4X4 Hits Texas School Districts this Fall

-- Fall 2010 marks the first semester engineering counts as a 4th year science graduation credit in Texas --

DALLAS, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly 100 Texas middle and high school teachers will learn how to bring math and science to life in the classroom with high tech engineering curriculum that meets the new Texas Education Agency's 4th year science requirement. The Infinity Project's established engineering curricula allow students to choose engineering as a graduation credit to better prepare them for the rigors of college-level engineering.

Before students begin lessons this fall on electrical, mechanical, environmental, and biomedical engineering, teachers will gather at SMU's main Dallas campus. Instructors represent 30 Texas school districts, from Aldine to Wichita Falls.

High school teachers, on campus July 26-30, will on Wednesday, July 28 learn the engineering principles students need to design and build a robotic rover that could function on the surface of Callisto, one of Jupiter's moons.  

Middle school teachers follow August 2-6, when they will master the process of designing and building a prosthetic leg. The crash course in biomedical engineering takes place Wednesday afternoon, August 4.

In a year with cutbacks imposed to account for budget shortfalls, 60 teachers received a grant from the Texas Engineering and Technical Consortium and Texas Workforce Commission to fund the cost of weeklong instruction, as well as support materials, and a technology kit to implement the project-based curriculum.  

"With the push to compete globally in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) revolution, the new 4X4 allowance for engineering couldn't come at a better time," says Tammy Richards, Associate Dean of SMU's Lyle School of Engineering and Executive Director of The Infinity Project. "Further, grant funding for The Infinity Project training helps relieve the fiscal burden on school districts faced with cutbacks and budget shortfalls without sacrificing teacher professional development."

Since its inception 11 years ago, The Infinity Project has trained 700 instructors and impacted over 8,000 students.

"Inquisitive young minds develop STEM skills best by doing - building robots, designing prosthetic limbs, creating digital music players, improving the environment, and even launching rockets," adds Richards, who helped at the State level advocate for adding engineering as a 4th year science. "Infinity Project students learn to relate key math and science concepts to the technologies they use every day."  

About The Infinity Project: The Infinity Project, created by Southern Methodist University (SMU) Lyle School of Engineering and Texas Instruments, uses hands-on curricula to bring science and math to life for secondary and early college students. Nearly 450 middle schools, high schools and colleges in 38 states and 7 countries utilize The Infinity Project to build the technology leaders of the future. www.infinity-project.org.

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Tammy Richards

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SOURCE The Infinity Project