General Web-based Education Initiatives

• ASU Distance Learning
• The Tri-University Master of Engineering, which involves the three Arizona Universities, ASU, NAU and UofA.
• The ACEPT program involves extensive web-based learning, including the Patterns in Nature course aimed primarily at teachers in Arizona. ACEPT is linked nationally with ECEPT, the Electronic Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers. These collaborations are now out of funding, so enquiries should be routed to an important succesor collaboration Cresmet.
• One of the more amazing cases of patterns in nature are snowflakes. If, like me, you are fascinated by crystal growth, you ought to visit the Snow Crystals site in, of all places, Caltech. Run by Ken Libbrecht, this site is a must for crystal growers with an interest in public understanding of science. Good pictures too - if only ice weren't so complicated.
• PBS Seminar, April '97
• Rick Reis used to run the Stanford Learning Lab, but that seems now to be under new management. However Rick still runs the Tommorrow's Professor listserver, which is important in training future faculty. He has written the corresponding Tomorrow's Professor book. And of course, most universities including ASU run Preparing Future Faculty and Preparing Future Professionals programs for their graduate students.
• There is a whole range of advice to graduate students on the web, such as the informal So long, and thanks for the Ph.D.! writen by Ronald Azuma, recently of the University of North Carolina. There is a 1995 Committeee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEUP) report On being a (responsible) scientist. Imagine all possible ranges of advice in between, and don't get depressed. Research is supposed to be fun, but, yes, responsible behavior is important. My own feeling on the isolated, but very prominent, publishing scandals of a few years ago, is that the key to avoiding such problems is co-author responsibility. Get updates on this issue here. The bottom line for research students is: don't fool yourself, don't try to fool your advisor, and don't let him/her fool you. Enjoy!