The multidisciplinary field of mining engineering offers many challenges. Often, many sources must be used to solve a problem. This document is a survey of information sources in mining engineering and is intended to identify those core resources which can help engineers and librarians to find information about the discipline. Sections include:…

A handbook for teaching assistants (TAs) at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park, is presented to provide information concerning departmental organization and facilities as well as teaching ideas and problems. TAs with the department are either graders who primarily grade homework and tests and…

This project had three major goals: (1) investigate the extent to which introductory physics students misuse or misunderstand formulas; (2) catalogue the typical ways in which they do this; and (3) begin the larger task of identifying key types of knowledge that successful problem solvers use to give formulas meaning. Exploratory interviews and…

Considers ways in which teachers can increase student motivation when using the lecture method of instruction. Outlines some of the more serious demotivators associated with this instructional method, and discusses how principles of industrial psychology can be used to increase student motivation and achievement. (JR)

Examines some facets of motivation, and investigates how students may be motivated (or demotivated) by the compatibility of their particular learning style with the learning material available to them. (JR)

Discusses the implications of piaget's intellectual developmentmodel with respect to teaching at the college level. Many students operate at the concrete level and are incapable of abstract formal operations, however their interest and motivation can be maintained through active involvement with the representative ideas and materials of the…

Uses extracts from a Learning Activity Package in basic surveying to illustrate the motivating factors found in the audio-tutorial system of instruction. (JR)

The purposes of the present study were to develop and evaluate a measure of self-efficacy expectations with regard to the performance of mathematics-related behaviors and to investigate the relationship of mathematics self-efficacy expectations to the selection of science-based college majors. Based on results obtained from a pilot sample of 115…

Experience at Westchester Community College has indicated that a significant percentage of students enrolled in the Engineering Technologies program, and almost all of those enrolled in the Engineering Science program, transferred to four-year institutions. Course work in higher level mathematics, as well as inorganic chemistry and modern physics,…

THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO TYPES OF VISUAL MEDIA FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONCEPT OF A GIVEN ANATOMICAL REGION WAS INVESTIGATED. EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM 119 FIRST-YEAR MEDICAL AND DENTAL STUDENTS IN AN HISTOLOGY CLASS. BOTH GROUPS ATTENDED THE SAME ONE-HOUR LECTURE. FOLLOWING THE LECTURE…

THIS RESEARCH REPORT DEALS WITH THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADAPTIVE DECISION STRUCTURE FOR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS. VIEWING EDUCATION AS A WEALTH OR UTILITY-PRODUCING PROCESS, WHICH TRADITIONALLY HAS BEEN SHAPED BY PURELY INTUITIVE RATHER THAN ANALYTICAL DECISIONS, A PLAN FOR AN ANALYTICAL ADAPTIVE DECISION STRUCTURE BASED UPON FOUR…

This study sought to identify the areas of most critical concern for curriculum emphasis for a department of wildlife science. The questionnaire was developed from existing documents and modified by a committee. Included in the sample were college seniors, graduates, employers, and faculty members. An overall rate of return of 65% (141 usable…

This paper describes the content of a seminar-type engineering course dealing with materials reutilization (recycling). The course, consisting of lecture and discussion by various faculty and outside experts as well as student presentations of research papers on recycling topics, is intended to investigate current areas in which recycling of…

The practice of utilizing mathematics instruction, in which only practical engineering applications and not the pure mathematical proofs are stressed, is questioned. Three cases are presented in which students made erroneous conclusions concerning an engineering topic. In each situation, the student violated a mathematical principle which was not…