Chair, C.H. Sandage School of Business
Professor of Business Administration
Sam Walton Fellow
Graceland University, 1 University Place, Lamoni, IA 50140
Jeffery W. McElroy, Ed.D.
Auto Basics
Course Purpose
This course, through class room & hands-on instruction, provides the students with the tools to make first-rate financial, safety & reliability decisions in the purchase, operation & maintenance of their automobiles. The most basic objectives of the course are to provide students with a broad introduction to the purchase of an automobile including brand reliability, depreciation and financing, the key components, their function and relation to safety. Students will be exposed to and expected to learn basic automobile & financial terminology.
Learning Outcomes
Students should have a solid understanding of the purchase process as well as the major components in today’s automobile including the function and importance of each to the safety and operation of the vehicle. Each student should be able to perform financial calculations for the purchase, maintenance & repair of an automobile and basic trouble shooting including locating and identifying specific parts to determine if key components have failed or are worn and need to be replaced. A solid understanding of routine maintenance will be an expected outcome. Finally, the course will direct students in the use of multiple resources to determine reliability, depreciation & reasonable/fair prices for repairs and purchase of automobiles.
Reflective Statement Interpreting Course Evaluations
Overall the student evaluations for Winter 2011, 12, 13, 14 & 15 are quite positive (see course evaluation summaries). Students noted that they really liked the hands-on car shop activities where they had a chance to use a check list, inspect each other’s cars, and have the opportunity to identify failed parts. They also stated that they really liked learning about how to determine what repairs should cost. The students appreciated learning about financing and insurance from guest speakers from the banking and insurance industries. Many mentioned the final project in the class where they were given guidelines on how to purchase a car and then had the opportunity to select a car that they were interested in and determine the best price, maintenance, etc. Several wanted the class to be able to last for a semester where more hands on experience could be incorporated.
Unfortunately, winter term classes were eliminated after 2015.