Reviewer Rationale
One case, one model, one professional decision
This 65–80 minute authentic learning activity integrates Microsoft Excel competence with professional judgement. Students interpret business data, construct an auditable model, test a material assumption, evaluate conflicting investment measures and communicate a qualified recommendation. Formative checkpoints, scaffolding and reflection move the learner from spreadsheet operator to analyst to professional adviser.
Five-minute review route
| Design feature | Evidence in the activity | Capability demonstrated |
|---|---|---|
| Authentic business case | Understand: Western Cape solar capital investment | Interpret financial and operational inputs |
| Auditable Excel model | Build: cross-sheet formulas, relative/absolute references, formatting, payback and reference-error diagnosis | Digital and numerical competence |
| Executive chart | Build: comparison chart and one-sentence design rationale | Purposeful visual communication |
| Sensitivity analysis | Test: supplied 20-year NPV engine, mixed references, fill-down and crossover refinement | Analytical reasoning and model interrogation |
| Supplier claim | Decide: separate evidence request for C’s lifecycle environmental claim | Sustainability evidence literacy and professional scepticism |
| Management recommendation | Decide: ≤100 words using quantified evidence and a qualification | Professional judgement and communication |
| Reflection | Reflect: revisit, explain and transfer | Reflexive competence |
Constructive alignment
The four learner-facing outcomes connect directly to observable work:
- Build an auditable model: interpret inputs; enter and copy formulas; apply appropriate references and number formats. Evidence:
Your Model!B4:D7, the reference-error checkpoint and optional payback ranks in row 8. - Analyse financial results: compare payback and NPV, create a relevant chart and test C’s self-consumption. Evidence: chart with rationale,
Test Assumptions!A7:E14and crossover interpretation. - Evaluate assumptions and claims: explain operational uncertainty and specify credible evidence before relying on the environmental claim. Evidence: load-profile explanation and
Recommendation!A22. - Communicate a recommendation: select a proposal using at least two correctly interpreted results, one trade-off and one operational qualification. Evidence:
Recommendation!A7, limited to 100 words.
Reflection extends these outcomes to another investment decision. The detailed skills support foundational competence (understand), practical competence (model and communicate) and reflexive competence (evaluate and transfer).
Scaffolding and formative assessment
The sequence is Start → Understand → Spreadsheet Essentials → Build → Test → Decide → Reflect. Spreadsheet Essentials introduces only the prerequisite moves. Build supplies guided formulas, then asks learners to diagnose a copied-reference error. Test supplies model infrastructure so effort goes into manipulating assumptions and interpreting results, rather than transcribing a long formula.
An initial prediction makes prior judgement explicit. Answer disclosures support self-checking; diagnostic feedback and the reasoning question prompt correction. Decide’s checklist makes success criteria visible. The completed reference workbook is available on Reflect, after the modelling and recommendation tasks.
| Criterion | Competent performance | Strong performance |
|---|---|---|
| Excel model | Core calculations and references correct | Accurate, structured and traceable to inputs |
| Analysis and chart | Relevant comparison and sensitivity results | Explains the crossover and selects a clear visual |
| Recommendation | Quantified advice with a limitation | Weighs competing measures and specifies verification needs |
| Scepticism and reflection | Questions the claim and identifies learning | Specifies credible evidence and transfers the reasoning |
Professional accountancy relevance
A has the shortest payback while C has the highest base-case NPV. Neither metric automatically determines the recommendation. The learner must explain a decision rule, test the utilisation assumption and distinguish model evidence from an unverified sustainability claim.
The spreadsheet gives evidence. It does not choose the decision rule.
Microsoft Excel is the primary learning platform. Google Sheets notes provide a compatibility pathway without changing the model. The five-sheet workbook, Rand values and fictional Western Cape case maintain a coherent professional context. Tariff and escalation values are teaching assumptions, not forecasts.
This is a non-credit application demonstration. Its intended alignment is with digital, analytical, communication and professional-judgement capabilities; formal Stellenbosch module or SAICA competency mapping requires the approved outcomes and assessment documentation.