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Title:

Undergraduate Transportation Engineering Student Attitudes Towards the TRB’s Research Needs Statements Database

Accession Number:

01663068

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

Introductory transportation engineering courses have embraced the expansion of active and project-based learning in engineering education. Some instructors have begun to incorporate collaborative, semester-long research and synthesis projects to address these trends, as well as the increasingly complex and interdisciplinary nature of the transportation engineering industry. Open topic selection introduces problems of its own despite being praised for its ability to increase student ownership. This paper presents a study of two introductory transportation engineering courses at Purdue University and West Virginia University in their use of the TRB’s Research Needs Statements (RNS) database as part of their research and synthesis-style term projects. Three progressive surveys comprised of binary, 4- and 5-point Likert-scale, and open-ended questions were distributed to 141 students across both courses before, during, and after their term projects. This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of pertinent responses, bringing in additional datasets and accounting for demographics and other control variables. Using an ordered probit model, the study found that gender, candidacy for graduation, state residency, term hours earned, career interests, and various perceptions on the contents and interactions with the RNS database were significantly associated with student attitudes towards its recommendation for similar projects. Qualitative findings can guide instructors of similar introductory transportation courses in using the RNS database for project topic selection. Further, they can help RNS database administrators and contributors increase engagement with the database. Finally, engineering education researchers can use the methods presented to explore other tools for undergraduate project topic selection and identification.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABG20 Standing Committee on Transportation Education and Training.

Report/Paper Numbers:

18-06113

Language:

English

Authors:

Gatlin, J Drew
Pyrialakou, V Dimitra
Diefes-Dux, Heidi A
Gkritza, Konstantina
Martinelli, David

Pagination:

15p

Publication Date:

2018

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

References; Tables

Subject Areas:

Data and Information Technology; Education and Training; Research; Transportation (General)

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-06113

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Jan 8 2018 11:35AM