Teaching Engineering Analysis using VBA for Excel

Abstract

When teaching computer programming to engineering students there is always some amount of controversy regarding the language which should be taught. Traditional choices were Fortran or C, but more modern choices are C++, Java, and Visual Basic. This paper describes an Engineering Analysis class that is taught primarily using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for Excel. The paper outlines the reasons for choosing that language, illustrates how the course is organized, and describes how well the course has worked in practice. Certain topics of interest with regard to VBA for Excel are explored, and sample programs are included. © 2011 National Association of Social Workers.