Chess Online

Chess Online

Chess Online from the University of Texas at Dallas is an online program that consists of two for-credit, three-hour undergraduate or graduate courses. Studies in K-12 classrooms have shown a correlation between chess instruction and an increase in reading and other cognitive skills. Teachers wanting new methodology for incorporating chess into their classroom curricula should take these two courses.

Read student testimonials about the program by linking to the UTD Chess Program Web site.

PARTICIPATING INSTITUTION AND ADVISOR

For questions about the courses contact:             

The University of Texas at Dallas
Dr. Alexey Root
Email: aroot@utdallas.edu *email inquiries preferred.
Phone: (972) 883-2323 [Phone answered by Michele Brown, administrative assistant,Interdisciplinary Studies. Messages forwarded to Dr. Root]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• Do I need to know how to play chess before I take the class? No, you don't need to know chess already. In fact, beginner's chess software will be included in the course packet of Chess in the Classroom I and Chess in the Classroom II. Due to course assignments, by the end of the course, you will know how to play chess at a very basic level.
• How much will it cost? Students are billed by UTD for courses. It is also noted below.
• Is Chess in the Classroom I offered the first semester then Chess in the Classroom II offered the second semester? You may take Chess I or Chess II, in either order or during the same semester, in the fall and spring semesters.
• Do the classes meet weekly in chat or are all assignments via email? For Chess in the Classroom I two lesson plans are due by email, in addition there are Discussions assignments. In Discussions, each program has its own private space, called a board. Within each board are conferences that have been set up by the instructor. The Discussions conference is a place for students to submit their thoughts about a particular question, and show understanding of the lessons and readings. Students will also read and comment on others' postings.
• Does the graduate level course differ from the undergraduate? Yes, it does. In Chess in the Classroom I, for example, the graduate level of the course (ED 5344) requires an additional paper. Graduate student assignments should show understanding of curriculum theory.
• How do I find out more information? Please contact Dr. Alexey Root with any questions or if you are interested in the program.

GETTING STARTED

Students registering for these courses must first be admitted to UTD. Since students from all over the world may register for these courses, we have made this process as simple and seamless as possible. Therefore, the first question is:

1. Are you currently registered as a student at UTD?

If the answer is yes, proceed to step #3.
If the answer is no, proceed to step #2.

2. If Chess is the ONLY course you plan to take at UT Dallas, apply as a non-degree seeking student:

Undergraduate/Graduate students: Complete the Chess Online Application for Admission to UTD. This form must be printed and mailed with a $100 application fee for domestic applicants and $150 for international applicants (required for all first time applicants to UTD). We accept checks or money orders. Note: An official copy of your transcript is acceptable for processing a non-degree seeking application. [This form is attached separately]. Mail your check or money order made out to UT-Dallas along with your application and official copies of all transcripts to:

The University of Texas at Dallas

School of Interdisciplinary Studies - Attention: Michele Brown / Chess Online

800 West Campbell Rd., HH 30

Richardson, TX 75080-3021

3. Currently registered UTD Students must send an email message requesting registration in the chess course of their choice to Michele Brown at michelebrown@utdallas.edu. The message must include:

• Full name;
• Student/College ID number;
• Name and number of the course(s) you are interested in taking;
• Phone number(s) and appropriate times to call (for the professor)
• Email address - UT-Dallas email
• A brief statement of what you wish to accomplish by taking this class;
• A brief statement of where and when you will complete the majority of the coursework (e.g., I will work mostly on the weekends and some evenings from my home office.)

After payment is received, you will be registered and an email message will be sent to you confirming the completion of the registration process.

All Students:

4. Undergraduate fee - Effective Fall 2008, the fee for each undergraduate course will be $800.
ED 4358: Chess I - Using Chess in Elementary Schools
ED 4359: Chess II - Using Institutional & Cultural Contexts of Chess

Graduate fee - Effective Fall 2008, the fee for each graduate course will be $1,050.

ED 5344: Chess I - Chess in the Elementary School Curriculum
ED 5345: Chess II - Institutional & Cultural Contexts of Chess

Please contact Michele Brown by email or at 972-883-2323 if you have any
questions.

5. The courses run on the semester schedule. You can start at the beginning of the 16-week semester, or begin at the second 8-weeks of any semester. You can log into the course beginning on the first day of class of the semester.

6. As soon as the class roster is finalized before the date of the first class, we will mail a First Lessons in Chess CD (from Think Like a King School Chess Software, special UTD edition) to each student enrolled in their first Chess Online course.

Chess in Education Undergraduate Courses:

• ED 4358 Chess I - Using Chess in Elementary Schools - UTD
• ED 4359 Chess II - Using Institutional & Cultural Contexts of Chess - UTD

Chess in Education Graduate Courses:

• ED 5344 Chess I - Using Chess in the Elementary School Curriculum - UTD
• ED 5345 Chess II - Using Institutional & Cultural Contexts of Chess - UTD

Chess I, ED 4358 Using Chess in Schools (3 semester hours) Using chess to teach critical thinking, math, and reading skills in elementary and secondary classrooms. This course is also appropriate for chess instructors who wish to incorporate additional academic and humanistic goals into their programs. No previous knowledge of chess is required. This course is offered through UTD's eLearning. (3-0) R

Chess I, ED 5344 Chess in the Curriculum (3 semester hours) A consideration of methods for using chess to teach critical thinking, math, and reading skills, based on the curricular model developed by John D. McNeil. This course is also appropriate for chess instructors who wish to incorporate additional academic and humanistic goals into their programs.  No previous knowledge of chess is required.  This course is offered through UTD's eLearning. (3-0) R

Chess II, ED 4359 Using Institutional and Cultural Contexts of Chess (3 semester hours) Examination of the roles of chess in history and in contemporary culture and analysis of chess in education. Each student’s culminating paper proposes improving an existing chess program or developing a new chess program. No prior knowledge of chess is required. This course is offered through UTD's eLearning. (3-0) R

Chess II, ED 5345 Institutional and Cultural Contexts of Chess (3 semester hours) A consideration of the role of chess historically and in contemporary culture. This course explores chess research and educational resources. Analysis of the interactions of women and chess through the ages. Each student prepares a proposal, based on the curriculum model of Ralph W. Tyler, for chess at an institution. No previous knowledge of chess is required. The course is offered through UTD's eLearning. (3-0) R

Home » Faculty Profile: Dr. Root

Faculty Profile: Dr. Root

Dr. Alexey Root is a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Dallas and advisor for Chess Online courses. Root has been a tournament chess player since age 9 and won the U.S. women’s championship in 1989.

QUESTION: You offer a two course program for educators teaching them how to incorporate Chess into their classroom curriculum. Why would K12 teachers be well advised to do that in general?
Root: The courses, and my books, are aimed at educators of grades 3-8. But I have had educators of younger (pre-K through 2) and of high school students take my courses too. The courses will be valuable for educators looking for an inexpensive, time-efficient way to engage their students and teach them important subject matter concepts as well.

More specifically your teaching indicates chess can be useful in developing students’ visual/spatial intelligence, reading and math concepts. How?
I answer these questions in my books Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving (2006, Teacher Ideas Press) and Read, Write, Checkmate: Enrich Literacy with Chess Activities (2009, Teacher Ideas Press). We also explore these questions in depth throughout the courses. I'm worried that a brief answer here will be misleading to such an important question.

In addition to building cognitive skills, do you think chess can be used in the classroom to raise social skills, and if yes, how?
Chess playing requires cooperation. Players agree to follow the rules of the game and conventions of chess etiquette, such as the touch move rule (if you touch a chessman, you have to move it). There are also many cooperative projects that can be done with chess. For example, for Read, Write, Checkmate, my middle school students wrote and published a chess book.

There’s a lot of talk about Flow in your descriptions. Can you elaborate for us how chess playing and practice would create flow and why the experiential immersion of flow is relevant for classroom teachers to understand?
I would direct those interested in flow to read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s books. Chess is only one of many possible activities, including other games and sports, leading to flow. Like those activities, chess engages us, which is important to educators facing students with short attention spans. As I wrote in my book Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators (2006, Teacher Ideas Press), “Chess has much to offer for students in grades 3-8. Chess enables experiences of deep concentration, sharpens competitive skills, activates multiple intelligences, and allows students to experience sacrifice, problem solving, and planning….All students gain the important idea of thinking before taking action.”

When did you become interested in chess?
My dad taught me to play when I was five years old, and let me win for several years. Because he is not a tournament player, I was able to defeat him "for real" when I was nine years old. Then he took me to our local chess club in Lincoln, NE.

You teach a course in Institutional and Cultural Contexts of Chess. How does culture influence female participation? Have you experienced any interesting examples of this in your online courses?
One of the texts the graduate students read in “Chess II: Institutional and Cultural Contexts of Chess” is Marilyn Yalom's Birth of the Chess Queen. Yalom (2004) traces the history of chess, writing about women who played chess and about how the evolution of the vizier to the queen reflected societal trends. My online courses usually are about 50-50 male and female students. I haven’t come across interesting examples of female participation within the courses, though students have written interesting papers about Yalom’s book.

Tell us a little about your experiences as a winning female in with chess tournaments…
Most tournaments in the United States are open events. That is, both males and females compete together for the same prizes. Around 10% of United States Chess Federation members under age 21 are female, and the percentage drops to around 3-4% for those over 21. These percentages are higher than when I began competing in 1975. Even today, though, when a female wins, the victory generates more attention than the same tournament victory by a male. On the other hand, it can be isolating to be the only female at a tournament.

How long have you been teaching online?
I have been teaching the “Chess in the Classroom I: Elementary” (ED 4358 and ED 5344) courses in the sequence since 2001. I began teaching both courses (ED 4359 and ED 5345) of “Chess II: Institutional and Cultural Contexts of Chess” in the fall of 2007 and continue to also teach both Chess I courses.

What was the biggest surprise to you about teaching online?
I think the biggest surprise is how grateful students are. When I answer their emails immediately, which I often do because I am on my computer constantly, they thank me. It makes them happy to get answers right away. They can also access the Grade Center within the Blackboard course and see at a glance exactly how they are doing in my courses. In a live course, I might be able to respond as quickly during class. But, in between classes, my response time might not be as fast as it can be with email and Blackboard. So, to sum up, the positive benefits of instant responses via email is a terrific surprise about online teaching.

What have been the greatest rewards and challenges you face as an instructor teaching online?
The rewards are easy to state: my students' successes! Several students have written funded grant applications and been published with material developed in my courses. Two of my undergraduate students received Undergraduate Research Scholar Awards in the fall of 2008.

The challenges have been minor, but annoying, technological ones. For example, when UTD switched its information system in fall 2009 my students were not loaded into my classes on the first day of the semester. Although they were loaded in by day two, I spent much of day one emailing various people to figure out when the problem would be solved.

What do you hope students take away from the successful completion of the Chess online coureses?
After completing Chess I and Chess II, students have

1. played chess,
2. notated and annotated their games,
3. read, analyzed, and discussed course texts,
4. cited and referenced using APA (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) style
5. written, taught, and reflected on lessons, and
6. proposed a chess program for a specific institution.

In addition to the six accomplishments above, ED 5344 students analyze three chess curricula and write an APA-style paper about their findings. ED 5345 students read, and write an APA-style paper about, Birth of the Chess Queen (Yalom, 2004).