Driving Simulators as Educational Outreach for Freight Transportation

The purpose of this project is to enhance outreach efforts for middle and high school student groups for freight career awareness by using truck driving simulators. There is a shortage of truck drivers across the US which contributes to inefficiency in the freight system. While there are many complex factors leading to the driver shortage, lack of awareness of the trucking profession is among them. Through engaging workforce outreach programs, it may be possible to attract a new generation to freight careers. Beneficially, commercial driving simulators are becoming increasingly affordable and thus more ubiquitous across university research programs and workforce training centers. This project seeks to leverage the popularity of driving simulators by using them as active and engaging learning and outreach tools for middle and high school students. The work will develop a complete learning module for a day-long outreach program (“camp”), implement the program, and make all lesson plans available for public dissemination. In this way, any university and/or workforce center with a driving simulator can use the lesson plans for their own outreach events.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $75000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747130

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center

  University of Arkansas
  Fayetteville, AR  United States  72701
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

  4190 Bell Engineering
  Civil Engineering
  Fayetteville, Arkansas  United States  72701
• Principal Investigators:

  Hernandez, Sarah

• Start Date: 20210816
• Expected Completion Date: 20230731
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Curricula; Driving simulators; Freight transportation; High school students; Outreach; School children; Transportation careers; Trucking
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Freight Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01782063
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747130
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Sep 21 2021 4:23PM