TEACHERS MARCH INTO UH FOR PRE-ENGINEERING
BOOT CAMP
UH’s Center for Technology Literacy Hosts Institute
to Prepare High School, Middle School Educators
HOUSTON, June 2, 2005 – There’s no loud drill sergeant
or hikes at dawn, but the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Summer Training
Institute at the University of Houston might be described as a pre-engineering
“boot camp” for middle and high school teachers.
Hosted by the UH College of Technology’s Center for Technology
Literacy (CTL), the institute will offer two weeks (June 6 –
20) of rigid pre-engineering curriculum training for 70 educators
who will be housed on campus. The program prepares these teachers
to instruct students in pre-engineering coursework. It also helps
schools meet the requirements of the “No Child Left Behind”
legislation that aims to solve the engineering shortage and diversity
issues facing the nation’s universities.
Teachers participating in this training will have backgrounds in
science, mathematics or technology. They will spend eight hours
a day in UH classrooms learning how to teach subjects such as “Introduction
to Engineering Design,” “Digital Electronics,”
“Principals of Engineering” and “Civil and Architectural
Engineering.”
After long days in the classroom, the visiting teachers will typically
spend their nights in UH dormitories working together on group projects
and homework assignments. Teachers will be available during the
evening to answer questions and offer advice.
“The biggest challenge for these teachers is learning a large
amount of content in a short amount of time,” said John Hansen,
executive director of CTL and chair of the College of Technology’s
Information and Logistics Technology department. “The first
week can seem intimidating, but after two weeks, they will have
the confidence and knowledge needed to teach this material. They’ll
also emerge knowing that they have support from their peers and
PLTW.”
PLTW-certified “master teachers,” who are already teaching
pre-engineering classes, teach all Summer Training Institute courses.
PLTW is a national non-profit program committed to increasing the
number of engineering and technology students graduating from American
universities. High schools and middle schools that receive PLTW
certifications can offer a sequence of college preparatory pre-engineering
courses. Studies of PLTW’s curriculum prove that participating
students become the kind of prepared, competent, high-tech employees
U.S. industry needs to stay competitive in the global market.
UH’s CTL is a PLTW affiliate and has worked extensively
with Texas schools to bolster their pre-engineering programs.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
For more information about UH visit
the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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