Evaluation of an engineering education courseware across different campuses

In order to meet some of the objectives of the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) 2000 criteria and to bring real-world issues to engineering classrooms, many different engineering educational materials were developed by two of the authors. The materials consist of written case studies, videos and CD-ROMs. They were used in engineering classrooms at different universities. In this paper, we discuss the evaluation of the courseware entitled "Della Power Plant" in engineering classrooms. In this courseware, the engineering and management issues surrounding the heavy vibration of a turbine-generator unit in a power plant are discussed. The Della CD-ROM won the 1998 Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware. Subsequently, this courseware has been administered in engineering and business classrooms at Auburn University and at a minority engineering program at Alabama A&M University. Two of the authors evaluated the effectiveness of the courseware in these classrooms as a means of integrating engineering theory and practice. They found that the case study method of teaching received favorable responses from the students. The comments from the students were sprinkled with phrases such as "real life", "real situation" and "real world". We believe that widespread use of courseware similar to the one discussed in this paper could develop the skills and techniques necessary for engineering practice and bring theory and practice together. It could also help realize many of the ABET 2000 criteria.