Describes a Job Club for still-unemployed students after graduation. Informal monthly meetings allow students to network; obtain moral support and encouragement; and get ideas, suggestions, and leads. Department faculty serve as informal brokers in bringing employers and graduates together and provide a support system for students during their job…

Spreadsheet programs are used increasingly by engineering students to solve problems, especially problems requiring repetitive calculations, as they provide rapid and simple numerical solutions. This article shows how advanced spreadsheet programs are used in the learning of numerical solutions of two-dimensional diffusion equation using the…

Presents instructional techniques aimed at enhancing learning in the engineering science classroom, including mind or concept mapping, a variation of the one-minute paper termed a discovery sheet, and the inclusion of discussion of the nature of scientific paradigm shifts. Discusses students' reactions to these techniques and outlines a case study…

Details the chemical engineering program at Northwestern University and factors that contribute most to its success. Also considers whether the quality of public and private education in this field differ significantly. Discusses BS degree production, measures of program quality, trends, and challenges to maintenance of faculty effectiveness.…

Purdue University (Indiana) is developing a series of computer modules of state-of-the-art chemical engineering processes to serve as the basis for computer-simulated experiments. One, sponsored by Procter and Gamble, models the extraction step in the decaffeination process and allows students to determine the optimal extraction conditions for…

Reports on the Review of Undergraduate Education from the Committee for the Review to the National Science Foundation Directorate for Education and Human Resources, October 1996. Highlights recommendations for action in shaping the future of undergraduate education in the sciences by institutions of higher education; businesses, industry, and the…

Summarizes a report from the joint committee of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine that recommends a new model of Ph.D. education based on changes in science, engineering, the economy, and society in general. Changes include more versatility, better career information and guidance, less…

Studies how support tools facilitate knowledge building processes in a World Wide Web-based virtual university engineering course. Examines whether students engage in different types of knowledge building activities when they use support tools and assesses the effect of support tool use on student knowledge building. (LRW)

Summarizes the activities, contents, and overall outcomes of an international seminar organized jointly by two working groups of SEFI--the Working Group on Women in Engineering and the Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies. Replaces traditional teaching methods and concentration on narrow technical contents with a more…

Describes the Distance Educational Network of Europe (DUNE) project that aims at enhancing the development of distance education in an international context. Highlights issues relating to the delivery of distance-learning courses in a transnational forum. Describes the genetic engineering course that aims at explaining the core techniques of…

Discusses two reports that focus upon the imperative to improve undergraduate education in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: (1) the National Research Council's "From Analysis to Action: Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology"; and (2) the National Science Foundation's "Shaping the Future: New…

The example of Alcoa and North Carolina State University shows that partnerships in course design, development, and delivery can result in an engineering curriculum that bridges theory and practice and makes students aware of industry expectations. (SK)

Examines computer based simulations of practical laboratory experiments in engineering. Discusses the aims and achievements of lab work (cognitive, process, psychomotor, and affective); types of simulations (model building and behavioral); and the strengths and weaknesses of simulations. Describes the development of a centrifugal pump simulation,…

Describes the development of a test designed to allow meaningful and widespread computerized testing of various spatial factors. Examines the differences between traditional paper and pencil and computerized versions of the same test. Compares an interactive test designed to measure a working memory factor to the computerized version of…

Compares results of Successive Perception Test I (SPT) for the study population of freshman engineering students to their results on the group-administered Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Visualization of Rotations (PSVT) and the individually administered Haptic Visual Discrimination Test (HVDT). Concludes that either visual and haptic…