The Form and Content of Courses for the Education of Engineers

SOMMAIRE

The curricula used to educate engineers have been the subject of study in recent years. This effort has arisen from the perceived mismatch between the topics taught, and the long term requirements of the engineering graduate. A strategic review has been hampered by a sufficiently useful definition of what an engineer should be. This paper suggests such a definition, based upon the idea that engineers are general problem-solvers within a financial and technical set of co-ordinates. Using this definition as an analytical tool, it is possible to see the strengths and limitations of the current programmes, and to approach curriculum development on a more rational basis. It is concluded that, in general, current engineering education concentrates upon the treatment of a class of problems whose solution is rather obvious, even if the tools used to produce the solution may be complex and arcane. It is suggested that engineering curricula should address a wider set of problems, with less obvious solutions, since this is closer to reality, and also since it will allow an engineering-orientated viewpoint to be brought to bear in complex problems. A modified curriculum is proposed, based upon these ideas.

On a étudié depuis longtemps les programmes d'enseignement pour la formation des ingénieurs. Ces recherches ont, pour leur origine, les differences entre les sujets qu 'un ingénieur doit étudier pendant son formation, et ceux qu'il utilise actuellement en train de sa vie profes-sionelle. Pour mieux comprendre ces differences, on a examine surtout ces cours elles-meme, et les méthodes pedagogiques. On n'a pas reussi parce qu' on n'a pas pu repondre à la question “Qu'est-ce que c'est un ingenieur?” lei, on essai de donner un reponse, vis.: “Un ingenieur se conceme avec la resolution des problemes”, souvent dans un cadre financier, Avec cette definition, on peut analyser les programmes d'enseignement qui existe à ce moment. Aussi, on peut proposer des modifications basées sur la raison. On peut dire que les cours de la formation des ingénieurs fixent leur attention sur une catégoric de probleme pour laquelle la solution est evident, meme si les méthodes d'analyse. (mathematique, ordinateur etc) peuvent etre assez difficile. On propose que, pour la formation des ingénieurs, les cours se concernent avec une categorie des problemes plus larges, avec des solutions qui ne sont pas immediatement evident (et pour lesquelles on peut souvent proposer plusieurs bons solutions). Enfin, on propose un cours modifié, en prenant compte de ces pensées.     

Hong Kong's Change of Sovereignty: School leader perceptions of the effects on educational policy and school administration

This study captures the thoughts and perceptions of a group of Hong Kong principals on the transfer of sovereignty and its effects on education. The investigation addressed the following guiding research question. What, according to their perceptions, have been and will be the effects on education policy and on school-level management and curriculum, of the transfer of sovereignty? A qualitative approach was adopted, using naturalistic methods of inquiry. Nine principals of aided secondary schools were selected for interview according to procedures of purposive sampling. The findings indicate that, faced with uncertainty arising from the change of sovereignty, principals feel confident of managing and coping with situations at the school level in connection with the curriculum and management. However, they express concern and greater uncertainty about their ability to manage changes emanating in the broader sociopolitical educational environment, particularly with regard to values and norms and access and opportunity, all of which are likely to impact on their schools.     

新闻教育培养什么样的记者?

如果受众对新闻失去信任,记者将失去在社会文化中的核心地位。而这种信任正在被侵蚀。随着煽情主义替代了客观报道,西方民主社会的受众正在逐步悖离新闻媒介。如果西方社会的媒体要重拾大众的信任,并在新增市场中被推进,新闻业就必须在内容和形式间求得平衡,而此平衡的取得须从新闻教育内部开始。     

Contributions of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction to Knowledge About Interventions for Motivations in Reading

We present a theoretical and empirical explication of the intervention of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) that is designed to increase students' reading comprehension and motivation for reading. The framework specifies a set of five motivational constructs that represent goals for the instructional intervention. Necessary cognitive goals in reading are also presented. For this intervention, the five instructional practices of relevance, choice, success, collaboration, and thematic unit that are prominent in CORI are portrayed as components that are aligned with motivational constructs. The impact of CORI on some of the motivational processes, cognitive competencies, and reading comprehension are presented in the form of a meta-analysis of 11 CORI studies with 75 effect sizes on 20 outcome variables. The CORI motivational intervention is compared to laboratory treatments and other field studies.