Models of self-regulation describe how individuals engage deliberately and reflectively in goal-directed action in order to achieve valued goals. Studies have found that the consistent use of self-regulation in an academic setting is highly correlated with student achievement. Self-regulation plays a critical role in problem-solving, particularly…

Engineering design is an ideal perspective for engaging students in college science classes. An engineering design problem-solving framework was used to create a general chemistry lab activity focused on an important environmental issue--dead zones. Dead zones impact over 400 locations around the world and are a result of nutrient pollution, one…

This column presents ideas and techniques to enhance science teaching. This month's issue describes preservice elementary teachers learning engineering principles from engineers. Few elementary teachers have experience with implementing engineering into the classroom. While engineering professional development opportunities for inservice teachers…

With an emphasis on planning and cutting costs to make better use of resources, facilities managers at community colleges across the nation have undertaken facilities audits usually with the help of outside engineers. Such assessments analyze the history and structural integrity of buildings and core components on campus, including heating…

This study uses a unique synthesized set of data for community college students transferring to engineering by combining several cohorts of longitudinal data along with transcript-level data, from both the Community College and the University, to measure success rates in engineering. The success rates are calculated by developing Kaplan-Meier…

Using statewide survey study data collected from more than 5,000 community college students, this study examined the impact of a preengineering curriculum on students' self-efficacy level after they entered rural community colleges. Project Lead The Way (PLTW), is a project-based learning curriculum for middle and high school students that strives…

During the twentieth-century, American engineers harnessed the atom, sent men to the moon, and literally reshaped the world. They re-routed rivers to create giant hydroelectric dams, created a massive and interconnected highway system, and designed skyscrapers, jets, computers, and the internet. As a modern profession, engineering boasted strong…

This article describes the Engineering Leadership Program at Iowa State University, a pilot educational program for leadership development of undergraduate engineering students, designed and built with student ownership and leadership. A client focused leadership model, articulated through an iterative year long group exercise, with anticipated…

The Math-Science-Engineering Technology in Iowa on Applied Renewable Energy Areas (MSETI-AREA) projects are aimed at providing area school teachers with an applied mathematics and science curriculum package based on photovoltaic (PV) power, wind power, human power and hydrogen fuel-cell fundamentals. The MSETI-AREA project has established a…

This article presents an interview with Camilla P. Benbow, the Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College, a position she has held since 1998. Benbow began her academic career at Johns Hopkins University and subsequently taught at Iowa State University, where she was named…