Do people realize that chemistry plays a key role in helping solve some of the most serious problems facing the world today? Chemists want to find the building blocks of the chemical universe--the molecules that form materials, living cells and whole organisms. Many chemists are medical explorers looking for new ways to maintain and improve…

Video-heavy distance learning programs can put a strain on the campus network. This article describes how three institutions are managing bandwidth to ensure high-quality service for eLearning students.

The presence of unfamiliar words and expressions in academic texts is a serious obstacle to students reading in a second language. EAP has responded to this challenge by taking the view that there is a common core of academic vocabulary which is frequent across an academic register. This paper briefly considers this view by examining the range,…

The Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, which celebrated its 20th year in 2008, is considered a successful intervention program for increasing the number of underrepresented minorities who earn Ph.D.s or M.D./Ph.D.s and pursue research careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This article examines the relationship between…

Over the last twenty years, colleges and universities have invested considerable effort and resources in programs that are designed to improve undergraduate learning and enhance student success. These programs range from first-year seminars and learning communities to service-learning programs and capstone courses. Given the costs associated with…

Contemporary learning research and development that is embedded in primary and secondary schooling is increasingly acknowledging the significance of a variation approach for enhancing the possibility of learning. However, the variation approach has so far attracted very little attention in higher education, but where it has, the results have been…

Two types of students at our university college were combined with the aim of bringing different knowledge together and in this way improving the learning environment. Based on observations and interviews, the project only partly turned out as expected. In this paper we try to ascertain what went right and what went wrong, explain why, and suggest…

The Australian Federal Government and Australian universities have embarked on a bid to raise the profile of learning and teaching (L&T) in universities. Current strategies include increased funding of competitive grants for L&T projects, a wider range of teaching awards and fellowships and a controversial new national competitive Learning…

Learning support in mathematics and statistics has arisen and developed in response to student needs in many universities. After discussing background to such support, this article gives a brief overview of learning support in mathematics and statistics in Australian universities as found in an Australian Learning and Teaching Council project and…

With advances in information and communication technology, interactive multimedia learning systems are widely used to support teaching and learning. However, as human factors vary across users, they may prefer the design of interactive multimedia learning systems differently. To have a deep understanding of the influences of human factors, we…

Approved in 1999 by the Swiss Parliament, the Swiss Virtual Campus (SVC) project debuted in 2000 with the goal of promoting an information society in Switzerland. The University of Geneva has been actively involved with building the SVC and the European virtual campus e-LERU, a two-year project in which eight European countries partnered to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline the approach taken within Kentz Engineers and Constructors to develop electrical technicians and other apprentices on an international basis. Design/methodology/approach: The approach adopted is that of a case study which describes activities and processes within the college and the rationale behind…

In examining the history of American engineering, this book emphasizes professionalism, social responsibility, and ethics. It explains how some engineers have attempted to express a concern for the social effects of technology and to forge codes of ethics which could articulate the profession's fundamental obligation to the public. The document's…

Discusses the expansion of a two-year pre-engineering program into a four-year engineering degree program. States that faculty, administration, industry, and community must work together to meet the program's objectives. (RT)

A review of the state requirements for engineering education reveals that the laws vary a great deal from state to state. Many laws contain special peculiarities that reflect various opinions about what constitutes the appropriate credentials for registration and reflect differing views concerning the methods as well as the importance of…