Engineering the Classroom Experience: Developing a Transportation Workforce through Hands-on Engagement
The field of civil engineering is facing both the need to replace rapidly declining infrastructure and the retirement of a significant portion of the workforce. To address this need, an influx of talented and energetic engineers is required. Unfortunately, many middle and high school students do not enter into STEM fields. Pre-college programs can help solve this issue by introducing engineering concepts early in a student’s academic career, making careers in STEM seem more accessible to students who otherwise would not pursue them. One such program, developed by the American Association for State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), is the Transportation and Civil Engineering (TRAC) program, which is supported by several state Departments of Transportation and is intended to introduce middle and high school students to careers in transportation and construction. In 2015, the Center for Technology and Training (CTT) at Michigan Technological University was tasked with updating the TRAC manuals. This included reorganizing the program’s seven modules and creating new content to replace. New hands- on activities were designed to challenge small teams of students to find creative solutions to a variety of obstacles. One such activity, which taught students the concept of impulse, was tested with a group of students who responded with great enthusiasm and impressive solutions. By adding competitive elements, hands-on problem solving, and team-based activities, the updates to the TRAC program were successful in engaging students in transportation and construction issues.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABG20 Standing Committee on Transportation Education and Training.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Roberts, Drew
- Matchinski, Cassandra
- Gilbertson, Chris
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
- Date: 2017
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References;
- Pagination: 10p
- Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Civil engineering; Civil engineers; Education and training; Workforce
- Uncontrolled Terms: Workforce development
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Education and Training; Highways; Planning and Forecasting;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01623324
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 17-01397
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Jan 24 2017 3:31PM