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UT Dallas to Offer Online ‘Chess and Education’ Courses; Distance-Learning Classes are First of Their Kind in the US
Unique Curricula Targeted at Teachers

As part of an ongoing commitment to foster chess programs that promote academic excellence, The University of Texas at Dallas, which recently was named Chess College of the Year and is home to the top-ranked collegiate chess team in the United States, will offer first-of-a-kind online Chess and Education courses for teachers beginning Fall 2001. No other university in the country offers this type of program.

The courses are targeted toward K-12 educators seeking new methodology for incorporating chess into their classroom curricula and will be offered exclusively via the UT TeleCampus, the distance-learning arm of The University of Texas System. Chess and Education will consist of two for-credit courses for both undergraduate and graduate students.

The three-hour courses lead to a certificate in Chess and Education and only are available through the Internet. No previous knowledge of chess is required to enroll in the classes.

“By offering Chess and Education courses, we hope to make it easier for teachers to use chess in their classroom,” said Dr. Tim Redman, professor of literary studies in UTD’s School of Arts and Humanities and an instructor for Chess and Education. “In fact, studies in K-12 classrooms have shown a correlation between chess instruction and an increase in reading and other cognitive skills.”

“The UT TeleCampus actively seeks creative online programs, which we believe we found in UTD’s Chess and Education courses,” said Dr. Darcy Hardy, UT TeleCampus director and assistant vice chancellor. “UTD’s commitment to competitive excellence in chess will provide teachers with the curricula they need to help students reach for their intellectual best.”

The online Chess and Education courses to be offered are as follows:

Chess I: Using Chess in Elementary Schools (undergraduate): This course will offer practical methods for using chess to teach critical thinking, mathematics and reading skills in the elementary school classroom. The course is appropriate for chess instructors who wish to incorporate additional academic and humanistic goals into their programs. No previous knowledge of chess is required. Instructor: Dr. Alexey Root.

Chess I: Chess in the Elementary School Curriculum (graduate): This course will offer theoretical methods for using chess to teach critical thinking, math and reading skills in the elementary classroom. The course is based on the McNeil model, which categorizes curriculum instruction into four categories: academic, humanistic, social reconstruction and technological. Chess I: Chess in the Elementary School Curriculum is appropriate for chess instructors who wish to incorporate additional academic and humanistic goals into their programs. No previous knowledge of chess is required. Instructor: Dr. Alexey Root.

Chess II: Using Institutional & Cultural Contexts of Chess (undergraduate): This course will provide practical consideration of the cultural role of chess as a combination of game, art, sport and science. The course will explore resources for teachers from local and national chess organizations, foundations and associations for introducing chess into their classrooms. No previous knowledge of chess is required. Instructor: Dr. Tim Redman.

Chess II: Institutional & Cultural Contexts of Chess (graduate): This course will provide theoretical consideration of the cultural role of chess as a combination of game, art, sport and science, using the interdisciplinary methods of the arts and humanities. This course also will explore practical resources for teachers from local and national chess organizations, foundations and associations for introducing chess into their classrooms. No previous knowledge of chess is required. Instructor: Dr. Tim Redman.

For registration information about Chess and Education, please contact Lew Lewis at [email protected].

About UT Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor ®, enrolls approximately 6,500 undergraduate and 4,500 graduate students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.

About UT TeleCampus

The UT TeleCampus is a central support Web site for online courses and degree programs within The University of Texas System. It features a Web site similar in design to a traditional campus, including admissions links, digital libraries and learning resource links. It also houses online “classrooms.” The UT TeleCampus does not grant degrees, but supports universities within the University of Texas System that engage in online and distance education. There are no residency requirements with online courses taken via the UT TeleCampus. For more information about the UT TeleCampus, please visit www.telecampus.utsystem.edu, or call 1-888-TEXAS-16.

Media Contact: (972) 883-4431 [email protected] , or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, [email protected].

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