15 February 2001
Copyright © 2001 World Expertise LLC – All rights
reserved
A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education leaders,
edited by Russel C. Jones, PhD., P.E.
Conferences
The First Electronic International Conference on
Engineering Education is being organized by the National Technological
University (NTU) and the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI).
Particularly invited to submit abstracts are engineering educators in developing
countries who seldom have the opportunity to participate in major face-to-face
engineering education conferences at the international level. The electronic
conference will be conducted through a Web based posting of papers and their
presentations, followed by electronic interactions among participants through
the summer of 2001. Papers and discussions will be summarized at a major plenary
session at the SEFI annual meeting in Copenhagen in September 2001 – broadcast
live via video. For details on submitting abstracts see http://www.webconferences.org
. Submission deadline has been extended to 15 March 2001.
“Global Changes in Engineering Education” is the theme
of an international conference co-sponsored by the American Society for
Engineering Education (ASEE) and the European Society for Engineering Education
(SEFI) in Berlin on 15-18 September 2001. Conference topics will be educating
engineering students in entrepreneurship, national accreditation/global
practice, and technology in learning systems. Prospective presenters for a
poster session on the Tuesday of the conference are invited to submit abstracts
through the ASEE web site: http://www.asee.org
Universities across Africa are expected to support a
growing movement to introduce tuition in countries where higher education is
traditionally free, according to a report by Burton Bollag in the Chronicle
of Higher Education. The Association of African Universities, with more that
170 member institutions in 43 countries, is expected to adopt a resolution of
support for such charges to students. Other declarations from a five-day meeting
in Kenya point toward development of the Internet as a priority, redressing of
gender imbalance, and improvement of the quality and relevance of education. See
http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/02/2001020908n.htm
American Universities have been advised by the Educational
Testing Service that test scores from China should be treated with caution,
implying that the integrity of the tests has been compromised. According to
articles in the Chronicle by Daniel Walfish, ETS feels that the Graduate
Record Examination and Test of English as a Foreign Language may have been
compromised in administrations in China. ETS has sued China’s most popular
exam coaching school, the New Oriental School, charging it with using test
questions that were stolen from tests currently in use. The New Oriental School
gives standardized test preparation courses to as many as 80% of the 24,000
Chinese students who go to the U.S. each year. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/02/2001020803n.htm
Humbolt University in Germany, once a haven for Nobel
laureates, has lost much of its influence over recent years, according to an
article by Robert Koenig in the 2 February 2001 issue of Science. Now
Humbolt is endeavoring to win back talent and recapture lost glory. The push to
overhaul Humbolt began last December, with the announcement of a program to
promote more independence for young researchers and a commitment to move its
natural science faculties from outmoded buildings downtown to new labs in
Berlin’s Adlershof Science Park. Increased government support will be crucial
for meeting the university’s research goals. See http://www.sciencemag.org
Several developments in British Higher Education have been
reported in the Chronicle by David Walker and Karen Birchard. A
parliamentary panel has proposed that top British universities should be paid a
premium for enrolling students from low-income backgrounds. Elite institutions
would receive up to $2900 for each student who is from a low-income background.
See http://chronicle.com/2001/02/2001020907n.htm.
Student leaders at the University of Warwick are criticizing the institution’s
plan to become the first British university to require students to own their own
laptop computers. The “e-strategy” prepared by the university calls for
students to use the laptops to gain access to online lectures, tutorials, and
seminars. Students say the plan, which would require all incoming freshmen to
own laptops starting in 2003, could cause them serious financial problems. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/02/2001021202t.htm.
Britain’s Conservative party is proposing $12-billion in spending cuts for
higher education, including a plan to encourage universities to go private.
Under the proposal a willing university could qualify for a one-time government
endowment if it agreed to become a private institution and forgo any future
government financing. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/01/2001012503n.htm
The Australian government has promised a spending package
worth 3 billion Australian dollars to increase higher education enrollments and
improve the nation’s research and development efforts. According to an article
by Geoffrey Maslen in the Chronicle, the proposal would establish a loan
program for 250,000 graduate students and create 21,000 new undergraduate places
over the next 5 years. In addition, support for the Australian Research Council
would be doubled, and tax write-offs for companies undertaking research and
development would be increased. The moves are intended to keep Australia
competitive in a world of highly mobile capital and labor. Education leaders
welcomed the promised increases, but noted that they did not deal with several
crucial problems facing universities: soaring student-staff ratios and higher
education’s increasing reliance on nongovernmental sources of income. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/01/2001013005n.htm
The number of doctorates awarded by U.S. research
universities fell in 1999 for the first time in 14 years, according to a recent
national study. As reported by Courtney Leatherman in the Chronicle, the
41,140 PhD’s awarded in 1999 were down 3.6% from the previous year.
Engineering and the physical sciences showed the biggest percentage drops –
9.8% and 6.2% respectively. Ethnic diversity in PhD awards increased, with the
number of minority doctoral recipients increasing by 5.1% for American citizens.
Women earned 44% of the doctorates awarded in 1999, the highest proportion ever.
The report is available at http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/studies/sed/sed1999.htm
A distinguished group of senior leaders in foreign affairs
has made a case for State Department Reform – from recruiting methods to
ambassadorial powers – to be a national priority for the Bush administration.
Synthesizing 12 previously released reports on State Department reform, the
group presented a far-reaching strategy to tackle management and structural
reforms, resource increases, and the ‘closed structure’ in the State
Department. The task force report is available at http://www.cfr.org/p/pubs/StateDepart_TaskForce.html
The National Academy of Engineering has announced its top
honors for 2001, according to a report by Karolina Augustynowicz in the Chronicle.
Four men will share the Charles Stark Draper Prize, which carries a $500,000
award, for their individual efforts in developing the Internet: Vinton G. Cerf
of WorldCom, Robert E. Khan of the Corporation for National Research
Initiatives, Leonard Kleinrock of UCLA and Nomadix, and Lawrence G. Roberts of
Caspian Networks. In addition, two men will receive the Fritz J. and Dolores H.
Russ Prize, also $500,000, for their invention of the first pacemaker for human
heart patients: Earl Bakken of Medtronic, and Wilson Greatbatch of Greatbatch.
The awards will be presented on February 20, at an Engineers Week dinner. See http://www.nae.edu
Two U.S. Senators have introduced a resolution
‘expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should establish an
international education policy to enhance national security and significantly
further United States foreign policy and competitiveness…’. As reported by
NAFSA/Association of International Educators, the bipartisan resolution
highlights the importance of international education to the national interest
and its substantial contributions to the U.S. economy. The resolution states
that such a policy should achieve the following outcomes: strengthen citizen and
professional international exchanges and promote the exchange of scholars;
streamline taxation, visa, and employment regulations impacting international
students in the U.S.; significantly increase the number of U.S. students
participating in study abroad; promote greater diversity of locations, subjects,
and languages involved in study abroad programs; ensure that U.S. college
graduates have knowledge of a second language and world area; strengthen the
educational system through which Americans gain international experience; and
regain 40% of the market of internationally mobile students for the U.S. See http://www.nafsa.org
New Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige has told private
college leaders that the Bush administration will ask Congress to increase
spending on Pell Grants, and to give the same federal tax advantages to
tuition-savings plans for private colleges that state-sponsored programs now
receive. According to a report by Stephen Burd in the Chronicle, Paige
urged college presidents to rally behind the package of education proposals
recently delivered to Congress by President Bush. He said that if the plans are
enacted, fewer incoming college students will need to take remedial courses. See
http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/01/2001013102n.htm
The U.S. Commission on National Security has released a
“Road Map for National Security; Imperative for Change” to both Congress and
the Bush administration. The report highlights concerns about America’s
national security infrastructure. It recommends doubling the federal R&D
budget, and cites the need for better math and science education for American
students. The report specifically recommends overhauling the national laboratory
system of the Department of Energy in order to ensure that the U.S. maintains
its R&D leadership. The report can be found at http://www.nssg.gov
California universities are struggling with the power
shortage that the state is experiencing, according to an article by Kit Lively
in the Chronicle. Many institutions have interruptible service contracts
with utility providers, which looked like good business deals when they signed
up several years ago. The contracts provide lower rates for major users of power
that agree to shut off or reduce electricity use when the state’s supply drops
below a certain point. Penalties for not interrupting when the utilities need to
shed power consumption are high – sometimes 100 times normal costs. Power
shutdowns can disrupt medical facilities on campus, and labs such as those
involving animal experiments. Conservation has become a must, as have backup
generators for critical facilities. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v47/i21/21a02701.htm
Engineers need to get organized to face obstacles in international mobility, according to a viewpoint article in the February 2001 issue of Engineering Times. The author, Bernard Ascher, is Director of Service Industry Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He points out that the pressures of mobilization call for greater professional mobility, but that differences in national licensing systems pose a problem for engineers who want to practice internationally. Mutual recognition agreements are one way to deal with national licensing system constraints, and the policy of the government is to have appropriate groups representing the professions in each country work these out with only minimal government oversight. MRA’s have been implemented in fields such as architecture and accounting, but to date such agreements have failed to be negotiated for engineering services. See http://www.nspe.or
Princeton
University has announced that it is eliminating loans for its next incoming
freshman class, and replacing them with grants. According to an article by
Andrew Brownstein in the Chronicle, this decision significantly tilts the
balance in what is already an exhausting competition for the nation’s elite
students. Admissions officials at other schools predicted an increasingly heated
‘bidding war’. Princeton will spend an additional $16-million from its
$8.5-billion endowment in the next year to eliminate loans from undergraduate
student aid. See http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i23/23a04701.htm
The Massachusetts Board of Education has voted to require
that engineering be taught in grades K-12, the first state with such a program.
According to an article by Jennie Ganz in the February 2001 issue of Engineering
Times, this new approach to engineering education is the result of more than
a decade of work by advisory boards, teachers, and engineering professors.
Proponents argued that the science curriculum was out of date – emphasizing
such topics as how volcanoes erupt, but putting no emphasis on the human world
like how cars and computers work. Supporters hope that the new curriculum will
break down socio-economic and gender barriers which have deterred some students
from becoming engineers. See http://www.nspe.org
The Educational Testing Service has announced that it will
give away free test-preparation materials to anyone who registers for the
Graduate Record Exam. Critics have pressured testing companies to make test-prep
materials available to try to raise the scores of minority and low-income
students. Test takers will receive a free CD-ROM which originally sold for $45.
It is expected that the move will help improve the scores of some test takers,
so that differences in scores are more likely to reflect differences in ability
rather than differences in preparation. The program will cost ETS $1-million per
year. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/02/2001021301n.htm
K-12 textbooks are full of errors, according to a study by
North Carolina State University. As reported by Deborah Fowler-Longview in the
12 February 2001 issue of Time, one review of math books had as many as
one mistake every four pages. In response, the major publishers have hired more
fact checkers and instituted extra layers of review. For the slightly longer
term, publishers are preparing on-line versions of their printed texts, to allow
correction of errors immediately. Five years from now the resolution of hand
held devices should be clear enough, and the cost low enough, that one portable
e-textbook containing downloads for every subject, could replace a backpack full
of books.
As laptops become more popular on campuses, some faculty
members are letting students use them to take exams. According to an article in
the Chronicle, professors like the gains in efficiency, but worry about
the reliability of the laptops and whether the machines will allow new forms of
cheating on exams. Many law schools that let students take exams on their own
laptops use ExamSoft, which blocks access to any information on the laptop’s
disk drives or a network. Such software systems make it difficult for students
to cheat on computer-based exams. See http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i21/21a03002.htm
The University of Pittsburgh and the University of New
South Wales in Australia are jointly offering a course in “Energy Today –
Energy Tomorrow” for undergraduate engineering students. Students will explore
current U.S. energy technologies at Pitt for four weeks, then travel to
Australia for six weeks to explore energy efficiency and renewable energy
technologies. Field trips are a large part of the Australian portion of the
program, with visits to Darwin, Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, the
Outback, and Central Australia. Applications for Summer 2001 are being accepted
until the end of March. For more information see http://www.pitt.edu/~stdyabrd/engineers/programs.htm
As states increasingly develop exit tests and other
assessments of high school achievement, a group of research universities is
seeking a voice in the discussions to ensure that the preparation of students
for college is not lost in the process. According to an article by Sara Hebel in
the Chronicle, the group from 14 prominent research universities will
develop an agreement on the set of skills needed by freshmen at research
institutions. Nineteen states already require their high school students to pass
a test before graduating, and eight more plan to do so. The goal of the
university group is to encourage states and schools that use such tests to
strive for high-quality exams that measure the skills and knowledge essential
for succeeding in college. See http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i22/22a02301.htm
The National Academy of Sciences has issued a new report on
how children learn math, aiming to quiet the debate currently raging by
summarizing what researchers have learned about teacher and student competencies
and suggesting how to assess their progress. According to an article by Jeffrey
Mervis in the 2 February issue of Science, the report walks down the
middle of the road in the debate over skills versus understanding. It offers a
new definition of mathematical proficiency that includes both conceptual
understanding and procedural fluency. It also emphasizes the importance of
problem solving, thinking logically, and seeing math as useful and worthwhile.
The academy plans to discuss the report at a public forum, and to issue a
condensed version of the 440 page report. “Adding It Up: Helping Children
Learn Mathematics” is available at http://www.nationalacademies.org
The U.S. is lagging behind the United Kingdom and other
European countries in rolling out digital television, according to an article by
Barry Fox in the February 2001 issue of IEEE Spectrum. In the U.K. 8 out
of 10 homes can pick up digital terrestrial signals with rooftop antennas and
some 20% of viewers now do so, while in the U.S. only around 650,000 HDTV
compatible sets have been sold. Cost is one big difference – prices for HDTV
sets in the U.S run $1500 to $2800, while converters in the U.K. are essentially
free. One big difference is that the U.S. system is focused primarily on
improving picture quality by delivering high-definition pictures to expensive
new receivers, while the European system focuses on adding channels at standard
definition. Outside Europe and the U.S., a Babel of different standards are
developing. See http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
Internet service provider Juno Online, which operates in
the free-subscription market, plans to add a new line of business:
supercomputing. According to an article in the 5 February 2001 Wall Street
Journal by Jennifer Rewick, the venture will draw upon the computing power
of its subscribers to operate the Juno Virtual Supercomputer. Participating Juno
customers will have to leave their computers on at all times so that Juno can
sell unused capacity to third parties such as scientific researchers who want to
solve large computational problems. Juno is still working out the details of its
plan. See http://www.wsj.com
Distance education, etc.
The University of Nebraska system, faced with little growth
in the number of potential students in its own state, plans to invest in
distance education as a way of reaching students elsewhere. In an Chronicle article
by Dan Carnevale, growth statistics are cited to show why: Nebraska high school
graduates will increase by only 1% over the next decade, while other states will
see significant growth (such as 117% in Nevada). Nebraska will try to capitalize
on programs where it has expertise, like agriculture. The system is seeking
$4-million in state money over the next two years to fund the project. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/02/2001021301u.htm
A report released recently urges Canada’s government and
higher education institutions to invest heavily in online education so that
Canadian programs can remain competitive with Internet courses created
elsewhere. According to Dan Carnevale writing in the Chronicle, the
report recommends providing broadband accessibility across the country,
developing course content that focuses on Canada’s needs, studying effective
ways of teaching over the Internet, and sustaining a generous level of financing
for online programs. Members of the Canadian Association of University teachers
criticized the report for its emphasis on online education. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/02/2001020901u.htm
MIT is seeking support to finance a 24-hour-a-day video
streaming project that would involve Webcasting of lectures, symposia, and other
events on the campus. As described by Goldie Blumenstyk in the Chronicle, “MIT
World” would capture the dozens of top notch presentations which occur on
campus each week, and let thousands who don’t live near MIT to view them. The
broadcasts would be made available to MIT’s 90,000 alumni, and perhaps to the
employees of companies which sponsor MIT programs. Cost is estimated at $500,000
per year. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/02/2110020801t.htm
Corporate Universities are flourishing in the U.S.,
ballooning from 400 to more than 2000 in the past decade. During that same time
period more than 100 4-year colleges have closed, according to an article by
Jeanne Meister in the Chronicle. A number of corporate universities are
offering courses not only to their direct constituencies, but also to the
public. According to the writer, corporate education and training programs
represent a big opportunity for higher education institutions – working in
partnerships with corporations to conduct on-site courses, sharing libraries and
research, and creating custom-made degree programs. Companies are demanding
courses that fit their particular business needs and challenges. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v47/i22/22b01001.htm
Computer Learning Systems, which enrolled thousands of
students and qualified for millions of dollars in federal student aid, canceled
classes and locked its doors last month. According to an article by Anne Marie
Borrego in the Chronicle, the chain of 25 for-profit computer training
operations in 11 states filed for bankruptcy after the U.S. Department of
Education ordered the company to repay $187.5-million in federal student aid,
alleging violations of federal laws governing recruitment of students.
Complaints about Computer Learning Centers included charges of poor quality
instruction, exaggerated job placement claims, inadequate facilities, lax
admission standards, sloppy record keeping, and deficient refund practices. The
company denied many of these charges. Students from the former Computer Learning
Centers campuses are scrambling to find ways to complete their training. See http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i23/23a03501.ht
Leaders of nine top research universities have signed a
pledge to work for better treatment of female faculty members in science and
engineering. An article in the Chronicle by Ana Marie Cox describes the
outcomes of a meeting at MIT between the leaders of the universities and 25
female professors. The agreement of administrators that gender discrimination
does exist differentiated this meeting from previous attempts to call attention
to the issue. The group’s closing statement said that ‘barriers still exist
to the full participation of women in science and engineering’, and listed
three goals to work toward: ‘a faculty whose diversity reflects that of the
students we educate; equity for, and full participation by, women faculty; and a
profession, and institutions, in which individuals with family responsibilities
are not disadvantaged.’ See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/01/2001013101n.htm.
For additional coverage of this issue, see an article by Andrew Lawler in
the 2 February 2001 issue of Science.
In a related development, a report by the Independent
Women’s Forum states that MIT acted too hastily to redress gender
discrimination that may not have even existed. According to an article by Scott
Smallwood in the Chronicle, the report criticizes MIT’s 1999 study of
female faculty members in the sciences, suggesting that discrimination is not
the only possible explanation for differences in salary or laboratory size. The
Forum report found that older male biologists at MIT had markedly stronger
publication records than female peers who were at comparable stages of their
careers. The report from the women’s forum is available at http://www.iwf.org
For disabled college students, professor’s increased use
of the Web for instruction can create obstacles rather than clear them away.
According to Andrea Foster writing in the Chronicle, many disabled
students find that new technology cuts them off from the learning process. To
prevent that, many colleges are designing Web sites and providing computer
workstations to meet the needs of disabled students. Fueling the activity is the
federal government’s enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act at
California community colleges, and a new rule that requires federal agencies and
state institutions to make their Web sites accessible to disabled people. In the
California case, community colleges were ordered to take specific steps to make
print and electronic information available to visually impaired students. The
new rule requires that video and multimedia productions understood through
visual presentation must be made audible as well. Biggest impact is expected in
distance education, where current Internet technology and Web design techniques
may not easily translate to an accessible medium for disabled persons. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/01/2001012601t.htm
Women faculty members in Japan are fighting to improve
their conditions in academia, according to an article by Dennis Normile in the 2
February 2001 issue of Science. They allege academic harassment through
abuses of power by senior professors against junior faculty members, as well as
other more subtle forms of discrimination, which have kept women from moving up
the academic ladder. The root of the problem is the hierarchical structure of
research groups, in which the senior professors hold near absolute power. Women
hold only 6.6% of faculty positions at Japan’s 98 national universities,
despite the sizeable number of women earning advanced degrees. The ‘koza’
system is changing slowly, and a few university departments have even abandoned
it and given independent status to associate professors – but vestiges of the
old system and attitudes remain. At many institutions, senior professors still
control all funding, along with the allocation of office space and equipment,
travel authorization, and even the choice of research themes.
Practices that discriminate against female researchers include assigning
first authorship of research papers to male colleagues, tougher standards during
evaluations, unequal access to funding and equipment, and hostile comments. See http://www.sciencemag.org
Fewer than half of the low-income and minority students
responding to a survey last summer said that they felt academically prepared
entering college. According to an article by Jennifer Jacobsen in the Chronicle,
only a quarter of these students had participated in pre-college preparation
programs. A report on the survey, prepared by the Institute for Higher Education
Policy, concludes that low-income and minority students face financial,
academic, and social barriers in college. Many of the students surveyed faulted
their high schools for not adequately preparing them for college, and said that
their freshman workloads were too heavy. Surveyed student who had participated
in pre-college programs felt that the programs had helped them. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/02/2001020706n.htm
From the 16 February 2001 Chronicle of Higher Education:
Ø VPAA/Provost, University of Maryland, College Park
Ø Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Missouri, St Louis
Ø Provost/VPAA, Montana State University
Ø Provost and VPAA, Adelphi University, NY
Ø Provost, Temple University, PA
Ø VP Information Technology, University of Texas, Arlington
Ø Dean of International Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Ø President, DeVry Institute of Technology, IL
Ø President, University System of New Hampshire
Ø
President, Utah System of Higher Education
From the 9 February Chronicle:
Ø Engineering faculty positions, University of Bahrain
Ø Director, Women in Engineering, Purdue University, IN
Ø Dean/Engineering, LeTourneau University, TX
Ø Dean, Faculty of Applied Science, RMIT University, Australia
Ø Vice Chancellor for Research, University of California – Santa Cruz
Ø Dean of Graduate College, University of Iowa
Ø VP Graduate Studies and Research, University of Notre Dame, IN
Ø Provost, Youngstown State University, OH
Ø Vice President/Provost, University of Virginia
Ø
Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of
Wisconsin – Madison
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