Development of a mobile app for Engineering Economics

Abstract

This paper presents the development and the preliminary assessment results of a mobile app for the Engineering Economics course. The mobile app consists of 5 tabs: E-book, calculator, reference tables, conceptual questions and practice problems. The E-book is a summary of the key concepts of Engineering Economics. The calculator provides functions to solve basic engineering economics problems with formulas. The tables allow the users to compute discrete compound interest factors. The conceptual questions give the users an opportunity to review and quiz key concepts. The practice problems generate problems with random parameters allowing learners to practice as much as they want. The same mobile app has been developed for both Apple iOS and Google Android platforms. We will release our developed apps to the public after full assessment in the College of Engineering at Lamar University. It will give students more opportunity to learn and practice Engineering Economics whenever they have spare time. The preliminary assessment results in Fall 2012 semester are presented in this paper. Surveys and interviews are conducted with randomly selected students to get a better understanding of the impact of the mobile app. The authors are now in the process of transforming the app into game-style. Further development and improvement with formative assessment is planned in the next three years. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.