At a time when increasing numbers of minority youth might desire a college education in science and engineering, negative trends regarding financial resources and institutional priorities (especially the research emphasis) have created unintended barriers. Minority underrepresentation in both fields is likely to continue. Includes 32 references.…

A national survey has found little change in faculty salary differentials among disciplines. For the second year, however, public institutions' salary growth outpaced private institutions'. Other trends include "compression" of salaries among faculty ranks within a field and higher salaries for faculty with union contracts. (MSE)

Describes a Saturday Academy containing three basic components (electrical engineering, computer science, and mathematics) designed to provide enrichment experiences for academically talented minority youth without cost to them. Discusses the results reported by parents, faculty, and alumni. (YP)

Discussed is a conference on the freshmen year in science and engineering which was sponsored by the Alliance for Undergraduate Education. Emphasizes an increasing emphasis on teaching in research universities. Lists six steps to create a strong science and engineering education program. (YP)

Lists annotations of books based on accuracy of contents, readability, format, and illustrations. Includes number of pages in each entry, price, and availability. Topics cover animals, biographies, space science, astronomy, archaeology, anthropology, earth and life sciences, medical and health sciences, physics, technology, and engineering. (RT)

This commentary examines the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) report, "Educating Scientists and Engineers: Grade School to Grad School" and the American Society for Engineering Education report, "The Engineering Student Pipeline." Provides an official OTA view of the problems in the pipeline. (YP)

According to a report from the National Research Council, 53 percent of those who received doctorates in 1987-88 did not owe any money for their education. Graduates in engineering and the physical sciences were less likely to be in debt than those in the humanities, life sciences, and social sciences. (MLW)

Compared background and motivation of 82 high-achieving college women in engineering and science to those of 31 women in the humanities and social sciences. Areas of investigation included family composition and parental characteristics, childhood socialization, sources of support for career choice, and work characteristics. Significant…

The University of North Carolina-Charlotte developed a team-taught course that integrates social and ethical considerations into the engineering context. Professors of engineering, humanities, and social sciences join with community-based professionals to demonstrate the "usefulness" of the humanities and social sciences for solving…

Described is the situation in the field of continuing engineering education (CEE) in Europe, especially the European Society for Engineering Education and Helsinki University of Technology. The need and structure of the Professional Development degree is introduced. (Author/YP)

Describes University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) as metropolitan, with wide ethnic diversity. UWM actively recruits minority students. Describes academic programs, including opportunities for minority students, financial aid, scholarships, support services, graduate programs, and minority engineering program. Suggests information sources. (TES)

Reviews instructional design techniques that are suggested for improving the quality and effectiveness of educational software. Three areas of instructional design are addressed: (1) instructional strategies, including provision, examples and active feedback; (2) screen display, including text style variety; and (3) human factors, including…

The nature of engineering is examined along with the nature of expertise. School knowledge and out-of-school knowledge are compared. Suggested are four strategies for the development of engineering expertise including problem-based instruction, cognitive apprenticeship, reflective practicum, and cooperative learning. (YP)

Discusses a paradigm shift from technological positivism to social systems thinking in technology. Describes the role of engineers and engineering education from the perspective of this new orientation. (YP)

Describes an empirical study that measured word-profile similarities between citing and cited publications in the chemical engineering field. Highlights include cognitive resemblance and bibliographic coupling; data collection techniques; analysis of word-profile similarity; bibliographic coupled publications; mapping of cognitive resemblance; and…