INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION DIGEST

2 March 2003

A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education leaders,

edited by Russel C. Jones, PhD., P.E., with Bethany S. Oberst, Ph.D.

International developments

Graded tuition fees in Britain
UNESCO study on investment in higher education
Japanese scientists losing clout
Engineering education in Afghanistan
Mergers of institutions in Japan
More international students in Britain
Engineering education changing in Japan
Conscripted labor in Uzbekistan
South Korean school opens to married women

U.S. developments

Space shuttle disaster impacts NASA
College campuses may be terrorist target
Budgeting for homeland security
Impact of state budget cuts
Engineering doctorates decline
FBI contacting Iraqis in US
Immigration trends shaped by demography
Justice department extends deadline for Muslim visitors
Many organizations support Michigan affirmative action at Supreme Court
NAE developing portal on education research

Distance education, technology

Distance education legislation
Role of universities in secure cyberspace
Security alert for campuses
Accreditation for Western Governors University
College consortium moves to fiber cable communications

Students, faculty, education

Technology parks grow in Europe
Accreditation defended
Study abroad programs growing
Support sought for minority education
Upgrading of historically black institutions sought
MIT broadens summer enrichment programs
Princeton alters minority program
University of Phoenix utilizes non-traditional curriculum design process
Effectiveness and accountability measures grow
High performance computer communications for small colleges
Web references used in term papers

Journals

SEFI European Journal of Engineering Education
WFEO/CET Ideas

Meetings

38. ECI “Enhancement of the Global Perspective for Engineering Students”

Active learning in engineering education

International developments

1) A revolutionary proposal in British higher education – a system of graded tuition fees – may scare students away from science and technology courses, according to an article in the 31 January issue of Science by Gretchen Vogel. The overall scheme proposed by the British government would have universities increase tuition fees, currently one-size-fits-all at $1800 per year, to a graded system charging as much as $5000 per year. Under the new plan, intended to provide an infusion of new funds into a financially stretched public higher education system, each university would set its own fees, reflecting the finances of each program offered. Anticipating that expensive programs such as science and engineering would set higher fees than other less expensive programs, The Royal Society (the UK ’s most prestigious scientific body) has cautioned that such higher fees might discourage students from enrolling in those fields. See http://www.sciencemag.org

2) UNESCO and OECD recently published an important study called “Financing Education – Investments and Returns,” which sets out figures showing positive correlation between investment in secondary and higher education and growth in emerging economies. Common wisdom has been that primary education played a key role in setting populations on a course to economic recovery. This report shows that per capita gross domestic product increases as a function of increased time spent in secondary school and higher education. An important qualifier is that the studies seem to indicate the presence of a certain threshold, a minimum level of primary education, which must be achieved in a society, before the extra benefits of post-primary education kick in. According to the author, Burton Bollag, writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, this expanded appreciation for higher learning has resulted in a de-emphasis on the distinctions between public and private education, as leaders attempt to draw from both the needed resources for their countries. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2003021902n.htm

3) Rank-and-file Japanese scientists are losing their voice on the national stage, according to an article in the 31 January issue of Science by Dennis Normile. The Science Council of Japan (SCJ), whose members are elected by grassroots members of professional societies, is losing its influence in setting national science policy. The Japanese government has listened less to the SCJ as it tilts its budget priorities toward funding work expected to produce economic results quickly. The SCJ was established in 1949, and became prominent in influencing government policies in the mid-1980’s. Its influence has waned in recent years, however, as it became dominated by older and often retired scientists who tended to put the interests of the societies they represented ahead of the scientific needs of the nation. The Council has been struggling to reorganize itself in an attempt to regain clout in national policies, but to date has failed to resolve different approaches proposed. See http://www.sciencemag.org

4) Engineering in Afghanistan has hit rock bottom, according to an article in the February 2003 issue of ASEE Prism by Thomas Grose. With the infrastructure of the country in disarray after years of neglect during the Taliban regime and the recent ravages of war, engineering educators in the war-ravaged nation are anguishing over how to train engineers -- when their schools are on life support. Everything needs to be built from scratch, and all projects and buildings need engineers. Most urgent attention is needed in the areas of transportation, irrigation and agriculture, sewage, and water systems. But campuses are in shambles – walls are pockmarked with bullet holes, most windows are broken, there is little or no equipment in the labs, etc. Because money is tight, what little there is gets spent on food so that people do not starve. A few US engineering educators are working with two universities in Afghanistan – Herat University and Kabul University – as they try to overhaul, update and streamline their engineering programs. See http://www.asee.org/prism

5) Higher education in Japan is about to begin a wave of mergers, brought about by pressure from the education ministry, says Alan Brender of the Chronicle of Higher Education. With severe declines anticipated in the number of high school students, and a low national birth rate, both public and private institutions are succumbing to painful budgetary strictures which make merger the only possible course of action. While some administrators have put a happy face on the events, faculty see the trend as erosion of their power. And some local figures express concerns that people living in rural areas are going to be short-changed and inconvenienced. Government officials are emphasizing the advantages of streamlining administrative operations such as admissions and public relations: faculty anticipate less research and higher teaching loads spread across more than one campus. Students, for their part, do not feel less any less anxiety over the impending mergers: many feel uninformed and worry about the implications on their educational careers. Of particular concern is the impact of this wave of change on community colleges, which are largely private. Ninety percent of the students in these colleges are women. With enrollments at this level plummeting, “streamlining” looks inevitable, raising concern about access to higher learning for this important sector of Japanese society who increasingly demand higher levels of education. With similar demographic patterns emerging in countries such as South Korea , Italy and Russia , are we seeing in Japan the leading edge of a global wave? See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v49/i24/24a03401.htm

6) Confirming the concerns of Americans who see increased competition from abroad for the international students who have traditionally flocked to the U.S., the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service showed that international students enrolling in British universities increased by 20% in 2002 over 2001. Observers point out that the U.K. has made a deliberate effort to recruit international students, to streamline their visa procedures and to make it easier for them to work while they study in the U.K. While the total numbers are small, compared to the figures of foreign students in the U.S. , the change has been noted. And, author Kate Galbraith says in her article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the progress has perhaps been enhanced by the notion that the U.K. is a safe place to be these days. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2002020504n.htm

7) Big changes are occurring in Japanese higher education, including engineering education, according to an article by Kevin Ryan in the February 2003 issue of The Engineers Journal. A system that was complacent all through the post-war economic miracle is now under pressure to reform to meet new circumstances. In the past getting into a university was the main hurdle, but once in a student could enjoy a relaxing interlude with the confident knowledge that lifelong employment with a major corporation was guaranteed on graduation. Corporations would then train recent graduates for up to two years to prepare them for professional level work. That situation is changing rapidly, however, due to both internal and external pressures. Internally, changing social and economic conditions require a greater emphasis on applicable professional education during the formal education years. Externally, there are pressures to assure that engineering graduates are competitive in the global marketplace. The Japanese Accreditation Board for Engineering Education is working to assist universities to effect necessary changes. See http://www.iei.ie

8) Student conscripted labor is a common practice in Uzbekistan , according to Bryon MacWilliams of the Chronicle of Higher Education. When cotton, the country’s prime export, was in bloom, President Islam Karimov recently announced that university students would join the state collective-farm workers in the fields to harvest the crop. The reporter attempting to gather facts about this event – a hold over from the former Soviet regime – found himself stymied and faced with frequent contradictions about the obligation and how it was imposed on students. Despite some claims that students considered this a welcome holiday from their studies, other information points to painful working conditions in the fields and fear of reprisals among those who try not to participate. More serious is the impact of this practice on national efforts to raise the living conditions through increased education. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v49/i23/23a0401.htm

9) Married women may now attend Ewha Women’s University in South Korea and receive their baccalaureate degree, reports Alan Brender in the Chronicle. The self-proclaimed largest women’s university in the world, with its 21,000 students, has until now restricted married women to certificate and graduate degree programs. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2003020306n.htm

U.S. developments

10) The Space Shuttle disaster has put NASA plans in a tailspin, according to an article in the February 7^th issue of Science by Andrew Lawler. Beyond the human toll, the February 1^st disaster abruptly halts construction of the international space station, cripples life and physical science research, and calls into question NASA’s plans to move beyond Earth’s orbit. Columbia was the only shuttle outfitted for conducting dedicated scientific missions; the rest of the fleet is set aside for building the space station. The proposed 2004 budget for the agency envisions a small, winged vehicle to serve as an alternate to the aging shuttle fleet, and a host of technology programs for more aggressive exploration of the solar system – by robots as well as humans. The investigation into what went wrong with the Columbia space shuttle may have widespread policy consequences about the future of human space flight. Every part of NASA will doubtless be examined, reviewed, and rethought – including such areas as whether NASA has gone too far in privatizing operation of the shuttle, to whether the planned future push for advanced technology now makes sense. A follow-up article by Lawler, “After Columbia, a New NASA”, is contained in the February 14^th issue of Science. See http://www.sciencemag.org

11) Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the FBI, told the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that Al Qaeda is considering college campuses as a possible target for attack. Their dense population and the availability of ingredients useful in the fabricating of biological and chemical weapons make them attractive. And the recent attacks in Bali and Kuwait , writes Michael Arnone for the Chronicle of Higher Education, show that the terrorists value smaller operations as well as massive ones. A representative from the American Council on Education, however, points out that since September 11, U.S. colleges and universities have taken extra precautions against violent attacks. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2003021201n.htm

12) Protecting the Homeland sets the tone for the 2004 federal government budget, according to an article by David Malakoff in the February 7^th issue of Science. The Bush administration apparently is counting on science to make the US more secure, as reflected in priorities in the proposed budget that would provide hefty raises for military and homeland security research programs. Defending the nation from a terror attack at home or a conventional enemy abroad has become a major driver of federal research funding. In addition, the administration hopes to lure private industry into spending some of its R&D money in such areas. One such proposal would guarantee a market for new drugs and vaccines. See http://www.sciencemag.org

13) An article by Will Potter in the Chronicle of Higher Education describes the serious impact of the budget cuts that higher education has been subjected to in many states. Cuts of 11% were applied in 2001-2002 in Oregon, and tuition have risen by an average of 10% in public four year institutions, with the highest percentage increase (24%) in Massachusetts. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has called this an … “assault on higher education.” Compounding the problem are cuts in financial aid, just when it is most needed. No relief is seen in the coming year. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2003021104n.htm

14) Engineering doctoral degrees have declined at US universities, according to NSF data reported in the February 2003 issue of Engineering Times. There has been an overall decrease in doctorates awarded by US universities, with science and engineering leading the decline. For the first time in nine years, the total number of doctorates awarded has dropped below 41,000. From 1998 to 2001, doctoral degrees in engineering and science have dropped 7% -- from 27,300 to 25,500. The number of non-science doctorates has remained essentially constant at an average of 15,200 per year over the past six years. Enrollment is science and engineering graduate programs have increased in 1999 and 2000, so the downward trend may soon be reversed. See http://www.nspe.org. The NSF report itself, “Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards 2001” is available at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf03300/start.htm

15) The Federal Bureau of Investigation is attempting to make direct contact with each Iraqi citizen living in the United States , a number that may be as large as 50,000. Although very few of them are students on U.S. campuses, some college officials, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Michael Arnone, are concerned that this will cause another wave of animosity and frustration. Issues related to homeland security and recent changes in the INS have already frayed nerves. Some claim that the information the FBI seeks from colleges cannot be provided without a court order. But some other university officials commend the FBI for attempting to create authentic channels of communication with the Iraqis in the U.S.

See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/20030202060n.htm

16) Demographic realities are shaping immigration trends, according to an article by David Wessel in the February 27^th Wall Street Journal. Rich countries are aging fast, and that will make keeping pension promises excruciatingly difficult. The Europeans and Japanese are having too few babies to keep their populations from shrinking. Poor countries, even with the scourge of AIDS and the spread of birth control, are growing much faster – and many are struggling to educate and employ their youth. This situation is a driving force for immigration from poorer countries to richer ones. A few countries, such as Canada , have been explicit in setting national policies to encourage immigration. Thoughtful people in continental European countries and Japan understand the immigration imperative, but have yet to move in that direction -- constrained by popular opinion and political considerations. The US is in between, remaining a magnet and an exemplar of the economic vitality that accompanies immigration. But rising unemployment, the bitterness of workers who bear the brunt of the pain that comes with globalization, and the aftermath of 9/11, contribute to a palpable increase in hostility to immigration. See http://www.wsj.com

17) The US Justice Department has extended by a month the deadlines for thousands of visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries to register with immigration authorities, according to an article in the February 14^th New York Times. About 15,000 men ages 16 and older from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have until March 21 to be fingerprinted, photographed and present required documents to the INS. A group of 19,000 men from Bangladesh , Egypt , Indonesia , Jordan and Kuwait have until April 25^th to register. Hundreds of men have been detained when they show up to report – with some 139 still in custody. Muslims consider the program discriminatory and ineffective. Deadlines have already passed for visitors from Iraq , Iran , Libya , Sudan , Syria , Afghanistan , Algeria , Bahrain , Eritrea , Lebanon , Morocco , North Korea , Oman , Qatar , Somalia , Tunisia , United Arab Emirates , and Yemen . See http://www.nytimews.com

18) A month after the Bush administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court opposing affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan, more than 300 organizations representing academia, major corporations, labor unions, and nearly 30 of the nation’s former military and defense officials, announced that they would file briefs supporting the University. As reported by Diana Jean Schemo in the February 18^th New York Times, the friend-of-the-court briefs may top the record 62 filed during the Court’s 1978 decision in University of California Board of Regents vs. Bakke. Taken together, the scores of briefs amount to a broad endorsement of affirmative action policies by leading sectors of society at the moment they are most in jeopardy. See http://nytimes.com

19) The National Academy of Engineering is establishing a portal that provides a front-end integrated table of contents to education research papers appearing in various journals. The portal will take the shape of a virtual Journal of Science and Engineering Education Research, developed by NAE’s new Center for the Advancement of Scholarship in Engineering Education. Areas covered will include computing, chemistry, engineering, life sciences, physics, and science education. It will provide a quarterly listing of articles drawn from participating journals, organized according to a trans-disciplinary taxonomy for education research in science and education. See http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?ods_key=nsf03530

Distance education, technology

20) According to Dan Carnevale of the Chronicle of Higher Education, the American Council on Education and the United States Congress are taking different approaches to expanding distance-education in post-secondary education. Congress is considering a bill (HR 12, AKA “Fed Up”) that would waive the current rule which says that if over 50% of an institution’s students are enrolled in distance education, federal financial aid is not available. Waiver would be granted by the Department of Education to institutions which have a loan-default rate of under 10% for three consecutive years. The ACE favors making permanent the 1998 Distance Education Demonstration Program, which allows about 100 colleges and universities to experiment with distance education, and offer federal financial aid to their students, even if over 50% of their enrollment consists of distance education students. The American Association of Community Colleges supports the ACE approach, claiming that many community colleges have higher default rates because so few students get loans and so many are so poor. See http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003022702t.htm

21) “The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace,” a White House report recently released, describes the central role of universities in protecting computer networks from attacks by terrorists and hackers. Campuses were urged to strengthen their firewalls and to work with students to prevent computer labs from being used to launch cyberattacks, according to Dan Carnevale, writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education. No specific increase in funding was recommended, but it underlines the importance of an already-signed bill which, if appropriated, would bring $902.8 million to research in this area. See http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003021703t.htm

22) In the wake of a heightened national security alert, U.S. colleges and universities began to enhance already-enhanced security measures on their campuses. The FBI warned that campuses could be attractive targets for terrorist attack because they house high numbers of people and have little security protection. Institutions in New York and Washington , D.C. , having gone through September 11, were perhaps a bit more apprehensive than others. Columbia has reduced the numbers of cars on campus, and administrators from Washington , D.C. area colleges were gathering for police briefings. Elizabeth F. Farrell and Nicole Fuller collaborated in this story for the Chronicle of Higher Education. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2003021402n.htm

23) Five years after opening its doors, WGU, Western Governors University , a virtual university, gained regional accreditation for its associate, baccalaureate and master’s degree programs. That regional accreditation was granted by a group called the Inter-Regional Accrediting Committee, made up by four regional accrediting associations to reflect the trans-regional nature of WGU, according to Dan Carnevale for the Chronicle of Higher Education. This new development does not affect the availability of federal student aid, because WGU has already been dispensing such aid under its participation on the Distance Education Demonstration Program (see article elsewhere in this Digest). WGU does not offer courses, but instead administers competency examinations to reflect knowledge acquired through life experience or online courses offered by institutions affiliated with WGU. Now that initial accreditation has been earned, re-evaluation will be conducted by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. See http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003022601t.htm

24) Five Colleges, Inc, ( Amherst , Hampshire, Mount Holyoke , Smith and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst ) are out shopping for fiber cable. They expect to get it so cheap in these days of technology downturn that they can greatly reduce charges for their communications network while upgrading speed and ensuring useful redundancy. Florence Olsen of the Chronicle of Higher Education says that they expect to have the first pieces of the 50-mile perimeter connecting the campuses up and running next spring. They are confident that they have the expertise to run the complex optical-network equipment. See http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003021301t.htm

Students, faculty, education

25) European educators have not been as entrepreneurial as their American counterparts, but now they are jumping in the tech park bandwagon in a big way. According to an article by Thomas Grose in the February issue of ASEE Prism the idea of research parks where like minded industries cluster together to enjoy economies of scale was originated by an economist at the University of Cambridge in Victorian times – but the first major implementation was Stanford Research Park , started in 1951. In the intervening years, several hundreds of research parks have been developed in the US , with at most 100 developed in all of Europe . But in the last five to ten years, Europe has seen an explosion of such parks, It is estimated that there are 170 parks in Europe today, with 40 more on the drawing boards. The boom in tech parks in Europe has been sparked mainly by economic development needs. See http://www.asee.org/prism

26) Judith A. Eaton, President of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, tells readers of the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Before You Bash Accreditation, Consider the Alternatives.” She writes in response to a report from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni which called for an end to the rule that institutions and programs must be accredited in order for their students to be eligible for federal student aid and other federal support. Eaton’s argument in support of the current system centers on what would replace accreditation if it were abolished. She claims that accreditation plays a critical role in maintaining the unique strengths of US higher education, and in providing the sort of information students, state legislators and the general public need in order to make intelligent quality assessments of higher education institutions. Neither a federal system, nor a state-supported system nor a corporate system could be implemented without substantial risk and potential waste of effort and money. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v49/i25/25b01501.htm

27) Study-abroad programs are growing, even in the current uncertain times, according to Elizabeth Bernstein of the Wall Street Journal. About 1000 US colleges now have an overseas study office, up 40% from five years ago – and many of them say that the programs are playing a bigger role in recruiting. At some schools perks such as free stopovers in Fiji and cooking classes from a Paris chef are making the programs more attractive to students. Fancy or not, however, schools argue that study abroad programs have great value and still have plenty of serious activities. See http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1044582555192733533,00.html

28) The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Stephen Burd recently described the efforts of the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education to increase support to institutions dedicated to providing higher learning to American Indian, Hispanic and black students. The Alliance recommended that the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which expires at the end of 2003, is an opportunity to make some aid into entitlements, thus guaranteeing full funding, restoring eligibility for federal aid to prisoners, creating new loan-forgiveness programs in support of minority participation in key professional programs such as engineering, science and teaching, and promoting new graduate fellowships in minority serving colleges. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2003021403n.htm

29) A bill to create a new grant program to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities develop their campus technologies has been proposed in the U.S. Congress, and would be administered through the National Science Foundation. It would make available, according to Dan Carnevale of the Chronicle of Higher Education, a quarter of a million US$ needed to upgrade equipment and the technical infrastructure so that students will be better prepared to assume high paying jobs when they graduate. See http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003021401t.htm

30) MIT Is broadening its summer enrichment programs, under pressure from federal investigators, according to an article by Michael Fletcher in the February 12^th Washington Post. Two summer enrichment programs aimed at enhancing the math and science skills of underrepresented minority high school students – black, Hispanic, and Native American – will now be open to students of all races. The decision came after MIT lawyers concluded that they could not defend the programs’ racially exclusive admissions policies, which were under investigation by the US Department of Education. The programs, which have been in operation for about three decades, enroll about 60 students every summer in each of two efforts – one for high school students, and one for incoming freshmen. See http://www.washingtonpost.com

31) For fear of jeopardizing its other programs, Princeton University has decided to redesign or completely disband its Junior Summer Institute after this coming summer. The seventeen-year-old program limits participation to underrepresented minorities of color, bringing a group of thirty college students from other schools to study at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. After a watchdog group made it known to Princeton officials that the program was under scrutiny and would be flagged to the Office of Civil Rights, the university decided at least to alter the admission policies or possibly abandon the program outright after 2003. Reporting this issue was Jeffrey R. Young for the Chronicle of Higher Education. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/02/2003020702n.htm

32) 17,000 instructors are teaching 125,000 students at the University of Phoenix using a curriculum designed in a non-traditional way. Rather than courses which reflect largely the individual techniques and emphases of one instructor, syllabi and lesson plans used at Phoenix are the work of a committee consisting of instructors, administrators and educational designers. The committee always keeps in mind that they are creating teaching materials for multiple instructors, most of whom are practitioners rather than academics, and some of whom will be completely inexperienced teachers. This is seen by some as formulating courses in cans, but to its supporters at the University of Phoenix , the process of course creation insures a uniformity of learning that is desirable to students who see themselves as customers deserving of certain standards of quality. The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Elizabeth F. Farrell, in concluding her article, says that long-term assessment of the learning outcomes of this approach are still be to obtained. See http://chronicle/com/weekly/v49/i23/23a01001.htm

33) Pressures from governments and the public for increased educational accountability are growing, according to an article by Paul Lingenfelter in the March/April issue of Change. For several years, surveys of state officials have shown that “effectiveness and accountability” in education is a top concern. In this article, the author outlines areas in which policymakers should focus in establishing accountability systems for postsecondary education. He suggests the following as appropriate characteristics of an effective accountability system: establish a few clear, significant, measurable goals; determine why existing practice is not achieving goals, then experiment; monitor progress publicly; focus on improving performance rather than punishing failure; employ both intrinsic and extrinsic incentives for individuals who produce results; involve everybody and use multiple tools; and invest in results. See http://www.heldref.org

34) The National Science Foundation (NSF) is encouraging small liberal arts colleges to apply for funding under its High-Performance Network Connections grant program this spring, according to Florence Olsen of the Chronicle of Higher Education. The program is designed to enable small colleges to get involved with Internet2, thus expanding its research capabilities. The two year support, however, covers only part of the huge cost of that move, and must be covered fully once the funding period is over. For many liberal arts colleges, their location in rural areas requires them to pay for expensive “backhaul service,” linking them to a city where the Internet2 connection must be made. While collaborative efforts help spread the cost of such service, some colleges have determined that their research and teaching programs will not be harmed by the lack of Internet2 connection. See http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003020702t.htm

35) Reporter Scott Carlson of the Chronicle of Higher Education says that a recent study by Philip M. Davis of Cornell University suggests that students have used fewer and fewer scholarly materials in their term papers, but that that trend can be reversed if the professor provides motivation for doing otherwise. “Effect of the Web on Undergraduate Citation Behavior” documents the drop off of use of scholarly works (articles and books) in a microeconomics course, but then also documents what happens when the professor made the student’s grade dependent on the correct use of a stipulated number of scholarly citations. See http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003020601t.htm

Journals

36) The January 2003 issue of the SEFI European Journal of Engineering Education has been released. Papers include discussion of the impact of the Bologna Declaration on European engineering education, final undergraduate projects, bringing life to engineering, still a gendered technology, teaching effectiveness, recruiting programs, global product realization, and assessment. See http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com

37) Quality of Engineering Education is the theme of issue number 9 of Ideas, published by the Committee on Education and Training of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. Papers from a variety of countries describe quality assurance efforts locally – Australia , Turkey , Hungary , Germany , Italy , and the Czech Republic . See http://www.unesco.org/fmoi/cetinfopage.html

Meetings

38) Engineering Conferences International is sponsoring a conference on “Enhancement of the Global Perspective for Engineering Students by Providing an International Experience” at Tomar , Portugal from April 6-11, 2003 . With the increased globalization of economies, exposure to other cultures has become an increasingly important asset to graduates. This conference will explore such issues as: compatibility of degree systems; accreditation of courses and/or degrees; quality assurance; an accepted credit system; language of instruction; and legal and social issues. See http://www.engconfintl.org/3aibody.html

39) Active Learning in Engineering Education, an informal international collaboration among engineering educational institutions dedicated to improving engineering education via active learning techniques, will hold its third workshop from June 16^th to 20^th, 2003 , at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Boston , Massachusetts . See http://projects.olin.edu/ALE2003Workshop/

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