Understand, Organize, and Explore Data with Confidence

This beginner-level course will help you learn how to use Microsoft Excel as a practical tool for analyzing data. Whether you’re working with survey results, financial records, academic data, or any other kind of information, this course will guide you through the steps to clean, structure, summarize, and present your data clearly.

No prior experience is required. The course is designed to build your skills gradually using real-world examples and guided exercises.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Use basic and intermediate Excel functions such as SUM, AVERAGE, IF, COUNTIF, and VLOOKUP
  • Organize and clean raw data for analysis
  • Create and format tables and charts
  • Filter, sort, and group data in meaningful ways
  • Use PivotTables to summarize and explore large datasets
  • Apply conditional formatting to highlight patterns
  • Understand how to interpret and present results clearly

Who This Course Is For

  • Students looking to improve their research or assignment work
  • Early-career professionals who want to strengthen workplace skills
  • NGO and small business staff who need to work with records or reports
  • Anyone interested in understanding data using a familiar tool

Course Format

  • Self-paced lessons with short, clear video walkthroughs
  • Step-by-step notes and downloadable spreadsheets
  • Practice exercises after each major section
  • A final project to apply your skills on a realistic dataset
  • Optional quizzes to test your understanding as you go

Requirements

  • A laptop or desktop computer
  • Microsoft Excel (2016 or later is recommended)
  • No prior experience with Excel or data analysis is needed

Course Summary

Module 1: Getting Started with Excel

  • Overview of the Excel interface
  • Entering and formatting data
  • Basic formulas and cell references

Module 2: Working with Data

  • Sorting and filtering data
  • Removing duplicates and cleaning up entries
  • Working with dates and text data

Module 3: Essential Functions for Analysis

  • SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, MIN
  • IF statements and logical functions
  • Lookup functions (VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH)

Module 4: Visualizing Data

  • Creating and editing charts
  • Choosing the right chart for your data
  • Using conditional formatting for insights

Module 5: PivotTables and Grouping

  • Introduction to PivotTables
  • Grouping data and adding calculated fields
  • Interpreting and exporting summary tables

Module 6: Final Project

  • Analyzing a complete dataset
  • Presenting findings in a clear, visual report

Support and Community

Learners can post questions and share progress in the Sangy Academy Community Forum. Support is available by email if you get stuck.

Certificate of Completion

You will receive a certificate once you complete all lessons and submit the final project. The certificate can be downloaded and added to your resume or LinkedIn profile.