Outlines details of key pilot projects on quality assessment in the higher education sector in Ireland. Discusses how the Universities Act of 1997 can ensure that emphasis is placed on the highest standards in teaching and research. (DDR)

Describes the role of William H. Gray, president and chief executive officer of The College Fund/United Negro College Fund (UNCF) in negotiating the Gates Millennium Scholarships Program, a $1 billion grant from William H. Gates to fund scholarships for minority college and graduate students in science, engineering, math, and education. The UNCF…

Discussion of student achievement and persistence rates in science, engineering, and mathematics disciplines focuses on a study of college students that evaluated the joint contributions of academic background measures and other factors, including self-beliefs, toward the explanation of overall grade performance. Describes correlations between…

Presents a ranking of the top United States universities in their quest for intellectual property, commercial partners, and profits. Bases rankings on a consideration of patent numbers, patent quality, and licensing revenues. (WRM)

Reviews the commitment of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to employing minority women scientists and engineers and the progress made in the decades since the equal opportunity plan was established in 1969. (WRM)

States that engineers contribute tremendously to the changing face of the earth, and the ever more urgent call for languages, management, and law competencies for engineers is an expression of the need for a grounding in humanities. Discusses the role of humanities in engineering education in the context of world economics and the role of…

Argues that the world of technical education suffers from contradictions caused by the necessity to divide teaching efforts between groups of subjects consisting of classical theories, numerical methods, and practical skills and knowledge. Considers different aspects of these contradictions and proposes some recommendations to minimize the…

Reports on the implementation of engineering design projects in two dozen secondary-science classrooms in the United States following an inservice professional-development course conducted at a university engineering college. Contains 28 references. (DDR)

Describes some of the initiatives taken in conjunction with Singapore's national objective of having 60 percent of the population achieve a tertiary qualification to support the knowledge-based economy. Outlines programs designed for the varying abilities of students and the incorporation of appropriate use of information technology to make…

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)

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)