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This work presents a unique education resource for both process engineering students and the industry workforce. The learning environment is based around spherical imagery of real operating plants coupled with interactive embedded activities and content. This Virtual Reality (VR) learning tool has been developed by applying aspects of relevant educational theory and proven instructive teaching approaches. Principles such as constructivism, interactivity, cognitive load and learner-centred design have been central considerations when constructing and structuring this resource. Structural challenges include determining a framework for the basic environment, the repository for the VR and activities, as well as the development of a learning platform arrangement to support self-directed learning in the interface. The system's current functionality is demonstrated through video imagery of a user performing activities as well as snapshots of the current screen configuration. Current feedback regarding the interface is acknowledged and future work responds to the key issues presented by these studies.

Ever since the first mariners sailed off the east coast of Scotland the Bell Rock has claimed many vessels and countless lives. Also known as the Inch Cape Rocks they lie 18 km off the coast at Arbroath. Located near the mouth of the Firth of Forth and its important shipping ports these dangerous rocks cover an area some 440 m long and 90 m wide. Submerged for all but up to four hours a day it is said that a floating bell was moored at the rocks as early as the sixteen century in an effort to warn unwary mariners.

Concept maps are used to assess student and cohort learning of sustainable development. The concept maps of 732 first-year engineering students were individually analyzed to detect patterns of learning and areas that were not well understood. Students were given 20 minutes each to prepare a concept map of at least 20 concepts using paper and pen. The maps were then analyzed using three different methods. The first method considers only the structure of the map by quantifying its features. The second method considers the content and comprehensiveness of the map by classifying every concept included using a new taxonomy. The third method scores the maps against a rubric that considers the correctness of the maps' propositions as well as the maps' comprehensiveness and complexity. The results show that concept maps are a useful tool in assessing the knowledge and understanding of sustainable development concepts and that the students surveyed have a good awareness about the technical, social and environmental aspects of the domain. They did not include many concepts relating to equity and economic impact of sustainable development policies.

This paper addresses the issue of engineering education for sustainable development. In an attempt to facilitate a better integration of sustainability teaching into the engineering curriculum, it seeks to provide answers to the following fundamental questions: (1) How much do engineering students know about sustainable development? (2) What are the knowledge gaps? (3) What could be the best approach to educating engineering students for sustainable development? Some answers to the first two questions have been provided by carrying out a world-wide survey of engineering students on their level of knowledge and understanding of sustainable development. The survey results suggest that, overall, the level of knowledge is not satisfactory and that significant knowledge gaps exist. However, an encouraging result is that students believe that sustainable development is important for engineers, although they often have difficulties in making a direct link between the theory of sustainable development and engineering practice. To address the third question, the paper then discusses the implications of these findings for the engineering curriculum. It also illustrates an approach to teaching sustainability that could help to stimulate students' interest in this subject during their studies and to ensure their commitment to practising sustainable engineering later as professionals. (Contains 2 tables, 6 figures, and 1 note.)

Previous research has shown that virtual work provides benefits to individual employees (e.g. less stress, higher job satisfaction, and higher productivity), the organization (e.g. lower real estate costs and higher commitment and performance) and, potentially, society at large (less traffic, less pollution, and lower healthcare costs through reduced stress and work-family conflict). To realize the potential benefits associated with virtual work, many organizations have introduced new policies to enable employees to work virtually. However, research evidence and media reports indicate that many employees are hesitant to utilize the opportunity to work virtually. To better understand this gap between formal organizational policies and actual adoption, we investigate the predictors and conditions of virtual work adoption. Drawing on Lewin's field theory and Bandura's social cognitive theory, we examine the extent to which virtual work self-efficacy, virtual work climate, and their interaction predict individual adoption of virtual work arrangements. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a survey study of 256 employees from a multinational information technology company. Our results suggest that an effective virtual work climate encourages employees with low virtual work self-efficacy to engage in more virtual work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews design teaching at a total of 15 chemical engineering departments across Australia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The emphasis is on the capstone Design Project, which can be viewed as a major transition subject for students as they move into the workplace. The study shows that this subject has evolved to act as an important mechanism for teaching of transferable skills such as teamwork and oral communication. Future development of the Design Project curricula needs to focus on better integration of sustainability and peer assessment as well as accommodating the worldwide shift in curricula to more bio­based processes.