Six Sigma is a buzz term in today's technology and business world and there has been increasing interest to initiate Six Sigma training in college education. We have successfully incorporated Six Sigma methodology training into a traditional chemical engineering course, Engineering Experimentation, at Texas Tech University. The students have…

Computer-simulated experiments offer many benefits to engineering curricula in the areas of safety, cost, and flexibility. We report our experience in developing and deploying a computer-simulated unit operations laboratory, driven by the guiding principle of maximum fidelity to the physical lab. We find that, while the up-front investment in…

Papers from the proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society were submitted in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers submitted at the conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 14-17, 2016. Volume 2 contains papers submitted at the 4th International Partner Conference of the International Research Centre…

In this paper, we demonstrate how theory can inform the design of a program to prepare graduate students for faculty careers. Preparing Future Faculty programs within and beyond engineering are not new, but explicit application of Communities of Practice and related literature is novel. We describe a prestigious teaching fellowship program that…

Contemporary engineers need to become more cognizant and more responsive to the emerging needs of the market for engineering and technology services. Social dimension of Web 2.0 which penetrates our society more thoroughly with the availability of broadband services has the potential to contribute decisively to the sustainable development of…

The transition from high school to college can be very difficult for many students. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering, we have developed a freshmen seminar and concurrent system of mentoring that addresses the changes and difficulties students experience during this transitional time. All first-year University of Pittsburgh…

The changes facing industries are necessitating a concomitant change in university curriculum. Before instigating a reform, however, education providers need to acquire an understanding of the most pertinent development needs essential for filling industrial competence gaps. The Language Centre at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Advanced Placement (AP) exam participation and performance on college grades for courses taken in the same subject area as students' AP Exam(s). Students' first-year college subject area grade point averages (SGPAs) were examined in nine subject areas: mathematics, computer science,…

This case study reviewed the collaborative efforts of university engineers, teacher educators, and middle school teachers to advance sixth- and seventh-grade students' learning through a series of project-based engineering activities. This two-year project enriched regular school curricula by introducing real-world applications of science and…

The Vocational Equity Research, Training and Evaluation Center (VERTEC) was established in 1988 to increase females' access to, and opportunities in, vocational education programs that are nontraditional for their gender. The research, technical assistance and advocacy that has been provided by VERTEC staff over the last 21 years has established a…

From October 21 to 23, 2008, The Heritage Foundation, supported by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, convened leading education and national security experts as well as private-sector representatives to discuss methods for strengthening America's competitiveness by improving its performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

Recently engineering has emerged on the K-12 scene as a potentially important content area. However, K-12 teachers typically lack sufficient backgrounds to effectively integrate engineering into their classrooms. Thus teacher professional development is of critical importance. Although there have been several initiatives emerge to assist teachers…

The under-representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields is of continuing concern, as is the lack of women in senior positions and leadership roles. During a time of increasing demand for science and engineering enterprise, the lack of women and minorities in these academic disciplines needs to be addressed by…

Spain is currently implementing the regulatory modifications promulgated by the Declaration of Bologna, which should result in the updating of the structure of university degrees, and the inclusion of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) methodology. In some Spanish universities, the experimental adoption of this methodology…

The aim of this paper is to present an integrated Internet-based package for teaching the fundamentals of motion control by using a wide range of resources: theory, videos, simulators, games, quizzes, and a remote lab. The package is aimed at automation technicians, pupils at vocational schools and students taking an introductory course in…