1Name Instructor Engineering Students Ch.docx

1
Name:
Instructor:
Engineering Students' Challenges
10/13/17
The engineering field is one of the most versatile and ever-
changing areas across the globe. This is a field that can beat
individuals to their knees, and it is for this reason that it is not
meant for ordinary individuals (Trevelyan, p.3). The field is
made tough by the fact that it is a technology field that
separates scientific concepts from technology. Despite being
this tough engineering is known for being the most sought-after
course by individuals after high school. This is because
individuals firmly believe in the superiority of specific classes
over others. Individuals think that courses such as engineering
are more superior and have a better promise for a brighter future
as compared to courses in art and commerce. For these reasons
individual dive into engineering for higher learning without
fully understanding what they are getting themselves into just

because they want to be associated with the superiority of this
course.
While life as a college student is generally hard, it is definitely
harder for a student pursuing engineering. These students have
met with a large share of unique challenges again due to the fact
that they pursue a complex scientific field. This paper will
analyses the various challenges that engineering students must
go through in the course of their education an also recommend
ways of overcoming them.
The first major challenge facing students is the dilution of
course content. Today, the college intake rules and guidelines
have been lowered way below standard, and this enables weak
students to be part of the system both in the private as well as
public institutions. The number of weak students admitted to
this course is higher than that of the qualified students in our
institutions. As mentioned above the course content of
engineering students do not favor mediocre and average
students since it is highly complex. It is a course for the most
elite individuals. The admission of such a large number of weak
students has therefore caused many educational institutions to
dilute the course content in consideration of the weak students.
The engineering classroom today is one where a greatly
innovative mind which is well deserving to be in an engineering
class studies or competes with an individual who has never
plugged in a PC in their life. In general, this has lowered the
quality of education that is delivered to the engineering
students. The elite minds in the classroom, who are deserving
to be there have nothing much to gain since the course only
teaches the basics in so as to accommodate the weak student.
In the end, this means that the students do not gain the skills
they need to be competitive in the world. The result is less
innovation since the innovative skills of the elite are killed, and
the weak do not gain any of them. It is for this reason that many
of the engineering students merely looking for employment
anywhere rather than making explorations, innovations, and
inventions or even taking up jobs that are challenging as it

should be. The poor quality course content results to half-baked
engineering students and this reflects in the substandard work
that they do in the society. If this problem is not resolved the
role of the engineering in the society will continue to diminish
over time.
The second challenge facing the engineering students is high
student-teacher faculty ratio. This is a problem that has also
been caused by the lowered student entry standards. This simply
means that there are way too many students and very few
faculty lecturers attending to them. The main cause of this
problem is the fact that the high intake of student both qualified
and under qualified or this cause has led to overcrowding of the
classroom. The high student-teacher faculty ratio has further
contributed to the degrading of education delivered to the
student since there is too much workload on the lecturer hence
affecting their quality of delivery and concentration on students
(Lucena, p.10). Furthermore, students are not able to gain
personalized attention from lecturers to help enhance their skills
in the course. A lecturer, therefore, comes in class generally
teaches or delivers the course content to all without impacting
or focusing on the development of the individual skills of a
student.
This is bad since it does not help improve the engineering skills
of students which differ from one student to another. Too many
students in a classroom also put a strain on the course resources
available. Being such a technical course, there is the need for
higher student – lecturer participation where students are able to
get personalized attention from lecturers, and this can only be
done by bringing down the number of students in a classroom
by only admitting the qualified. This can help increase the level
of engagement between the educators and the students and
hence higher quality learning outcomes.
The third challenge facing students in engineering classes is the
use of outdated syllabus. The field of technology and science is
a constantly evolving field which faces new inventions,
innovations, and problems each day. Engineers, therefore, need

to constantly update their skills to ensure that they are able to
adequately handle the emerging problems in the society (Sidhu,
30). Schools need to equip their students with skills that they
need to solve current and upcoming challenges.
It is sad however, that most of our institutions that train the
engineers still make use of old syllabuses. This means that
students are equipped with skills which have most probably
gone obsolete due to the emergence of new problems and
challenges and also the advancement if new technology. This
also makes the whole engineer training process useless because
after all the skills gained cannot be applied in the modern
society to solve modern problems and meet modern needs.
Due to the high level of innovation and inventions in
science and technology, there is great need for schools to update
their curriculums from time to time to ensure that the syllabus
reflects the current information needs of the students an also
ensure that the skills which the impact on the student are
relevant for today's society and can be used to solve future
needs and problems. Students should be well equipped with
real-time information by ensuring that they can easily gain
access to current journal and books on engineering. The manner
in which the educators implement the curriculum also needs to
change to ensure that what is delivered to the students is on
track with the changes in the industry.
Students also face the challenge of lacking opportunities in
industrial training. Students struggle with trying to land an
opportunity in the industry to apply skills learned in skills, to
get further training and also gain experience. This challenge
arises from the fact that the bad reputation of engineering
training in our institutions has affected the perception of
industry leaders on the engineers that are entering the industry.
Due to the low quality of education delivered in the institutions,
students mainly come into the industry half-baked.
Most of them do not have the skills necessary to be competitive
in the industry. Organizations, therefore, do not see the need to
give opportunities to individuals who deliver substandard value

and so much cost in training them. The gap that exists between
content taught in class and industry requirement is the main
cause of this problem. In the long run, this undermines the
chances of ever having a career for students.
To solve this, there is need to bridge this gap by ensuring that
training delivered is quality in term of meeting the industry
requirement. This means that the syllabus used should be
updated and educators should work to ensure that student gain
relevant skills throughout their course. What universities should
do is promote cooperation with engineering companies which
can take up a percentage of students and offer training to the
students, they can also create additional training centers where
the focus would be students' projects alone (Felder & Brent
p.270).
The final challenge to be discussed in this paper is the attitude
of the students and educators. As mentioned earlier the field of
engineering does not belong to every individual. A rightful
student needs to have the right vision and attitude for this
course. The problem, however, is the fact that we are taking
students that are under qualified for this course and taking them
through the complexity of the course. For a student to do well in
this course, they need to elite students with great analytical,
technical and innovative skills. When weak students are taken
up for this course, it doesn't take long for them to realize that
they do not have what it takes to go through the course to
completion and also be competitive. This results in lack of
student motivation and high levels of drop out since they see the
course as being very complex. As earlier mentioned, most
individuals also seek to study engineering since they see it as
superior course and want to be associated with it.
This means that they come into the cause without a clear vision
and with the aim of only going through the course and
completing it. Such attitudes have led to poor examination
performance and even worse driven students to care more about
just passing the exams and not gaining skills that make them
competitive. They end up memorizing their course contents the

last minute before exams just to make sure they pass their
exams. The only solution to this is ensuring that students
admitted to the program are qualified that is have the right
vision, skills, and mind for the course. Educators, on the other
hand, may be qualified but also lack the zeal and motivation to
deliver quality.
It is important for high school students to understand clearly
what engineering is all about, the expectations as well as the
challenges that students face while undertaking this course
before sending their numerous applications to pursue it. This is
because engineering is not a field for any student who is
average or below average. It is a field that requires only the
refined minds in the society since it requires a lot of innovative,
technical as well as analytical skills (Johnston, Gostelow, and
King, p.23). A lot of the challenges mentioned above are either
caused or are effects of having a course that is highly flocked
by so many average students. For example, this has caused the
unproportionate student-teacher ratio, lack of faith on graduate
students and lowered the quality of education. In order to
resolve most of the above-described problems, we need to
restore the competitive nature of the field to make sure that it
maintains its relevance in the world. Engineering being such an
important area of our society, there is need to ensure that we do
not allow human greed to degrade the field and also
disadvantage those who are deserving of it.

Work cited
Felder, Richard M., and Rebecca Brent. "The Intellectual
Development of Science and Engineering Students. Part 1:
Models and Challenges." Journal of Engineering Education, vol.
93, no. 4, Dec. 2004, pp. 269–277., doi:10.1002/j.2168-
9830.2004.tb00816.x.
Johnston, Stephen, J. P. Gostelow, and W J. King. Engineering
and society: challenges of professional practice. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print.
Lucena, Juan. Engineering education for social justice: critical
explorations and opportunities. Dordrecht New York: Springer,
2013. Print.
Sidhu, Manjit S. Technology-assisted problem solving for
engineering education : interactive multimedia applications.
Hershey, PA: Engineering Science Reference, 2010. Print.
Trevelyan, James P. The making of an expert engineer : how to
have a wonderful career creating a better world and spending
lots of money belonging to other people. Leiden, the
Netherlands: CRC Press/Balkema, 2014. Print.
1) Kline Company failed to record depreciation of equipment.
How does this omission affect
Kline's financial statements?
A.Net income is understated and assets are overstated.
B.Net income is overstated and assets are understated.
C.Net income is understated and assets are understated.
D.Net income is overstated and assets are overstated.
2) Acton, Inc., uses the double-declining-balance method for
depreciation on its computers. Which item is not needed to
compute depreciation for the first year?
A. Estimated residual value
B. Expected useful life in years
C. Original cost
D. All the items listed are needed.

3) Which of the following costs are reported on a company's
income statement and balance sheet?
Income Statement Balance Sheet
A. Cost of Goods sold Accumulated depreciation
B. Accumulated depreciation Land
C. Goodwill Accounts payable
D. Gain on sale of land Cost of goods sold
4) Hamilton Company purchased a machine for $ 11,800 on
January 1, 2016.
The machine has been depreciated using the straight-line
method over a four-year
life with a $ 1,600 residual value. Hamilton sold the machine on
January 1, 2018,
for $ 8,000. What is straight-line depreciation for the year
ended December 31, 2016, and what is the book value on
December 31, 2017?
What is straight-line depreciation for the year ended December
31, 2016?
The depreciation is $____________
What is the book value on December 31, 2017?
The book value is $_____________
5) Harper, Inc., was reviewing its assets for impairment at the
end of the current year. Information about one of its assets is as
follows:
Net book value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$900,000
Estimated future cash flows . . . . . .
$670,000

Fair (market) value . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$645,000
Harper should report an impairment loss for the current year of
A. $ 0
B. $ 230,000
C. $ 25,000
D. $ 255,000
6) Failure to accrue interest expense results in
A. an overstatement of net income and an understatement of
liabilities.
B. an overstatement of net income and an overstatement of
liabilities.
C. an understatement of net income and an overstatement of
liabilities.
D. an understatement of net income and an understatement of
liabilities.
7) An end-of-period adjusting entry that debits Unearned
Revenue most likely will credit
A. an asset.
B. a liability.
C. a revenue.
D. an expense.
8) Myron, Inc., manufactures and sells computer monitors with
a three-year warranty. Warranty costs are expected to average
7% of sales during the warranty period. The following table
shows the sales and actual warranty payments during the first
two years of operations:
Year

Sales
Warranty Payments
2016
$500,000
$4,500
2017
800,000
40,000
Based on these facts, what amount of warranty liability should
Myron, Inc., report on its balance sheet at December 31, 2017?
A.$ 46,500
B.$ 91,000
C.$ 40,000
D.$ 44,500
9) Bond carrying value equals Bonds Payable
A. minus Premium on Bonds Payable.
B. plus Discount on Bonds Payable.
C. minus Discount on Bonds Payable.
D. plus Premium on Bonds Payable.
E. both a and b.
F. both c and d.
10) Par value
A. may exist for common stock but not for preferred stock.
B. is an arbitrary amount that establishes the legal capital for
each share.
C. represents the original selling price for a share of stock.
D. is established for a share of stock after it is issued.
E. represents what a share of stock is worth.
11) The paid-in capital portion of stockholders' equity does not
include
A. Paid-in Capital in Excess of Par Value.

B. Common Stock.
C. Retained Earnings.
D. Preferred Stock.
E. both c and d.
12) Preferred stock is least likely to have which of the
following characteristics?
A. The right of the holder to convert to common stock
B. Preference as to dividends
C. Preference as to voting
D. Preference as to assets on liquidation of the corporation
13) Which of the following classifications represents the most
shares of common stock?
A. Issued shares
B. Outstanding shares
C. Treasury shares
D. Unissued shares
E. Authorized shares
14) A company paid $ 28per share to purchase 900 shares of its
common stock as treasury stock. The stock was originally issued
at $ 12 per share. Which of the following is the journal entry to
record the purchase of the treasury stock?
A.
Treasury Stock
25,200
Cash
25,200
B.
Treasury Stock
10,800
Retained Earnings

14,400
Cash
25,200
C.
Common Stock
25,200
Cash
25,200
D.
Treasury Stock
10,800
Paid – In Capital in Excess of Par
14,400
Cash
25,200
15) A company declares a 5% stock dividend. The debit to
Retained Earnings is an amount equal to
A. the market value of the shares to be issued.
B. the excess of the market price over the original issue price of
the shares to be issued.
C. the par value of the shares to be issued.
D. the book value of the shares to be issued.
16) Which of the following statements is not true about a 3-for-
1 stock split?
A. Par value is reduced to one-third of what it was before the
split.
B. Retained Earnings remains the same.
C. Total stockholders' equity increases.

D. The market price of each share of stock will decrease.
E. A stockholder with 10 shares before the split owns 30 shares
after the split.
17) Selling equipment for cash is reported on the statement of
cash flows under
A. operating activities.
B. noncash investing and financing activities.
C. investing activities.
D. financing activities.
18) Which of the following terms appears on a statement of cash
flows - indirect method?
A. Depreciation expense
B. Collections from customers
C. Cash receipt of interest revenue
D. Payments to suppliers
19) On an indirect method statement of cash flows, an increase
in accounts payable would be
A. reported in the financing activities section.
B. added to net income in the operating activities section.
C. deducted from net income in the operating activities section.
D. reported in the investing activities section.
20) On an indirect method statement of cash flows, a gain on
the sale of plant assets would be
A. reported in the investing activities section.
B. deducted from net income in the operating activities section.
C. ignored, since the gain did not generate any cash.
D. added to net income in the operating activities section.
21) The Miami Medical Corporation financial statements
follow:
Miami Medical Corporation
Consolidated Statements of Financial Position

December 31,
(In Millions)
2016
2015
Assets:
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents
$4,369
$4,206
Short-term investments
850
523
Accounts and notes receivable
3,404
2,402
Inventories, at cost
433
404
Prepaid expense and other current assets
1,602
1,221
Total current assets
10,658
8,756
Property and equipment, net
1,545
938
Investments
6,681
5,328
Other non-current assets

302
122
Total assets
$19,186
$15,144
Liabilities and stockholder's equity:
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$7,702
$6,000
Accrued and other liabilities
3,695
3,099
Total current liabilities
11,397
9,099
Long-term debt
306
307
Other non-current liabilities
1,701
1,175
Total liabilities
13,404
10,581
Stockholders’ equity
Preferred stock and capital in excess of $0.02 par value;
shares issued and outstanding: none

-
-
Common stock and capital in excess of $0.05 par value;
shares authorized: 6,000; shares issued: 1,402 and
1,146, respectively
7,807
7,007
Treasury stock, at cost; 180 and 124 shares, respectively
(6,200)
(4,403)
Retained earnings
4,304
2,036
Other comprehensive loss
(91)
(29)
Other
(38)
(48)
Total stockholders’ equity
5,782
4,563
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$19,186
$15,144
Consolidated Statements of Income
Year ended December 31,
(In Millions, Except per Share Amounts)

2016
2015
2014
Net revenue
$42,041
$35,304
$31,191
Cost of goods sold
35,164
29,111
26,061
Gross profit
6,877
6,193
5,130
Operating expenses:
Selling, general, and administrative
3,748
3,350
2,689
Research, development, and engineering
584
558
529
Special charges
-
-
500
Total operating expenses
4,332
3,908
3,718
Operating income

2,545
2,285
1,412
Investment and other income (loss), net
185
197
(78)
Income before income taxes
2,730
2,482
1,334
Income tax expense
1,137
950
473
Net income
$1,593
$1,532
$861
Earnings per common share:
Basic
$1.42
$0.90
$0.37
During 2016, Miami Medical's total assets
A. increased by 26.7%.
B. increased by $ 1,902 million.
C. Both a and b.
D. increased by 21.1%.
follow:

December 31,
(In Millions)
2016
2015
Assets:
Current assets
$4,369
$4,206
850
523
3,404
2,402
433
404
1,602
1,221
10,658
8,756
1,545
938
Investments
6,681

5,328
302
122
Total assets
$19,186
$15,144
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$7,702
$6,000
3,695
3,099
11,397
9,099
Long-term debt
306
307
1,701
1,175
Total liabilities
13,404
10,581

-
-
1,146, respectively
7,807
7,007
(6,200)
(4,403)
Retained earnings
4,304
2,036
(91)
(29)
Other
(38)
(48)
5,782
4,563
$19,186
$15,144

2016
2015
2014
Net revenue
$42,041
$35,304
$31,191
Cost of goods sold
35,164
29,111
26,061
Gross profit
6,877
6,193
5,130
Operating expenses:
3,748
3,350
2,689
584
558
529
Special charges
-
-
500
4,332
3,908
3,718

Operating income
2,545
2,285
1,412
185
197
(78)
2,730
2,482
1,334
Income tax expense
1,137
950
473
Net income
$1,593
$1,532
$861
Basic
$1.42
$0.90
$0.37
Miami Medical's current ratio at year-end 2016 is closest to
A. 1.2.
B. 0.94.
C. 0.739.
D. 21.1.
follow:

Operating income
2,545
2,285
1,412
185
197
(78)
2,730
2,482
1,334
Income tax expense
1,137
950
473
Net income
$1,593
$1,532
$861
Basic
$1.42
$0.90
$0.37
Miami Medical's quick (acid-test) ratio at year-end 2016 is
closest to
A. 0.46.
B. $ 8,623 million.
C. 0.76.
D. 0.68

follow:
December 31,
(In Millions)
2016
2015
Assets:
Current assets
$4,369
$4,206
850
523
3,404
2,402
433
404
1,602
1,221
10,658
8,756
1,545
938

Investments
6,681
5,328
302
122
Total assets
$19,186
$15,144
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$7,702
$6,000
3,695
3,099
11,397
9,099
Long-term debt
306
307
1,701
1,175
Total liabilities
13,404
10,581

-
-
1,146, respectively
7,807
7,007
(6,200)
(4,403)
Retained earnings
4,304
2,036
(91)
(29)
Other
(38)
(48)
5,782
4,563
$19,186
$15,144

2016
2015
2014
Net revenue
$42,041
$35,304
$31,191
Cost of goods sold
35,164
29,111
26,061
Gross profit
6,877
6,193
5,130
Operating expenses:
3,748
3,350
2,689
584
558
529
Special charges
-
-
500
4,332

3,908
3,718
Operating income
2,545
2,285
1,412
185
197
(78)
2,730
2,482
1,334
Income tax expense
1,137
950
473
Net income
$1,593
$1,532
$861
Basic
$1.42
$0.90
$0.37
What is the largest single item included in Miami Medical's
debt ratio at December 31, 2016?
A. Accounts payable
B. Cash and cash equivalents
C. Common stock

D. Investments
follow:
December 31,
(In Millions)
2016
2015
Assets:
Current assets
$4,369
$4,206
850
523
3,404
2,402
433
404
1,602
1,221
10,658
8,756

1,545
938
Investments
6,681
5,328
302
122
Total assets
$19,186
$15,144
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$7,702
$6,000
3,695
3,099
11,397
9,099
Long-term debt
306
307
1,701
1,175
Total liabilities
13,404
10,581

-
-
1,146, respectively
7,807
7,007
(6,200)
(4,403)
Retained earnings
4,304
2,036
(91)
(29)
Other
(38)
(48)
5,782
4,563
$19,186
$15,144

2016
2015
2014
Net revenue
$42,041
$35,304
$31,191
Cost of goods sold
35,164
29,111
26,061
Gross profit
6,877
6,193
5,130
Operating expenses:
3,748
3,350
2,689
584
558
529
Special charges
-
-
500

4,332
3,908
3,718
Operating income
2,545
2,285
1,412
185
197
(78)
2,730
2,482
1,334
Income tax expense
1,137
950
473
Net income
$1,593
$1,532
$861
Basic
$1.42
$0.90
$0.37
Using the earliest year available as the base year, the trend
percentage for Miami Medical's
net revenue during 2016 was

A. 135%.
B. up by $ 10,850 million.
C. 119%.
D. up by 19.1%.
follow:
December 31,
(In Millions)
2016
2015
Assets:
Current assets
$4,369
$4,206
850
523
3,404
2,402
433
404
1,602
1,221

10,658
8,756
1,545
938
Investments
6,681
5,328
302
122
Total assets
$19,186
$15,144
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$7,702
$6,000
3,695
3,099
11,397
9,099
Long-term debt
306
307
1,701
1,175

Total liabilities
13,404
10,581
-
-
1,146, respectively
7,807
7,007
(6,200)
(4,403)
Retained earnings
4,304
2,036
(91)
(29)
Other
(38)
(48)
5,782
4,563

$19,186
$15,144
2016
2015
2014
Net revenue
$42,041
$35,304
$31,191
Cost of goods sold
35,164
29,111
26,061
Gross profit
6,877
6,193
5,130
Operating expenses:
3,748
3,350
2,689
584
558
529

Special charges
-
-
500
4,332
3,908
3,718
Operating income
2,545
2,285
1,412
185
197
(78)
2,730
2,482
1,334
Income tax expense
1,137
950
473
Net income
$1,593
$1,532
$861
Basic
$1.42
$0.90
$0.37

Miami Medical's common-size income statement for 2016 would
report cost of goods sold as
A. 134.9%.
B. $35,164 million.
C. 83.6%.
D. Up by 20.8%.

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