General Course Description for ED 4358 and ED 5344 "Chess I":

Chess I is designed for teachers, parents, or chess coaches who wish to use chess
examples to help students understand concepts in reading, math, and problem
solving. It is offered on the internet via the UT TeleCampus
www.telecampus.utsystem.edu. You can find more information by going to the
UTTC website and looking under Catalog and Programs for Chess Course Schedule
and Descriptions.

Instructor: Dr. Alexey Root <aroot@utdallas.edu>

ED 4358: Chess I - Using Chess in Elementary Schools (undergraduate) 3 semester

hours. This course provides a curriculum development model for chess. In this model,
humanistic and academic goals for learners are addressed through chess. For learners,
chess enables experiences of flow and competition. Chess may help develop an internal
locus of control. By tapping into visual-spatial intelligence, chess makes accessible
hierarchical reading and math concepts. Chess exemplifies how people solve problems.
ED 5344: Chess I - Chess in the Elementary School Curriculum (graduate) 3
semester hours. A consideration of methods for using chess to teach problem solving,
math, and reading skills in the elementary classroom, based upon the curricular model
developed by McNeil.

Course Calendar-Chess in the Classroom I and Course Policies

Abbreviations:

Gr =graduate students
U =undergraduates
Ex=extra credit for all students (optional)

Ch =Chapter(s)
Gard. =Gardner, Intelligence Reframed (1999)
Flow =Csikszentmihalyi (1990)
Dummies =Chess for Dummies by Eade (1999) (New edition 2005 follows approx. same page numbers)
Internet Chess Club (ICC)= visit http://www.chessclub.com/ See August 23rd for details about this optional
activity.

Fall 2005 ***Please note that assignment due dates generally fall on Mondays.***

Online reading and

Due dates chess chat/play. Click on Project Due Dates
Book Readings to Discussion
appear in Outline within the email
complete: postings:
bold type: course to get to my aroot@utdallas.edu
lessons (lectures):

Buy your course Find students for

textbooks this Gr & U: A your chess lesson
August 18- Course Overview
week. Begin (Post your self- plans. Email me if
August 22 Instructor Biography
working with your introduction only) you need help
First Lessons in locating students.
 Chess© CD, a
chess tutorial on
your UTD Chess in
the Classroom CD.

Go to Internet Chess Club

http://www.chessclub.com/
Consider joining Email me where
and play a game as a
ICC for a free 7 and to whom you
guest. Send a “tell” to
Continue working day trial will teach chess.
“UTDRecruiter” if I’m
with your CD. membership. Let You must have a
August 23-29 logged into ICC when you Begin Dummies, me know your UTD email
are. You can play me a
pp. 1-38. “handle” if you do
game, too. This can be
join. My handle is account by
our “live chat and chess Sept. 1, 2005.
UTDRecruiter.
play option” if you decide
to take part!

Optional: Send me
Finish working
a rough draft of
through First
your Lesson Plan
August 30- Assignment Lessons in N/A One, the plan you
Sept. 5 Guidelines Chess©.
will be teaching to
Dummies, pp. 39-
your chess
84.
students.

Your Lesson Plan

Gr & U: A
Sept. 6- One is DUE. Read
Gr: Gard., Ch. 1-2 (Post what you
September Lesson 1 the online lesson
Gr & U: Dummies, learned from the
“Assignment
12 pp. 85-130 readings and your
Guidelines” for
favorite element)
criteria.

Teach first lesson,

Sept. 13- Gr: Gard., Ch. 3-4 the one that you
Gr & U: Flow Ch. Gr: B and C planned for last
September Lecture 2 1-5, Dummies, pp. U: B or C week. Reflection
19 131-152 on teaching of
first plan DUE.

Sept. 20- Gr & U: Flow Ch.

September Lesson 3 6-8, Dummies, pp. Gr & U: D N/A
26 153-216

September Optional: Send me

Gr: Gard., Ch. 5-6
a rough draft of
27-October Lesson 4 Gr & U Dummies, Gr & U: E
your Lesson Plan
3 pp. 217-264
Two.

October 4 - Gr: Gard., Ch. 7-8

October Gr & U: a literary Gr & U: F Lesson Plan Two
Lesson 5
10 book featuring Ex.: G is DUE.
chess; write about
 it in Discussion F

October 11- Teach 2 nd lesson

October 17 now or next week.

October 18-
Gr & U: Dummies, Teach second
October Lesson 6 Gr & U: H
pp. 265-294 lesson.
24

October 25- N/A Gr: Gard. Ch. 9-10 N/A Reflection on

October 31 teaching of
second plan DUE.

Nov. 1 - Lesson 7 Gr: Gard., Ch. 11-12 Gr & U: I Optional: Email me

November a rough draft of
7 Lesson Plan Three.

November 8 - Lesson 8 Gr: Gard., appendices Gr: J Lesson Plan

November A, B, and C Three is DUE.
14
November 15- Lesson 8 (continued) Gr & U: Dummies, pp. Gr. & U: L, M Teach third lesson.
November 295-316
21 Ex: K

November 22- Lesson 9 Gr & U: Flow, Ch, 9- Gr. & U: N Reflection on

November 10 and Dummies, pp. teaching of third
28 (Nov. 28th 317-352 (optional) plan DUE.
is the last day
of UTD
classes. No
final exam for
this course.)

Course policies:
Academic honesty:
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/scholastic.html
You are responsible for all UTD policies regarding proper student academic conduct. In
particular, read http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/scholastic.html#Plagiarism You are
responsible for going to this website and reading the entire statement about plagiarism. Here
are two paragraphs quoted from that website:
Every student will be held responsible for reading and
understanding the following statement.

To submit to your instructor a paper or comparable assignment that

is not truly the product of your own mind and skill is to commit
plagiarism. To put it bluntly, plagiarism is the act of stealing the
ideas and/or expression of another and representing them as your
own. It is a form of a cheating and a kind of scholastic dishonesty
which can incur severe penalties. It is important, therefore, that you
 understand what constitutes plagiarism, so that you will not
unwittingly jeopardize your college career.

The consequences of plagiarism

Why be so concerned about plagiarism? Because it defeats the

ends of education. If students were given credit for work that is not
their own, then course grades would be meaningless. A college
degree would become a mere sheet of paper and the integrity of
the University would be undermined. To protect conscientious
students, therefore, and to guarantee the quality of their education,
the University assesses heavy penalties against those who
plagiarize. The Rules and Regulations of the Board of Regents of
the University of Texas System and the University's Handbook of
Operating Procedures provide penalties for plagiarism which range
from an "F" grade to dismissal from the University.
UTD email required:
You must have a UTD email. Deadline: end of second week of class.
UT Dallas furnishes each student a Network ID (netid) linked to an email
account. The Department of Information Resources provides a method for
students to forward their UTD email to other personal or business email
accounts. To activate or maintain a UTD computer account and/or to set
email forwarding options, go to http://netid.utdallas.edu.

The School of General Studies at UT-Dallas sends all electronic

correspondence only to a student's UTD email address and requires that
all official electronic correspondence with the School of General Studies be
transmitted from the students' UTD email account. This requirement
allows University personnel to maintain a high degree of confidence in the
identity of the individual corresponding with a university official and in the
security of the transmitted information.

Grading Information:
If you are late with an assignment, please remember "better late than never." In other words,
getting a 60 (my lowest grade for a late, but high quality, assignment) is better than getting a 0.
Grading scale for course:
Graduate students: A=93-103, B=80-92, C=70-79, D=60-69, F=below 60
There are no plusses or minuses possible for graduate students.
Undergraduates: A+=101-103. A=93-100; A-=90-92; B+=87-89; B=83-86;
B-=80-82; C+=77-79; C=73-76; C-=70-72; D+=67-69; D=63-66; D-=60-62;
F=below 60
For all students:
Extra credit is worth an extra 1% per assignment done at the best possible level. Discussion
Boards G and K are the extra credits. I add on extra credit after I've calculated your main
grade. The main grade is 50% for Lesson Plans and Reflections; 50% for Discussion Boards.
So if your main grade is an 89, BUT you did extra credit "K" at the 100 level, your grade then
moves up to a 90.
Follow "Assignment Guidelines" when creating the Lesson Plans and Reflections that you
email to me. Also follow “Assignment Guidelines” regarding what information to include in the L
and M Discussion Board plans, i.e. age of students, their chess level, etc. I mention L and M in
particular because I'd like to see some high quality lesson plans shared among classmates.
The Student Gradebook within the course isn't going to match your final percentage. The web
designers weren't able to separate out undergrads and grads, and to set up extra credit
separately. So, here is the math you have to do to figure out your grade.
Undergrads:
6 Lesson Plans and Reflections=maximum 600 points. Figure out what percent you got. For
example, 597 of 600 points is 99.5%. This is half of your grade.
10 Discussion Assignments=maximum 1000 points. If you did all of these on time and well,
then you got 1000 points. That is 100%. This is the other half of your grade.
Now average 99.5% and 100% to get your final grade of 99.75%. If you have extra credit, then
you add that percentage on to your final grade.
Graduate Students:
6 Lesson Plans and Reflections=maximum 600 points. Figure out what percentage you got.
This is half of your grade.
12 Discussion Assignments=maximum 1200 points. Figure out what percentage you got. This
is the other half of your grade. So, if for example you got 90% on lesson plans/reflections and
100% on Discussion Assignments, your grade is 95% before extra credit is added on, if you
completed those extra credit assignments.