Courses
Technology Services sponsors several training opportunities. Select a subject to learn about course objectives, and instructor-led and online course offerings available at this time.
- Access 2013 Introduction
- Access 2013 Intermediate
- Access 2013 Query Design
- Access 2013 Database Design Strategies
- Excel 2013 Introduction
- Excel 2013 Intermediate
- Excel 2013 Charts and Pivot Tables
- HTML and CSS3
- REDCap Introduction
- SAS Overview
- SAS Data Management
- SAS File Management
- SPSS Level 1
- SPSS Level 2
Access 2013 Introduction [Level 1]
Prerequisities: None
Description: Access is a relational database that allows users to create queries, forms, and reports-among other things. This beginning class will introduce you to the Access environment and relational database terminology. You will explore and learn how to create some database objects - tables, queries, a simple form, and report.
Learning Objectives:
- Define the relational database concept
- Explore Access environment
- Examine an Access database table
- Import data into Access
- Create a table
- Add, edit, and delete records from a table
- Design a criteria to sort the records in a table - primary and secondary sort
- Create select queries to display records
- Update records from a table, a form, and a query
- Run an AutoReport to display records in report format
- Examine tables with existing table relationships
- Create forms to display data by using the AutoForm feature
- Identify primary and foreign key fields
Course Offerings:
- Access 2013 Introduction - Instructor Led Courses
- Access 2013 - [Microsoft Online]
- Access 2013 Training - [Atomic Learning] [Atomic @ VCU User Guide]
Access 2013 Intermediate [Level 2]
Prerequisities: Access 2013 Introduction or Online Equivalent
Description: Access is a relational database that allows users to create queries, forms, and reports. This is a second level class that will help you acquire skills necessary to create queries, forms, and reports in an Access database.
Learning Objectives:
- Use the Access Query Wizard to create and name a query
- Add selection criteria to the query using design view
- Boolean operators (and/or)
- Date criteria
- Add a calculated field to an Access query
- Modify a query to perform a summary calculation on a record grouping
- Average
- Sum
- Count
- Explore the form design environment
- Create a form with the AutoForm feature
- Create a form with a hidden object using the wizard
- Select and modify objects on a form in design view to change the appearance of the form
- Create a report with the AutoReport feature
- Create a report with the wizard
- Explore the design view of a report
- Add a calculated field to a report
- Modify the properties of a control
- Modify the report format by using the AutoFormat feature
Course Offerings:
- Access 2013 Intermediate - Instructor Led Courses
- Access 2013 - [Microsoft Online]
- Access 2013 Training - [Atomic Learning] [Atomic @ VCU User Guide]
Access 2013: Query Design [Intermediate Course]
Prerequisities: Access 2013 Introduction and Access 2013 Intermediate or Online Equivalent
Description: Have you ever wanted to understand Access Queries? How they are created? How to design them? How they work? Both Select Queries and Action Queries will be covered.
Learning Objectives:
- How Queries and Tables work together
- What you should know before designing a Query
- Designing a Select Query
- Adding criteria to a Query
- Sorting in a Query
- Show or No-Show in a Query
- Totaling in a Query
- Morphing a Query to a Make-Table
- Create a Crosstab Query
- Discuss a Pass-through and a Union Query
- Query to Query concepts
Course Offerings:
- Access 2013: Query Design - Instructor Led Courses
- Access 2013 Training - [Atomic Learning] [Atomic @ VCU User Guide]
- Access 2013 Queries - [support.microsoft.com]
- Access 2013 - [Microsoft Online]
Access 2013: Database Design Strategies [Intermediate Course]
Prerequisities: Access 2013 Introduction and Access 2013 Intermediate or Online Equivalent
Description: Have you ever wanted to understand how to design well-formed tables and queries in MS Access? Have you ever wanted to know the pros/cons of table and query design? This is the course for you!
Learning Objectives:
- Use of Access vs. Excel
- Thinking about End Products
- Remove Excel Design Concepts from your mind
- Assigning Fields to a Table
- Assigning a Name to a Field
- Examine Fields and their Data Types
- Examine Field properties
- Creating Primary Keys
- Relating Fields from Table to Table
- Referential Intergrity
- How Tables work with Queries, Forms, and Reports
Course Offerings:
- Access 2013: Database Design Strategies - Instructor Led Courses
- Access 2013 Training - [Atomic Learning] [Atomic @ VCU User Guide]
- Access 2013 Queries - [support.microsoft.com]
- Access 2013 - [Microsoft Online]
Excel 2013 Introduction [Level 1]
Prerequisities: None
Description: This course covers the basics of using Excel 2013 in the office and teaching environments. Excel is a spreadsheet program that is able to calculate and analyze numerical data. Collected data displays graphically with a chart/graph or in table format. Basic terms and how they apply to the Excel environment provide an understanding of how Excel works.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe a spreadsheet and suggest several potential applications
- Explore Excel "Options" known as Backstage View to change application defaults
- Create, manage, save, and open a spreadsheet
- Understand the "Ribbon"
- Type, copy, manage text, and numeric values in columns and rows
- Resize, add, move, and delete columns and rows
- Enter a series of numbers, dates, and data across a range
- Change page orientation, set print titles and print range
- Format spreadsheet using Styles
- Display date and dollar amounts using different formats
- Use Spell Check
- Distinguish between a constant, formula, and function
- Discuss the order of operations
- Enter a formula to calculate numeric values
- Use the fill handle to copy formulas across columns and rows
- Understand the difference between absolute, relative, and mixed cell addressing
- Enter a function to average and sum numeric values
- Print a worksheet two ways (displaying the computed values or the cell formulas)
- Create charts/graphs using Insert>Charts
Course Offerings:
- Excel 2013 Introduction - Instructor Led Courses
- Excel 2013 - [Microsoft Online]
- Excel 2013 Intro Training - [Atomic Learning] [Atomic @ VCU User Guide]
Excel 2013 Intermediate [Level 2]
Prerequisities: Excel 2013 Introduction or Online Equivalent
Description: Excel is a spreadsheet program that is able to calculate and analyze numerical data. This class will cover advanced concepts of Excel with emphasis on functions.
Learning Objectives:
- Review of editing and formatting worksheets
- Freezing rows/columns
- Protecting cells
- Adding and deleting worksheets
- Summary worksheet
- Linking worksheets
- Naming ranges
- Additional Features:
- VLOOKUP function
- Introduction to IF statements
- Introduction to Data Lists
Course Offerings:
- Excel 2013 Intermediate - Instructor Led Courses
- Excel 2013 - Pivot Tables Training - [Atomic Learning] [Atomic @ VCU User Guide]
- Excel 2013 - Evaluating Data Training - [Atomic Learning]
- Excel 2013 - Frequently Used Formulas & Functions Training - [Atomic Learning]
- Excel 2013 - [Microsoft Online]
Excel 2013 Charts and Pivot Tables
Prerequisities: Excel 2013 Introduction or Onine Equivalent
Description: Excel is a spreadsheet program capable of calculating, analyzing, and displaying data. Charts and pivot tables are visual representations of worksheet data. Charts make it easier to understand the data in a worksheet because users can easily pick out patterns and trends illustrated in the chart that are otherwise difficult to see. A pivot table is a data summarization tool that can automatically sort, count, total or give the average of the data stored in a spreadsheet. The user sets up and changes the summary`s structure by dragging and dropping fields graphically.
Learning Objectives:
- Create and modify charts
- Display charts in multiple environments like Excel, Word, Powerpoint and web pages
- Use predefined chart styles and chart layouts for a professional look
- Add eye-catching formatting to charts
- Learn and understand how to create Pivot Tables
Course Offerings:
- Excel 2013 Charts - Instructor Led Courses
- Excel 2013 - [Microsoft Online]
- Excel 2013 - Pivot Tables Training - [Atomic Learning] [Atomic @ VCU User Guide]
- Excel 2013 - Charting Training - [Atomic Learning]
HTML5 and CSS3 Workshop
Description: Topics will include basic page creation using HTML5 and CSS3 for layout, text formatting, lists, hypertext links, inline graphics, and placing your page on a Web server.
What do you do when your Web page has errors and/or deprecated tags?
How can you fix errors in code that your editor makes?
Best practices in Web design.
Learning Objectives:
- View the source code for selected web sites
- Code the basic parts of an HTML5 document using tags
- Examine a Web page to determine errors and problematic formatting
- Format a page using a CSS3 external style sheet
- Construct a web page using CSS inline and external style sheets
Course Offerings:
REDCap Introduction
Prerequisities: Request a REDCap Account
Description: REDCap is a secure, web-based application designed to support web-based data capture, including surveys. Although it was originally designed for research studies, REDCap can also be used for collecting and managing data for operational support purposes. Those attending this course should obtain a REDCap account prior to class.
REDCap enables you to easily create and design data collection instruments (data forms and web surveys) in your web browser. REDCap allows for a variety of question/field types, such as Text Boxes (with validation), Multiple Choice (single and multiple answer), Calculated Fields, File Uploads, and Sliders (rating scales). For surveys you can engage potential respondents using a variety of invitation methods.
Custom reporting tools are built into REDCap. In addition, REDCap provides automated export procedures to common statistical packages (SPSS, SAS, Stata, R) to enable further data analysis.This REDCap Intro class introduces creation and design of data collection instruments, survey invitation and response management. It also provides an overview of data reporting and exporting. Additional REDCap features, such as more advanced form and report design, assigning user permissions, hosting of multi-site research studies, and importing data are covered in the REDCap - Advanced course.
Learning Objectives:
- Overview of REDCap
- Obtaining Access
- Requesting a project
- Creating a basic survey or data collection form
- Scheduling and sending survey invitations
- Observing survey results
- Exporting data
- Designing basic reports
- Assigning new users
- User logging
- Data dictionary basics
Course Offerings:
- REDCap Introduction - Instructor Led
- REDCap Single Survey Project [video]
- REDCap Software Homepage
- REDCap Training and Learning Resources
SAS Overview
Prerequisities: Basic/working knowledge of Microsoft Windows
Description: SAS software is used for statistical analysis and reporting. This class introduces programming in SAS Version 9. Most of the material covered is applicable to using SAS on other platforms, such as UNIX or LINUX.
Learning Objectives:
- Navigate the SAS Windows interface
- Create a SAS DATA step
- Name SAS tables and variables
- Create SAS tables (data sets)
- Read raw data using List Input
- Use basic SAS procedures
- Use help within SAS
Course Offerings:
SAS: Data Management
Prerequisities: SAS Overview or Online Equivalent
Description: SAS software is used for statistical analysis and reporting. SAS Data Management introduces learning to program the SAS Data Step.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand Data step operation
- Create and redefine variables
- Use SAS functions
- Use IF-THEN-ELSE statements
- Use DO groups
- Group observations
- Subset data
- Use SAS dates
Course Offerings:
SAS: File Management
Prerequisities: SAS Overview or Online Equivalent
Description: SAS software is used for statistical analysis and reporting. SAS File Management introduces reading data into SAS and working with multiple SAS tables.
Learning Objectives:
- Read raw data using List Input and Column Input
- Read existing SAS tables
- Drop and keep variables
- Create Permanent Libraries and Work Libraries
- Understand the difference between Permanent Libraries and Work Libraries
- Sort SAS tables
- Append multiple SAS tables
- Merge two SAS tables
Course Offerings
SPSS Level 1
Prerequsities: Basic/working knowledge of Microsoft Windows
Description: IBM SPSS software is used for statistical analysis and reporting. This course covers basics of using the SPSS program, it does not cover any statistical procedures or discuss how to interpret statistical results.
Learning Objectives:
- Navigate the SPSS Windows interface
- Open and save SPSS tables
- Run analyses using the Analyze Menu
- Read data in text format into SPSS
- Read data in Excel format into SPSS
- Add cases using the Data Editor
- Define variable attributes such as variable labels, value labels and missing data
- Edit records using the Data Editor
- Compute new variables including date/time variables
- Use functions and conditional expressions
- Create categorical variable from a scale variable (Recode data values)
Course Offerings:
SPSS Level 2
Prerequisites: SPSS Level 1 or SPSS Level 1 [Online Equivalent] or equivalent knowledge (i.e., content in chapters 1, 2, 3 and 8 in IBM SPSS Statistics 22 Brief Guide).
Description: IBM SPSS software is used for statistical analysis and reporting. This course is a continuation of the SPSS Level 1.
Learning Objectives:
- Produce summary statistics for categorical and scale variables
- Create and edit charts
- Customize SPSS output using the SPSS Output Viewer and SPSS Pivot Table Editor
- Export SPSS output to MS Office applications and in HTML and PDF formats
- Work with SPSS syntax commands
- Sort and select data