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By Tony Heaberlin, Public Relations Coordinator
Tulsa Technology Center

Tulsa Tech Sponsors Pre-Engineering Courses in Area High Schools

Tulsa, OK— Pre-engineering courses will be offered at Bishop Kelly, Booker T. Washington, Bixby, Edison Preparatory, Jenks, Owasso, Sand Springs and Union high schools in the 05-06 school year, according to Kent Inouye, director of Tulsa Technology Center’s off-campus programs..

"This is true integration. The high school pre-engineering courses will act as feeders to the pre-engineering program at Tulsa Tech," Inouye said. "The pre-engineering program introduces high school students to the many disciplines of engineering, mandates that they take rigorous math and science courses, and offers a project-based curriculum where students resolve real-world engineering problems using state-of-the-art computers and equipment.”

The program uses nationally recognized “Project Lead the Way” curriculum and not only teaches pre-engineering, but also integrates essential math and science courses recommended by higher education partners. According to research by the National Alliance for Pre-Engineering Programs, the drop- out rate in colleges of engineering and engineering technology programs exceeds 50 percent in the first two years. Two contributing factors for this high number are that students don’t have an understanding of what engineers do and they don't take the right combination of high school courses to prepare them to succeed in this rigorous course of study. The goal of Tulsa Tech’s pre-engineering program is to help students be successful in engineering-degreed programs and post-secondary engineering technology programs and create some excitement about engineering as a career. Students may earn up to 20 hours of college credit at partner colleges and universities. Tulsa Tech also offers pre-engineering course work at its Riverside and Broken Arrow Campuses. Sixteen students, in the current class at the Riverside Campus, are eligible for college credit at 24 colleges and universities across the U.S.

Riverside Campus Pre-engineering Instructor Bernie Henze watches Ben Wade, Union High School Senior work on a Fischertechnik Robotics Simulator.

“Many high schools don't have the resources that are available in technology centers that allow the student to fabricate the projects they design. Instructors collaborate in the pre-engineering courses by lending their special expertise to enrich the pre-engineering instruction,” according to Carol Farris, director of Tulsa Tech’s Riverside Campus.

Tulsa Technology Center is the oldest and largest technology center district in Oklahoma and is dedicated to the mission of preparing people for success in the workplace. For more information visit the Website at http://www.tulsatech.com/