bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Defining language networks from resting‐state fMRI for surgical planning—a feasibility study
Authors: Tie Yanmei , Rigolo Laura , Norton Isaiah H. , Huang Raymond Y. , Wu Wentao , Orringer Daniel , Mukundan Srinivasan , Golby Alexandra J.
Published: January 2013

Presurgical language mapping for patients with lesions close to language areas is critical to neurosurgical decision‐making for preservation of language function. As a clinical noninvasive imaging technique, functional MRI (fMRI) is used to identify language areas by measuring blood‐oxygen‐level dependent (BOLD) signal change while patients perform carefully timed language vs. control tasks. This task‐based fMRI critically depends on task performance, excluding many patients who have difficulty performing language tasks due to neurologic deficits. On the basis of recent discovery of resting‐state fMRI (rs‐fMRI), we propose a “task‐free” paradigm acquiring fMRI data when patients simply are at rest. This paradigm is less demanding for patients to perform and easier for technologists to administer. We investigated the feasibility of this approach in right‐handed healthy control subjects. First, group independent component analysis (ICA) was applied on the training group (14 subjects) to identify group level language components based on expert rating results. Then, four empirically and structurally defined language network templates were assessed for their ability to identify language components from individuals' ICA output of the testing group (18 subjects) based on spatial similarity analysis. Results suggest that it is feasible to extract language activations from rs‐fMRI at the individual subject level, and two empirically defined templates (that focuses on frontal language areas and that incorporates both frontal and temporal language areas) demonstrated the best performance. We propose a semi‐automated language component identification procedure and discuss the practical concerns and suggestions for this approach to be used in clinical fMRI language mapping. Hum Brain Mapp 35:1018–1030, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Reactivity of the human hemoglobin “Dark side”
Authors: Ascenzi Paolo , Leboffe Loris , Polticelli Fabio
Published: January 2013

Summary: Ligand binding to the heme distal side is a paradigm of biochemistry. However, X‐ray crystallographic studies highlighted the possibility that O2 and NO2− may bind to the proximal heme side of ferrous human hemoglobin (Hb) α‐chains complexed with the α‐hemoglobin stabilizing protein and to ferric human hemoglobin β‐chains, respectively. Strikingly, the role generally played by the proximal HisF8 residue is played by the distal HisE7 side chain forming the trans axial ligand of the heme–Fe atom. This: i) brings to light that Hb may utilize both heme distal and proximal sides for ligand discrimination, ii) draws attention to the nonequivalence of α‐ and β‐chains, and iii) highlights the possibility that partially unfolded Hb derivatives may display transient ligand‐binding properties different from those of the native globin. © 2013 IUBMB Life, 65(2)121–126, 2013
Samoan Archaeology—A Review of research history
Authors: Martinsson‐Wallin Helene
Published: January 2013

Some aspects of prehistoric material culture of Samoa were described by Buck, Thompson and Freeman in 1920s‐60s, but archaeological work did not begin until 1957, initially by Jack Golson and Wal Ambrose. Work in American Samoa was conducted by Kikuchi in 1963 and continued by Emory and Sinoto in the mid 60's. Subsequent to the independence of Western Samoa, two archaeological programs under the leadership of Roger Green in the 1960s and Jesse Jennings in the 1970s respectively have laid a firm foundation for the understanding of Samoan prehistory from an archaeological point of view. Subsequent research in American Samoa has also added to this knowledge. This review describes some of the major findings and contributions of archaeological research in Samoa and discusses important theoretical and methodical issues for future research.
Apocalypse now (and avoid the rush): human dimensions of climate change in the Indo‐Pacific
Authors: LILLEY IAN
Published: January 2013

This essay draws attention to a set of related alternatives to conventional archaeological approaches to climate change and cultural transformation. It canvasses concepts drawn from the ‘new ecology’, the study of societal vulnerability and from ‘political ecology’. The suggestion is that archaeologists focus on

change as a continuous variable

vulnerability to change as a ‘socio‐natural’ phenomenon resting on the robustness and resilience of relations between culture and nature, and

the effects on vulnerability of sociopolitical manipulation of access to natural resources.
Movement of ideas not materials: locally manufactured pottery on Mabuyag Island, Western Torres Strait
Authors: WRIGHT DUNCAN , DICKINSON WILLIAM
Published: January 2013

We report a new site with locally made pottery on the Western Torres Strait island of Mabuyag (Mabuiag). The study uses petrographic and chronological results to reassess the antiquity of pottery in the region. It adds to knowledge which points to significant changes in the Torres Strait after 1700 BP.
Cultural Chronology of Earthworks in Palau, Western Micronesia
Authors: LISTON JOLIE
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTEarth architecture is ubiquitous on Palau's volcanic islands, yet by European contact the often massive interior structures lay unoccupied and were conspicuously absent from the archipelago's rich body of oral traditions. To place these structural remains into Palau's cultural sequence, a suite of 131 radiocarbon dates representing 31 interior earthwork sites is combined with paleoenvironmental and material culture data. The resulting chronological model indicates that substantial interior use was underway by ca. 3100 BP with the initiation of earthwork construction by ca. 2400 BP or a little earlier. This marks the beginning of the Earthwork Era, which is divided into Early, Middle, and Late Phases corresponding to the growth, zenith, and decline of interior earthwork occupation. Between ca. 2050 and 1750 BP extensive clusters of modified terrain, each defining a sociopolitical district, contained earth structures reaching monumental proportions. This is centuries before monumental architecture appeared in most other Pacific island societies. By ca. 1200 BP, earthwork districts were no longer the cultural focal point, although minor construction of inland earthworks continued into the historic period.
Jomon sherds from Aomori, Japan, not Mele, Efate
Authors: DICKINSON WILLIAM R. , SHUTLER MARY ELIZABETH
Published: January 2013

The presence of Japanese Jomon sherds from Aomori in an artefact collection from Vanuatu has been attributed alternately to Jomon voyaging or to adventitious mingling of artefacts of different proveniences. The paleoshoreline history of Efate indicates that the site where the Jomon sherds were purportedly collected was submerged during Jomon time, making introduction of the sherds into Vanuatu by Jomon voyagers implausible. The anomalous sherds were probably taken directly from Japan to Paris, and inadvertently introduced there into the Vanuatu collection.
Towards a Late Holocene archaeology of the Inland Pilbara
Authors: RYAN IAN , MORSE KATE
Published: January 2013

Stone artefact scatters dominate the archaeological landscape of the inland Pilbara. While the archaeological record from rockshelter sites suggests human occupation consisting of brief, intermittent visits by small groups of people, artefact scatters which range from small, discrete single flaking events of perhaps 5–10 artefacts to widespread and varied scatters, sometimes of hundreds of thousands of stone artefacts extending over hundreds of thousands of square metres, clearly tell a different story. This paper presents an analysis of stone artefact assemblages from nine inland Pilbara surface artefact scatters and demonstrates that sites of this type have the potential to contribute much to our knowledge of human occupation of the region. We propose a testable model of Aboriginal occupation of the Pilbara during the Holocene.
Dating the Dreaming: extinct fauna in the petroglyphs of the Pilbara region, Western Australia
Authors: MULVANEY KEN
Published: January 2013

Examples of striped marsupial depictions have been reported from both the coastal and inland Pilbara. Many are regarded as images of the thylacine, an animal that disappeared from mainland Australia some 3000–4000 years ago. Also observable in the rock art is the ‘fat‐tailed macropod’, a distinctive rendition of a marsupial with an extremely thick tail. Recent investigations in the Tom Price area and on the Burrup Peninsula confirm that both motifs pertain to the more ancient rock art corpus. Restricted artistic variation within the depiction of these two species confirms the trend to naturalistic style within animal subjects and suggests a extensive, culturally cohesive, artistic tradition across the Pilbara during the Pleistocene and early Holocene.

At two specific locations, aspects of the rock art may be explained in terms of contemporary oral traditions and cultural practices, affording one way of placing temporal parameters on these early graphic traditions. I argue that the rock art is not just representational; that it communicates mythological narratives and behavioural traits, which have a deep antiquity to the Dreaming of more than just a few thousand years.
Learning the lithic landscape: using raw material sources to investigate Pleistocene colonisation in the Ivane Valley, Papua New Guinea
Authors: FORD ANNE
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT Recent research in the Ivane Valley has shown that it was first occupied during the late Pleistocene between 43–49,000 years cal. BP, making this area one of the earliest colonised in Papua New Guinea. At an altitude of 2000 metres above sea level, occupation also marks the first time that modern humans pushed into the high altitude montane regions within Sahul. Part of the process of familiarisation with a landscape involves the identification of lithic sources. The importance of lithic sources for the landscape learning process is that, unlike plant foods and animals, it can be assumed that the colonisers had little a priori knowledge of their location before arriving in a particular landscape. If lithic sources are available, then their successful use would require a process of learning the locations and properties of the different raw material sources, thus creating an intimate level of knowledge of a landscape. By examining how modern humans familiarised themselves with the Ivane landscape through the use of lithic sources, we may be able to understand further the processes of colonisation and adaptation to particular landscapes.
Warrior Women, the Holy Spirit and HIV/AIDS in Rural Papua New Guinea
Authors: Dundon Alison
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This article analyses a group of Gogodala Christian women in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea who are referred to as ‘Warrior women’ and who pray, sing and call upon the Holy Spirit to cleanse their own bodies and ‘turn their eyes’, so that they are able to see those who threaten the health and well‐being of the wider community. These women have focused primarily on bringing male practitioners of magic — iwai dala — shadowy and powerful men who operate covertly and away from the gaze of others, out into the open. Whilst this has been happening for many years, the spread of HIV and AIDS into the area, fuelled by what many in the area believe is the rise of unrestrained female and male sexuality and the waning of Christian practice and principles, has meant that those perceived to bring harm to the community through their sexual behaviour have become recent targets for Warrior women. HIV/AIDS, referred to in Gogodala as melesene bininapa gite tila gi — the ‘sickness without medicine’ — is understood as a hidden sickness, one that makes its way through the community without trace until people become visibly ill. Warrior women seek to make both AIDS and those who, through their behaviour, encourage or enable its spread more visible. In the process, however, a small number of them are overcome by the Holy Spirit, so much so that they become daeledaelenapa — mad ‐ their behaviour increasingly characterised by childishness and uncontrolled sexuality.
Epilogue: Homegrown in PNG — Rural Responses to HIV and AIDS
Authors: Hammar Lawrence
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT A three‐years‐long, multi‐sited, multi‐method study conducted throughout Papua New Guinea by the Institute of Medical Research revealed a staggering prevalence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) that threatens an already fragile political‐economy and health services delivery system. Logistics, methodological complexities, and political and especially religious sensitivities hampered conduct of such research. Extremely little HIV social research has been allowed to inform interventions or serosurveillance protocols. Well‐ intended but ill‐conceived international initiatives have promoted a normative AIDS paradigm that misconstrues HIV transmission risk, incites greater fear, increases stigma, and promotes anti‐condom rhetoric. This collection ‘HIV/AIDS in Rural Papua New Guinea’ presents a sustained series of ethnographically based accounts of rural responses. In this epilogue I situate the importance of those responses in a discussion of the great divide between the lived realities of HIV infection and AIDS related suffering on the one hand, and the discursive practices and policies of media, public health, international donors and NGOs on the other.
Conflicting Traditions, Concurrent Treatment: Medical Pluralism in Remote Aboriginal Australia
Authors: Saethre Eirik J
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT In remote Aboriginal communities in Australia, researchers cast health beliefs and treatments as belonging to either an Aboriginal or biomedical system, which are considered to be irreconcilable and in conflict. Warlpiri people also speak of two distinct traditions that, they claim, are able to heal only specific classes of illness. Nevertheless, both Aboriginal and biomedical systems can be used simultaneously. An examination of two illness episodes will illustrate the complexity of how both Aboriginal and biomedical diagnoses and treatments are employed in a similar manner. I argue that while diagnosis is often stressed in statements regarding illness, it is only one of many factors that influence the treatment choices of individuals.
‘The Chiefs’ Country': a Malaitan View of the Conflict in Solomon Islands
Authors: Kwa'ioloa Michael , Burt Ben
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This account of the recent conflict in Solomon Islands, based on personal experience, offers a local Malaitan perspective on the historical causes and course of events which has not been well represented in other published accounts. It describes the Malaitan settlement of Guadalcanal and the failure of government to deal with the resulting grievances in terms of traditional values which also informed the author's own responses to the conflict and its resolution. The Malaitan community is shown as forced into politically‐manipulated militancy through neglect of the conciliatory role of clan leaders as chiefs. As a perspective from one side of the conflict, the paper invites responses and discussion of indigenous histories.
Jumping Fish: Engendering Contestation and Development on the Waterways of the Aramia River in Papua New Guinea
Authors: Dundon Alison
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT Set in the Aramia River basin, this article explores the intimate and interactive relationship between communities in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, and the water that dominates the environment in which they live. Located amongst tidal rivers, creeks and lagoons, Gogodala villages sit high on ‘islands’ of land. In this environment, water is the site of seasonal change and the space of movement. The Aramia River is synonymous with an ancestral figure called Sawiya who travelled in her canoe, naming, creating and populating the water and land of the area. As the ‘mother of all fish’, Sawiya controls the movement and abundance of fish and other aquatic resources. Water is embodied in Sawiya, whose capacities to both nourish and punish are the basis of seasonal variations in fish, and in the colour and clarity of water in the local lagoons and rivers. Set against the backdrop of the Ok Tedi Mine and recent logging operations on the Aramia, the article explores some of the ways in which water and its resources are defined and experienced in this rural community and the impact this may have on the exploitation and development of natural resources in PNG.
The Poetics of the Crocodile: Changing Cultural Perspectives in Ambonwari
Authors: Telban Borut
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT Ambonwari people from the East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, had a rich repertoire of song‐dances, each of which was associated with specific events and the birth of something new. Together they represented the entire human life cycle as well as the cosmology at large. Visual, verbal and tactile modalities of singing and dancing were tightly interwoven; images and symbols were enacted by the dancers, in their decoration, arrangement, movements and in the whole ceremony and were firmly situated in their landscape. Accordingly, song‐dances were also an important practice in male initiation ritual. The first song‐dance of the ritual was the crocodile song‐dance. This article analyses different transpositions of images and meanings which can be decoded from the dance, from the objects that were part of the initiation rite, and from the parallelism and rich allegory of verses. These transpositions operate at different levels until they converge upon the existential facts of birth and death. In the new millennium and under the influence of a Catholic charismatic movement, however, Ambonwari broke off their relationships with spirits, abandoned the men's houses and stopped talking about male initiation ritual. Along with other traditional song‐dances the crocodile song‐dance has been taken over by the song‐dances of the Holy Spirit. These changes in social and cultural perspectives, which are still taking place, are at the same time products and producers of the changes in their relationship to ‘space’ and ‘time’ which are at the same time changes in visual and auditory perception and expression of their life‐world. All these changes should not be seen merely in some abstract or symbolic terms but as tangible processes generated by people's action.
War Shields of the Torricelli Mountains, West Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Authors: Craig Barry , Lewis Gilbert , Mitchell William E.
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT The usefulness of the term ‘ethnolinguistic group’, as a construct suggesting that ‘differences in language automatically translate into differences in culture’, has been questioned by Welsch, Terrel and Nadolski (1992). Not many researchers would insist on the term ‘automatically’, but would nevertheless support an argument for a strong correlation between material culture and language. As a contribution to this debate, we discuss two types of wood shields of the Torricelli Mountains (one of which is being identified for the first time) and pigskin shields to the south of the Torricellis, their use, and the details of the carved designs of the wood shields. The results of our analysis provide limited support for the correlation of material culture and language but highlight the need for analysis of material culture based on reliable data for a large number and wide range of artefacts, from defined regions, presently held in museums and private collections worldwide.
Welcome to Country … Not.
Authors: Everett Kristina
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT It seems that every public function I attend includes a ‘welcome to country’ speech presented by a representative of a local Aboriginal group claiming traditional ownership of the land where the gathering is conducted. Indeed, while it was already becoming customary for white officials to acknowledge traditional Aboriginal ownership prior to introducing any kind of its own business in recent years, it seems to have become de rigueur since the 42nd Federal Parliament was opened with a ‘Welcome to Country’ speech from a Ngunnawal representative in February, 2008. As this paper demonstrates, welcome to country might be understood by whites as a ‘safe’ kind of inclusive gesture of recognition all the time knowing that such claims are not legally enforceable. But, as the two ethnographic examples I present in this article demonstrate, Indigenous agency, once acknowledged in performance, cannot be fully directed by the nation state to serve its own ends.
Christianity and Cultural Reconfigurations in South West Pentecost.
Authors: Winch‐Dummett Carlene
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This paper examines the cultural impact of the introduction and evolution of Christianity in south west Pentecost, Vanuatu from the late 19th century to the 21st century. In particular it offers an explanation for the success and sustainability of Christianity due to the willingness of local individuals and communities to seize the new world view; and their welcome of Christianity's capacity to provide principles for appropriate social behaviour, opportunities for individual spiritual salvation, and the potential for temporal achievement. It acknowledges novel conduits to power and prestige emerging from socio‐cultural reconfigurations consequential to the tensions between Christianity and kastom in the 20th century, and scrutinizes the manner in which Christians in the 21st century have capitalised on kastom in their response to the pressures and demands of globalisation.
The Sun and the Shakers, Again: Enga, Ipili, and Somaip Perspectives on the Cult of Ain
Authors: Biersack Aletta
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT The ‘Sun and the Shakers, Again’ resumes the conversation begun by Mervyn J. Meggitt in his 1973 article ‘The Sun and the Shakers’ concerning the circumstances and mindset of Enga and Ipili speakers on the eve (or in the early stages) of colonial penetration. The ‘Cult of Ain,’ as Meggitt termed a regional cult that broke out in the mid‐1940s, followed on the heels of devastating epidemics and famine and was in some measure, at least in most areas where it caught on, a response to those traumas. Yet there were other dimensions: apparent cargo cultism and millenarianism. Widening the geographical scope of reporting beyond that of Meggitt's article to include both the Somaip, as reported on by Hans Reithofer in The Python Spirit and the Cross, and the Ipili speakers of the western Porgera valley and the Paiela valley, this second and final installment reviews and critiques existing interpretations of the Cult of Ain in light of the ethnohistorical detail offered in the first installment and goes on to offer an interpretation of the cult that is inspired by the cosmological symbols common to all cult versions: most obviously the sun but also the sky. The Cult of Ain is viewed by participants and their descendants alike as the prelude to colonialism and missionization, and understanding it is crucial to writing the cultural history of the last 65+ years.
Cultural Performance and the Reconstruction of Tradition among the Bunun of Taiwan
Authors: Yang Shu‐Yuan
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT This article aims to understand the meanings and impact of the reconstruction of tradition and the objectification of culture among the Bunun, an Austronesian‐speaking indigenous people of Taiwan. It situates the revival of tradition in the contexts of state appropriation and the development of ethnic tourism, and shows how the Bunun attempt to control their relationship with the state and the dominant society by reconstituting tradition in the present. The culturally specific ways in which the Bunun sustain local identity and sociality by reproducing their concept of personhood are highlighted. In doing so, I seek to move the analysis beyond the use of reified tradition as a political and identity symbol to address the broader theoretical concern of understanding tradition as a culturally specific mode of change.
Introduction Locating an Australia‐wide Anthropology
Authors: Cowlishaw Gillian , Gibson Lorraine
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT Ethnographic research concerning Aboriginal social life in the earlier settled areas of the continent has formed a minor strand within the body of Australian anthropological research. Yet these studies speak directly to the current national discourse concerning distressing conditions in many Aboriginal communities in the north. The kind of anthropology generated in South East Australia has always sought to do more than simply depict particular collective worlds—it also addresses how they are made, particularly in conditions of upheaval, relocation and engagement with state institutions and the nation's ideologies. By drawing attention to one kind of border, that between cultural/social worlds we hope to overcome another boundary, that between ethnographies of the north and the south. To this end, we draw attention to the process of boundary making that has been a crucial dynamic within the changing historical and social configurations that have shaped Aboriginal experiences of the social world. Thus, instead of reporting on the significance of cultural characteristics, this collection shifts attention to relationships with others, with the state and the encompassing society.
The Silent Missiles of Guadalcanal: Magic as Rhetoric in the Sandline Controversy
Authors: Ryniker David C.
Published: January 2013

In February of 1997, Sir Julius Chan, then Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, hired mercenaries from the Sandline Corporation to help fight the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. This act would create a distinct controversy in PNG, with the firing of the head of the PNGDF, General Singirok, a threatened coup d'etat, followed by public protests in Port Moresby and the eventual resignation of Chan. While these events were taking place, I was conducting field work in neighbouring Solomon Islands, specifically in Guadalcanal. The Vaturanga, among whom I lived during this period, took an especial interest in this controversy. They even believed that they themselves were playing a part in it, through forms of magic or sorcery, known locally as riana pupuku and poke sosolo. Guadalcanal has been renowned for its sorcery for many decades. But with modernization and its attendant institutions and patterns, these and other forms of magic have been reinterpreted by the Vaturanga and used as a sort of commentary about the economic, social and political changes they have experienced. This work explores the transnational aspects of the Sandline Controversy from the perspective of Guadalcanal Islanders and probes how this consciousness would play a role in the emergence of conflict in Guadalacanal eighteen months later.
A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention: I. Success and Failure in the Introductory Course
Authors: Felder Richard M. , Forrest Krista D. , Baker‐Ward Lynne , Dietz E. Jacquelin , Mohr Phyllis H.
Published: January 2013

A profile of 124 students enrolled in an introductory chemical engineering course has been assembled. The information collected includes data on family and educational backgrounds, profiles on the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory, and responses to a questionnaire regarding attitudes and expectations. Student performance in the introductory course was correlated with the assessment data. The results suggest several significant predictors of success or failure in the introductory course, and by extension, in the chemical engineering curriculum.
Designing a Senior Capstone Course to Satisfy Industrial Customers
Authors: Todd Robert H. , Sorensen Carl D. , Magleby Spencer P.
Published: January 2013

It is sometimes forgotten that industry is an important customer of engineering education. Ignoring this relationship has produced graduates that often fail to meet the changing needs of industry in today's competitive environment. On the basis of feedback from our industrial customers, faculty from Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering at Brigham Young University have jointly developed a new senior capstone design course entitled “Integrated Product and Process Design.” This new capstone course is centered on industrial design and manufacturing projects. These projects involve both product and process design activities. Multidisciplinary teams of students are taught a structured development approach to produce typical industrial deliverables. These deliverables include a functional specification, product and process design, prototype, and first production sample. This paper identifies changing industrial needs, describes how the course was designed to meet these needs, and presents results from the initial offerings of the course.
Striving for Balance: A Hundred Years of the American Society for Engineering Education
Authors: Reynolds Terry S. , Seely Bruce E.
Published: January 2013

This paper provides an overview of the history of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) from its founding in 1893 to the present. The authors see two major continuities in the organization's hundred year history: the search for methods of improving classroom instruction and the pursuit of national recognition as the spokesman for engineering education. An organization concerned with classroom teaching draws its strength from the ranks of teaching faculty; an organization seeking national visibility must draw its leaders from administrators, especially deans. ASEE's history is viewed as an continuing effort to balance these two broad purposes within a single organization.
Attributes of Engineering Graduates and Their Impact on Curriculum Design
Authors: Evans D. L. , Beakley G. C. , Crouch P. E. , Yamaguchi G. T.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of an Engineering Curriculum Task Force of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Arizona State University. The Task Force's charge was to explore changes that would better prepare baccalaureate‐level engineers for the practice of their profession in the next decade. The generic data developed in the process used by the Task Force are given here. For example, a set of ten important attributes deemed desirable for newly graduated engineers and produced by education, is presented. Also, the rankings by industry, alumni, students, and faculty, of the relative importance of each of these ten attributes and the performance of new graduates in each, are given. Generic curriculum features necessary for successful generation of these attributes are discussed. Finally, the results of an alumni survey are presented which show the overwhelming support for a broad‐based undergraduate program by graduates of all degree programs.
A Survey of Engineering Education Outside the United States: Implications for the Ideal Engineering Program
Authors: Dorato Peter , Abdallah Chaouki
Published: January 2013

Abstract

Undergraduate engineering programs in fourteen countries are surveyed to determine the status of engineering education outside the United States and to analyze the implications for the ideal engineering program of the future here in the United States. The items surveyed include the number of years required to obtain an engineering degree, title of the engineering degree, high school preparation for engineering programs, cost of education, completion rates for engineering degrees, entrance requirements, mathematical requirements, and support for laboratory work. The most notable aspects of engineering education outside the United States are:

Stronger high school preparation and requirements in mathematics and science

Longer period of time required for an engineering degree

Advanced level of mathematics required in engineering programs

Low cost of education

It appears that in most countries engineering education is more intense and rigorous than in the United States. In formulating the ideal engineering program of the future we must be sensitive to competing programs in the rest of the world.
The Advance Toward Distinction in Engineering Technology
Authors: Weese John , Wolf Lawrence J.
Published: January 2013

This paper traces the development of engineering technology from bifurcation to the present time. They assert that ET desires to be distinguished more than it seeks to be distinct. This analysis of the successes and failures of bifurcation lead to a differentiation between engineering technology's being distinct as a discipline and becoming distinguished in its own right. They offer some conjecture about the bright future of ET as a partner with science and engineering in an atmosphere of increased technological development but intense international competition.
The Next Frontier in Engineering Education: The Master's Degree
Authors: Cranch Edmund T.
Published: January 2013

Engineering education in the United States is at an evolutionary turning point, poised to move forward by elevating and strengthening the educational base of the profession through greater utilization of the master's degree. The primary reasons for this are (a) the demands placed on the engineer arising from the increased rate of change of technology, (b) the need to cope with the increased breadth and complexity of modern professional practice, and (c) the impossibility of crowding ever more material into the four‐year curriculum. Educators need to examine the program structure and curricular content of master's level education to take into account these changes in the engineering workplace and the need to appreciably extend the years of productive performance. A recent comprehensive study by the Council of Graduate Schools reveals that the professionalization of master's education has advanced to the stage where virtually every profession has adopted the master's degree as the basis for modern practice.
Teaching Design to Freshmen: Style and Content
Authors: Dym Clive L.
Published: January 2013

This paper describe a freshman course in engineering design that stresses the open‐ended and ill‐structured nature of design in a project‐based context. The projects are chosen in part for their social context and utility. The projects are supplemented by lectures on design methodology and other topics related to engineering practice. Among the deliverables required of the students are proposals, progress reports, and written and oral presentations—the latter to an external design jury as part of a design competition.
Comparisons—Learning Theories, Design Theory, Science
Authors: Eder W. Ernst
Published: January 2013

Abstract

If various learning theories and psychological typing are to apply, they should relate to each other in some explainable way. Some of these relationships seem to be hierarchical and show parallels with two other phenomena: product development and design, and progress in science. Product development is a function which initiates engineering design and carries the early life of a product. Piaget's model of early learning shows some similarities. During designing, the needs, requirements and constraints for a potential solution are progressively transformed into a description of a system that can be manufactured and implemented. Proposals for alternative solutions can be generated at abstraction levels used in designing, selecting the most promising. This seems to have some parallels to Perry's learning model. Similar events occur in the crisis points in developments of science. During designing, a cycle of basic activities known as problem‐solving takes place. This cycle shows useful analogies to Kolb's model of learning. Some consequences for engineering education are indicated.
The Fundamentals of Engineering: The Art of Engineering
Authors: Quinn Robert G.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

This sequence of courses is a major component of Drexel's E4 experimental program which spans the freshman and sophomore years. It is based on the premise that there exists a central body of knowledge, methods and attitudes which constitute the “Art” of Engineering. Further, exposing students to this art at the very beginning of their education is an excellent way to introduce them to the profession. The subject matter emphasizes design as the critical professional essence, interdisciplinary and common fundamentals, the pivotal roles of the computer and experimentation, and the imperative for superior communications skills. The methodology is experiential, consisting of several practicums, experiments and projects. The achievement and growth of participating students has been impressive. Evaluations indicate that the program also generates considerable interest and enthusiasm among the students and a sense of pride in their accomplishments. It appears that most students begin to understand what it means to be an engineer and many begin to enjoy the practice of the profession.
Influential Structural Engineers: A Project in a Third‐year Structural Analysis Course
Authors: Thurston Howard M.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

A study of structural analysis is enhanced by an exposure to the pioneers in the field. Students can more fully appreciate the tools and techniques of structural analysis when given life through a study of those engineers who developed and used them. Of special significance in this age of powerful computer capabilities is the technological context within which many of the important engineers lived and made their contributions. This paper describes a special project undertaken in the second of a two course sequence in structural analysis during the Spring quarter, 1992, in the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction at North Dakota State University. The class of 65 students was divided into 13 groups of five students each. With some guidance, each group chose an engineer who made a significant contribution to modern structural engineering theory and/or practice. Each group was required to research the life and work of the chosen engineer and present an oral, in‐class demonstration, experiment, or other visual illustration of a theoretical or applied concept that characterized a major contribution of the selected individual. In addition, each student was required to submit an independently written paper addressing one of a set of standard questions posed to all groups. The project encouraged the students to discover the unique engineering skills demonstrated by some of the great engineers who made important contributions to modern structural engineering practice. By integrating the stories of influential engineers and their achievements into a quantitative analysis course, the students experienced the technical material within a broader context, helping them to appreciate the practice of engineering as a living, human endeavor.
Student Participation, Faculty Involvement, and Costs in the NGV Challenge — A Large‐Scale Automotive Design Project
Authors: Lueptow Richard M.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

Large‐scale automotive design projects offer an outstanding opportunity for students to obtain practical experience in engineering design. This paper reports a survey of faculty advisors for student teams participating in the Natural Gas Vehicle Challenge. About fifteen students were typically involved in the project at each university participating in the competition. Five or six were typically “key” to the project. Usually faculty advisors had a research interest in automotive engineering or alternate fuels, and they often incorporated the project into a design course. Although the funding level for such a design project varied substantially, the typical funding level was about $25,000, most of which came from local sponsors. Faculty advisors often commented on the educational value of the project and their satisfaction in working closely with students.
A Methodology for Determining Engineering Curriculum Contents
Authors: WAKS SHLOMO
Published: January 2013

Abstract

As the life span of engineering subjects decreases the importance of valid determination of engineering curriculum contents increases. A methodology for determining and updating contents of an engineering curriculum has been developed and implemented by a curriculum design research team from the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology. According to this methodology, the decision‐making process of the Curriculum Committee members is based on data collected systematically from relevant work sites, relating to cognitive, affective and instrumental skills and knowledge items, required at present and for the foreseen future, from graduates of the educational program. The theoretical foundations of the approach are rooted in the Facet Theory which provides a framework for defining a universe of observations and arrive at an empirical structure for reality based decision making processes. The establishment of a definitional system, by means of a mapping sentence, is devised and a corresponding questionnaire for systematic determination of occupational field demands required from engineering graduates, is designed. The sampling issue of the questionnaire‐run is discussed and illustrated through experimental data, representing reality‐based situations. The purpose is to arrive eventually, through verified data analysis methods, at a hierarchy of skills and knowledge items, to distinctive occupational field demands, to a professional content portrayal and to a structure of professional field requirements.
Project Preserve: A Program to Retain Minorities in Engineering
Authors: Morning Carole , Fleming Jacqueline
Published: January 2013

Abstract

A national effort, begun in 1972 to increase the numbers of minorities in engineering, has made substantial progress, but the attrition for minority students is still estimated at 70%. To address the problem, Project Preserve was designed to confirm, by demonstration, the results of previous research showing that the combination of explicit cognitive development, close relationships with faculty, and strong bonds to an institution can raise the performance and retention of minority engineering students. The project enrolled over 100 minority engineering students who had been dismissed from freshman engineering studies on other campuses or placed on academic probation, but whose high school grades and SAT scores were indicative of success. They were channeled into participating institutions chosen for their record of basic support services, willingness to augment or restructure those services, and for variation among institutional variables: Xavier University of Louisiana (XU), California State University at Northridge (CSUN), and City College of the City University of New York (CCNY). A 2 1/2 hour battery of evaluation instruments was given to 79 students upon entry and to 26 students upon their attaining Junior status after two years in the program. The results demonstrated that: (1) an admirable 64% of would‐be drop outs had achieved Junior status or were still enrolled in engineering at the conclusion of two years; (2) cognitive growth occurred on basic memory skills and one critical thinking skill, but there were institutional differences in the extent of intellectual development, with Xavier producing the most change; (3) closer relationships to faculty were outcomes; (4) the most positive feelings about, or bonding to, the institution occurred at Xavier University, while the most evidence of social participation and connectedness occurred at CSUN.
Project‐Based Civil Engineering Courses
Authors: Mahendran M.
Published: January 2013

Problem solving is an essential element of civil engineering education. It has been observed that students are best able to understand civil engineering theory when there is a practical application of it. Teaching theory alone has led to lower levels of comprehension and motivation and a correspondingly higher rate of failure and “drop‐out”. This paper analyses the effectiveness of introducing practical design projects at an early stage within a civil engineering undergraduate program at Queensland University of Technology. In two of the essential basic subjects, Engineering Mechanics and Steel Structures, model projects which simulate realistic engineering exercises were introduced. Students were required to work in small groups to analyse, design and build the lightest / most efficient model bridges made of specific materials such as spaghetti, drinking straw, paddle pop sticks and balsa wood and steel columns for a given design loading/target capacity. The paper traces the success of the teaching strategy at each stage from its introduction through to the final student and staff evaluation.
Integrating Ethics Into a Research Experience for Undergraduates
Authors: Acharya Mukund , Davis Michael , Weil Vivian
Published: January 2013

A Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) is an extra‐curricular opportunity for science or engineering students in the sophomore, junior, or senior year to participate in academic research in much the way graduate students do. It is a way to introduce undergraduates to the excitement of real research. Because it also seems an easy and attractive way to integrate ethics into undergraduate education, working out how professors of engineering or science might actually incorporate professional ethics into an REU seems desirable. This paper describes one effort to do that with engineering students.
Thinking Preferences of Engineering Students: Implications for Curriculum Restructuring
Authors: Lumsdaine Monika , Lumsdaine Edward
Published: January 2013

The thinking preferences of engineering students at the University of Toledo have been assessed in a longitudinal study, using the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI). The scores and profiles reveal thinking preferences in four different ways of thinking and “knowing”: A = analytical‐logical‐quantitative, B = sequential‐organized‐detailed, C = interpersonal‐sensory‐kinesthetic, and D = innovative‐holistic‐conceptual thinking. With the HBDI, we have a tool that can assess the effects of curriculum restructuring. Data from 1990–1993 fall freshmen classes and 1991–1994 spring senior classes have been evaluated, where the 1994 seniors are the first group for which freshmen data are available. Conclusions drawn from the results are: 1) Overall, there has been a shift from “plug‐and‐chug” quadrant B thinking to increased “creative” quadrant D thinking, because more students with strong quadrant D preferences are being developed and retained, primarily due to the new creative problem solving course. 2) Avoidance of quadrant C thinking (teamwork skills) is persisting and creates classroom climates that are uncomfortable for some students, a high percentage being females. Students are not developing the teamwork and interpersonal thinking skills demanded by industry. 3) A majority of students are still being cloned in the A‐dominant profile of the faculty. Students who have developed independent ways of practicing right‐brain thinking and all students who were involved in creative problem solving as class assistants became more whole‐brained or right‐brained. Quadrant C and D thinking activities must be integrated into the curriculum each term for students to develop their full potential and reinforce the whole‐brain thinking skills introduced in the first‐year creative problem solving course.