The ultimate goal of engineering education is to produce graduates who know the principles and practice of design in their chosen field. The engineering design process is complex and for that reason is hard to learn and harder still to teach in a traditional lecture format. The pedagogy behind the team projects described in this paper is project-centered learning in which students develop team work skills, and are taught basic engineering design concepts in a hands-on format that complements the traditional lecture. An ideal project is one that is challenging, enjoyable, requires teamwork, low cost, and doable in a short amount of time. This paper presents the reflections of a PhD student/teaching assistant who was involved in a project-based design course for first-year engineering students. It outlines the course activities and reviews three contexts for practicing project-based design learning.

Engineering instructors are facing the challenges of preparing engineering students for the modern era through innovative andragogical practices that reflect modern ideas about teaching and learning in a world of rapid change and high technology. This paper presents six teaching-learning approaches for developing creativity, critical learning, cooperative learning, learning through teaching, learning through thematic-based case studies, group learning, communication skills, and problem solving and learning approaches.

Objectives: The present study was conducted with the objective to determine the short term practice of Anuloma Viloma Pranayama on components of health-related fitness. Materials and Methods: 48 university level girls between the age group of 21-26 years were selected. The subjects were randomly matched and assigned into two groups: Group-A: Experimental (n1=24); Group-B: Control (n2=24). The subjects from Group-A: Experimental were subjected to a 4-weeks Anuloma Viloma Pranayama. Statistical Analysis: Student t test for paired samples was utilized to compare the means of the pre-test and the post-test. Results: Based on the analysis of the results obtained, we conclude that the significant differences were found in Components of Health-Related Fitness (i.e., Cardiorespiratory Endurance, Flexibility and Fat Weight) of University Level Girls. Insignificant between-group differences were noted in Muscular Strength, Muscular Endurance, Percentage Body Fat and Lean Body Weight of University Level Girls.

This paper is a review of history and status of agricultural engineering education in Pakistan and suggests possible avenues to make agricultural engineering in Pakistan competitive and relevant to both local and global needs. Refinements in the curricula had since been made by incorporating new subjects to foster changing needs of agriculture and global competitiveness. Most recently, agricultural engineering curricula especially in USA, Canada, and UK has seen the integration of mechatronics, machine vision, precision farming, bio-imaging, remote sensing, machinery guidance systems, bionanotechnology, bioenvironment; the basis of all this is the increased need to undertake a systems level approach, in the form of Biosystems Engineering, with biology as one of the core subjects. This requires an in-depth review of the existing agricultural engineering curricula in Pakistan; possibly renaming and restructuring of faculty/departments, training of faculty, establishment and up gradation of laboratories, strategic plan to overcome bureaucratic and social resistance to implement all these changes.

Teaching psychoeducation online has not been adequately defined in the educational and psychological literature and the teaching processes have gone unspecified. An expanded definition of psychoeducation is presented and a 10 part process paradigm is presented to help conceptualize future courses. The process paradigm is explained by discussing “Introduction to Counseling and Psychoeducation (EPSY 3333)”, a three credit, online course that uses psychoeducational approaches. An evaluation of students in nine separate EPSY 3333 classes (n=203) is reported on the effectiveness of the teaching strategies, the cognitive and affective processes students experienced, the personal action taken by students, and the self-reported impact of the course. The results indicate that students reported the course positively impacted them both cognitively and emotionally and they took action to solve their personal problems. Limitations to the self-report course evaluations are discussed and the need for more complex research is recommended that assesses the effects of online psychoeducation.

Exact mathematical methods, in particular statistical, are used everywhere in science. But for proper application of any method, certain assumptions are necessary, which is often neglected. Traditionally, mathematical exam at General Matura in Slovenia is obligatory. At present, it can be passed either on the basic or on the higher level, opening an interesting and natural question about equating grades at the two levels. A related and more challenging problem is to compare the scores at Vocational Matura with the scores at General Matura. We emphasize that the methodology used has to be chosen very carefully. It is shown that the application of the Rasch model for equating grades at Basic and Higher Level of Mathematics at General Matura exam in [Hauptman, Metodoloski zvezki 7 (2010) 167-181] is not justified.

The purpose of this mixed method study was to explore the potential impact of degree maps on facilitating student success. The concept grew out of quantitative evidence suggesting students using degree maps are more likely to enroll in our programs, continue in our programs, register for more classes per term, and have better graduation rates than those students who do not use a degree map. Our methodology included qualitative coding of focus group responses (n = 28) then using those emerging themes to inform a survey instrument to collect student perceptions about the degree map’s impact (n = 211). This study’s findings suggest the degree map is a powerful communication tool for advisors to help students through class selection and sequencing. The results provide insight into the differences between undergraduate and graduate student’s needs.

The study was designed to assess the relationship between teachers competencies and basic education management in Nigeria and make recommendations for improvement. Competencies involve managerial skills that are necessary for effective administrative functions. The survey research design was employed. To generate data, researcher designed questionnaire on a 5-point Likert-style scale, was used. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square Test. With the calculated x 2 value of 531.558 and the table value of 9.49, it was found that significant positive relationship exists between teachers competencies and effective basic education management. Ten recommendations were made based on the empirical result of the study.