Publication Detail
Responding to IVHS Training Needs: A Curriculum for 21st Century Professional Education
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UCD-ITS-RP-94-20 Presentation Series Download PDF |
Suggested Citation:
Jovanis, Paul P. (1994) Responding to IVHS Training Needs: A Curriculum for 21st Century Professional Education. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Presentation Series UCD-ITS-RP-94-20
Moving Toward Deployment: Proceedings, IVHS America 1994 Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA. Vol. 1
There is little question that IVHS systems are presenting tremendous challenges to the transportation community in the areas of continuing education and training of new engineers. In response to these challenges, Caltrans has contracted with the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis to develop a curriculum for advanced technology training for their employees. Among the issues of concern are the development of a set of core educational materials that could be used to introduce advanced technology concepts to current transportation professionals. The curriculum is developed from the perspective that all IVHS systems are developed from technology building blocks that include: communications; computers; software; sensors and detectors; and vehicle systems. The curriculum uses a discussion of these building blocks to discuss hOw they are used in the broad array of IVHS systems. In addition, there is a need to understand how these technologies and systems affect the roles of state transportation agencies in dealing with current and new user groups and the agency's own employees.
The research team addressed these needs by undertaking two sets of activities: a set of over 15 interviews with active IVHS researchers, principally within California; and, an extensive review of over 20 documents describing Caltrans' current mission and how they have evolved organizationally to respond to that mission.
Based on the interviews, the five technologies listed above are characterized in the curriculum in terms of their most important technical attributes and the management challenges they pose to engineers attempting to use the technology for the public good. A matrix structure is used to connect each technical and management issue for each technology to five functional areas of activity identified by the review of the transportation agency's mission documents (i.e. planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance). The matrix can thus be used to understand how advances in computer networking, for example, may differentially influence transportation planning functions compared to design or maintenance activities. In addition, important topics in human factors, user policy, and state agency policy (e.g. in dealing with their own employees) are directly connected to IVHS technologies and systems through the matrix structure.
The paper focuses on a description of the matrix structure that is the foundation of the study. In addition, the paper describes how the matrices were used to develop a 3-day course specifically targeted for mid level operations engineers. This abstract responds to the topic area of education and training in the Call for Papers.
There is little question that IVHS systems are presenting tremendous challenges to the transportation community in the areas of continuing education and training of new engineers. In response to these challenges, Caltrans has contracted with the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis to develop a curriculum for advanced technology training for their employees. Among the issues of concern are the development of a set of core educational materials that could be used to introduce advanced technology concepts to current transportation professionals. The curriculum is developed from the perspective that all IVHS systems are developed from technology building blocks that include: communications; computers; software; sensors and detectors; and vehicle systems. The curriculum uses a discussion of these building blocks to discuss hOw they are used in the broad array of IVHS systems. In addition, there is a need to understand how these technologies and systems affect the roles of state transportation agencies in dealing with current and new user groups and the agency's own employees.
The research team addressed these needs by undertaking two sets of activities: a set of over 15 interviews with active IVHS researchers, principally within California; and, an extensive review of over 20 documents describing Caltrans' current mission and how they have evolved organizationally to respond to that mission.
Based on the interviews, the five technologies listed above are characterized in the curriculum in terms of their most important technical attributes and the management challenges they pose to engineers attempting to use the technology for the public good. A matrix structure is used to connect each technical and management issue for each technology to five functional areas of activity identified by the review of the transportation agency's mission documents (i.e. planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance). The matrix can thus be used to understand how advances in computer networking, for example, may differentially influence transportation planning functions compared to design or maintenance activities. In addition, important topics in human factors, user policy, and state agency policy (e.g. in dealing with their own employees) are directly connected to IVHS technologies and systems through the matrix structure.
The paper focuses on a description of the matrix structure that is the foundation of the study. In addition, the paper describes how the matrices were used to develop a 3-day course specifically targeted for mid level operations engineers. This abstract responds to the topic area of education and training in the Call for Papers.