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Use of a Driving Simulator to Enhance Learning Experience of Undergraduates in Highway Design
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Cernusca, Dan Bham, Ghulam H. |
| Copyright Year | 2012 |
| Abstract | This paper presents an exploratory study that focuses on addressing the needs of the new generation for engaging and more active learning experiences. An undergraduate highway design project for civil engineers was complemented with the use of a driving simulator both before and after two major highway design stages, horizontal and vertical alignment. Students perceived the driving simulator as engaging as well as effective for testing and evaluating highway designs. Perceived engagement of the driving simulator increased significantly from the preto the postphases of design activities. In addition, students’ ability to evaluate the quality of the vertical alignment generated with the driving simulator increased significantly after they completed that part of the highway design project. As a result, including a driving simulator as a virtual reality tool for analyzing the quality of highway design can improve the way students perceive and engage in the highway design tasks. This was especially useful since the target students were part of mandatory courses not directly related to their major. Students’ suggestions for expanding the use of the driving simulator to other parts of the course complemented the above findings. Motivation The new generation of students identified as the “Net Generation” , the “Millennials” 2,3,4 or “Me Generation” 5,6 have several characteristics that significantly impact how educational environments need to be shaped to stimulate their motivation and engagement. For example, high confidence and significant external-driven achievement are two predominant characteristics of this generation. To address the needs associated with these generational characteristics, instructors started to integrate in their courses technology-rich tools and associated instructional strategies. For example, one important role of technology was that of creating engaging and immersive learning contexts that promote personal achievement though peer and instructordriven active learning. Another important role of technology was that of providing quick formative feedback that enhances students’ confidence in their own learning. While technology proves to be an important instructional tool, academic research, as is the case of transportation research in this study, often creates high-end technology tools with specific research-related functions. This technology typically provides tools for small groups of doctoral, master or senior undergraduate students engaged in research or experiential activities. However, its use does not extend to classroom-based undergraduate instruction. One such technology is represented by driving simulators, capable of producing rich immersive virtual experiences that closely replicate the driving conditions on real highways and allow a safe testing of various traffic parameters. However, this engaging technology is rarely used in relation to learning factors or as an instructional tool for classroom-based activities especially of undergraduate students. This paper presents the first steps in integrating a driving simulator in an introductory course in Transportation Engineering for civil engineers as a means to create a more stimulating context for learning highway design. P ge 25408.2 Instructional Context Course Description and Goals The context of this study is an introductory Transportation Engineering course. This is a mandatory course for undergraduate students enrolled in all civil engineering specializations. Therefore, the student body is quite heterogeneous with respect to learning characteristics. Due to the fact that most of the students do not view transportation as their major or career opportunity, engaging them in various course activities is often a demanding task for the instructor. Even though the topics of the course cover a wide range of transportation engineering issues, the core element of the course is a semester-long team project that focuses on the redesign of an actual segment of a nearby highway. Addressing student engagement issues is even more stringent for design activities since design problems are and will be challenging in instruction because of their openness and complexity. In previous classes, students found learning the horizontal and vertical design aspects of the course both vague and challenging, such that the instructor had difficulty fully engaging students in the design process. One potential detractor for students’ engagement in the initial phases of the project appeared to be the lack of a concrete feeling of why a good highway design is important. That is, when designing the horizontal and vertical alignments, students seemed to focus on the equations and drawings rather than on the comfort and safety of driving on the designed highway. To address these issues, the instructor decided to expose students to a virtual experience of good and bad highway design through the use of a driving simulator typically used for transportation research. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://peer.asee.org/use-of-a-driving-simulator-to-enhance-learning-experience-of-undergraduates-in-highway-design.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
