Sustainability Perspectives of Graduate Students on  Transportation Systems and Management

Robert M. Brooks; Mehmet Cetin; Jyothsna Kavuturu

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: General Topics in Graduate Education
Tagged Division: Graduate Studies
Page Count: 11
Page Numbers: 23.1122.1 - 23.1122.11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22507
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/22507
Download Count: 336

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Robert M. Brooks Temple University

visit author page

Dr. Robert Brooks is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Temple University. He is a fellow of
ASCE. His research interests are Engineering Education, Civil Engineering Materials and Transportaion
Engineering.

visit author page

biography

Mehmet Cetin Temple University

visit author page

Mehmet Cetin is a Doctorate Candidate of Civil Engineering at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. He has Master Degree. His research interests are Engineering Education, Civil Engineering Materials and Transportation Engineering.

visit author page

biography

Jyothsna Kavuturu

visit author page

Jyothsna K. S., Department of English, St.Joseph’s College, Bangalore, secured a gold medal for the highest aggregate marks in the Post Graduate English Literature Course at St.Joseph’s College (autonomous). K. S. has been working for the Department of English, St.Joseph’s College for almost two years now, teaching both undergraduate and Postgraduate courses in English. K. S. has published papers in intramural and extramural publications, and presented papers at several conventions, conferences, and
seminars.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Sustainability Perspectives of Graduate Students on Transportation Systems and ManagementUnderstanding of sustainability is essential for the transportation engineering and managementstudents. In President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address, he showed a strong commitmentfor producing clean energy1. More specifically, in his 2011 State of the Union address, thePresident declared that 80% of the energy used in the United States will come from clean energysources by 20352.Graduate students take transportation and systems management course routinely in the college ofengineering. They have been taught in the traditional way using the standard lecture format. Inthis method, sustainability is taught as one of the many constraints by spending approximatelyone hour of lecture. Both the method of standard lecture and the duration of the lecture areinsufficient for equipping the students not only for understanding the concepts of sustainability,but also mastering and committing them for contributing their share for the sustainableenvironment.The course has several modules. They deal with Air and Ground Transportation Systems andManagement. At the beginning of the course the students were given a pre-intervention surveyon their sustainability perspective on transportation systems and management. At the end of thecourse the same survey was given. They were not told that the survey would be given again atthe end of the semester.The students were taught in every lecture the appropriate component(s) of sustainability andrelated ethics. The students were given 4 assignments on these topics. The lectures and thestudent assignments explored various problems such as global society, business perspectives andpeople. They also considered people’s nature, values, and future generations. They examined oncost, user friendliness, and aesthetics. They used a broad holistic approach that incorporatedsocial and societal aspects. The 4 assignments we graded consisting of 20% of the course grade.The average grade of the pre-intervention survey was 66% and that of the post-interventionsurvey was 78%, and 18% improvement over the pre-intervention. The results were significantlydifferent with a calculated t value of 2.9. The t-test confirmed statistical improvement atsignificant confidence level with an alpha value of 0.05.The written comments of the students on the sustainability and ethical issues on specificproblems such as High Occupancy Vehicles, walking and cycling improvements, speedreductions and traffic calming. Many students wrote excellent comments on demandmanagement strategies including road pricing, parking management strategies, taxing gasoline,access management including ramp metering, transit improvements and rideshare programs, andcommute trip reduction programs. They were analyzed and graded. Students have shown theirpersonal contribution on keeping the sustainability at present level. They considered innovativeand practical concepts such as switching to hybrid vehicles, telework, and combining trips.The authors plan to extend this strategy to three other courses over the next two years. Themethod presented in this study may be used at other institutions with appropriate modificationsin order to prepare the students for improving their technological literacy.References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/24/us/politics/state-of-the-union-2012- video-transcript.html 2. Obama, B. (2011). State of the Union Address, Washington, D C. January, 25.

Citation
Format

Brooks, R. M., & Cetin, M., & Kavuturu, J. (2013, June), Sustainability Perspectives of Graduate Students on Transportation Systems and Management Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--22507

TY - CPAPER
AB - Sustainability Perspectives of Graduate Students on Transportation Systems and ManagementUnderstanding of sustainability is essential for the transportation engineering and managementstudents. In President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address, he showed a strong commitmentfor producing clean energy1. More specifically, in his 2011 State of the Union address, thePresident declared that 80% of the energy used in the United States will come from clean energysources by 20352.Graduate students take transportation and systems management course routinely in the college ofengineering. They have been taught in the traditional way using the standard lecture format. Inthis method, sustainability is taught as one of the many constraints by spending approximatelyone hour of lecture. Both the method of standard lecture and the duration of the lecture areinsufficient for equipping the students not only for understanding the concepts of sustainability,but also mastering and committing them for contributing their share for the sustainableenvironment.The course has several modules. They deal with Air and Ground Transportation Systems andManagement. At the beginning of the course the students were given a pre-intervention surveyon their sustainability perspective on transportation systems and management. At the end of thecourse the same survey was given. They were not told that the survey would be given again atthe end of the semester.The students were taught in every lecture the appropriate component(s) of sustainability andrelated ethics. The students were given 4 assignments on these topics. The lectures and thestudent assignments explored various problems such as global society, business perspectives andpeople. They also considered people’s nature, values, and future generations. They examined oncost, user friendliness, and aesthetics. They used a broad holistic approach that incorporatedsocial and societal aspects. The 4 assignments we graded consisting of 20% of the course grade.The average grade of the pre-intervention survey was 66% and that of the post-interventionsurvey was 78%, and 18% improvement over the pre-intervention. The results were significantlydifferent with a calculated t value of 2.9. The t-test confirmed statistical improvement atsignificant confidence level with an alpha value of 0.05.The written comments of the students on the sustainability and ethical issues on specificproblems such as High Occupancy Vehicles, walking and cycling improvements, speedreductions and traffic calming. Many students wrote excellent comments on demandmanagement strategies including road pricing, parking management strategies, taxing gasoline,access management including ramp metering, transit improvements and rideshare programs, andcommute trip reduction programs. They were analyzed and graded. Students have shown theirpersonal contribution on keeping the sustainability at present level. They considered innovativeand practical concepts such as switching to hybrid vehicles, telework, and combining trips.The authors plan to extend this strategy to three other courses over the next two years. Themethod presented in this study may be used at other institutions with appropriate modificationsin order to prepare the students for improving their technological literacy.References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/24/us/politics/state-of-the-union-2012- video-transcript.html 2. Obama, B. (2011). State of the Union Address, Washington, D C. January, 25.
AU - Robert M. Brooks
AU - Mehmet Cetin
AU - Jyothsna Kavuturu
CY - Atlanta, Georgia
DA - 2013/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Sustainability Perspectives of Graduate Students on Transportation Systems and Management
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/22507
DO - 10.18260/1-2--22507
ER -