Cengage Learning Strengthens Partnership with Project Lead The Way Through Four New Engineering Titles

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y., March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delmar, part of Cengage Learning and a leading provider of learning solutions for ongoing career development and education, today announced the release of four new engineering titles through a partnership with Project Lead The Way (PLTW), the largest non-profit provider of innovative and rigorous science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs. The four new titles developed through the partnership, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Aerospace Engineering: From the Ground Up, Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics, provide a wealth of content and resources to enhance PLTW's proven middle and high school STEM curriculum.

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The Delmar/PLTW engineering series brings together the feedback and ideas from a number of experienced teachers and curriculum developers across a broad range of engineering disciplines. Two important themes emerged from the onset – first, teachers expressed the need for a new set of resources that fit with the way they teach today's engineering students, and secondly, teachers want engaging, interactive resources to support project and problem-based learning. From this feedback, Delmar/PLTW developed a series of texts that aim to effectively meet the needs of today's STEM instructors by:

• Creating an unconventional, show-don't-tell pedagogy that is driven by engineering concepts, rather than traditional textbook content. Concepts are mapped out at the beginning of each chapter, and clearly identified as students navigate through the pages.

• Reinforcing major concepts with applications, projects and problems based on real-world examples and systems.

• Providing texts that are rich in features and created to bring the design process to life through real-world scenarios. Case studies, career profiles, boxed articles highlighting human achievements and resources for extended learning show students how engineers develop career pathways, work through product failures and innovate to continuously improve product success and quality of life.

• Reinforcing the text's interactivity with an exciting design that invites students to participate in a journey through the engineering design process.

Included with the texts are numerous comprehension aid options that coincide with the textbook's content. Tools available include case studies, boxed articles, YourTurn activities, off-road exploration suggestions, connections to STEM concepts, career profiles, design briefs and example pages straight from the notebooks of actual engineers in the field. To complement the end-of-chapter questions, these books also present a hands-on challenge or exercise to further evaluate student understanding of content.

"It has been made clear by our federal government and through numerous recent studies that the key to future advancement is through STEM education," said Alar Elken, executive vice president, career education & training solutions, Cengage Learning. "PLTW provides roughly 4,000 schools nationwide with thought-provoking curriculum, which presents us with a wonderful opportunity to help PLTW in their efforts to spark the nation's middle and high school students' interest in STEM education. Our exclusive textbook partnership aims to leverage their core STEM curriculum through informative and visually appealing course materials, while at the same time presenting STEM instructors with the tools necessary to effectively engage each student in their classroom."

"The curriculum provided by PLTW is only one piece of the greater learning puzzle. As a former STEM instructor, I understand that teachers need additional support and supplemental materials to improve student engagement in their classrooms," said Deborah Kennedy, associate director of curriculum for engineering, PLTW. "These new textbooks from Delmar align with the PLTW curriculum and provide a wealth of background information on core concepts. Each book provides support for struggling students, challenges for advanced students, portals for additional practice exercises and opportunities for students to both read and write about important topics, furthering their understanding of the subject. I think that these books would be a valuable addition to any STEM classroom."

Current Delmar and PLTW titles in circulation include Gateway to Engineering, Through the Gateway: Readings to Accompany Gateway to Engineering, CNC Programming: Principles and Applications and Engineering Design: An Introduction, with plans to develop into other STEM subject-areas in the future.

For more information on the new offerings through Delmar's partnership with PLTW, please visit www.cengage.com/community/pltw.

About Delmar and Cengage Learning

Cengage Learning is a leading provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. Delmar, part of Cengage Learning, is a leading provider of lifelong learning products and services for the health care, technology and trades, and career education markets. Delmar's market-leading imprints include Autodesk Press, Chilton and Milady. For more information please visit www.cengage.com or www.delmar.cengage.com.

About Project Lead The Way

Project Lead The Way, Inc., is a national, non-profit organization that is the leading provider of rigorous and innovative STEM education curricular programs used in K-12 schools. The PLTW comprehensive curriculum, which is collaboratively developed by PLTW teachers, university educators, engineering and biomedical professionals, and school administrators, emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, innovation and real-world problem solving. The hands-on, project-based program engages students on multiple levels, exposes them to areas of study that they typically do not pursue, and provides them with a foundation and proven path to college and career success. PLTW began in 1997 in 12 high schools in upstate New York as a program designed to address the shortage of engineering students at the college level and has grown to a network of nearly 4,000 middle and high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 350,000 students are expected to take a PLTW course during the coming school year. For more information, visit www.pltw.org.

SOURCE Cengage Learning