This article describes several applications of the use of solubility data. It is not meant to be exhaustive but rather to show that knowledge of solubility data is required in a variety of technical applications that assist in the design of chemical processes. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

Two earlier papers in this special issue detail staff and student perceptions of their higher education science and engineering learning communities for the New Zealand university and polytechnic sectors (Campbell et al. 2008; Cronje and Coll 2008). These findings suggest the students in these communities gradually come to share some of the views…

While many engineering educators have proposed changes to the way that mathematics is taught to engineers, the focus has often been on mathematical content knowledge. Work from the mathematics education community suggests that it may be beneficial to consider a broader notion of mathematics: mathematical thinking. Schoenfeld identifies five…

In this study, we investigated the effects of students' participation in a collaborative, project-based engineering design course on their domain knowledge, interests, and strategic processing. Participants were 70 college seniors working in teams on a design project of their choosing. Their declarative, procedural, and principled knowledge, along…

Parents from around Kentucky are taking part in an unusual effort to encourage parents to take a more active role in promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics in their local schools. They have joined the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, which tries to help adults work with teachers and administrators, and…

Educators in the computing fields are often familiar with the characterization of computing as a combination of theoretical, scientific, and engineering traditions. That distinction is often used to guide the work and disciplinary self-identity of computing professionals. But the distinction is, by no means, an easy one. The three traditions of…

We have been teaching applied molecular genetics to engineers and adapted the teaching methodology to the European Credit Transfer System. We teach core principles of genetics that are universal and form the conceptual basis of most molecular technologies. The course then teaches widely used techniques and finally shows how different techniques…

A comparative study was conducted between the minimum required number of humanities and social science credits for graduation at top-tier undergraduate universities in the US and similar, English-medium universities in the Arabian Gulf. It was found that on average the US universities required students to complete a higher proportion of humanities…

This paper, as its main didactic objective, shows the conditions needed for the validity of Faraday's law of induction. Inadequate comprehension of these conditions has given rise to several paradoxes about the issue; some are analysed and solved in this paper in the light of the theoretical deduction of the induction law. Furthermore, an…

Physiology as a discipline is uniquely positioned to engage undergraduate students in interdisciplinary research in response to the 2006-2011 National Science Foundation Strategic Plan call for innovative transformational research, which emphasizes multidisciplinary projects. To prepare undergraduates for careers that cross disciplinary…

The use of "MapleTA"[R] in the assessment of engineering mathematics at Liverpool John Moores University (JMU) is discussed with particular reference to the design of questions. Key aspects in the formulation and coding of questions are considered. Problems associated with the submission of symbolic answers, the use of randomly generated numbers…

Some professors claim college students seek the easy way out and prefer classes that lack challenge. In a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional ethnographic research study of the attainment of gender parity in an engineering department, it emerged that student attitudes toward challenge did not support this perception. By far, the majority of…

This paper will outline answers to the two central questions regarding improving engineering education: (1) What is the full set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that engineering students should possess as they leave the university, and at what level of proficiency?; and (2) How can we do better at ensuring that students learn these skills? The…

The National Research Council's Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer conducted a study aimed at achieving a comprehensive understanding of engineering in the United States and an assessment of its capacity to meet present and future needs. This document reports on the findings of the committee's work over a 2-year period. The…

This paper describes the use of undergraduate materials multidisciplinary research projects as a means of addressing the growing industrial demand for graduates experienced in working in multidisciplinary teams. It includes a detailed description of a project in which a multidisciplinary team of chemical engineering and civil engineering students…