Design Education in China: New Proposals to Address Endemic Problems

This paper is concerned with identifying the problems that pervade design education and the practice of design in China so that a way forward can be proposed to make improvements that will enable the Chinese design industry to become more competitive after entry into the World Trade Organisation. The authors gathered data from their own experiences and observations in situ, as well as surveys they commissioned. They found that there are numerous endemic, fundamental problems in the practice of design education across the whole education sector. Fortunately, many Chinese design educators and managers of design companies are cognizant of these problems and are motivated to institute changes, even though they are unsure of what these changes should be or how they should be implemented. The authors conclude by making their own recommendations for effecting improvements in design education and professional development.     

Discovering physical abuse: insights from a follow-up study of delinquents.

In a follow-up study of incarcerated Connecticut youth, 66 subjects participated in extensive personal interviews. This paper documents discrepancies between early data regarding abuse and retrospective self-reports of abuse given at the time of follow-up. It describes the development of an interview protocol in which inquiries regarding medical history, the general temperament of caretakers and their behaviors when intoxicated, and instruments and methods of punishment used in the home enabled subjects to describe abusive experiences not disclosed in response to direct questions about maltreatment. The paper also discusses the use of explicitly worded probes to flesh out a clear picture of subjects' experiences. The conflicts that underlie denial or minimization of abuse are discussed, along with interviewing strategies for overcoming them.     

A Course in Engineering Measurements

This paper describes the first course which engineering students at Arizona State University take in the field of measurements. This Senior course is part of the "core," i.e., it is taken by all engineering seniors (except electrical engineers who may take it as an elective subject).     

TELEVISION AND HISTORY TEACHING IN SCHOOLS

A principal teacher of History in an Aberdeenshire school describes the way in which he is using the YTV School Series, ‘How we Used to Live’ to support the teaching of history for less able pupils. This account is based on a talk originally given at Aberdeen College of Education.