The GENET (gene + net) Forum was designed as a contribution to help teachers and pupils to develop critical thinking, creativity, and values capable of assuring to future citizens an active and responsible involvement in societal evolution. This project (which includes a chat and online discussion forum) explores the ethical, legal, and social…

This hearing was held to examine the current state of mathematics, science, and engineering education at the undergraduate level by focusing on the demands of a knowledge-based economy. Contents include opening statements by Representative Nick Smith, Chairman, Subcommittee on Research, Committee in Science, U.S. House of Representatives;…

As part of the Electrical Engineering program at the Univesity of Southern Maine, students are typically introduced to Two's Complement algebra and representation, a method to include negative numbers in the binary representation of integers that is widely used in microprocessors and related digital systems. The traditional, procedural method to…

This data brief presents federal academic science and engineering obligations data from 19 agencies participating in the fiscal year 1998 Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions. Data are collected on Federal science and engineering support by funding agency, type of institution,…

This paper reports findings from a comprehensive evaluation of the first national electronic mentoring program that matches female engineering students with mentors working in industry. The program being evaluated--MentorNet--uses a combination of on-line tools, computer databases, mentoring specialists, and campus and industrial contacts to…

The knowledge of exponential development, the multiple aspects of social problems, the fast technological advancements and the growing availability of advanced hardware and software are increasing demands on undergraduate engineering education and practice. Therefore, it is imperative that engineering teachers become able to accomplish much more…

A new morphological model based on modern system science and engineering is constructed and proposed for curriculum research and development. A curriculum system is recognized as an engineering system that constitutes three components: clients, resources, and knowledge. Unlike the objective models that are purely rational and neatly sequential in…

This paper shares a cognitive intervention approach to teaching thinking to first-year students in engineering and applied science courses in Singapore. The theoretical underpinnings of the Cognitive Modification Intervention (CMI) are based on Feuerstein's Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability. Embedded in this theory is the Theory of…

This Issue Brief summarizes statistics on Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU) as compared with all other academic institutions from three National Science Foundation (NSF) surveys, including the Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities survey which reports science and engineering obligations from federal agencies; the…

This paper explains the educational changes in the Water Resources Engineering program offered by the Universidad Nacional del Litoral in Santa Fe, Argentina, for the last 20 years at the undergraduate level. The need for modernizing the engineering teaching program occurred due to changes in the social system in which the concepts of development…

This study reports the results of the pre and post mathematics test administered to student participants of the 2001 Summer Bridge Program, sponsored by the Minority Engineering, Mathematics and Science Department (MEMS) at the University of New Mexico (UNM). There was a four-week time span between the administration of the standardized test,…

Universities are often accused of being "ivory towers" that are divorced from the "real worlds" of industry and commerce. Similarly, it is argued that academics teach "yesterday's science," and that they are unaware of modern developments in technology and engineering. When it is realized that the research budgets of…

This paper evaluates the performance of engineering institutions in graduating minority freshmen. The four indices identified include: (1) the total number and proportion of minority graduates; (2) the proportion of full-time minority freshmen who earned a bachelor's degree in engineering; (3) the retention rate of minorities relative to the…

Describes a model courtroom in which law school students at the University of the Pacific in Sacramento, California, can conduct practice trials. The courtroom design is circular and new features include an extensive security system, videotaping equipment, a press room, a technicians room, and an isolation room. (Author/DN)

The Personalized System of Instruction, devised by Keller and Sherman in the 1960's, is a course format that has been winning wide acceptance among university teachers in the past few years. In this article we indicate the main advantages that we see in the format, the modifications that we have made to adapt it to our needs, and some of the…