Reviews literature in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) as it applies to educational environments. Topics include the origin of HCI; human factors; usability; computer interface design; goals, operations, methods, and selection (GOMS) models; command language versus direct manipulation; hypertext; visual perception; interface…

Explores the relationships among science and engineering attitudes, physics conceptual understanding, and physics achievement for a population of college freshman engineering students. Assesses a sample of freshman engineering students (n=200) participating in an integrated curriculum with the Force Concepts Inventory (FCI), Mechanics Baseline…

Argues that newly-graduated chemical engineers frequently encounter projects that involve solids processing and find their knowledge of particle technology to be inadequate. Describes a senior undergraduate course on solids processing. (DDR)

Applies learning theory and ergonomic principles to the design of effective learning environments for library instruction. Discusses features of electronic classroom ergonomics, including the ergonomics of physical space, environmental factors, and workstations; and includes classroom layouts. (Author/LRW)

Examined the academic and interpersonal growth of upper-class, African-American peer mentors by analyzing journal comments written during mentors' first quarter of tutoring and mentoring entering freshmen within a minority engineering program and collecting data from student records. Results indicated that mentors experienced academic and…

While technical training is crucial in an engineer's education, so too is the study of economics and business. Students need experience in business principles to succeed in today's business environment. (MM)

Examined sophomore-year grades and retention of a group of African-American engineering students to determine if positive freshman-year effects of participation in a minority academic support program persisted. Found that although grades diminished with time, positive effects on retention remained. (EV)

Describes ways in which the Women's Institute, the largest and most influential women's organization in the United Kingdom, attempts to fulfill its goal of creating an atmosphere in which its members can become more aware of the scientific and technological context of their lives. (Author)

Describes the Web-based technologies employed by the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in implementing access to local information resources. Discusses Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) technologies and the associated local database structure and format, as well as the general…

Explains the status of undergraduate instruction at research institutions in the past half century and discusses effective teaching strategies and methods. Lists components to create a positive teaching climate for instructors. (Contains 28 references.) (YDS)

Substantially different types of universities are finding similar sources of dissatisfaction among their women faculty in the sciences and engineering. A study done in 2001 found that women faculty in Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) colleges held fewer high-ranking posts than men, were less likely to be full professors, and were more…

A laboratory practical examination was used to compare the investigative skills developed in two different types of general-chemistry laboratory courses. Science and engineering majors (SEM) in the control group used a traditional verification approach (SEM-Ctrl), whereas those in the treatment group learned from an innovative, inquiry-based…

The overall aim of this article is to introduce case teaching to college professors who may wish to increase their students' level of engagement with science, mathematics, and engineering. Case teaching is an incredibly adaptable instructional method able to involve students in higher levels of cognitive processing. The explicit purposes of this…

The use of professional software is an integral part of a student's education in the mining engineering curriculum at The Pennsylvania State University. Even though mining engineering represents a limited market across U.S. educational institutions, the goal still exists for using this type of software to enrich the learning environment with…

Many faculty developers have difficulty involving engineering and science faculty in instructional development. Engineering professors are particularly quick to discount the relevance of teaching workshops, and many argue teaching methods presented in workshops lead to lower standards and inflated grades. This paper presents a successful…