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An elective laboratory course has been developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to motivate freshmen for further study of engineering in general and to spur interest in electrical and computer engineering in particular. The course philosophy is that hands‐on laboratory and design experiences build student confidence, stimulate curiosity, and demonstrate the relevance of engineering work — thereby increasing motivation and retention. This paper describes the structure of the new course and reports on the evaluation results, which confirm that carefully structured hands‐on experience is an effective way of motivating freshmen. Evaluation results also indicate that the course has increased student creativity and confidence. Since the lab course is just one credit, it appears possible to address the motivation problem without overloading already crowded first‐year engineering programs.

This study adds to the existing literature by empirically demonstrating that psychological climate is an important variable in understanding the relationships between abusive supervision and employee outcomes. Using psychological contract theory as a framework, we examined the relationships among abusive supervision, psychological climate, felt violation, and three work outcomes: organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Results from a survey of 448 civilian managers employed by the U.S. government showed that the relationship between abusive supervision and felt violation was moderated by psychological climate, suggesting that an abuse-intolerant climate heighted rather than buffered the effects of abuse on felt violation. Felt violation also partially mediated the relationship between abuse and the outcome variables. Using Muller, Judd, and Yzerbyt’s method for testing moderated mediation, we found partial support for felt violation mediating the effect of the interaction between abuse and psychological climate on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This model was not supported for turnover intentions. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research on abusive supervision are discussed.

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To examine the relationship between monochronic work behavior (behavior that minimizes interruptions on the job) and Type A behavior, 147 faculty members of a midsized private university responded to a set of questionnaires which measured monochronic work behaviors, Type A behavior, job-induced stress, research productivity, and number of working projects. Type A behavior was significantly and positively correlated with monochronic behaviors ± in other words, Type As were more likely to use behavioral strategies that reduced polychronic thought. Type A and monochronic behaviors were also significantly correlated with job-induced stress and number of publications. Contrary to the hypothesis, Type A and monochronic behaviors were also positively and significantly correlated with number of working projects.