Cost Analysis in Assessments of Educational Technology

Cost analysis identifies the resources and opportunities that must be sacrificed to take any course of action along with the value, benefit, or utility it provides. Costs and benefits are usually measured in monetary terms, but measures of productivity, health, quality of life, morale, and human life are also fair game.

Assessment of effectiveness is common fare for researchers in education and technology. However, decision makers must deal with trade-offs—not just what to do, but also what must be given up to do it and its cost. This entry concerns reinforcing assessments of education and training practice with cost considerations, under the assumption that these assessments are undertaken to help decision makers provide learning environments optimized for value (e.g., enhanced knowledge and skill) given real-world constraints ...