Goal Seek and Apple Pies: Oh My!

A response to the Misunderstood Activity
created May 5, 2021 by Pamela LeBrun (@PamLeBrun)

Number of views: 290

In teaching Excel to business students, I often find that they get confused when we discuss What-if Analysis tools. What really is misunderstood is the concept of What-if in business and how using these tools can help look at future projections and budgets.

One example I’ve used is Pamela’s Apply Pie Company. I will discuss the raw materials like flour, butter, apples, cinnamon and so on and use simple numbers in the Goal Seek Excel to demonstrate. This activity helped extend my thinking in that I might also use images to really deepen the example for students who love visuals. Pictures of the ingredients and finished pies while discussing the tool could help make it more relatable. It would connect real prior knowledge with business concepts and tools in Excel.

Example for "Goal Seek and Apple Pies: Oh My!":
https://bank.ecampusontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Misunderstood-Concept-Teacher-4-learning.docx