Integrating Bicycle & Pedestrian Topics into Transportation Miguel Figliozzi Engineering Curriculum : Chris Monsere July 26, 2013 Lessons regarding projects for the classroom & connecting with the profession Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Outline • Context • Personal connection/motivation • Class implementation details – Project topics – Group projects – Guidance, handouts, documentation – Grading – Final presentations/reports • Final Thoughts 2
Context • Sharing our experience • We are still tweaking our approaches • Mostly for undergraduates • Not a complete class (yet) • Let’s be interactive in this discussion 3
Personal connection/motivation • Using projects as learning tool only work if you are engaged • Need to make additional time commitment • Can be rewarding engagement for faculty • Can add to research agenda 4
Class Implementation: Topics • Pre-defined group projects – Instructor specifies most of the project scope, method, and expected outcomes. • “Real” group projects – General problem or project submitted from outside sponsor (sort of like mini-capstone). 5
Using Professionals • Seek out interested staff at city, county, state or MPO (sometimes consultants or citizens) • Ask for project ideas – Give careful description of class timeline, skill level, and expected involvement – Ask for preliminary or projects not yet investigated by consultants or staff – Offer to evaluate something “new” • Invite professional to pitch project topic to students and be at the final presentation / poster • Post or share results (very valuable) 6
Pre-defined Project Topics Advantages Challenges • Clear scope and • Less chance for student expectations creativity • Easier to manage with in • Final presentations / reports large CEE undergraduate mostly the same setting • Less engagement with • Easier to integrate project professionals with class learning objectives • Possibly “crowd source” data analysis for your research 7
“Real” Projects Advantages Challenges • Engages students and • Must work with sponsor to faculty with professionals tightly define scope • Requires creative effort by • Students might not have all students skills yet • Can produce useable results • Not all efforts produce for sponsor or faculty useable results • More realistic project • Harder to assess experience for students • Time involved makes it difficult with large classes 8
Sample Pre-defined Topics • Bicyclist Speed and Accelerations • Intersection Timing Observations • Signal Timing Design • Pedestrian Crossing (Walking Speed, Compliance, Delays, Motorist Yielding, Gaps) • Bicycle Counting • Bicycle Signal Compliance 9
Class Implementation: Guidance, handouts, documentation • Description of activity • Pedagogical questions – Give the students the recipe or let them determine the data collection protocols – Sample size questions – Comparisons to other research • Resources – Data sheet / spreadsheet for students to log – Markings – Stop watch • Links to completed research or references 10
Sample “Real” Projects • Sign Comprehension Intercept Surveys • RRFB Assessment • Bicycle Signal Compliance • Historic Columbia River Trail • Green Wave Signal Timing • Crosswalk Safety Assessment • Crossbikes 11
Class Implementation: Guidance, handouts, documentation • RFP and Proposal • Interim Progress Report • Final Presentation or Poster • Final Report 12
Class Implementation: selecting teams • Class size and type • Team size (3-5 seems to be best) • Self-selection FEEDBACK FROM – Students will work with friends THE AUDIENCE? – Usually, good students together – Not representative of engineering practice • Assigned teams – More work for you (web tools can help) – Need to be aware of schedule conflicts – More realistic of engineering practice – Better from a pedagogical stand point 13
Class Implementation: Grading • Participation • Flexibility vs. clear point system FEEDBACK FROM • Sample rubrics THE AUDIENCE? • Challenges – How much to weight projects? – How to make sure one team member doesn’t get credit for work not done? 14
Class Implementation: Reporting • Final presentations – Takes class time (up 2 sessions) – Can be “boring” if all the same FEEDBACK FROM THE AUDIENCE? – Need to strictly manage time – Good for practicing communications • Poster-sessions • Final reports • Invite professionals to attend • Make sure to SHARE with sponsors! 15
Sharing - Sample Class Project Archives http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~monserec/courses/safety/project/project.htm http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~monserec/courses/urbantrans/projects/projects.htm 16
Consent & Disclaimer • CONSENT TO DISTRIBUTE (RFP) – The final version of this report and presentation will be shared with project sponsors. By signing the submittal letter you agree to having this distributed. No grades or corrections are posted. Should you wish to have your name removed from the material, please notify the instructor. • DISCLAIMER (REPORT) – “This report is the result of an academic exercise. The results and recommendations are the opinions of the student authors only.” 17
Final Thoughts • Incorporating bike and ped topics to your existing courses • Test material/ gauge student interest/ early feedback • Incorporate research findings/activities to the bike and ped topics • Be opportunistic: bring speakers or link to existing projects/design opportunities • Graduate vs. undergraduate students • Share with us! We are planning new CE Bicycle and Pedestrian Engineering course Winter ‘14 18
Some Resources 19
CATME: Web-based tool http://198.57.235.160/~catme/ 20
Resources for Presentations / Posters • Felder, R. Tips on Talks, link • Presentation Tips: Preparing and Delivering a Technical Presentation, ITE. link • Guide to Creating Research Posters (UT) link • Design of Scientific Posters (Penn State) link 21
Sample Email Hi Bill, Rob, Tom, Joe, Rick, Gregg, Dan: I am again looking for 5-7 "projects" that my fall undergraduate civil engineering "Urban Transportation Systems" class can tackle. Do you have a small design/data collection/analysis transportation-related projects that you want the students to study? The focus of the class is signals and urban design & planning but any relevant topic is useful. I have a few projects lined up already. For now, all I need is a brief description of the project so that I could present it to the students on 9/26. They will pick a project then write a short proposal to me. They will likely need to contact you or someone to gain more details about the project. At the end of quarter, they will prepare a short report and make a presentation Wednesday 11/28 at 2-350PM in EB103, both of which I will make available to you. It's great if the "clients" can attend these presentations - the students prepare harder for future employers! I would like to include a description in the syllabus to be handed out Monday 9/24 so please let me know before 9/21 if you have a project for me. Also, a few of these projects have continued on as a senior capstone project so keep that in mind. I know how busy you all are so thank you in advance for your help and support. If you don't have an project but know someone who might, please forward. These projects have really helped the students and our program. I look forward to your response! Chris Sample of last years projects http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~monserec/courses/urbantrans/projects/projects.htm 22
Sample Final Report Rubric Details (transmittal letter, cover letter, signature, 5-6 10 page max ) Background /Objectives 25 Task Documentation 10 Results 25 References 5 Overall impression 25 Total 100 This could be much better!!! 23
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