As increasing numbers of undergraduate students in higher education are engaging in online group discussions as part of their course work, there is a need to gain insights into the nature of the experience of learning in this new context. Previous studies have reported benefits for students who engaged in online discussions, but few describe these…

Vogtle Electric Generating Plant operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, a subsidiary of Southern Company, has found itself at a decision point. Vogtle depends on their natural draft cooling towers to remove heat from the power cycle. Depending on the efficiency of the towers, the cycle can realize more or less power output. The efficiency…

Engineering students use spatial thinking when examining diagrams or models to study structure design. It is expected that most engineering students have solidified spatial thinking skills during K-12 schooling. However, according to what we know about geometry learning and teaching, spatial thinking probably needs to be explicitly taught within…

The Supplemental Instructional Program (SIP) is an academic support program of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIU-E). It was started in response to the needs of minority disadvantaged students, who showed a high attrition rate in science and engineering. It aimed to prepare these students for survival in the system by providing a…

The central task of a 1980 workshop on the role of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in aeronautics was to examine the relationship of NASA's research capabilities to the state of U.S. aviation and to make recommendations about NASA's future role in aeronautics. The findings and recommendations of the Panel on Military…

Noise-related training programs were reviewed in nine degree-granting institutions in seven states. These programs represent a sample, only, of the various programs available nationwide. The enrollment profile and average number of graduates by degree level for the past three years are given, as well as the apparent enrollment trends by degree…

This publication describes the projects entered in the Energy Resource Alternatives competition in 1975. Teams of engineering students were given a year to develop non-conventional or alternative energy systems that produced useful energy outputs. Besides an overview of energy sources and uses and discussions of the competitions development, the…

The evaluation of a program designed to encourage minority group high school students to pursue a career in engineering is described. Program goals involved: (1) helping students to acquire an appreciation of the field, learn about requirements for entering an undergraduate program, and strengthen academic skills; (2) encouraging local industry…

The four instructional systems described consist of (1) a system for controlling multiple images that can be assembled in modular fashion starting with existing equipment and systematically adding components as additional functions are required; (2) a more complex system for controlling multiscreen presentations that requires a considerable…

This article examines the need for blacks in science and engineering. From a review of the history of blacks as objects of scientific study from the 1790s to the present a better grasp of the problems confronting blacks can be gained by examining two fields: genetics and psychology. In genetic research on blacks, the results are used not by…

This report, published in two volumes, provides a documentary record of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Science Development Program (SDP). Information is given on overall university funding levels and on other development programs, with SDP goals and procedures described in detail. Using information on budgets and goals as well as…

This series of learning activity packages focuses on two areas of tractor mechanics: (1) maintaining and servicing the cooling system and (2) maintaining and servicing hydraulic systems. Each of the fifteen illustrated learning activity packages follows a typical format: introduction, directions, objectives, learning activities, tools and…

WHAT TEACHERS ACTUALLY DO TO LIBERALIZE THEIR VOCATIONAL COURSES WAS STUDIED IN ORDER TO EXAMINE THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPANDING LIBERAL ADULT EDUCATION BY INTRODUCING LIBERAL GOALS INTO VOCATIONAL COURSES. QUESTIONNAIRES WERE RECEIVED FROM 118 TEACHERS IN EVENING COLLEGES AND EXTENSION DIVISIONS WHO TAUGHT (1) BUSINESS COURSES SUCH AS MANAGEMENT AND…

SEVERAL PROBLEMS WHICH ARISE WITH THE USE OF FILM AND TELEVISION IN INSTRUCTION WERE INVESTIGATED. STUDY CONSIDERATIONS WERE FOCUSED ON DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN RELEVANT AND IRREVELANT LEARNING BY COMPARING LABORATORY TEACHING TECHNIQUES FOR AN ENGINEERING COURSE WITH FILM PRESENTATIONS OF THE SAME MATERIAL. THERE WERE NO OVERALL SIGNIFICANT…

The ELEXTEC project was initiated to provide better technical education to students enrolled in electronics technology. It was designed to convert a set of materials developed by the U.S. Air Force for teaching electronic principles in a form which could be utilized by civilian technical education institutions. Fourteen colleges participated in…