1. (a) Implementation.

   1. (1) The provisions of this section shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.
   2. (2) School districts shall implement the employability skills student expectations listed in §127.15(d)(1) of this chapter (relating to Career and Technical Education Employability Skills) as an integral part of this course.
2. (b) General requirements. This course is recommended for students in Grades 9-12. Recommended Prerequisite: Principles of Applied Engineering, Principles of Architecture and Design, or Principles of Manufacturing. Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course.

3. (c) Introduction.

   1. (1) Career and technical education instruction provides content aligned with challenging academic standards, industry-relevant technical knowledge, and college and career readiness skills for students to further their education and succeed in current and emerging professions.
   2. (2) The Engineering Career Cluster focuses on planning, designing, testing, building, and maintaining machines, structures, materials, systems, and processes using empirical evidence and science, technology, and math principles. This career cluster includes occupations ranging from mechanical engineer and drafter to electrical engineer and mapping technician.
   3. (3) Introduction to Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) allows students to acquire knowledge and skills needed to use design software, including an introduction to CADD equipment and software selection and interfaces. Students gain skills in setting up a CADD workstation; upgrading a computer to run advanced CADD software; working with storage devices; storing, retrieving, backing-up, and sharing databases, file servers, and local area networks (LANs); and transferring drawing files over the internet.
   4. (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. (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.

4. (d) Knowledge and skills.

   1. (1) The student demonstrates knowledge of the CADD software. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) describe computer-aided design, drafting, and CADD applications;
      2. (B) demonstrate how to start and exit CADD software without corrupting files;
      3. (C) use draw files;
      4. (D) save, close, and open saved files;
      5. (E) determine and specify drawing units and limits;
      6. (F) describe and use the Cartesian coordinate system;
      7. (G) use drawing snap and grid functions; and
      8. (H) demonstrate the use of dynamic input and the command line.

   2. (2) The student demonstrates the use of CADD tools for basic drawing and plotting. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) draw objects using the line tool;
      2. (B) draw circles, arcs, ellipses, and elliptical arcs;
      3. (C) draw polylines, rectangles, donuts, and filled circles;
      4. (D) draw true spline curves;
      5. (E) create drawing templates;
      6. (F) describe basic line conventions;
      7. (G) create and manage layers;
      8. (H) draw objects on separate layers;
      9. (I) print and plot drawings;
      10. (J) demonstrate organizational skills to influence the sequential process when creating drawings;
      11. (K) construct geometric figures of lines, splines, circles, and arcs;
      12. (L) create and edit text using appropriate style and size to annotate drawings;
      13. (M) use control accuracy enhancement tools for entity positioning methods such as snap and xyz;
      14. (N) use editing commands;
      15. (O) use viewing commands to perform zooming and panning;
      16. (P) plot drawings on media using layout and scale;
      17. (Q) use query commands to interrogate database for entity characteristics, distance, area, and status;
      18. (R) move, stretch, and offset objects;
      19. (S) create a radius between objects;
      20. (T) trim and extend objects;
      21. (U) break and join objects;
      22. (V) change object properties; and
      23. (W) create hatching and manipulate properties such as calculating the area of an enclosed shape.

   3. (3) The student demonstrates the use of CADD tools display and viewpoints. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) create multiple viewpoints in the drawing window;
      2. (B) select appropriate object snaps for various drawing tasks;
      3. (C) create orthographic drawings;
      4. (D) analyze challenges and identify solutions for design problems;
      5. (E) investigate the use of space, scale, and environmental features to create three-dimensional form or the illusion of depth and form;
      6. (F) prepare multi-view scaled drawings;
      7. (G) select proper drawing scale, views, and layout;
      8. (H) create drawings containing horizontal and vertical surfaces;
      9. (I) create drawings containing circles and arcs;
      10. (J) create removed details and conventional breaks using sectional drawing techniques;
      11. (K) create assembly drawings;
      12. (L) create detail drawings; and
      13. (M) create technical drawings and title blocks associated with the different CAD drawings.

   4. (4) The student demonstrates the use of software tools to properly create text within a CADD drawing. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) use proper text standards for technical drawings;
      2. (B) calculate drawing scale and text height using a scale ratio;
      3. (C) apply text styles to enhance readability of drawings;
      4. (D) demonstrate the use of tools to create multi-line text objects and single-line text;
      5. (E) edit existing text; and
      6. (F) create, insert, and modify tables.

   5. (5) The student demonstrates the use of CADD editing tools within drawings. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) draw chamfers and fillets;
      2. (B) use editing tools to modify existing drawings;
      3. (C) edit polylines and splines;
      4. (D) move and copy objects;
      5. (E) create mirror images and align objects; and
      6. (F) scale and array objects.

   6. (6) The student demonstrates the use of grips in drawings. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) apply grips to stretch, move, rotate, scale, mirror, and copy objects;
      2. (B) demonstrate the use of Quick Properties and the Properties palette to access CADD tools; and
      3. (C) create selections by using the Quick Select dialog box.

   7. (7) The student demonstrates the use of scale and dimension standards and practices. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) apply standard dimensioning rules;
      2. (B) draw scales and dimensions;
      3. (C) create, edit, and manage dimension styles;
      4. (D) add linear and angular dimensions to a drawing;
      5. (E) draw datum and chain dimensions;
      6. (F) dimension circles and arcs;
      7. (G) control the appearance of existing dimensions and dimension text; and
      8. (H) change dimension line spacing and alignment.

   8. (8) The student creates and demonstrates standard blocks using tool palettes. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) create and save text information blocks;
      2. (B) insert blocks into a drawing;
      3. (C) edit and update a block in a drawing;
      4. (D) create blocks as a drawing file;
      5. (E) construct and use a symbol library of blocks; and
      6. (F) purge unused items from a drawing.

   9. (9) The student prepares surface developments. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) prepare developments of prisms, cylinders, cones, and pyramids;
      2. (B) prepare developments of a transition piece; and
      3. (C) prepare drawings involving intersecting pieces.

   10. (10) The student designs and prepares basic architectural drawings. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) solve design problems to gain new perspectives;
       2. (B) apply critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to develop creative solutions for design problems;
       3. (C) draw a site plan;
       4. (D) draw a floor plan;
       5. (E) draw interior and exterior elevations;
       6. (F) draw a roof plan;
       7. (G) prepare door and window schedules;
       8. (H) draw wall sections;
       9. (I) draw a plot plan; and
       10. (J) draw an electrical and reflected ceiling plan.

   11. (11) The student designs and prepares a technical drawing. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) draw individual parts;
       2. (B) draw the closed assembly drawings per the parts; and
       3. (C) draw and explode the assembly with the parts list.

Source Note:The provisions of this §127.399 adopted to be effective August 1, 2025, 50 TexReg 4421.