Page 35 - Campus Technology, January/February 2019

2018
schoolers might apply that formula to cryptography or com- puter signals or other real-world uses.
A given class comes to the UT-El Paso campus every nine weeks. Teachers come in ahead of time for profes- sional development to help them “fully understand the ma- terial,” noted Pitcher. Then after the on-campus experience, students return to their regular classrooms, where teachers lead additional activities to help tie the topics to the rest of
Independent School District, which sends its WIN Acade- my students from numerous schools through the program. These are learners who haven’t succeeded in a traditional school setting. As Pitcher explained, “The kids who work with us are the ones who should pass standardized state tests but, for whatever reason, they haven’t. They are se- lected for a more hands-on approach. They get the con- cepts; they just have a hard time testing on it. They do
“The kids who work with us are the ones
who should pass standardized state tests but, for whatever reason, they haven’t. They are selected for a more hands-on approach. They do much better at applying the concepts than they do at testing on the concepts.”
much better at applying the concepts than they do at test- ing on the concepts.”
And that’s exactly the empha- sis for Tech-E: College-level activities are broken down into “key basics” and then applied. Once the students understand binary conversion, they might move into circuit design and play with electronic compo- nents to learn how electricity
— Michael Pitcher, University of Texas at El Paso
the curriculum. For example, if the subject was block pro- gramming, the teachers would apply the same logic to his- tory: This happened, then this happened, then this. In that way, said Pitcher, “Students really start to understand the concept not just in computer science but in a more gener- alized context.” The teachers also share feedback on how their classes are doing so that the university team can ad- just the program for the next campus visit.
One district that’s immersed in Tech-E is the Socorro
works. From there they might build a Raspberry Pi kit, which they can take back to school with them. Other technologies in play include Ozobots for robotics and coding skills, 3D printing gear and Apple tools. In addition, speakers from industry and research labs come in and share their stories with students, to give them a sense that they too can pur- sue college degrees in technical fields.
At the end of the school year, students attend a chal- lenge day in which they must navigate a series of real-
world problems that require them to apply their knowledge to industrial challenges such as stopping a hacker on a network, creating a Python script or automating a smart home. These challenges are scaled in difficulty for various grade levels.
The University Impact
While there’s a direct impact on the K-12 students exposed to the courses (according to pre- and post-program as- sessments about three-quarters of participants master the concepts making up the learning outcomes), the university
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | January/February 2019
Ozobots are used to engage student with coding and robotics.