This paper reports on an action research project undertaken with the primary aim of investigating the extent to which situations that evoke a sense of wonder can promote scientific inquiry. Given the intense interest, curiosity, and wonder that some students had begun to develop after seeing the film "The Prestige", a science teacher…

The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) state-level analysis provides policymakers, educators, state government officials, and others with details on the projections of STEM jobs through 2018. This report delivers a state-by-state snapshot of the demand for STEM jobs, including: (1) The number of forecast net new and…

This paper describes an activity the author has carried out with 72 high school science teachers to enable them to overcome their stereotypical perceptions of engineers. The activity introduced them to notable women in environmental engineering, and raised their awareness of these female engineers' contributions to engineering and society. The…

More engineers are needed to support the infrastructure of the United States and to solve economic, human, and environmental problems. Women have been cited as the untapped resource who can provide new perspectives, solutions, and diversity. Unfortunately, over the last 20 years, colleges have not learned how to graduate more women, keeping…

As Australia's economy recovers from the economic downturn, attention is turning once again to skills shortages. To gain insights into the labour market for tradespeople, this report investigates changes in supply, demand and how adjustment occurred through the varied economic conditions of the past 20 years. It concludes that there was no overall…

The primary focus of this research is the impact of wages on the decision not to continue with an apprenticeship or traineeship. The approach taken is to model three wages relevant to apprentices and trainees: the wage during training; the expected wage in alternative employment; and, the expected wage on completion. The results of these models…

Teaching Opportunities for Partners in Science (TOPS) is an outreach program using volunteers (the "partners") for: 1) assisting teachers in grades K-8 with preparation and delivery of science and engineering (S&E) lessons in the classroom; 2) providing content knowledge to teachers when needed to teach quality science and…

In the last 50 years, more than half of America's sustained economic growth was created by the five percent of the workforce who create, manage, and maintain the processes and products of innovation: engineers, scientists, and advanced-degree technologists. America's science, technology, and math workforce is aging while jobs requiring specialized…

Faculty from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the College of Education at the University of Missouri (MU), Columbia, developed a novel course for engineering graduate students emphasizing pedagogy and professional skills. The two-semester course sequence, titled "Preparing Engineering Faculty and Professionals,"…

Current scholarship views organizational socialization as a learning process that is primarily the responsibility of the newcomer. Yet recent learning research recognizes the importance of the social interactions in the learning process. This study investigated how newly hired engineers at a large manufacturing company learned job-related tasks…

This ethnographic study investigated the mathematical disposition of engineers. Structural engineers in two firms were observed in everyday practice. Observation and interview data were analyzed to elucidate the role of mathematics in solving engineering problems and the engineers' perceptions of the status of mathematics relative to other…

While every state continues to experience the impacts of the economic downturn and resulting recession, it will be many years before people understand the full nature and causes of the financial crisis. But it appears that one of the contributing factors to both the crisis and the anemic nature of the recovery has been the weakened position of the…

This publication presents experimental estimates of completion and attrition rates for the latest commencing apprentice and trainee cohorts. Such up-to-date estimates are possible by applying a "life tables" methodology to simple cross tabulations of commencements, completions and cancellations/withdrawals. The resultant cross-sectional…

Participatory design (PD), or the collaboration between software engineers and end users throughout the design process, may help improve CALL design practices. In this case study, four ESL learners, a software designer, and a language teacher created and evaluated a series of paper prototypes concerning help options in computer-based second…

This report is the successor to "Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Demand through 2018," in which researchers examined the connections between educational attainment and educational demand in the labor market. In this report, the authors update the jobs projected to be available through 2020, using a macro-micro modeling…