Twelve sections of students and three instructors were used in this study in which inquiry was examined in the context of two teaching methods. The conventional or traditional method used traditional laboratory exercises as the main format. This was considered the control method. An extended laboratory method with the student choosing his problem…

Two teaching methods (learner-centered vs. conventional) were investigated as related to achievement and content covered in a basic electricity course in which 65 students were enrolled. All students participating in the study were given the Bell Laboratories Electricity Examination as a pretest and as a final test. The Otis Test of Mental Ability…

This paper describes the content of a seminar-type engineering course dealing with materials reutilization (recycling). The course, consisting of lecture and discussion by various faculty and outside experts as well as student presentations of research papers on recycling topics, is intended to investigate current areas in which recycling of…

The practice of utilizing mathematics instruction, in which only practical engineering applications and not the pure mathematical proofs are stressed, is questioned. Three cases are presented in which students made erroneous conclusions concerning an engineering topic. In each situation, the student violated a mathematical principle which was not…

The establishment and development of a graduate program in bioengineering at the University of Michigan is discussed. Included are the student entrance requirements, types of future employment for program graduates, and the philosophy underlying the choice of coursework and instructional methods for the program. (MLH)

A visual problem-solving technique applicable to several different classes of mechanics time-dependent problems is discussed. The computer is used to solve the equations of motion of various mechanical systems by one of several standard methods, and the solutions are displayed in time increments. A specific example is provided to illustrate this…

This paper examines the work of resident engineers in a university setting. The need for engineers with industrial experience is established, and the benefits of using resident engineers in training programs are cited. Attributes and problems associated with the practice are studied from the viewpoints of industry, government, universities, and…

A description is given of a bifurctional, integrated Chemical Engineering program at The College of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia. The Program and the institution have evolved from a highly technical and specialized orientation to one that can be characterized as a broader based, management orientation. A synthesis is given of the reasons…

This report is an account of the development of a minicourse program for the purpose of college-level introductory biology instruction. The complete implementation effort is described from an examination of the program which the minicourses replace, to the proposals concerning implementation of the new curriculum. Sections of the report are…

The result of an 11-week study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the American Society of Engineering Education is presented. This study was the ninth in a series of programs whose purposes were: (1) to introduce engineering school faculty members to system design and to a particular approach of teaching system design,…

Ninety students in an introductory chemistry class were divided into three groups to test the power of algorithms to increase logical thinking abilities. The experimental group received approximately 10 hours of laboratory instruction based on the use of procedural algorithms. Experiment and control groups were tested for logical thinking…

This paper discusses new teaching approaches that are not heavily dependent on hardware, i.e., approaches that replace lectures with other activities such as small-group seminars and individualized instruction. Emphasis is placed on methods relevant to college physics education, such as the Keller Plan, modular instruction, audio-tutorial methods,…

The authors developed an on-campus self-paced system of instruction featuring immediate feedback and tutoring. They then extended the technique to correspondence courses by giving examinations by telephone. Both courses are described, and the results are discussed in this publication. A Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) or Self-Paced…

This book provides information on the many aspects of chemical education at the secondary and tertiary level in the United Kingdom and serves as a guide to the literature and an introduction to the language in the field of chemical education. The first half of the book describes the various bodies and institutions concerned with chemical…

The study attempted to assess student learning and retention in physics following various types of help sessions based on objective-referenced diagnostic tests. Students from an undergraduate physical science course were assigned to one of four treatment groups or a control group. The four treatments consisted of help sessions, each with a…