycellphone.Ifyouhitaroadblockinyourgradingand

wantamediator,don'thesitatetocall.Thegoalsofthetestsareasfollows:

1. Havealevelplayingfield.

2. Have a level of difficulty so that the top places are earned, not just decided with a

tiebreaker.

3. Enablethestudentstobecomevery,verycompetentinthispowerfulpackage.

I'malsoavailableduringtheweekatthesamenumberorbyemail:hexco@.Thisisyour

contest.Welistentoalltheinputfromboththecompetitorsandthecoaches.Wewanttoweld

thisintothebestpossiblecontest.Let'sworktogethertomakethisapositiveexperienceaswe

movethroughthistransition.

LindaTarrant,ContestDirector

ComputerApplicationsHandbook

Written&editedbyLindaTarrant

Pleasecontactuswithanyquestions,suggestions,problems,orcommentsonthebook. HEXCOACADEMIC.?POBox199?Hunt,TX78024 Info:(830)3673825?Fax(830)3673824 email:hexco@

UNIVERSITYINTERSCHOLASTICLEAGUE

MAKINGAWORLDOFDIFFERENCE PleasecontactUILforadditionalcopiesoftheHandbook.

Box8028UniversityStation Austin,TX787138028

)(512)4715883)

uiltexas@.utexas.edu academics

WhattoExpectfor20132014

UUsea"currentornearcurrentversionofMicrosoftOffice"

Again,forthe20132014schoolyear,wewillwriteandtakealltestsinMicrosoftOffice2007or2010.Ifschoolsare usingMicrosoftOffice2013,wewillalsotaketestsinthisversion.NoversionsolderthanOffice2007willbeacceptable forthiscontest.ThewordprocessingelementmustbedoneinWord;spreadsheetelements,inExcel;anddatabase elements,inAccess.Gradersmaychecksaveddevicestoascertainthattheappropriateelementofatestwasdone intheappropriateapplicationpackage(i.e.ifadatabaseelementwasexecutedentirelyinExcel,itshouldnotbe graded).However,somestudentsmaychoosetostartinExcel,manipulatecalculations,andthentaketheoutputof thespreadsheettoAccesstocompleteprocessing.Thisisacceptableunlessatestspecificallyasksthatformulasfrom Accessbeprinted.Inthiscase,Excelformulaswillnotbeaccepted.Besurethatallfeaturesareinstalledinallthe Microsoftapplications,andthattheyareupdated.

UDownloadableLessonPlansontheUILwebsite

TointegratemoreofthepartsoftheComputerApplicationContestintoyourclassrooms,UILhasfiveseparateLesson

Plansthataredownloadablefromtheirwebsite:.

Topicscoveredincludethefollowing:

Lesson1SimplifyingtheIF

Lesson4FieldCodesforTextDateTime

Lesson2Date&Time

Lesson5FieldCodesforNumbers

Lesson3UpdateQueriesandtheExpressionBuilder

UFrequentlyAskedQuestionsontheUILwebsite

Toprovidesupporttocoachesforthiscontest,weaddedfrequentlyaskedquestionsrecently,andthesehaveextensive

explanationsat.

WhyshouldstudentsparticipateinUIL?

Whendograderslookatastudent'sflashdrive?

Howdomystudentsearnbetterscores?

Wherearethecontestrulesposted?

IfIhavequestions,whodoIcontact?

CanIteachcontestantsintheclassroom?

Whathappensataninvitationalmeet?

WheredoIfindpracticematerials?...andmore

UConstitution&ContestRules

ThefollowingchangeshavebeenincludedintheC&CRinrecentyears. " CoachesandparticipantsareresponsibleforcontestinformationintheComputerApplicationsHandbook,

whichispublishedannuallyandavailablethroughUIL. " AcurrentornearcurrentversionofMicrosoftOfficeisspecifiedforuse,andthespecificversionstobeused

areidentifiedintheannualComputerApplicationsHandbook. " Acontestantmaybedisqualifiedifacoachdoesnotgrade.

UComputerApplicationHandbook

ThisComputerApplicationsHandbookcontainsanexpansionofrulesforparticipationintheComputerApplications Contest,instructionsforconductingacontest,anddataspecifictothiscontest.Participantsareexpectedtoknowall theinformationinthishandbook.Ourintentistosimplifyandorganizetheamountofinformationrequiredtobe memorizedfromtheKeyboardingQuickReferenceGuide,whichisstillavalidreference.

Studentshouldmaketemplatesofeachofthedocumentformats,shouldknowhowacontestisconducted,andshould knowhowtohandleasystemorprintermalfunctioninacontest.

StudentsshouldbeabletouseallfunctionsforOffice2007.TheyneednotunderstandhowPMT,COS,ATAN,STD,etc. work,buttheyshouldbeabletouseanyfunction.FunctionnamesarenotallthesameinAccessandExcel.

UUsingDownloadableFiles

The Region and State Meet used large downloaded files for the test. Coaches and students were instructed to downloadthefilesfromtheUILwebsitepriortothemeet,andaflashdrivewasavailableatthemeettocopyfilesto students'computersforthosewhohadnotdoneso.Thereweremultipletablesinthedownloadedfilewithalarge numberofrecords.Theprocessworkedwell,andthegradingwasmorerapidthanusual.The2014RegionandState MeetswilluseadownloadablefilethatwillbepostedinJanuaryontheUILwebsite.

Thecurrentfilethatwasdownloadedhadmultipletables.Notestwillusealltheavailabletables,buttheywilldefine whichtablesaretobeusedforagiventest.

UStateMeetSurvey

ThesurveydistributedtocoachesandcompetitorsattheStateMeethadthefollowingquestions,andtheresults areexplained.Therewere28coachesand30competitorswhosubmittedsurveys,whichisabouthalfofthe participantsand/ortheircoaches.

Howdidgradinggoatyourcompetitionsthisyear?(Theseweresimilartolastyear'sresults.)

32%Great 61%Better

7%Awful

Didthedifficultylevelofthetestsprogressatanacceptablerate?(Theseweresimilartolastyear'sresults.)

InvA&B

24%"TooEasy"

75%"Okay" onepersonchecked"TooHard"

Dist1&2

11%"TooEasy"

82%"Okay" 8%"TooHard"

Region

6%"TooEasy"

89%"Okay" 5%"TooHard"

DidyouhaveanyproblemsdownloadingorusingthedownloadedfilesatRegion?Onlyonereportedproblem. Somedidn'tknowaheadoftime,butinstalledfileattheregionsite.

Whatisyouropinionoftheuseofdownloadedfiles?Positive:Mostcommentswereverypositiveaboutreduced typos,easeofgrading,morelikearealworldapplication,morefocusonthepoweroftheprograms. Negative:Studentsshouldhavetocreatetables;fasttypistsnolongerhaveadvantage.

WhatversionofOfficeisused?200744%201053%20133%

WhatdoyouwishwewouldcoverinthefallStudentActivitiesConferences(SAC)?

Pivottables

Gradingexplanation/example

Formattingareport

Wordmergeformatting

Shortcuts

LookupinExcelfromAccessfile

Prioryear'sStatetest

Calculatedfieldsinreports

Instructionsontakingatest

MoreAccess

QueriesinAccess

Whatdoyouwishweweredoingdifferently?

DownloadedfilesbeforeRegion

Moretrainingonwebsite

Morepracticewithdownloadfile Widervarietyoflayouts/formats

Fewerexamples

Embeddedtables

Fewerstepbystepinstructions

Nopointsfordefaultitems

Lesstimeforsetup Computerizedgrading SQLandVBAtypesofskills

Whatareyourotherconcerns? Documentformatsantiquated Createdatabase+downloads

Leavelastyear'sfilesonweb Supplyflashdrivesfordownload

Watchforbluetooth/wireless capabilities

Thankstoallwhotookthetimetosubmitsurveys!Wereadeveryone,weanalyze,andwecontinuetomake

changestoimprovethiscontest.Students,remember,thiscontestbelongstoyou,nottome,nottoyourcoach.

Ifyouhaveideas,letmeknow.

LindaTarrant,ContestDirectorlinda@

TableofContents

I.

CommentaryontheConstitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

II. ComputerApplicationsTests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

III. Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

IV. OptionalMaterial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

V. Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

VI. EquipmentMalfunctionduringaContest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

VII. ConductingaContest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

VIII. GradingProcedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

IX. VerificationPeriod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

X. Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

UnboundReport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 LeftboundReport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 BusinessReport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 OptionalReportElements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 XI. MemorandumFormats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

StandardMemorandum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SimplifiedMemorandumFormat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 XII. LetterFormats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

BlockLetter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ModifiedBlockLetter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 PersonalBusinessLetterBlocked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 PersonalBusinessLetterModifiedBlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 SimplifiedLetterBlocked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 XIII. SecondPageofLetterorMemorandum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

XIV. LetterParts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

ConventionalPartsofaLetter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 OptionalLetterFeatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 PunctuationConventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ProofreadersMarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 LetterPlacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 XV. Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

AppendixA.ContestInstructionsandScoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

AppendixB.Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

AppendixC.Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

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