BACKGROUNDResearchers have identified many factors affecting undergraduate engineering students' achievement and persistence. Yet, much of this research focuses on persistence within academia, with less attention to career plans after graduation. Furthermore, the relative influence of expectancy-versus value-related beliefs on students' achievement and career plans is not fully understood. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS)To address these gaps, we examined the relationships among the following motivation constructs for female and male first-year engineering students: (a) expectancy-related constructs that included engineering self-efficacy (i.e., a judgment of one's ability to perform a task in engineering) and expectancy for success in engineering (i.e., the belief in the possibility of success in engineering); (b) value-related constructs that included identification with engineering (i.e., the extent to which one defines the self through a role or performance in engineering) and engineering values (i.e., beliefs related to engineering interest, importance, and usefulness); (c) engineering achievement; and (d) engineering career plans. DESIGN/METHODParticipants included 363 first-year engineering students at a large state university. The students completed an online survey instrument in the first and second semester of their first year. RESULTSStudents' expectancy-and value-related beliefs decreased over the first year for both men and women. Men reported higher levels for expectancy-related beliefs than women. Expectancy-related constructs predicted achievement better than the value-related constructs, whereas value-related constructs predicted career plans better for both men and women. CONCLUSIONSExpectancy-and value-related constructs predicted different outcomes. Thus, both types of constructs are needed to understand students' achievement and career plans in engineering.

One of the objectives of an engineering/education collaborative known as Bridges for Engineering Education, Virginia Tech (BEEVT) is to create a contemporary framework for undergraduate engineering pedagogy. Among the issues being studied by the collaborative is the use of ePortfolios in the education of engineers. Several BEEVT investigators and selected engineering students participated in a pilot of the Virginia Tech Electronic Portfolio (VTeP) in fall 2003. This paper presents a review of studies on the use of portfolios and summarizes the findings of the pilot. The future plans of BEEVT investigators targeted at developing guidelines for the use and evaluation of ePortfolios for improving both student learning and engineering programs are also briefly discussed.

A theme-based spiral curriculum approach is being adopted to initiate the department-level reform (DLR) of the freshman engineering and the bioprocess engineering curricula at Virginia Tech. A large number of engineering faculty members are collaborating with experts in educational psychology and academic assessment to accomplish the objectives of this 3-year NSF supported project that began in September 2004. Successful implementation of the spiral approach will be used as a model for incorporating similar reforms in other engineering departments and elsewhere.

Classical form analytical expressions are presented for four of the five effective elastic constants of a transversely isotropic composite material containing ortho-tropic fibers. Circumferentially and radially orthotropic fibers are considered. The properties of composites with orthotropic fibers are compared to those with isotropic and transversely isotropic fibers. It is shown that the morphology of the fiber can have a significant effect on composite properties. It is also shown that fiber morphology has a significant effect on the stress distributions in a composite cylinder.