To help engineering schools improve their minority student retention rates, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) undertook a Retention Research Program. The program consisted of two parts. First, NACME funded 11 projects which planned to add to or modify one or more minority student support services. Second, NACME used…

This paper reviews briefly the essential characteristics of both invitational education and computer assisted instruction (CAI) and the ways in which coordination of these two models can produce stimulating and valuable educational experiences for students. A matrix illustrates the characteristics of CAI which can support the major values of…

This report presents a statistical profile of 57,837 persons representing a national sample from the field of computer science. Data were obtained from the 1978 Survey of Natural and Social Scientists and Engineers sponsored by National Science Foundation and conducted by the Bureau of the Census. Categories considered include: (1) composition;…

Competencies are identified for the four primary instructional areas of the Connecticut Vocational Agriculture Curriculum: plant science, agricultural mechanics, natural resources, and animal science. The competencies for each instructional area are divided into those for exploratory units generally appropriate for instruction at the…

This report discusses the support of research and development (R&D) by the federal government through appropriate agencies; it uses data from an annual survey of federal agencies following the preparation of their budgets for 1984. Therefore, this information reflects the continuation of Reagan administration policies to strengthen the United…

This study explored the moderating effects of academic self-efficacy beliefs on the relationship of scholastic aptitude to academic performance (grade point average) and academic persistence (retention). Subjects, 105 students enrolled in a career planning course for science and engineering majors, were administered two measures of self-efficacy…

Findings of a 1986 National Science Foundation survey of faculty and nonfaculty doctorates in 2,074 departments in 21 science and engineering (S/E) fields at 181 doctorate-granting institutions are summarized and compared to previous surveys. The proportion of recent-doctorate full-time faculty increased in each of the four engineering fields…

Two adaptive psychophysical procedures (tracking and "yes-no" staircase) for obtaining human visual contrast sensitivity functions (CSF) were evaluated. The procedures were chosen based on their proven validity and the desire to evaluate the practical effects of stimulus transients, since tracking procedures traditionally employ gradual…

This presentation outlines guidelines for developing and implementing an introductory course in computer-aided drafting (CAD) that is geared toward secondary-level students. The first section of the paper, which deals with content identification and selection, includes lists of mechanical drawing and CAD competencies and a list of rationales for…

Predictive models of persistence and success in baccalaureate engineering programs were developed by analyzing five intellective and nine nonintellective variables. The 1984 entering freshman class in the College of Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University was studied. Usable data were obtained from 1,044 students, or 65% of the…

This self-paced library workbook is a course requirement of all "technical writing" freshman English classes at the University of Arkansas. The technical writing course is required of all engineering students, and its major focus is on writing a term paper containing a bibliography produced through library research. The workbook…

In October 1978, the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated five studies of the continuing education of scientists and engineers employed in small, geographically dispersed industry. Following the award of these studies NSF requested Battelle, one of the award recipients, to assist in coordinating the five projects. This report briefly…

This report reviews a joint attempt of the United States Forest Service and the Naval Service to enhance the utilization of research results and the new technologies through improved effectiveness of technology transfer efforts. It consists of an introduction by J. W. Creighton and seven papers: (1) "Management for Change" by P. A.…

The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant resulted from a communication failure. Following an incident at an Ohio plant a year and a half earlier, B. M. Dunn, manager of Emergency Core Cooling Systems Analysis at Babcock and Wilcox (engineers), wrote a memorandum making specific recommendations on written instructions for nuclear…

One portion of a course in English for Science and Technology (EST) designed for foreign nuclear engineers studying at Oregon State University dealt with the conceptual paragraph, considered a basic unit of discourse in EST. The conceptual paragraph is defined as a group of rhetorically related concepts developing a generalization to form a…