May 2006

Welcome to the May issue of Connections, the American Society for Engineering Education's free e-newsletter.

Spotlight On Our Sponsors:

NI- Learn LabVIEW
http://digital.ni.com
Z Corp- Best 3D Printer for MCAD Education
http://www.zcorp.com/
Top Development Bank Executive Addresses UPADI Conference
http://www.upadi2006.com
Free Agilent 2006 Basic Instruments CD
www.get.agilent.com

Learn LabVIEW

National Instruments training materials are a great way for both educators and students to learn LabVIEW. We offer a variety of instructor-led, self-paced, interactive, and online training options to meet your budget and time constraints.

Click here to learn LabVIEW now!

Best 3D Printer for MCAD Education
Now More Affordable

Now purchase the best 3D Printer for MCAD education for 15% less than the 2005 price. You’ll help students better visualize designs by turning 3D CAD data into physical 3D models. And Z Corp. 3D printers produce concept models at half the cost of rapid prototyping machines –- and 5x-10x faster. Learn more.

Top Inter-American Development Bank Executive Addresses UPADI 2006

Ciro de Falco, Inter-American Development Bank executive vice president, will discuss investing in Latin American and Caribbean infrastructure projects at UPADI 2006, the Pan American Convention of Engineers, on Sept. 19-22 in Atlanta. The four-day conference is hosted by Georgia Tech. http://www.upadi2006.com

Get your free Agilent 2006 Basic Instruments CD

This new CD offers information for test and measurement professionals, including technical data sheets, video demos and application notes. This edition includes Test System Developer Guides, two new catalogs and information on new products including digital multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies and spectrum analyzers. Order your copy today! Visit www.get.agilent.com.

See us at ASEE at Booth # 302

Welcome to the World of K–12 Engineering!

Introducing engineering into the K–12 classroom connects science and math concepts to the everyday engineering that surrounds us. TeachEngineering.com helps teachers enhance learning, excite students and stimulate interest in science and math through the use of hands–on engineering. With a fully searchable, digital library of standards–based lesson plans, and a myriad of “Living Laboratories” that bring real–world engineering principles into the classroom, TeachEngineering's comprehensive curricula are hands–on, inexpensive, and relevant to children's daily lives.

TeachEngineering.com is a joint effort of the University of Colorado, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Colorado School of Mines, Duke University, Oregon State University, and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

Bring the world of engineering into the K–12 classroom with TeachEngineering.com. You don’t need knowledge of engineering to use these curricula!

Search TeachEngineering.com’s digital library at
www.teachengineering.com.

New and Improved Journal of Engineering Education!

The Journal of Engineering Education is a peer-reviewed international journal published quarterly by the American Society for Engineering Education. It serves as an archival record of the leading scholarly research in engineering education. Visit www.asee.org/publications/jee/ to read it online.

In this Issue:

I. Databytes

Engineering Bachelor's Degrees to Asian-Americans by School, 2005
Engineering Bachelor's Degrees to Hispanics by School, 2005
Engineering Bachelor's Degrees to Women by School, 2005
Percentage of Engineering Bachelor's Degrees to Women by School, 2005

II. Congressional Hotline

House Science Committee Members Introduce Bills to Improve Education and Research Competitiveness
House Committee Listens to Appeals From Two College Presidents

III. Teaching Toolbox

Making Them Want to Stay - To prevent dropouts, engineering schools have to extend more of a hand to students.

IV. Fellowship Programs

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

I. Databytes

ASEE collected data from 335 of 354 ABET-accredited colleges for its 2005 survey. Below are tables of schools with the highest totals of bachelor's degrees awarded by various demographic criteria.

The percentage of women receiving bachelor's degrees has decreased from over 20 percent in recent years to less than 18 percent in 2005

Other statistics can be found at: www.asee.org/colleges

Bachelor’s Degrees to Asian-Americans by School:

1.	University of California, Berkeley	413
2.	University of California, San Diego	410
3.	University of California, Los Angeles	321
4.	San Jose State University	267
5.	University of California, Davis	264
6.	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	233
7.	Georgia Institute of Technology	220
8.	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona	214
9.	Cornell University	213
10.	Stony Brook University	209
11.	The University of Texas at Austin	202
12.	University of Michigan	185
13.	University of Washington	168
14.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	161
15.	California Polytechnic State University	146
16.	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey	137
17.	University of Illinois at Chicago	128
18.	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	123
19.	George Mason University	119
20.	Stanford University	118
21.	North Carolina State University	113
21.	University of Maryland, College Park	113
23.	University of California, Riverside	111
24.	University of Southern California	110
25.	California State University, Sacramento	107

Bachelor's Degrees to Hispanics by School:

1.	University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus	564
2.	Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico	387
3.	Florida International University	207
4.	University of Texas at El Paso	145
5.	University of Florida	106
6.	The University of Texas at Austin	96
7.	Texas A&M University	91
8.	New Mexico State University	90
9.	California State Polytechnic University, Pomona	85
10.	Texas A&M University - Kingsville	82
11.	The University of New Mexico	72
11.	The University of Texas-Pan American	72
13.	California Polytechnic State University	68
14.	University of Texas at San Antonio	65
15.	City College of the City University of New York	64
16.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	56
16.	University of Central Florida	56
18.	University of Houston	54
18.	San Diego State University	54
20.	Georgia Institute of Technology	52
20.	New Jersey Institute of Technology	52
22.	The University of Arizona	51
23.	Stanford University	50
24.	University of Illinois at Chicago	49
25.	University of Miami	47
25.	Arizona State University	47

Percentage of Bachelor’s Degrees to Women by School:

1.	Yale University	40.7%
2.	University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez	39.4%
3.	Tennessee State University	38.6%
4.	Morgan State University	36.7%
5.	North Carolina A & T State University	36.6%
6.	Princeton University	36.4%
7.	Alabama A&M University	36.1%
8.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	35.2%
9.	Brown University	34.8%
10.	Tuskegee University	34.6%
11.	California Institute of Technology	32.9%
11.	Prairie View A&M University	32.9%
13.	University of Rochester	32.1%
14.	Southern Methodist University	31.4%
15.	Tulane University	30.0%
16.	University of Pennsylvania	29.7%
17.	Washington University	29.1%
18.	University of Colorado, Colorado Springs	28.7%
19.	University of Alabama	28.6%
19.	William Marsh Rice University	28.6%
21.	University of the Pacific	28.5%
22.	University of California, Berkeley	28.4%
22.	Mercer University	28.4%
24.	Wayne State University	28.3%
25.	Colorado School of Mines	28.0%

Back to the index.

II. Congressional Hotline

House Science Committee Members Introduce Bills to Improve Education and Research for Competitiveness

On May 11 House Science Committee Members introduced three bills designed to strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness by improving math and science education and research. The bills would strengthen and expand existing K-12 and undergraduate education programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) as well as programs at those two agencies that fund innovative research by new faculty. The three bills are: The Science and Mathematics Education for Competitiveness Act, the Early Career Research Act, and the Research for Competitiveness Act. The bills have been endorsed by a wide range of business, education, science and engineering groups.

For more information, visit: http://www.house.gov/science/press/109/109-259.htm.

House Committee Listens to Appeals from Two College Presidents

Last month, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce listened to Dr. Scott S. Cowen, President of Tulane University, and Marvalene Hughes, President of Dillard University, appeal for more help from the federal government in recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Both presidents asked for federal loans to help rebuild their campuses since they have seen little or no money from FEMA or private insurance. "In order to reopen in January, we borrowed $150-million and countless more in lost research and library assets, which maxed out our borrowing capacity," Dr. Cowen told the committee. "To this date, we have seen no money at all from FEMA and little relief from private insurance."

For more information, visit: http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press109/second/04apr/hurricane042606.htm.

Back to the index.

III. Teaching Toolbox

Making Them Want to Stay

The obvious way to increase student retention in engineering is to admit better students. Alexander W. Astin's study of graduation rates for the Higher Education Research Institute shows that the correlation between six-year graduation rates and the rate expected based on entering characteristics is 0.81. Thus, 66 percent of the variation in retention rates between institutions is explained by differences in the quality of the entering students. Although this data is for all students, the correlation for engineering students is undoubtedly similar.

Many schools would be happy to admit better students. They can do it by providing generous scholarships to outstanding students, but most schools don't have those kinds of resources. Short of that, there are a number of steps that schools can take to keep students in engineering.

First, they have to take action fairly quickly—many students decide within the first 10 weeks whether they are going to stay at a university. Since living on campus is known to make students feel more connected to a university, some engineering colleges have developed special purpose areas in residence halls, such as a floor for women engineering students. Commuters also appreciate an informal place to meet, with lockers to store books.

Orientation programs can also help first-year students cope with the transition to college. Extensive programs in the summer and during the first semester help engineering schools retain students: teaching them how to study, how to take tests, and how to manage their time.

Honors programs and merit scholarships programs also make students feel special and help them bond with the university. Students in honors programs stay in engineering at higher rates than students with matching characteristics who don't have those kinds of benefits.

Students who get to work individually with professors tend to do better academically. This includes serving as a paid tutor or working on a research project. To affect retention, these activities must occur in the first year or early in the second year.

Engineering departments that enroll first-year students need to make special efforts to retain them, as the largest loss occurs during the first year. Athletics, clubs, informal socials, small first-year seminars, eating meals with professors, and visiting professors' homes should all be part of the freshman experience. Encouraging students to participate in one or two activities and providing them employment on campus can also help keep them in the program.

Students who are academically engaged are more likely to stay. Self-paced instruction, simulations, inductive learning, group competitions, and active learning methods that encourage participation are good activities. Cooperative group learning and group competitions, such as building a bridge or designing a paper airplane, are particularly effective for underrepresented minorities and women students. Allowing students to help decide what to study in class or what format to use for a test can also help make students more enthusiastic.

Clearly, not all students belong in a discipline this academically rigorous. But by providing extra attention, schools could keep those who have the makings of good engineers from dropping out.

Phillip Wankat is head of interdisciplinary engineering and the Clifton L. Lovell Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. Frank Oreovicz is an education communications specialist at Purdue's chemical engineering school. They can be reached by E-mail at purdue@asee.org.

Back to the index.

IV. Fellowship Programs

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Opportunities at NRL are open to citizens of the United States and to legal permanent residents. All permanent residents applying to the NRL program must have their green card at the time of application. If you hold another citizenship in addition to that of the United States, you will need to provide the following: a statement expressing your willingness to renounce your (dual) citizenship; and be willing to return your foreign passport to the embassy, providing a receipt or you may destroy the passport in the presence of a security official. There is a competitive stipend as well as insurance, relocation, and travel allowances for Fellows. This program offers one to three year postdoctoral fellowships designed to increase the involvement of scientists and engineers from academia and industry to scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Navy. This program has a rolling admission. Go to: http://www.asee.org/nrl to learn more about the program.

Back to the index.

ASEE Announces New User Interface for K-12 Outreach Program Database

Regular users of the EngineeringK12 Center’s outreach program database will now find the collection of K-12 and pre-college engineering, math, science, and technology programs easier to use and convenient to update. By simply registering with the database, outreach program providers will now have access to the new user interface, allowing them to add, edit, and manage listings at anytime. This feature will ensure that the most current information on engineering outreach programs is available to database searchers.

Home to hundreds of listings, the EngineeringK12 Center’s outreach program database is a great resource for parents, teachers, and students to search nationwide for an outreach program that matches their needs. From lesson plans for teachers, to engineering summer camps for students, the database offers a wide variety of programs offered by universities, industry, and government. Registration is only required to add and manage an outreach program in the database. Registration is not required simply to search.

You can register to be an outreach program database user at: http://www.engineeringk12.org/educators/making_engineers_cool/search.cfm

Connections is brought to you by the American Society for Engineering Education.

Over 12,000 engineering and engineering technology faculty members and administrators enjoy the many benefits and services that ASEE offers. The Society's award-winning magazine ASEE Prism and academic publications (Journal of Engineering Education and Profiles of Engineering Colleges) keep members up to date with the best and latest in engineering education, engineering research trends, and academic issues, while 47 professional interest groups and a varied selection of meetings provide professional development and networking opportunities that no other society can offer within the engineering education community. Members also receive reduced rates at local and national conferences, discounts on ASEE products, money-saving members-only discounts on financial, insurance, and travel programs, plus an ever growing variety of online services. Our goal is to focus on issues that matter the most to you in our publications, meetings, and on-line services, and to enable you to interact with others who share your specific engineering and educational interests. To join online, just go to www.asee.org/members, or contact our member services department at 202-331-3520 for further information.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please reply to connections@asee.org with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line - please include the email address that you would like removed from the mailing list.

This Newsletter was sent to you by:

American Society for Engineering Education
1818 N Street, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036

Editor-In-Chief
Jo Ann Tooley

Managing Editor
David Nahigian

Production Manager
Robert Malgieri

Advertising Manager
Mike Sanoff
m.sanoff@asee.org