Conference Session

Innovation in Teaching Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Cunha, University of Alberta

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

evaluation.Reference 2 indicated the fast-changing requirements of the oil industry, where there is anexpectancy that young professionals will be prepared to exercise leadership, deal with businessissues and implement policies that will contribute to corporate success and profitability. Theseissues were previously mentioned in Ref. 3, where oil industry executives pointed out that, whilethe majority of students are technically well prepared, they lack business related skills andknowledge of current major financial challenges faced by the industry.The course “Advanced Resources Economic and Risk Analysis” was designed having in mindthe abovementioned set of conditions. The main idea was to (1) give the students a review on thebasics of Engineering Economy; (2

Conference Session

Innovation in Teaching Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen Bursic, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

curriculum.11MethodIn both the fall of 2005 and spring of 2006, students were required to choose one of thefollowing two contemporary problems: 1) Implementing RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology - In this case, students were to assume the role of Vice President of Operations or owner of a business that supplies products to a retailer such as Wal-Mart. Their company is being asked to comply with standards that force them to include RFID on all of their products. 2) Outsourcing production operations overseas - In this case, students were to assume the role of Vice President of Operations or owner of a large U.S. based manufacturing company. The company must decide whether to outsource some or all

Conference Session

New Topics in Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Nippert, Widener University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

, theclass was told the average grades of students using laptops and of students using calculators.From the test averages students knew there was no incentive from the standpoint of grades forthe use of either tool. Laptop availability was not a problem because there were a number oflaptops available from the university and, many students borrowed laptops from friends. Allstudents who used laptops used the Excel spreadsheet so in this paper I use “computer solution”and “spreadsheet solution” interchangeably.Allowing both the use of laptops AND calculators in the same test required some revision of thetest procedures. Some important considerations regarding the nature of the test questions are:1. All tests (hour quizzes and the Final Exam) were

Conference Session

New Topics in Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ristroph, University of Louisiana-Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

before or after duedates using either paper or the Internet. In any case, and it does not take long before homeworkfiles are created and exchanged. It is appropriate to explore alternatives to current homeworkpractices, and the next section presents a feasibility study consisting of a survey that solicitedstudents’ input.SurveyStudents in two engineering economics sections learned of their progress in the course by receiv-ing the results of their first test shortly before receiving the email survey shown in Table 1. Eachof the test’s ten problems was based on a homework question. The results were clearly bimodal,with 54% of the students earning A’s or B’s and 41% having D’s or F’s. The design of the testshould have rewarded mastery of the

Conference Session

Innovation in Teaching Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Hartman, Lehigh University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

supplemental information and merely asked whether a capitalinvestment should be pursued or not. It is expected that they will justify their decision, althoughthere are no requirements as to how. We describe our experiences with this approach, which hasbeen implemented for five years now.IntroductionProblem-based learning attempts to engage students in the learning process by having students(1) work on problems that are perceived as relevant or meaningful and (2) fill in gaps whenpresented with a situation that is “incomplete.” Both of these traits are inherent in real problems– data is incomplete, problems are ill-defined, and results are requested without formal paths ofinquiry. Establishing relevance with coursework has been shown to be a critical

Conference Session

New Topics in Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leslie Pagliari, East Carolina University; Gene Dixon, East Carolina University; Paul Kauffmann, East Carolina University; Merwan Mehta, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

for graduate students in professional master’s programs.East Carolina University (ECU) offers distance education (DE) graduate masters program (MS inTechnology Systems and MS in Occupational Safety) for technology-based managers. Thestudents in the program encompass backgrounds ranging from engineering and business, tonetworking and bio manufacturing. From a curricular content and focus perspective, theseprograms are positioned between the MBA and the master’s in engineering management asshown in Exhibit 1. For example, a primary program goal of the MS in Technology Systems(MS TS) is the professional development of individuals in technology leadership positions. Thismay include individuals with undergraduate engineering degrees, but more

Conference Session

Innovation in Teaching Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmad Sarfaraz, California State University-Northridge; Tarek Shraibati, California State University-Northridge

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

based on realdata, formulate the analytical problem to be solved, calculate the rate of return, apply presentworth analysis and after tax analysis. Thorough understanding of these methods will enable themto successfully complete the economic portion of the FE exam.Survey Methodology Page 11.750.3Students in one section of engineering economy classes were anonymously surveyed at the endof the semester to determine their perceptions of the course with respect to types of strategiesimplemented. Students were asked to respond by selecting from a set of given responses. Asample of the survey questions and responses appears in Table 1.Questions 1