how to generate study schedules based on input fields

**JMTB** · 03-08-2015, 07:38 PM

Hi.
It may well be that what I'm looking for exists, but I have no idea how to look for it. What I want to do is help inexperienced students make a straightforward sort of schedule/tasklist whenever a (period of) test(s) is immanent.

On one sheet in a workbook I want to make some sort of form where the student indicates from/to what page from what source (e.g. book) for a subject he/she has to study the contents (the workload). So:
Geography----Second Handbook class4 ---- page 23-52
Geography----Third Handbook class4 -------page 160-134
History------ New World Atlas-----------------page 3-33 etc.

Furthermore the first sheet will show the total number of pages to be studied per subject and in all, by means of formulas. I think I can do that...
In order to make things easier and uniform on the first sheet, I want to use a second sheet for a list of all study sources, subject names etc. so as to use them in respective dropdown lists on the first sheet.

On a third sheet the start and end date of a study period must be entered, together with days to (partially)exclude (sports, holidays, travel etc). Also, the order in which subjects will be studied should be given here.

Finally, a fourth sheet should end up showing a day to day schedule, showing how many pages of which subject(s) should be studied that day. So: the workload should somehow be distributed accross a calendar. The purpose being that a student can rely on this planning to - in the end - have studied all necessary sources, and do so in a regular flow in stead of nervous peaks.
So if:
subject 1: 23 pages
subject 2: 57 pages
subject 3: 41 pages
subject 4: 11 pages
total is 132 pages to be studied.
Suppose preparation time is 2 weeks, excluding weekends, the per day quotum is 132/10=13,2 pages per day.
This means: day 1 = 13, say 14 pages subject 1
day 2: 9 pages subject 1 + 5 pages subject 2
day 3: well, you get the idea.

Unfortunately my Excel and/or programming skills are to limited to figure out how to set this up, for one thing because I don't know the technical terms for this sort of project (e.g. I have seen examples where "spreading" data was used rather than distribution).

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Michael.

I know, pages are a somewhat arbitrary "unit" for studying purposes, but one has to start somewhere. And perhaps at some point it will be possible to "weigh" pages from quick and easy to difficult and slow. But first of all I would like to know if something like this sounds at all possible, or perhaps already exists under a totally different name and/or for a different purpose.

I am no big excel crack, nor a programmer. But following instructions has often brought me where I want to be

**ELeGault** · 03-09-2015, 03:26 AM

I don't have time currently - but I can tell you that

"If you build it, They will come

what I mean by that in this case would be to make a mock file of what you envision. With that someone here like myself can see your vision and help you improve it and/or simply fill in the blanks that you have. If you do not know how to make it function, no worries - visually lay it out as you would see it being used and then put comments around it or on it stating what its functionality would be, the source of the cell whether it be user input or formulas and/or a drop down menu built from a list elsewhere.

With a book like that - less time will be wasted trying to turn your thought of text into a working sample model. I will keep my eye out throughout the week to see what you come up with and/or if you get help. Should you do that and no one gets back to you (Which is highly unlikely) I will take a stab at it.

Post a file by clicking on GO ADVANCED or hitting ALT+X on your keyboard. Then click on the paper, with a paperclip.

Try to be as clear as you can so anyone trying to help can vest more time into the solution and less into layout or interpretation!

Good Luck
Cheers

**ELeGault** · 03-10-2015, 09:20 PM

Should we consider this one closed? I understand that you are not sure how to make this function, but drawing a picture of what you would like it to look like should be doable -

**JMTB** · 05-10-2015, 02:18 PM

Hello.

Sorry for the delayed reply, due to personal circumstances as they say.
I am working on a mockup in English and will try to upload it soon.
Thanks for the patience and the suggestion.

Michael.