Walvoord and Anderson have demonstrated that "effective grading" techniques can be applied to promote and teach higher-level critical thinking skills in the classroom. Effective grading involves the appropriate structuring and communication of course assignments and grading systems which promote desired learning behaviors. Grading and assignment techniques which force the student's first exposure and reflection of the material "off-line," prior to classroom discussion, enable classroom interaction to leap beyond the dissemination of factual information and into the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy: application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Immediate feedback provided by in-class instructor-student interaction allow the instructor to guide and train students in the practice of critical-thinking at the "teachable moment" and prior to its exercise on major assignments or exams.This paper provides examples of the application of effective grading techniques to promote higher-level critical thinking within the engineering technology classroom and suggests techniques and technologies which can be applied to overcoming barriers to these strategies.

Hands-on, team-based engineering applications of science and math were designed which could be brought into a high school classroom, with the goal of transferring an excitement for creative engineering to young people. Development of one such activity considered the challenges of matching the activity to the level of mathematical and technical background of students, as well as fitting the topic to a broad scope of high school curriculum areas. This approach combined basic math and familiar subjects to allow students to discover how tools they already know are used in engineering problem-solving. Self-directed student groups worked through the hands-on portion of the project with the assistance of handout procedures and instructor assistance. Questions generated during and after groupwork served as a basis for a discussion matching the interests and knowledge level of students. This project was presented to the high school teachers' workshop and then to a high school class of chemistry and math students. Experiential results and feedback from high school teachers provide a basis for evaluating this approach.

Dr. Raju Dandu, professor in mechanical engineering technology at Kansas State University Salina, specializing in sustainable product design, development, manufacturing, energy efficiency, and effective equipment maintenance programs. He provided reliability centered maintenance instruction and hands on training to local food manufacturer. He has four years of plant maintenance experience as a mechanical engineer in thermal and nuclear power industry. He has been in education for last 13 years teaching design, manufacturing, and industrial automation related courses.

specializing in sustainable product design, development, manufacturing, energy efficiency, and effective equipment maintenance programs. He provided reliability centered maintenance instruction and hands on training to local food manufacturer. He has four years of plant maintenance experience as a mechanical engineer in thermal and nuclear power industry. He has been in education for last 13 years teaching design, manufacturing, and industrial automation related courses.

Graduates' abilities to find and apply relevant information from engineering handbooks and reference books to their engineering and technology problems can be considered foundational to their abilities to pursue lifelong-learning in their field. Searchable, electronic access to traditional engineering handbooks and reference books as provided by the database Knovel serves as a user-friendly platform to introduce students to both the breadth and depth of reference book information available.