A Virtual Classroom Experiment for Teaching the Economic Principles of Engineering Design

工程-其他(59)作为决策者，工程师必须在设计的多个方面具有知识和能力。工程不仅仅是一种简单地关注所设计构件的预期性能的问题解决活动。还必须考虑关于生命周期问题的设计决策的经济后果。本科工程教育的一个主要挑战是提高学生在经济要素方面的能力，这些要素是工程过程中如此关键的一部分。为了取得成功，经济学的基本原理需要在本科课程中尽早引入并加强。本项目的目标是进行一项实验，以确定虚拟课堂环境是否提高了对工程设计的经济学原理的熟练程度。正如设想的那样，虚拟教室将为工程师提供经济学的基本入门知识。此外，它还为本科生和执业人员提供了一个继续学习的资源。进一步来说，这项研究是一个更长期和更广泛的愿景的组成部分，即为工程课程中选定的核心课程建立本科课程。预计透过在本科生层面采用以电脑为本的学习方法，可以极具成本效益的方式，为更多学生提供高质素的核心工程课程。在这项研究结束时，将通过因特网提供课程的电子版，其中将包括模块化的课程笔记、软件、测试/评估材料和工业案例研究。这项研究直接涉及的本科教育部门(DUE)的主题包括教师发展、多样性和技术在教育中的整合。

Engineering - Other (59)As decision-makers, engineers must be knowledgeable and competent in multiple aspects of design. Engineering is more than a problem solving activity focusing on simply the expected performance of designed artifacts. Consideration must also be given to the economic consequences of design decisions on life-cycle issues. A major challenge to undergraduate engineering education is to increase student competency in the economic elements that are such a critical part of the engineering process. To succeed, the fundamentals of economics needs to be introduced early and reinforced throughout the undergraduate program.The objective of this project is to conduct an experiment to determine whether a virtual classroom environment is improving proficiency in the economic principles of engineering design. As envisioned, the virtual classroom is providing the basic introduction to economics for engineers. Also, it serve as a continuing resource for undergraduates and for practicing professionals. Farther reaching, this research is an integral part of a longer-term and broader vision to build an undergraduate program for selected core courses in the engineering curriculum. It is anticipated that through computer-based learning methods utilized at the undergraduate level, higher quality core engineering courses can be offered to more students in a very cost-effective manner.This project is a collaborative effort. At the conclusion of this research, an electronic version of the course will be made available via the Internet and will include modularized course notes, software, materials for testing/assessment, and industrial case studies. The Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) themes directly addressed by this research include faculty development, diversity, and integration of technology in education.