Because of the high rate of failure of engineering students in a required engineering physics course at the University of Texas at Austin, College Board Achievement Test (CBAT) scores in Mathematics Level 1 for 537 students enrolled in the course were compared with their physics grades. Performance on the mathematics section of the Scholastic…

Needs pertaining to changes in standards for California higher education facilities for the disciplines of engineering and the biological and physical sciences are reviewed in this publication. Aspects related to the study include: (l) a history of how space and utilization standards have been developed in California; (2) an overview of the…

The principal objective of this study was to determine the organizational sources of support for the scientists and engineers who have received the Nobel and other major scientific prizes. A secondary objective was to determine what role the National Science Foundation (NSF) may have played in the recipients' research careers. The results of the…

The Asian Network for Biological Sciences (ANBS) is a group of institutions, laboratories, research centers, and scholars who are willing to cooperate in programs and activities aimed at improving teaching and research in the biological sciences. This publication: (1) outlines ANBS aims and objectives; (2) describes major activities in the past;…

For the past two decades, increasing numbers of scientists have been optimistic about finding other intelligent life forms in our galaxy. On the other hand, as knowledge has grown regarding how life developed on earth, a scientific counterrevolution has evolved. Simply stated, it questions the inevitability of widespread life within our galaxy,…

Selections from volume 4 (numbers 1-4) of the Task Force on Computers in Chemical Education (TFCCE) Newsletter are presented. Number 1 includes an introduction to and objectives of the newsletter and TFCCE, a report on computer-related activities in the chemistry department at Eastern Michigan University, a list of TFCCE members, a discussion of a…

One of the most striking developments in understanding science learning has been the discovery of the extent and persistence of the naive conceptions about the natural world students bring with them to the classroom. In physics and other sciences, students (even those who do well on textbook problems) often do not apply principles they have…

Through everyday experience people acquire knowledge about how moving objects behave. For example, if a rock is thrown up into the air, it will fall back to earth. Research has shown that people's ideas about why moving objects behave as they do are often quite inconsistent with the principles of classical mechanics. In fact, many people hold a…

Students have well-formed but incorrect theories of simple motion. As children, they interpret many phenomena related to motion before encountering any formal science education. Since most adults have misconceptions, children's questions are not answered correctly, so the misconceptions persist. Thus, every science teacher must face the prospect…

This study investigated short term information retention of college biology students who used computer assisted instruction (CAI) with students who studied the same subject matter in printed form. An introductory computer program on photophosphorylation (the light reactions of photosynthesis) was written in Applesoft Basic for the Apple II…

This reference book provides information on all types of materials for teaching and studying entomology. The first section contains: a list of books organized by subject and arranged alphabetically by author; lists of booklets, offprints, and pamphlets on various entomological topics; sources of equipment, live insects, and titles of laboratory…

This module is part of an interdisciplinary program designed to educate the general citizenry regarding the issues of science/technology/society that have important consequences for both present and future social policies. Specifically, the program provides an opportunity for students to assess the effects of selected technological innovations in…

Students' attitudes, expectations, and opinions about a desirable preparatory preacademic program were investigated before and after 1 year of science studies in the Preacademic School (PAS) of the Hebrew University. A questionnaire was pre- and post-administered to 150 PAS students (70 percent of whom were classified as academically disadvantaged…

Analytical and experimental methods are used to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes of Aluminum 6061-T651 beams with rectangular and circular cross-sections. A unique test stand is developed to provide the rectangular beam with different boundary conditions including clamped-free, clamped-clamped, clamped-pinned, and pinned-pinned.…

Described is the use of an analog/hybrid computer installation to study those physical phenomena that can be described through the evaluation of an algebraic function of a complex variable. This is an alternative way to study such phenomena on an interactive graphics terminal. The typical problem used, involving complex variables, is that of…