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Session 1639

Developing a Web-Based Engineering Economy Courseware

Chan S. Park, Jai W. Kang

Auburn University/ Rochester Institute of Technology

Introduction

Recently, more web-based instructional materials have been developed to help students in learning various engineering subject matters. In engineering economy instruction in particular, the use of the Internet is increasingly common. Even though most instructors as well as students appreciate the power of the Internet, how we develop a web-based courseware is a much debated issue. In particular, Excel becomes almost the de facto computing platform in solving various engineering economic decision problems. In this presentation, we demonstrate the general scheme of developing web-based engineering economy courseware, taking advantage of the Internet as well as the well-known Excel computing platform.

In this paper, we are proposing a new way of developing engineering economics course materials based on the Web. In doing so, we are developing a Java based on-line processor and linking to an Excel spreadsheet for more complex economic analysis. All major engineering economics problems will be classified into one of two categories: Category 1—simple calculation, which can be accomplished by Java-Calculators; Category 2—requires extensive tabular presentation, suitable for Excel spreadsheet. All user interfaces will be done on the web, so that students can respond to basic input queries. Then, the program will create an Excel file ready for economic analysis. The entire process is somehow similar to using Turbo Tax on a PC—you answer the basic questions, then Turbo Tax creates the suitable tax return forms with blanks filled. Then, the users can interactively change the data directly on the screen to conduct “what if” analysis. A comprehensive replacement analysis will be demonstrated in the paper.

Developing On-Line Financial Calculators

The first category is to develop an integrated financial calculator based on Java, so that the calculator can be accessed with any Web browser. In either classroom instruction or students working on homework, it is often desirable to perform simple operations such as finding net

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Kim, Y., & Kang, J., & Park, C. (2003, June), Developing A Web Based Engineering Economics Courseware Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12080