Engaging Engineering Students with Transportation Safety: An Educational Module

015378722014Final ReportPDFTech Report2012-085SCollege studentsComplianceDistractionEducationHighway safetyIndustrial engineeringPedestrian safetySpeed limitsTeenage driversVulnerable road usersEducation and trainingHighwaysSafety factorsHuman factors in accidentsSafety and Human FactorsI83: Accidents and the Human FactorUnited StatesMississippiSoutheastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education Center (STRIDE)Strawderman, LesleySoutheastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education Center (STRIDE)Mississippi State University. Industrial and Systems Engineering DepartmentUS Transportation CollectionIn this paper, we will introduce a newly created education module in transportation safety. The module is aimed at undergraduate engineering students, whose exposure to this topic is extremely limited, if they are exposed at all. Topics in the module include driver speed compliance, distracted driving, pedestrian safety, and vulnerable road users (VRUs) with an emphasis on young drivers. The module incorporates a number of items, including lecture material (both instructor and student versions), in-class activity, and laboratory exercises. The learning module is intended to supplement existing courses in engineering curricula. The goal of this learning module is to provide industrial engineering students with current research and knowledge in transportation safety. The module was recently piloted in an undergraduate Industrial Ergonomics courses. Results regarding the effectiveness of the module, as well as results on the student attainment of educational objectives, will be discussed. Finally, suggestions for the modification and inclusion of the material in various industrial engineering courses will be presented