Abstract:

The research problem presented in the article concerned the assessment of the level of knowledge and analytical skills of students of a technical university in the practical use of a spreadsheet. The key issue was to determine the extent to which students can use a spreadsheet, how effectively they process and interpret data, and to what extent they are prepared to solve analytical problems using this tool. The article was divided into two parts: theoretical and empirical. The first part presents the essence of a spreadsheet, reviews the most important (most popular) spreadsheets in the history of this tool, and presents the essence of using Excel in business analytics. The theoretical part of the article ends with an outline of the use of a spreadsheet in various areas of the enterprise. The second part of the article presents survey research on the level of knowledge and familiarity with spreadsheet use by students of a technical university in the practical use of the functional capabilities of the spreadsheet. They allowed for the assessment of the level of analytical skills of respondents, i.e. their ability to effectively process and interpret data when working with a spreadsheet. The aim of the research was to provide knowledge on the level of skills in the practical use of a spreadsheet by students. The synthetic presentation of the research results provided a comprehensive picture of how students understand, operate and use the spreadsheet, as well as allowed to determine the degree of preparation of students to competently solve analytical problems. The scope of the research included collecting empirical data, presenting the results, their analysis, synthesis and drawing conclusions. The results of the survey indicated a wide range of applications of Excel according to students, from office work to scientific research and management activities, which emphasizes its universality of use and importance as a tool for professional work. Graduates of technical universities should have advanced skills in using the spreadsheet. However, there was a gap between expectations and actual skills of students in the areas of some Excel functions, which suggests the need to improve the curriculum.