Web-based engineering economics - A multi-semester experiment

In the face of mandated reductions in curriculum credit hours, a series of one-credit engineering science (45-60 hours for completion) modules have been developed at the University of Arizona to maintain breadth of engineering sciences and to better prepare students for passing the Fundamentals of Engineering examination. The set of modules includes engineering economics. The courses are taught in a web-based format with opportunity to interact with faculty and teaching assistants during live and electronic office hours. In this paper, we report on the development effort and the difficulties involved in faculty buy-in and in course development. We have run two experiments with the site and our results on learning and student attitudes are included.