This paper presents three evaluated case studies of the use of design activities in the early years of undergraduate engineering courses. Analyses of academic performance in these activities and in a separate test of understanding were correlated with student perceptions of the activities and with measures of learning style. General student…

Three-dimensional spatial skills have been shown to be critical to success in engineering and other technological fields. Well-developed 3D spatial skills are particularly important for success in engineering graphics courses. Further, 3D spatial skills of women lag significantly behind those of their male counterparts, which could hinder their…

The Black scientist in America is historically an anomaly and currently a statistical rarity. In 1984 Blacks accounted for only 2.3%, or 90,500, of the 3,995,000 employed scientists and engineers (Kusmer, 1991) Even now, in the 21st century, Blacks were 11.3% of the labor force, but only 4.2% of natural scientists, 7.6% of math and computer…

In higher education one of the most important learning goals is deep understanding. Achieving this goal needs time and effort. The authors discuss their observations of student time use on the basis of several case studies which they have conducted in the field of engineering education in Finland. The time that the students spend studying is…

This study investigated how well chemical engineering graduates perceive they were prepared for work in industry. To this end, sixteen interviews were carried out with a purposive sample of recent University of Cape Town chemical engineering graduates. Qualitative analysis of the interview data showed that graduates felt that overall, they were…

This study examines the extent to which a teacher's level of expertise in the subject of a technical paper affects the teacher's reading and evaluation of it. Four engineering teachers and four writing teachers were asked to read aloud the same three student papers and to say aloud their thoughts as they read. The engineering teachers read papers…

The shrinking number of new entrants into the U.S. workforce and the smaller proportion of new workers who are well-educated will put organizations dependent on highly qualified personnel in competition for the short supply of qualified individuals. Thus, recruiting strategies will be of increasing concern to many organizations. The research…

Designed to analyze the term educational technology and to demonstrate that multiple conceptions of it exist simultaneously, this paper has four major objectives: (1) to present the importance of conceptual analysis for investigations in the field of educational technology; (2) to demonstrate that the use of metaphor is appropriate for…

The intention of this paper is to discuss the advances in thrust engines from the initial development of the J58/SR-71 (JT11D-20) of the U.S. Air Force's SR-71 Blackbird to the development of the RAM and SCRAM engines necessary to propel the new generations of high-flying super-speed aircraft. Engineering complexities suggest that the engines and…

The theme of this article concerns the sketching in of a number of the factors in man's evolutionary interaction with tools, leading toward the predicted eventuality in his development, the replacement of man by machines. (Author)

Describes the impact of medical engineering and system design on hospital design and construction, health care in the home and hospital, equipment design, information systems, and health resources utilization. (GS)

A report on the use of educational technology in the engineering science course at the University of Exeter, Great Britain. (HB)

The evolution of the chemical engineering discipline motivates a re-evaluation of the process dynamics and control curriculum. A key requirement of future courses will be the introduction of theoretical concepts and application examples relevant to emerging areas, notably complex biological systems. We outline the critical concepts required to…

The outline for half of a one-credit-hour course in analysis of chemical engineering data is presented, along with a range of typical problems encountered later on in the chemical engineering curriculum that can be used to reinforce the data analysis skills learned in the course. This mini course allows students to be exposed to a variety of ChE…