The number of distance education providers and learning options has increased rapidly in recent years with the emerging flexible learning technologies. The main challenge facing Australian and other universities aiming to deliver distance education programmes nationally or internationally is to find economical ways to encourage and enable…

The study we present tries to explore how first year engineering students formulate hypotheses in order to construct their own problem solving structure when confronted with problems in physics. Under the constructivistic perspective of the teaching-learning process, the formulation of hypotheses plays a key role in contrasting the coherence of…

This paper outlines past and present issues related to product data management (PDM) technologies and their implementation within organization. Included are the results from interviews with representatives from ten companies regarding their implementation processes related to PDM and PLM technologies. Results from these interviews are detailed in…

This research analyzed both engineering and nontechnical issues involved in the use of Induction Loop Amplification (ILA) devices in auditoriums or large gathering places for hard-of-hearing individuals. A variety of parameters need to be taken into account to determine an optimal shape/configuration for the ILA device. In many cases, an optimal…

This article recounts how a communications and an engineering department developed a collaborative teaching venture--a linked writing course--to provide mentorship for students learning how to write lab reports. According to faculty and student feedback, and to analysis of pre- and post-course writing samples, the students' writing did show…

It is suggested that educators look to an environment in which qualitative research can be learned in more flexible and creative ways--an online learning community known as the Research Park Online (RPO). This model, based upon Walt Disney's 1966 plan for his "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT) and university cooperative…

One of the objectives of the process technology curriculum at Wageningen University is that students learn how to design mathematical models in the context of process engineering, using a systematic problem analysis approach. Students find it difficult to learn to design a model and little material exists to meet this learning objective. For these…

The Department of Engineering & Design at Eastern Washington University (EWU) offers a bachelor of arts degree in visual communication design and bachelor of science degrees in mechanical engineering technology, manufacturing technology, construction technology, design technology, electrical engineering, computer engineering technology and…

Technology education has had its directions as a school subject influenced by changes in society, the economy, politics, and homeland threats. The philosophy and curriculum content for technology education has had certain turning points due to these changes. During the twenty-first century, outside factors and internal research will continue to…

This article presents how Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) has adopted an Internet-based approach to implement its undergraduate student laboratories. The approach allowed student interaction with the experimental devices from remote locations at any time. Furthermore, it enabled instructors to include demonstrations of sophisticated…

The 23rd EUROCALL conference was held in Cyprus from the 24th to the 27th of August 2016. The theme of the conference this year was "CALL Communities and Culture." It offered a unique opportunity to hear from real-world CALL practitioners on how they practice CALL in their communities, and how the CALL culture has developed in local and…

The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-358) was put in place to invest in innovation through research and development, to improve the competitiveness of the United States, and for other purposes. The table of contents for this Act is as follows: (1) Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; (2) Sec. 2. Definitions; and (3)…

In July 2005, 15 of America's most prominent business organizations joined together to express their deep concern about the ability of the United States to sustain its scientific and technological leadership in a world where newly energized foreign competitors are investing in the capacity for innovation--the key driver of productivity and…

In July 2005, Business Roundtable and fifteen of America's most prominent business organizations--Tapping America's Potential, the TAP coalition--issued a report stating that "one of the pillars of American economic prosperity--U.S. scientific and technological superiority--is beginning to atrophy even as other nations are developing their own…

Each of these outstanding selections defies the traditional image of a child "curling up with a good book." Yes, they can be a source of great personal reading, encouraging students of all ages to stretch their skills and their imagination as they interact with the printed page. But these journeys of the scientific imagination seldom end with the…