Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hartanto Wibowo, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Jon Matthews Rouse

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

those who responded. However, the survey wasadministered by a third-party faculty member (not the instructor-of-record and never participatedin class activities) so that students’ remarks could be decoupled from their names when sharedwith the course instructor. Survey participants were informed of this anonymization, so thestudents could express their thoughts freely and possible bias in grading could be minimized.The methodology is illustrated in Figure 2. Figure 2. Methodology flowchartTerminology Inventory QuizEngineering students are generally not highly familiar with common jargon and terminologies ineconomics if they have not taken elective, introductory-level economics or business course(s).Most students

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hamed Samandari, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

assignment and a study guide before the final exam.Examples of these materials are provided in the appendix and discussed in the results section ofthe study. The design of this study aimed to explore whether simply informing students about AIand allowing them to use it without specific training or structured guidance could enhance theirunderstanding of the course topics. This approach was particularly relevant as our institution, likemany others, is debating whether to limit student use of AI tools.ResultsWe started the study with the soft introduction phase. Examples are selected from the coursetextbook(s) and are solved using Chat GPT-4o and AP- Microeconomics bot. We created a newpaid account and used it only for the study. This was done since

Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gbetonmasse B Somasse, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

. Future work can consider more quantitative analysis of the effectivenessof the learning module in promoting economic literacy in engineering education.Conflict of Interest There is no conflict of interest to the authors’ knowledge.AcknowledgmentsThis work was supported by the Kern Family Foundation through an Engineering Unleashedfellowship received by the author.References[1] “civil-engineering-program-criteria-commentary---feb-2024.pdf.” Accessed: Feb. 19, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.asce.org/-/media/asce-images-and-files/career-and- growth/educators/documents/civil-engineering-program-criteria-commentary---feb-2024.pdf[2] S. Zoghi, “Engineering economics and its role in the engineering curricula,” in 2015 ASEE Annual

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katie Leanne Basinger, University of Florida; Andrew Benjamin McGrath, University of Florida; Henry Maxwell Gonzalez, University of Florida

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

of students in correlation with their group.Figure 2. Average of each exam based on group and semester.In the analysis of course evaluations, we focused on three key questions that provided the mostrelevant feedback regarding the active learning modules: (1) “Please identify the instructor’sstrengths that contributed to your learning in the course,” (2) “What additional constructivefeedback can you offer the instructor that might help improve the course?”, and (3) “Whatconstructive suggestion(s) do you have for improving the course materials, organization, andassignments?” Student comments included both positive and negative perspectives. For example,a positive comment noted, I think having more active videos would help the students interact

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Billy Gray, Tarleton State University; Gloria Margarita Fragoso-Diaz

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

thestudent’s education. One practical use is that of automation in grading essays. Utilizing computerfeedback on essays has been discussed and researched since at least the 1960’s. AutomatedEssay Scoring (AES) has been used to provide quick feedback on student work. It is focusedmore on the technical and mechanical aspects of writing and seeks to replicate a human grader[7]. AES is generally more holistic in its assessment [2].AI use in reviewing and grading students’ assignments have been viewed as beneficial andpotentially more accurate than human-based review [1]. More recent uses of AI involve the useof Natural Language Processing (NLP) to aide in these tasks. NLP utilizes different machinelearning models and algorithms, with two common methods

Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tamara R Etmannski, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Mohosina Jabin Toma, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Johan Foster, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

coherence. Future work will include gathering andanalysing student feedback, refining materials based on recommendations, planning a morerigorous study comparing OER-using sections with textbook using sections, and expanding thepilot to additional departments to expand on annual student savings.6. EthicsAs confirmed by the UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) office, the work isconsidered “Quality Improvement and Assurance and Program Evaluation”, which under Article2.5 of the Tri Council Policy Statement is exempt from institutional ethics review requirements.This work therefore does not require ethics review for its performance or dissemination.7. References[1] T. R. Etmannski, S. Song, J. Sandhu, L. Kim, & A. Wang, “Online Open

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raymond L. Smith III, East Carolina University; Ricky T Castles, East Carolina University; Emily Fuller Sondergard

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

Conferences, Jun. 2024, p. 47796. doi: 10.18260/1-2--47796.[12] H. Halaburda, J. Prince, D. Daniel Sokol, and F. Zhu, “The business revolution: Economy‐wide impacts of artificial intelligence and digital platforms,” Economics Manag Strategy, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 269–275, Mar. 2024, doi: 10.1111/jems.12581.[13] J. Tu, “Learn to Speak Like A Native: AI-powered Chatbot Simulating Natural Conversation for Language Tutoring,” J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., vol. 1693, no. 1, p. 012216, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/1693/1/012216.[14] C.-Y. Chang, S. Kuo, and G.-H. Hwang, “Chatbot-facilitated Nursing Education: Incorporating a Knowledge-Based Chatbot System into a Nursing Training Program,” Educational Technology &