This paper reports the effects of program characteristics and faculty activities on students' experiences and, ultimately, the development of students' analytical and group skills. Data come from nationally representative samples of 4,330 seniors, 1,243 faculty members, and 147 engineering program chairs on 39 campuses nationwide. Findings…

This chapter presents an innovative framework for a mechanical engineering program of study termed desegregated learning. The goal is not desegregation but rather to promote a higher level of learning and to look for opportunities where desegregating the learning environment yields optimal results with reasonable costs and complexity. (Contains 3…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how long term risk prevention and civil protection may enter in university programs for environmental engineers and urban and regional planners. Design/methodology/approach: First the distinction between long term risk prevention and emergency preparedness is made, showing that while the first has…

Recent research, undertaken using participative observation methods within the Leonardo Da Vinci project "Open-Dynamic-Design", provides evidence that EU industrial practice continues to value the flexibility of physical models across a range of disciplines. This research is placed within the philosophical educational framework…

In this study, the effect of different definitions of concavity on students' understanding was investigated. Students enrolled in the calculus-II course in the science and engineering faculties in Anadolu University, Turkey were divided into two groups and each group was given a different definition of concavity. At the end of the study, both…

This book is the third report of the Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement of Human Performance. Based on hundreds of research studies of learning and human performance as reported in the literature, the book consists of 11 chapters organized in five parts. The two chapters of the first part provide the background and summary of the…

Technical services workstations (TSWs) are personal computers that have been customized for use in technical services departments. To gather information on their use and prevalence in research libraries, the Program for Cooperative Cataloging Standing Committee on Automation surveyed the 119 members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)…

The Mission Statement of Thomas Nelson Community College contains the statement, "As a community-based institution, TNCC strives to be responsive to the educational and skill needs of area businesses, industries, and government agencies." This paper describes three programs initiated to support this aspect of the college mission. Adventures in…

The vision of the National Institute for Science Education (NISE) is that all students should leave the educational system with an ability to make informed decisions about the science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET)-related matters that they encounter in their daily lives. This report documents the accomplishments and activities…

The National Survey of Academic Research Instruments and Instrumentation Needs is a congressionally mandated program that collects data concerning scientific research instruments and the academic departments and facilities in which they are located. This report analyzes overall instrumentation issues and trends in all the fields covered by the…

This handbook arose from a project that was designed to examine the role that science education plays in the under-representation of women in science. It is based on case studies of introductory science classes, surveys of syllabi and textbooks used in science classrooms, a survey of the literature on the history of women in science and current…

This study investigated students' conceptual and procedural understanding of calculus within the context of an engineering mechanics course. Four traditional calculus students were compared with three students from one of the calculus reform projects, Calculus & Mathematica. Task-based interviews were conducted with each participant throughout…

This study analyzed data from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) taken between 1977 and 1988 to study trends in the numbers, test scores, and other characteristics of high school seniors planning to major in math, science, or engineering, and to compare these data with comparable data from examinees planning to major in other fields. Results…

A study was done of faculty perceptions of the accuracy and validity of various time-related personnel activity and productivity reporting measures, and of faculty's willingness to participate in these measures. In the first stage of the study 1,000 randomly-selected faculty from 200 institutions of higher education that have the highest levels of…

This data brief features statistical data related to total science and engineering graduate enrollment in the United States for the year 1997. Featured are data on enrollment by enrollment status: 1975-1997; by sex, citizenship, and race/ethnicity: 1990-1997; and by field: 1990-1997. (DDR)