This paper examines a process for answering two fundamental questions: (1) Which engineering topics most enhance a student's ability to contribute to society as measured by employer needs? (2) What is the effectiveness of current educational practices, such as computer-aided-instruction? It uses a well-recognized engineering discipline, engineering economics, to illustrate this process. A fundamental issue in any educational endeavor is determining the relevancy of specific topics and how much resources should be devoted to them. The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and its divisions, such as the Engineering Economics Division (EED), can serve a useful function in that process. These organizations can help to obtain and organize information at a national level that is not routinely available to academic decision makers, specifically industrial needs and how academic practices address those needs. This paper examines each of these subjects in the following sections, and then discusses implementation strategies.
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