Described are the use of case-method teaching, educational competitions, and interactive computer-graphic instructional software to teach structural engineering concepts at the freshman level. Details of the instructional software used and the bridge competition are provided. (CW)

Describes the comprehensive approach taken by the Center for Pre-College Programs at New Jersey Institute of Technology to motivate and prepare students for higher education. Discusses precollege programs, secondary school programs, and elementary school programs. Explores the impact of the program on the success of the students. (MVL)

Discusses the drive to raise science and engineering education's funding in the NSF budget from 9 percent to 20 percent. Notes that the target is $600 million per year. (MVL)

A shortage of American engineering graduate students, particularly minorities and women, has resulted in the increasing award of research and graduate assistantships to foreign students. The National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering (GEM) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are offering financial encouragement…

Compares data on minorities with community college backgrounds who went on to earn doctorates in science and engineering over a 10-year period with all other science and engineering doctorate recipients for the same period. Reveals that the groups were comparable though sizable differences existed in age at doctorate completion and fields of…

Each year, about one-third of college freshmen who select majors in science, mathematics, and engineering switch to other fields. Faculty may be able to reduce student attrition from quantitative majors by addressing four barriers to success: (1) pre-college preparation; (2) peer culture; (3) classroom climate; and (4) sink-or-swim instructional…

The Academic Excellence Workshop at California State Polytechnic University (Pomona) has greatly improved performance and persistence of women and Latino science, mathematics, and engineering majors taking calculus, the crucial gateway course. This suggests persistence and success are more related to college classroom experiences and expectations…

Review of models traditionally used by different disciplines to describe thinking processes led to development of a general model and testing in six pure and applied matched disciplines (physics, engineering, psychology, education, English literature, composition). Professors applied the models to their courses in different ways and used various…

Discusses the cooperative effort between librarians and science faculty at Bucknell University in developing an effective library use education course for incoming undergraduate science and engineering students. Describes course structure and activities, and includes a library instruction bibliography. (five references) (EA)

Briefly describes several joint enterprises between Soviet technical institutes and European firms involved in computer software development and other aspects of technical engineering. Explains the role played by Soviet governmental agencies in sponsoring these joint projects. Describes problems with the projects. Identifies benefits, including…

To build understanding of, and the ability to use, first-year science and engineering calculus, students were introduced to differential equations and asked to carry out research on differential equation modeling projects. Describes a model for the research paper; appendices provide a copy of the student handout and five examples of student…

The era for international practice for engineers has arrived, and each engineering education system must revise its programs to prepare graduates for practice in the global marketplace. This includes foreign-language instruction, education in cultural awareness, opportunities for international work experience, and greater emphasis on history,…

Describes a project consisting of reanalyzing survey data showing Asian-American science and engineering majors to be less content with their undergraduate experiences and their field of study than other students. Results raised the question as to whether Asian Americans were really less content or whether their style of responding instead…

Virtually every academic department in an institute of higher education requires Web presence as a critical component of its information technology strategy. The problem of how to leverage the World Wide Web and build effective and useful departmental Web sites seems to have long been solved. Yet browsing academic Web sites from around the world…

Substantial growth continues in both the number and percentage of students of color obtaining master's, doctoral and first professional degrees, but there is still notable under-representation among African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians at the doctoral and first professional ranks. The overall numbers also mask important…