|
Don't let monsiercoffee let you down about PLTW, Dez... it is a great program.
Kokomo HS adopted the program about 3 years ago and it was the first school in Indiana to do so. No, there are over 50 Indiana schools with PLTW. As you know, it is not a dumbed-down alternative to a robotics team, as implied above. It is a foundation of basics for many types of engineering, and students need that. PLTW provides students with courses similar to the "intro to engineering" courses that many colleges have.
For our team, the students in the Inventor class get through their projects pretty quickly, and then they start working on FIRST stuff (heh... the teacher is on the team, and he has read these Forums for 4-5 years now). So even the motivated students can take the course, get ahead, and work on FIRST-team related stuff in their class time.
Heck, if people can take home a master-cam program and learn it on their own, I suppose that they can also take home a Calculus book and memorize it too. It dosen't necessarily mean that they know how to use what they are learning. They should still take the class.
PLTW is one of the best technical, curriculum-based programs that has come along for high schoolers. I have attended many PLTW recruiting sessions and see that teachers are as excited about this program as the students are.
Kudos to Shenendoah HS and others for making this nation-wide program a success.
Andy B.
|