19 Tex. Admin. Code § 127.696 - [Effective 8/1/2025] Engineering Applications of Computer Science Principles (One Credit), Adopted 2025
(a) Implementation.
(1) The provisions of this section shall be
implemented by school districts beginning with the 2025-2026 school
year.
(2) School districts shall
implement the employability skills student expectations listed in §
127.15(d)(2) of
this chapter (relating to Career and Technical Education Employability Skills,
Adopted 2025) as an integral part of this course.
(b) General requirements. This course is
recommended for students in Grades 9-12. Prerequisite: Algebra I and at least
one credit in a course from the Information Technology Career Cluster. Students
shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course.
(c) Introduction.
(1) Career and technical education
instruction provides content aligned with challenging academic standards and
relevant technical knowledge and skills for students to further their education
and succeed in current or emerging professions.
(2) The Information Technology career cluster
focuses on the design, development, support, and management of hardware,
software, multimedia, and systems integration services. This career cluster
includes occupations ranging from software developer and programmer to
cybersecurity specialists and network analysts.
(3) Engineering Applications of Computer
Science Principles teaches rigorous engineering design practices, engineering
habits of mind, and the foundational tools of computer science. Students apply
core computer science principles to solve engineering design challenges that
cannot be solved without such knowledge and skills. Students use a variety of
computer software and hardware applications to complete projects.
(4) Students are encouraged to participate in
extended learning experiences such as career and technical student
organizations and other organizations that foster leadership and career
development in the profession such as student chapters of related professional
associations.
(5) Statements that
contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while
those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative
examples.
(d) Knowledge
and skills.
(1) The student applies concepts
of critical thinking and problem solving to engineering applications in
computer science. The student is expected to:
(A) identify, analyze, and discuss elements
of an engineering problem to develop creative and innovative
solutions;
(B) identify, analyze,
and discuss the elements and structure of a programming problem to develop
creative and innovative solutions;
(C) identify and discuss pertinent
information from a customer and existing program for solving a
problem;
(D) compare and discuss
alternatives to a solution using a variety of problem-solving and
critical-thinking skills; and
(E)
conduct research to gather technical information necessary for decision
making.
(2) The student
conducts computer science and engineering laboratory activities using safe and
environmentally appropriate practices. The student is expected to:
(A) identify and demonstrate safe practices
during hands-on cutting and building activities during computer science and
engineering laboratory activities;
(B) identify and demonstrate safe use and
storage of electrical components; and
(C) identify and demonstrate appropriate use
and conservation of resources, including disposal, reuse, or recycling of
materials.
(3) The
student applies ethical considerations in designing solutions. The student is
expected to:
(A) define and evaluate
constraints pertaining to a problem;
(B) identify safety considerations in
designing engineering solutions with respect to the system, engineer, and user;
and
(C) investigate and explain the
importance and application of relevant legal and ethical concepts in computer
science such as intellectual property, use of open-source software,
attribution, patents, and trademarks.
(4) The student demonstrates an understanding
of the structured methods used to collect and analyze information about
customer needs. The student is expected to:
(A) analyze information provided by the
customer to identify customer needs;
(B) create a process flow diagram based on
customer needs to generate ideas for potential user actions, product functions,
and design opportunities;
(C)
develop a flowchart for a program using the results of a process flow
diagram;
(D) create a target
specifications table;
(E) identify
and describe similar existing solutions; and
(F) construct a functional model based on
customer needs to generate ideas for potential user actions, product functions,
and design opportunities.
(5) The student develops a user interface and
supplemental instructions. The student is expected to:
(A) identify essential tasks to be completed
by the user;
(B) identify points of
potential confusion or unexpected input by the user;
(C) design a software or user interface that
clearly communicates to the user how to complete desired tasks;
(D) develop supplemental user instructions to
inform the user of items that cannot be incorporated into an interface such as
how to start the program or frequently asked questions;
(E) test a program and the program
instructions with an individual who is not familiar with the project;
(F) evaluate and discuss feedback and results
from new user testing;
(G) improve
and refine a program and the program instructions based on feedback and results
of testing; and
(H) re-test a
program and the program instructions as necessary after modifications have been
made in response to testing and identify any next steps.
(6) The student systematically reverse
engineers a product, examines ways to improve the product, and identifies the
type of redesign required to make that improvement. The student is expected to:
(A) write or perform tests, including break
testing, for an existing program to determine functionality;
(B) describe unexpected findings from
deconstructing existing code;
(C)
examine and discuss relevant software libraries to determine their uses and
functionality;
(D) construct a
flowchart for an existing program;
(E) compare a program's current functionality
to the customer's needs;
(F)
identify and add missing customer specifications or needs to a program's
flowchart;
(G) develop and explain
new code that includes customer specifications or improves a product;
and
(H) compare and discuss the
predicted versus actual functionality of a product to generate ideas for
redesign.
(7) The
student applies concept generation and selection skills. The student is
expected to:
(A) create and explain a black
box and functional model of a system;
(B) implement brainstorming, mind mapping,
concept sketching, and gallery walk activities to produce new ideas;
and
(C) apply concept selection
techniques such as a Pugh chart or a weighted decision matrix to design
decisions.
(8) The
student develops and applies engineering design process skills. The student is
expected to:
(A) select and use appropriate
tools and techniques to support design activities;
(B) report information about software design
solutions in an engineering notebook;
(C) develop, test, and refine programming
concepts throughout the development process;
(D) interpret and use an electrical diagram
to build a circuit;
(E) create a
circuit using a microcontroller, a breadboard, and multiple
components;
(F) explain and apply
the design process from different starting points by beginning with a baseline
design;
(G) use a model or
simulation which represents phenomena and mimics real-world events to develop
and test hardware;
(H) critique and
explain the usefulness and limitations of certain models;
(I) develop a prototype solution; test the
prototype solution against requirements, constraints, and specifications; and
refine the prototype solution; and
(J) report and describe a product's final
design after the prototyping phase.
(9) The student applies mathematics and
algorithms in programs. The student is expected to:
(A) apply mathematical concepts from algebra,
geometry, trigonometry, or calculus to calculate the angle of a
joint;
(B) apply mathematical
calculations cyclically in a program using algorithms; and
(C) evaluate and verify algorithms for
appropriateness and efficiency.
(10) The student develops computer programs
to support design solutions. The student is expected to:
(A) design and explain software interfaces
that communicate with hardware;
(B)
identify and apply relevant concepts from computer science, science, and
mathematics such as functions, electricity, and mechanics; and
(C) employ abstraction in a program by
representing numerical sensor readouts in more intuitive variables and
functions.
(11) The
student develops and applies computer science skills. The student is expected
to:
(A) integrate small discrete programs into
a larger complete program solution using systems-thinking skills;
(B) use intuitive variable names correctly
and add comments to code to improve readability;
(C) employ abstraction in a program by
representing images as data arrays and representing numerical tone frequencies
as variables;
(D) convert image
information into the correct data type necessary for given library
functions;
(E) develop an algorithm
that includes logic such as "while" and "if" to accept user trackbar input and
display image changes in real time;
(F) develop flowcharts, pseudocode, and
commented code to document and explain software design solutions;
(G) design software interfaces that
communicate with users and hardware;
(H) employ abstraction to program an
interface, treating imported code as a "black box";
(I) employ abstraction by representing a
joint as four points in a plane; and
(J) select and apply correct programming
vocabulary and programming skills during program development.
(12) The student develops and uses
computer programs to process data and information to gain insight and discover
connections to support design solutions. The student is expected to:
(A) explain how to organize complex image and
video data for processing;
(B)
analyze complex data to make decisions and instruct users; and
(C) develop programs that use incoming data
and algorithms to create output data, information, and commands.
Notes
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