Argues against excessive content fragmentation in engineering courses, particularly in the early stages of engineering education. Discusses attempts to encourage cooperative learning and integrative reconciliation between courses. (WRM)

Explores why men and women decide to major in engineering. Results show that the most significant determinant of selecting an engineering major is gender. Indicates that advanced math and science courses are more important determinants for women. (Author/CCM)

Describes NEEDS (National Engineering Education Delivery System), a distributed server architecture developed to enable new pedagogical models based on Internet-mediated learning environments; linking solutions for electronic library services; Dublin Core updates citing relationship to other metadata efforts; and the computational, structural and…

Presents results from a series of interviews and focus groups of engineering faculty and students regarding the use of teams in their courses and the benefits and challenges they believe are a direct outcome of team-oriented approaches in engineering. (Author/CCM)

Presents an experiment aimed at constructing a genomic library that can be carried out over a week. Helps students learn concepts such as donor and vector DNAs, construction of recombinant DNA, host strain, and experiments in gene cloning more clearly. (PVD)

Offers pointers on finding resources on the Internet that may be useful to engineers and scientists. Suggests steps that beginners can take to become acquainted with the Internet and defines common Internet terms. Presents a list of engineering Internet resources that include listservs, USENET groups, gophers, and World Wide Web sites. (Author/JMV)

Defines and compares project-organized learning and problem-based learning at a theoretical and practical level. Outlines differences and similarities both for institutions practicing and for institutions planning to implement some of these educational ideas. Contains 14 references. (JRH)

Describes the characteristics and aims of problem-based learning (PBL) and reports on its application in medical and engineering education at Maastricht University (the Netherlands) and the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (the Netherlands). Analyzes differences between the medical and engineering applications. Also considers project work and…

Examined academic achievement of students in the Department of Engineering Science, Institut Teknologi MARA (Malaysia) who had participated in a bridging program in lieu of required secondary level mathematics and science courses. Evaluation of grades in first year engineering courses (mathematics, physics, and chemistry) indicated the bridging…

Introduces a project of constructing a rover that can maintain its upright position with minimal gravitation that is based on National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratories rover designs. Tests the project in NASA's "Vomit Comet" under zero-gravity environment. (YDS)

Describes a summer program called Science in the Summer (SitS). The goal of this 9-year program is to encourage students to engage in science learning. Presents beginner and advanced level activities focusing on chemistry and engineering. Summarizes student evaluations on the program along with a breakdown of the SitS 1999 program. (SAH)

Investigates students' conceptions on reliability and the ways of dealing with different sets of experimental data. Tests students' understanding of how to handle experimental data from three aspects; doing replicates, handling data, and judging the quality of data with respect to spread. Includes 12 references. (YDS)

Presents the initial work that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has done to integrate solid modeling throughout the engineering curriculum. Aims to provide students the opportunity to use their solid modeling skills in several courses and show students how solid modeling tools can be used to help solve a variety of engineering problems.…

Introduces some alternatives for preparing and viewing computer aided design (CAD) graphics for Internet output on a budget, without the fear of copyright infringement, and without having to go back to college to learn a complex graphic application. (Author/YDS)

Presents a summary of challenges that information and communication technologies (ICT) present third-level institutions through an examination of the pedagogical issues and solutions that arise from a move from traditional lectures to project-based teaching followed by two case studies. (Contains 13 references.) (Author/YDS)