Describes a number of staff development organizations along with their strategies and experiences. Features examples from Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium. (Author/MM)

Indicates the importance of flexible teaching and learning in engineering education, especially to students who cannot attend in traditional, full time, on-campus studies. Discusses the benefits of flexible teaching and learning for both students and academic staff. (Contains 27 references.) (Author/YDS)

Discusses an alternative approach to lecturing, the interactive lecture. Examines the effects of interactive teaching in lectures using an interactive voting system and peer instruction on the attainment of learning objectives, student motivation, and student perception of the instruction offered. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/YDS)

Introduces rapid prototyping which creates virtual models through a variety of automated material additive processes. Relates experiences using JP System 5 in freshman and sophomore engineering design graphics courses. Analyzes strengths and limitations of the JP System 5 and discusses how to use it effectively. (Contains 15 references.)…

Discusses the development of non-technical education and ethics in engineering curricula in Europe and particularly in France. Investigates two projects at the Catholic University of Lille. The first project is an engineering ethics course and the second has to do with writing a European handbook on engineering ethics as a discipline. (Contains 28…

Explains the evolution of the objectives of engineering education from knowledge to skills which is referred to as a 'paradigm shift'. Reviews the relationship between the demands and the educational objectives, and discusses the implications for assessment and the relationship between educational methods and assessment. (Author/YDS)

To provide engineering faculty with professional development experiences, Penn State developed industry-sponsored internships in which faculty serve as engineers in small and medium-sized manufacturers. The process benefits both parties and identifies potential sites for student internships. (SK)

Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of social practice, the author challenges common-sense notions of objectivity and subjectivity which inform assessment practice, and argues for assessment as a socially situated interpretive act. A case study of an engineering community of practice at a South African university illustrates the multiple subjectivities…

This article discusses Indian students desire to take up science, math, and technology degrees to earn a coveted spot in one of the country's prestigious, and competitive, engineering and medical colleges. India is now in the throes of a higher education revolution, and its colleges are churning out thousands of professionals each year. For many…

Post-graduate courses are periodically evaluated in accordance with not always very clear criteria by CAPES (Co-ordinating Committee for Teaching Staff Improvement). These criteria try to measure, among other things, academic productivity (including quantity and quality of scientific production), number of classes given by teachers, time to…

Describes the first-year Introduction to Design course at Iowa State University which incorporates design for manufacturing and concurrent engineering principles into the curriculum. Autodesk Inventor was used as the primary CAD tool for parametric solid modeling. Test results show that student spatial visualization skills were dramatically…

In the rapidly changing modern world there is a special need for engineers to be responsive to the differing demands of their physical, technical, social and economic environments. To do this effectively, they need to be able to think and act creatively. The typical engineering student is characteristically not particularly creative. This makes it…

The literature suggests that assessment is a powerful tool for influencing student study habits. It is also recognized that there is a tension between traditional forms of assessment and newer forms of assessment that offer a more authentic representation of practice, but are more complex and expensive to administer. The international trend in…

It has been suggested there is a knowledge base that surrounds the use of 3D modeling within the engineering design process and correspondingly within engineering design graphics education. While solid modeling receives a great deal of attention and discussion relative to curriculum efforts, and rightly so, surface modeling is an equally viable 3D…

The teaching of sustainability to engineers will follow similar paths to that of environmental engineering. There is a strong feeling that environmental engineering is a discipline unto itself, requiring knowledge of chemistry, physics, biology, hydrology, toxicology, modelling and law. However, environmental engineering can also be encompassed…