No abstract

Mendeley is a free, web-based tool for organizing research citations and annotating their accompanying PDF articles. Adapting Web 2.0 principles for academic scholarship, Mendeley integrates the management of the research articles with features for collaborating with researchers locally and worldwide. In this article the features of Mendeley are discussed and critiqued in comparison to other, similar tools. These features include citation management, online synchronization and collaboration, PDF management and annotation, and integration with word processing software. The article concludes with a discussion of how a social networking tool such as Mendeley might impact the academic scholarship process.

Advances in technology have increased the likelihood that engineers will have to work in a global, culturally diverse setting. Many schools of engineering are currently revising their curricula to help students to develop cultural competence. However, our ability to measure cultural dispositions can be a challenge. The purpose of this project was to develop and test an instrument that measures the various aspects of cultural disposition. The results of the validation process verified that the hypothesised model adequately represented the data. The refined instrument produced a four-factor model for the overall construct. The validation process for the instrument verified the existence of specific subcomponents that form the overall cultural disposition construct. There also seems to be a hierarchical relationship within the subcomponents of cultural disposition. Additional research is needed to explore which aspects of cultural disposition affect an individual's ability to work effectively in a culturally diverse engineering team.

In this article we discuss the process of design used to develop and design the NASA Blast exhibition at Thanksgiving Point, a museum complex in Lehi, Utah. This was a class project for the Advanced Instructional Design Class at Brigham Young University. In an attempt to create a new discourse (Krippendorff, 2006) for Thanksgiving Point visitors and staff members, the design class used a very fluid design approach by utilizing brainstorming, researching, class member personas, and prototyping to create ideas for the new exhibition. Because of the nature of the experience, the design class developed their own techniques to enhance the process of their design. The result of the design was a compelling narrative that brought all the elements of the exhibition together in a cohesive piece.