Author
Rylan C. Chong, Melissa J. Dark, Dennis R. Depew, and Ida B. Ngambeki
Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to extend the work of Chong, Depew, Ngambeki, and Dark “Teaching social topics in engineering: The case of energy policy and social goals,” that discussed a process to create, integrate, and teach public policy topics in an engineering and technology curriculum. The aim of this paper was to explore a perspective by introducing public policy using a case study approach to undergraduate engineering technology students in the engineering economics course in the College of Technology at Purdue University. The course was an introduction to the time value of money and how it relates to capital investments, equipment replacement, production cost, and various engineering technology alternatives. The substantive contribution of this paper will address the following questions: 1) did the students understand and identify the policy context, 2) how effective was the use of case studies to introduce the students to policy, and 3) areas of improvement to enhance efficacy of the case studies to introduce students to policy?
