No abstract

National focus is turning toward keeping the American work force competitive in a global market. The transition of high school students into a university educational environment looms as a major issue in staying competitive. Tech Prep initiatives typically modify high school curriculum to meet certain state standards and facilitate articulation agreements with post secondary institutions. The ideal program should provide a seamless transition for students from high school to the university to industry. This paper describes interactive, hands-on activities involved in a model Tech Prep collaboration currently under way at the Purdue University Programs Site in Anderson. The program began in the Fall of 1994 with twenty-two freshman students visiting the campus hi-monthly to participate in technology related activities. This fall it will continue with these twenty-two students as sophomores and thirty-seven entering freshmen. The methodology of Purdue's participation is presented and evaluated. Specific student technology projects that were completed are described and discussed. Plans for future activities and expansion of the program are also provided.

No abstract

This report is the second volume in a continuing project designed to explore and articulate the groundwater laws and regulations of all fifty U.S. states. This particular report presents surveys for sixteen states throughout the country. The first volume featured thirteen state surveys and can be found at: http://www.law.tamu.edu/usgroundwaterlaws. The purpose of the project is to compile and present the groundwater laws and regulations of every state in the United States that could then be used in a series of comparisons of groundwater governance principles, strategies, issues, and challenges. Professor Gabriel Eckstein at Texas A&M University School of Law and Professor Amy Hardberger at Texas Tech University School of Law developed a matrix to ascertain chief components and characteristics of the groundwater legal regime of each state. Student researchers then used the matrix to respond to a standardized set of questions about the groundwater laws and regulations of a selection of states. In the near future, additional volumes with surveys of the remaining twenty-one U.S. states will be issued.

The primary purpose of administering tests and conducting laboratory projects is twofold: (1) to measure the degree of the students' learning and comprehension, and (2) to enhance learning. Often, the first intended outcome is attained but the second purpose is ignored. The most prevalent testing procedure is to schedule or announce a test and give the students some idea what material will be included. The students then study the indicated material hoping they will be prepared. Usually, they do not know what type of questions they will encounter so their studying is more generalized than specific, or they may try to memorize everything using their short-term memory ability. Each individual student then completes the written test document. The test is graded by the instructor or assistant, and several days later, the scores are posted using some confidential method. When time is not allocated for students to review the test to learn which specific questions may have been answered wrong, the learning aspect of test administration is defeated. Often, laboratory and experiential projects are treated similarly. Once they are graded and returned to the students, many days may have passed and the course topic area has changed. Time is not normally allocated for review of the project results. AN ALTERNATIVE Four courses in Organizational Leadership and Supervision (OLS) and one Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) course at Purdue University experimented with their test administration, scoring and project procedures. The four OLS courses used fifty item tests which included true-false, multiple-choice, fill-in-theblank and complete-the-sentence type of questions. During the class session immediately prior to the test, the students were allowed ten minutes to preview the test document. In this way they knew the type of questions which would be asked, as well as the degree and breadth of content to be covered. Each test was closed-book and closed-notes and only covered material introduced since the prior test. The three EET tests included multiple-choice items, problem calculations and applications. Each test was inclusive of covered material since the beginning of the course; however, use of the textbook and notes was allowed.