ABSTRACT This proposal addresses Phase 1 of a three-phase, multi-year effort to scale the National Engineering Education Delivery System (NEEDS) to a form of continental dimension useful and available to all engineering schools in the U.S. Phase 1 consists of a series of five meetings, each designed to acquaint those unfamiliar with the concept with one or more of the aspects of NEEDS. As a result of these meetings, the recently formed Nationalization of NEEDS Committee (NNC) will evolve. The meetings deal with the several parts of the NEED System, as well as the pedagogical principles, links and underpinnings that both drive its development and are embedded in its use. The meetings are also designed to explore the range of concerns that might exist on the part of the Coalitions other than Synthesis in adopting NEEDS as the standard upon which engineering education can transition from its current forms of learning to a format that includes electronically mediated instruction. At the end of Phase 1, a report will be produced by the Committee that will indicate what will need to be done to scale-up the current prototype. A later Phase 2 will have a goal to demonstrate by all Coalitions and others the scaled-up NEEDS prototype at the 1996 ASEE National Meeting in Washington, D.C. A later Phase 3 will involve the work necessary to institutionalize NEEDS for the country. This may mean, for example, handing over the database part of the scaled-up NEEDS prototype to the national library system.
