TRAC PAC 2 -- A HANDS-ON EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

The original TRAC PAC was introduced in 1994 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as a set of hands-on education activities designed to interest high school students in transportation and be suitable for classroom use. The goal of this project was to develop a "next generation" TRAC PAC or "Trac PAC 2." This new TRAC PAC contains eight modules (Bridge Builder, Design and Construction, Environmental, Maglev, Motion, Safety, SIMCITY, and Technology) with a total of 36 discrete educational activities. Approximately half of the activities might fall into the "high tech" category in the sense that they use computer hardware, software, or a calculator based lab (CBL), and the other half might be characterized as "low tech" in that they use a magnetic levitation track, trucks, paper-based templates, and other materials that don't require a computer. The TRAC PAC activities include a teacher's manual (with lesson plans, questions to assess student achievement, educational standards, and hints for the volunteer), equipment (such as CBLs, a Maglev track, and impulse pendulum, etc.), and software (data files, bridge design package, Flash animations, and QuickTime movies). A team of educators and transportation professionals designed and built prototypes of the next generation TRAC PACs and sent them to ten different schools throughout the U.S. for testing. Subsequent interviews of the teachers who had tested the PACs provided suggestions for making additional improvements. The process used for designing these activities, the types of feedback received, and the subsequent revisions are highlighted in this report. In addition to the eight module TRAC PAC, a production document has been written to assist AASHTO in deploying the TRAC PAC on a wider scale. At the request of the Panel, the report highlights administrative/policy options that AASHTO may wish to consider in order to enhance the TRAC program as the new TRAC PACs are distributed. Training highlights are also noted.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_w49.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Corporate Authors:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Authors:
  • Miller, J S
  • Lynn, C W
  • Massarelli, P J
  • Labrie, J D
  • Page, V E
  • Brittingham, F M
  • Wayne, A E
  • Bell, R L
  • McNall, R L
  • Swan, G
• Publication Date: 2002-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 68 p.
• Serial:
  • NCHRP Web-Only Document
  • Issue Number: 49
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Education and training; Equipment; High school students; Manuals; Software; Transportation careers
• Identifier Terms: TRAC PAC (Toolkit)
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Education and Training; Highways; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00929297
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NCHRP Project SP20-52,, Contractor Final Report
• Files: TRIS, TRB, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 28 2002 12:00AM