A virtual classroom experiment for teaching engineering economy

Engineering Economist, Winter, 2004 by William G. Sullivan, Janis P. Terpenny, Harpreet Singh

Hypothesis 3: Comparison of Virginia Tech GPAs of Students in the Non-Project Experimental and Non-Project Control Groups

[H.sub.0]: No significant difference existed between the Virginia Tech GPAs of students in the non-project experimental and non-project control groups.

Table 9 shows the descriptive statistics for this test. A two-tailed t test gives a t value of 6.76, for tabled [t.sup.*] = 1.66 at alpha : 0.05 level. Thus the hypothesis is rejected, and we conclude that there is a statistically significant difference between the students in the no-GE-project experimental group and no-GE-project control group. This test measures the effect of supplemental Internet usage on student learning.

Hypothesis 4: Comparison of Mean Actual Scores of Students in the Project (Experimental and Control Combined) and Non-Project (Control and Experimental Combined) Groups

[H.sub.0]: The mean actual score of students in the project (experimental and control combined) was not significantly different from the mean actual score of the non-project (control and experimental combined) groups.

Table 10 shows the descriptive statistics for this test. A two-tailed t test gives a t value of 2.713, for tabled [t.sup.*] = 1.66 at alpha = 0.05 level. Thus the hypothesis is rejected, and we conclude that there is a statistically significant difference between the students who took part in the projects and those who did not participate in the project.

Summary of Fall 2000 Results

Table 11 summarizes the results obtained from the tests carried out for the Fall 2000 experiment.

In summary, it was observed that Treatment 2 (use of Web-based course materials) did not improve student performance. Similar to the Spring of 2000, students in the Fall of 2000 who took on projects (Treatment 1) achieved higher mean scores as compared to the group with no projects. This could be due to the fact that better-performing students typically take on bonus assignments.

CONCLUSIONS

Spring 2000 Experiment

From our results it appears that required team-based industrial projects, such as those offered by GE, improve learning by forcing students to integrate the principles of engineering economy during actual problem-solving activities. The externally sponsored projects and team-based problem solving also apparently energized the class through promotion of a peer-based learning experience. Case study activity in general may produce these desirable results.

In the study conducted in Spring 2000, the actual final scores were significantly higher for the experimental group with mean scores of 80.143 excluding GE project and 80.34 including GE project versus 77.45 for the control group.

Table 12 summarizes the hypotheses conducted for the Spring 2000 experiment along with corresponding results.

Fall 2000 Project

The actual scores of students electing to take the project (experimental and control) were higher than students not electing to take the project (Hypothesis 1). The comparison of Virginia Tech GPAs of students in the control and experimental sections indicates that there was a bias in the student population toward the group taking on projects (Hypothesis 2). These results are expected since higher achievers tend to take on bonus opportunities and also have higher GPAs. Table 13 shows the descriptive statistics and results for these tests.