Abstract: Following a brief review of the status of Indian science and technology, the paper argues the case for the need to introduce information technology, user education and research into STI systems.

Abstract: An examination of predictions concerning the future of American society provides a basis for building a scenario for nursing education in the USA. Trends influencing the future of society and professional nursing education include the tendency towards a planet-wide society, changing orientations towards individual towns and cities, changes in the occupational structure and in use of energy, and technological breakthroughs in electronics and genetics. Central to new technologies is the computer. Computerized systems of education and networks of such systems are now technically possible. Although capital resources for such systems may be scarce, eventually the substitution of capital for the even more expensive human labour may force the use of greater technology in education. Teacher acceptance is the greatest challenge to increased use of technology in education. Teacher acceptance is the greatest challenge to increased use of technology in education. Increased use of technology may force better instruction. Increased technology does not presuppose a less humanistic education.

Abstract: EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION: A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS David Pierpont Gardner 0 attempt an analysis of the prob- lems inhibiting the attainment of excellence in contemporary Ameri- can education within the space limitations of this column is, of course, simply not possible. Even in an extended monograph or book of modest length, one would be obliged to condense and summarize a wide anay of complex issues and take care not to omit important topics or unduly simpli- fy others. This task is, in some respects, similar to that faced by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The Commis- sion, appointed by Secretary Bell in Au- gust l98l, has been charged with the fol- lowing tasks: 1) to assess the quality of our nation's schools and colleges; 2) to com- pare and to contrast education in the Unit- ed States with the educational systems in several advanced industrial countries; 3) to study how college and university admis- sion requirements have afi_'ected the high school curriculum and how the latter has influenced the former; 4) to identify and study schools and education programs that are successful and those that are not; 5) to assess how major social changes in the last quarter century have afiected stu- dent achievement and the schools; and 6) to make practical recommendations for action intended to improve the quality of schooling in America with a special em- phasis on the education of teenage youth. The Commission's charge is a broad one. and, given the Commission's eigh- teen-month life, that charge necessitates a narrowing of the specific topics that might be investigated. While the topics selected for the six scheduled public hearings, six full Commission meetings, two-score commissioned papers, symposia, and oth- er endeavors do not exhaust the range of issues that bear upon the subject, they do reflect what the Commission members and stafi‘ believe to be the most orderly way of responding to the Secretary's charge. The topics selected for the Commission's six public hearings scheduled around the country, for example. include: 1) science, mathematics, and technology education; 2) language, literacy, and foreign-language instruction; 3) teaching and teacher educa- tion; 4) college admission standards; 5) education and work; arid 6) education of the gifted and talented. In addition, our first full Commission meeting in 1982 was devoted to an examination of education in the United States and how it compares and contrasts with education in several advanced industrial countries. Rather than merely list, in a general and summary fashion, material thus far pro- vided to the Commission on these and other topics, I believe it would be more useful to focus on only one of these, albeit briefly. An examination of mathematics and science education will illustrate the seriousness and complexity of the prob- lems we face in general. The Commis- sion's hearing on this topic was held at Stanford University in March of 1982. At the secondary school level, data pre- sented to the Commission indicate that: - Between I960 and 1977, the proportion of public high school students (grades 9 to l2) enrolled in at least one science class declined from approximately 60 percent to 48 percent. - Secondary school students‘ exposure to science comes largely from general courses in the biological and earth sci- ences. Enrollments in chemistry and phys- ics combined. the two engineering prepa- ratory courses, account for only about ten percent of total secondary science enroll- ments. 0 In Japanese secondary schools, where nearly all of the college-bound students take three natural science courses and four mathematics courses during their three-year high school career, thirteen- year olds have the highest math-achieve- . ment scores among 12 countries including the U.S. o The Soviet Union has instituted major curricular refonns at the primary and sec- ondary levels with an emphasis upon sci- ence and mathematics. Teaching begins in the primary grades with intuitive under- standing of higher mathematics. All stu- dents then progress through calculus in a required ten-year sequence. o Since 1970 there has been a nationwide trend toward reduction of high school graduation requirements. Only one-third of the nation's l7.000 school districts re- quire more than one year of mathematics and science for graduation. 0 There is a severe and growing shortage of mathematics and physical science teachers in the nation's secondary schools. In 1981, 50 percent of teachers newly employed nationwide to teach sec- ondary science and mathematics were ac- tually uncertified to teach those subjects. At the collegiate level: 0 Institutions of higher education have since 1970 reduced the amount of mathe- matics and science required for admission. 0 Remedial mathematics enrollments at four-year institutions increased 72 percent between I975 and l980—compared to a seven percent increase in total student enrollments for the same period. . In public four-year colleges, 25 percent of the mathematics courses otfered are remedial. At two-year colleges. 42 percent of these courses are remedial. How to check and reverse such adverse trends and to seek solutions to these and other problems is far from simple. The task is further complicated by the diffuse configuration of responsibility for govern- ing education in this country. Public edu- cation is principally a state and local gov- ernment function with substantial prerogatives and control exercised by ap- proximately 17,000 local school boards. Private education, of course, is much less subject to state or local government con- trols. The decentralized nature of the American educational system, on the one hand, provides for local influence and innovation; yet, on the other hand. this decentralization complicates efforts to achieve refonns national in their scope and impact. Tire Commission, of course. is an initia- tive of the federal government. The feder- al interest in promoting excellence in edu- cation is of long standing and ranges over the entire spectrum of educational endeav- or. The enhancement of quality education, the promotion of increased educational opportunity, and the funding of basic re- search have been the principal objects of federal support. The scale of the federal government's involvement, of course, tends to ebb and flow with the times, with politics, and with economic conditions. DAVID PIERPONT GARDNER. recently appointed chairman of the National Com- mission on Excellence in Education, is president of the Unlversity of Utah. Prior to his appointment at the University of Utah, he was vice-president of the nine- campus University of California system. In 1978, he was selected in a nationwide survey conducted by Change magazine as one of qI00 leaders of the academy.q His book on the California Oath Controversy has been described by philosopher Sidney Hook as a “contribution of the first impor- tance to the educational history of the United States.q NATlONAL FORUM 4|

Abstract: A second wave of computerization, major advances in communications technology, and a revolution in office technology are all impacting colleges and universities. The technologies will bring beneficial change, but institutions need to know how to introduce them.

Abstract: Information technology has considerable potential for affecting instructional methods in higher education, but its successful application depends on an understanding of underlying learning principles.

Abstract: This paper suggests ways in which policy-makers can use history to develop plans for bringing computers into schools. It briefly discusses both the advocacy and concern of educators who support the introduction of computers in schools as well as those who question such efforts. Two ways of applying historical analysis to the issue of educational technology are proposed. The first looks at changes in the educational institution over time. The growth of the common school is discussed as well as the bureaucratization of schools. Both changes resulted from societal pressure on the institution. The second application of historical analysis looks specifically at past attempts to introduce educational technology in the schools. Differences between past and present factors and situations are mentioned, and ways of preventing repetition of past failures are suggested.

Abstract: Over a period of several years, differences of opinion have developed between individuals calling themselves engineers and individuals calling themselves engineering technologists. The most recent concerns of one group of IEEE members focus on baccalaureate programs in engineering technology. Their principal concern appears to be that baccalaureate programs in engineering technology are being confused with baccalaureate programs in engineering. One manner of resolving this perceived problem is to delete the word "engineer" or "engineering" from material describing baccalaureate programs in engineering technology. During 1979, two IEEE Educational Activities Board committees studied the issue. The report of the second committee, dated January 5, 1980, was received and endorsed by EAB in February 1980. This report has been widely discussed and is included as part of this issue of the IEEE Transactions on Education. (Note: The report of the first committee was published in the Transactions on Education, vol. E-23, no. 1, February 1980.) The recommendations of the committee as given in the report included several items that have been implemented since the report was prepared. In August 1981, the IEEE Board of Directors approved an "IEEE Position on Engineering Technology." This, together with the "Steps to hnplement the IEEE Position on Engineering Technology," are included as Appendixes to this paper.

Abstract: Planning for information technology must be based on an appreciation of the underlying technology that allows one to evaluate current and anticipated applications of telematics to higher education, including applications affecting the planning process itself. Effective planning depends on the planner's ability to draw on related fields, such as futures studies and social psychology, for insight.