Structuring the Content of the First Course in Transportation Engineering: Perspectives of Engineers and Educators
This article has been corrected.
VIEW CORRECTIONPublication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 139, Issue 3
Abstract
The views of practicing transportation engineers and those of instructors teaching the first/introductory course in transportation engineering can serve as vital inputs in development, or redevelopment, of this course. The priorities of practitioners and educators regarding possible course topics are discussed in this paper. The ranked topic priorities of practitioners and educators compared with one another and the current practitioner priorities are also compared with an older survey. A high degree of correlation was found in both cases. Although general trends are fairly consistent, some observations about specific topics can be made; for example, the importance of including topics addressing alternatives to private vehicle travel is notably higher in the most recent practitioner survey than in the older survey. Although the information derived from these surveys merits consideration in structuring the first course in transportation engineering, many other factors should also be considered. The role of the course in the greater civil engineering curriculum, the setting of the institution, the needs of its stakeholders, and preparation for the Fundamentals of Engineering examination are all factors that should be considered as well.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the participants of both surveys for their time and the paper reviewers for their suggestions to improve this paper.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 139 • Issue 3 • July 2013
Pages: 206 - 210
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 17, 2012
Accepted: Dec 10, 2012
Published online: Dec 12, 2012
Discussion open until: May 12, 2013
Published in print: Jul 1, 2013
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