Outlines the teacher training program developed by the the U.S. Air Force Academy. Focuses on effective teaching methods that maintain the sharp quality of instruction needed to offset any confounding effects resulting from the frequent turnover in the engineering faculty, which is comprised almost entirely of active-duty Air Force officers on…

A study examined the relationship between second-language skills and academic achievement of 90 Indonesian engineering graduate students in the Netherlands. Results suggest a specific range of proficiency, with upper and lower limits, within which achievement is optimized. Limits of the range may be discipline or even institution-specific.…

Results of a systematic investigation into university students' (n=236) misunderstandings of d.c. simple circuit operations are reported. These results provide evidence of various misconceptions present before and after teaching the following topics: a battery as a source of constant current; the functional relation expressed by Ohm's law; power…

An attempt to portray the nature of the learning task in university engineering courses is presented. Introductory courses are described first and are then compared to the upper level courses. Emphasis is put on three introductory courses to determine what skills students bring into the introductory course, what the learning task is, and how…

It is proposed that algorithms and heuristics are useful in improving professional problem-solving abilities when contextualized within the academic discipline. A basic algorithm applied to problem solving in undergraduate engineering education and a similar algorithm applicable to legal problems are used as examples. Problem complexity and…

A library instruction program has been instituted in civil engineering at the Queensland University of Technology (Australia) in an effort to improve the research skills of fourth year students working on research projects. Students with extended library instruction were found to have better information-seeking behavior than others. (Author/MSE)

Various examples of open-ended problems and ways to obtain them are presented. Suggestions for incorporating open-ended problems and some of the benefits and difficulties encountered by teachers and students are discussed. Examples are from courses on mass and energy balances, communications, kinetics and ideal reactors, and reactor design. (KR)

Describes a summer institute for science teachers and their students in which the main goal was to increase enrollment in engineering and to encourage women and minority groups to increase their representation in the engineering workforce. Includes a description of typical chemical engineering jobs and general instruction in material balances,…

The Indian Natural Resource, Science, and Engineering Program at California State University, Humboldt, offers a wide variety of courses related to working in natural-resource fields in indigenous communities and provides academic and personal support services to American Indian students in such fields. A program participant is profiled. (SV)

A graphical illustration is presented indicating how the mean proportional (geometric mean), once established for one set of conditions of a geometric identity, can be used to generate other sets of conditions for the same identity. Exemplified is the application of this principle in developing graphical solutions to engineering problems. (JJK)

The idea that the national effort to reshape and revitalize the educational infrastructure depends on the commitment and collaboration of industry, schools, universities, government at all levels, and the public is discussed. Key issues include faculty, the curricula, and instructional technology. (KR)

Discussed is an alternative to the traditional lecture-homework-quiz method of instruction. Innovative techniques applied in a statics class are described. A comparison between the innovative course and the same course taught traditionally is provided. (KR)

National Science Foundation support for instructional innovation in design curriculum is discussed. Programs that illustrate diverse approaches to teaching design are described. A list of programs given engineering curriculum development awards in 1988 and 1989 is provided. (CW)

Included are the general guidelines, outline, a summary of major intermedia transport processes, model features, a discussion of multimedia exposure and health risk, and a list of 50 suggested references for this course. (CW)

Presents an activity that models the work of chemical engineers. Students design, fabricate, and perform mechanical tests on plaster matrix composites and compare the strength to mass ratios of several products. (PR)