HEADER TITLE arial, bold, 24 point, caps

1
The Infinity ProjectSM
University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida
Open Forum ECEDHA Meeting March 21, 2005
2
What is The Infinity ProjectSM?

• Exciting and innovative high school engineering
  education program
• A year long course in cool and relevant
  engineering concepts to High School Students
  Sophomores Seniors.
• Hands-on, loaded with design projects
• Students learn to think like engineers and
  apply math to good, real problems
• Built off of the simple truth about engineering
• basic math basic technology cool stuff

3
Course Support Materials

• Outstanding textbook!
• Daily Lesson Plans Guide
• Instructors Manual
• Presentation Slides
• Student Lab Manual

4
Interest in Engineering in the U.S. has declined
for 20 Years
Over the last ten years there has been

• 50 decline instudent interest in engineering
• 14 decline in engineering degrees awarded to US
  students

Source National Science Board Science and
Engineering Indicators 2002
5
Future U.S. Engineers are Scarce

• Likelihood that a High School graduate obtains
  an engineering degree
• All students 2.1
• Women 0.9
• Minorities 0.8

• In a Typical High School Graduating Class of 400
  students
• There will be 8 engineers
• 5 will be white males, 2 women, 1 a minority

Some of the causes

• Lack of preparation
• Lack of exposure
• Lack of interest
• Relevance of engineering not clear

6
Student Impact
Infinity is in place at schools in 25 states
today.

• 80 of students completing program report a very
  strong interest in pursuing engineering.
• 95 learned new math concepts
• Nearly 100 would recommend course to friend.
• Long-term, longitudinal impact studies underway

7
UCF Initiative in the Infinity Project
Universities play an important role in the
expansion of the Infinity Project

• Identified 35 high school feeders to UCF in the
  central Florida area.
• Invitation went out for a half-day kickoff
  meeting
• 21 high schools attended the meeting
• Invited speakers from the Infinity project main
  office and a high school
• Eight High schools have agreed to join the
  program!
• Professional Development Training session in July
  05

8
UCF Role in Helping HS

• UCF serves as Infinity Professional Development
  Site for schools in Florida and Southeast region.
• Help secure funds for the program through support
  for proposal preparations, and seek industry
  support.
• Provide one graduate student to the high school.
• Organize and host lab tours at UCF to interested
  high school students
• Serve as a contact point for interested schools.
• Help develop web-based interactive instruction
  materials.

9
Typical Total Program Costs

• Professional Development for Teachers 750
• 750/teacher plus travel expenses
• Classroom Technology Acquisition 3,500
• 350/kit typically 10 kits per school
• Course Textbook (Prentice Hall) 1,250
• 50/book for typical class size of 25 students
• ________
• Approx. cost per Classroom 5,500

10
More about the Infinity Project

• www.infinity-project.org
• Power Point presentation
• A video describing the program
• Teacher comments
• Sample materials
• All the application forms.

11
Joining the Infinity Project

• How Does School Join The Infinity Project?
• Winter/Spring Apply by filling out an
  application available on the Infinity website.
  (Deadlines are available on the website.)
• Follow-up interviews are conducted with teachers
  and administrators.
• New Infinity schools are announced at the end of
  spring
• Schools then acquire classroom technology and
  textbooks. Educators begin participating in
  discussion groups.
• Summer Teachers attend summer professional
  development institutes.
• Fall Teachers begin teaching course.