Whole Brain

One assignment that could have been made a whole-brain assignment is for my Business Info System’s homework in Microsoft Excel. Each week we learn a series of tricks that Excel can perform and then are assigned simulations for us to practice the ideas with data through the following of steps that go along with the simulation. These activities are in every way imaginable, left-brained. The only way to do well is to follow the steps exactly as they are written or the computer program that grades the assignment will mark the steps wrong. A good chunk of the steps do not even pertain to the data that is being analyzed. Instead, it will ask us to “format cell B7 with a 40% light blue fill” so that it makes sure we know how to change the fill color of cells, which is an important skill to know. However, this method leaves no room for creativity. Instead, the instruction could read “fill cell B7 with the color of your choice.” This would allow my classmates and I to pick what we think looks best in the spreadsheet and give me the freedom to design my spreadsheet how I think it should look. Also, these assignments could be made into whole-brain tasks by allowing us the ability to structure the tables, graphs, charts, and whatever else we work with in the way that we want. All the tables and charts are set up for us when we begin the simulation which is convenient, but restricts our creative minds from displaying them in a way that appeals to how our brain looks at data and makes most sense to us. There is probably little dispute that Excel is naturally a left-brain beast, but there are ways that right-brain thinking can be incorporated to into its use.

-Brett T.