For more than twenty years, the Richmond, Virginia Public Schools' program for gifted students has conducted an interscholastic competition similar to the nationally known competition, Destination Imagination. In the featured contest of this yearly event, teams of five students present solutions to engineering problems that they have worked on for…

The European program Amerique Latine-Formation Academique (ALFA) has provided 12 Latin-American and 10 European universities and colleges with a framework for creating an International Master in Rural Development. Globalization, regional integration, and sustainability have created a new set of questions for rural areas, both in Europe and in…

The data presented in this report shows trends in doctorate awards by science and engineering (S&E) field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and postgraduation plans of recipients. The source of the data is the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). The SED has been conducted annually for the National Science Foundation…

Structural engineers and architects are educated completely independently. Although both play a major part in designing and building a nation's infrastructure, they are not encouraged to fully understand the work of each other which can result in a lack of collaboration and co-operation, often to the detriment of a project. This divide between the…

The purpose of this article is to contribute to a theoretical knowledge base through research by examining factors salient to science education reform and practice in the context of socioscientific issues. The study explores how individuals negotiate and resolve genetic engineering dilemmas. A mixed-methods approach was used to examine patterns of…

Previous findings from the study within which this research is located had uncovered students' approaches to learning in the context of a second year chemical engineering course. Using an analysis of students' reflections on their experience, the study has shown the existence of three approaches to learning in this context: an 'information-based'…

Logic and deductive thinking as well as formal and precise language characterize mathematics as a powerful tool in scientific and technological development as it offers conceptual elements that represent reality phenomena. Thus, teaching mathematics in higher education aims at developing forms of behavior or cognitive competency related to the…

The expansion in the fields of optical engineering and optoelectronics has made it essential to introduce optical engineering concepts into undergraduate courses and curricula. Because of limits on the number of course requirements for the BS degree, it is not clear how these topics should be introduced without replacing some of the traditional…

This article presents some techniques of professional formation from the Petra Model that can be applied in Engineering Programs. It shows its philosophy, teaching methods for listening, making abstracts, studying, researching, team working and problem solving. Some questions regarding planning and evaluation, based in the model are, as well,…

By expanding curriculums to include applied science, schools may eventually ease the shortage of engineers that currently plagues the country. (Author/DN)

Assessed was the importance of technical summer jobs for engineering college students. Those who got technical jobs in the summer were found more confident, assertive and motivated for learning than those who did not have such jobs. (PS)

Describes career opportunities for chemists considering employment areas of opportunity, salaries, college chemistry enrollments, research and development budgets, long term forecasts of supply and demand for chemists. Includes career planning aids, and an employers directory of chemical professions. (DF)

Describes an experiment built on the hypothesis that a relationship exists between a person's visualization skills and his creative abilities. Twenty-eight college students in engineering were given a design problem which was real and free. Results confirmed the hypothesis. (DF)

If engineering education programs are to meet the increasing technological demands of society, it would follow that emphasis should be directed toward retention rather than attention of students. (Author/DF)