Creating the Next Generation of Transportation Professionals
Author(s):
M.D. Finley, D.L. Jasek
Publication Date:
November 2011
Abstract:
The transportation industry, like every other profession that relies heavily on the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, faces a growing shortage of professional engineers. The purpose of this project was to investigate new methods for conducting educational outreach activities for kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) students and compare the effectiveness of various implementation methods. During this project, Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers developed two in-class educational outreach modules and several displays that they could easily transport and exhibit at various educational outreach activities. The first in-class module introduces intermediate school students to the world of transportation and transportation engineering and teaches students about the principle of retroreflectivity. The second in class module teaches kindergarten students about sign shapes and colors. TTI researchers also participated in 12 educational outreach activities.
These activities included:
- Four in-school events
- Four field trips to TTI facilities.
- Three summer activities.
- One engineering day event.
Report Number:
UTCM 11-00-62
Electronic Link(s):
Document/Product
http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Finley_11-00-62.pdf
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