Training the Next Generation of Engineering Advocates
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•82 views
Presentation by Fionnuala Quinn, The Bureau of Good Roads. Presentation was part of a session on active transportation at the 2016 Annual Institute of Transportation Engineers Meeting & Exhibit held August 14-17, 2016 in Anaheim, California. Panel title: Promoting Healthy Communities Through Active Transportation
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (9)
Similar to Training the Next Generation of Engineering Advocates
Similar to Training the Next Generation of Engineering Advocates (20)
More from Fionnuala Quinn
More from Fionnuala Quinn (7)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Training the Next Generation of Engineering Advocates
- 1. The Next Generation of Engineering Advocates?
- 3. Kids & relationship to physical world
- 4. "I knew kids who were pushed out the door at eight in the morning, and not allowed back until five unless they were on fire or actively bleeding.” Bill Bryson on ‘50s childhood
- 5. Seeing the built world
- 7. Yet not so much this
- 9. Why does it matter?
- 10. The Road to Happiness
- 11. Guess what? Kids love this stuff
- 13. 3-D built world => designed Design & operation vary = different outcomes Everything is networked Change is normal => let’s think about how built world <=> how we live Value built world Kids have a role too (now and future)
- 14. Idea 1. Become an Explorer of the Street
- 15. Idea 2. Build a Better Box-Block
- 16. Idea 3. Celebrate Infrastructure
- 17. Idea 4. Unravel Streets Secrets
- 18. Idea 5. I ♥ Public Works
- 19. Idea 6: Making it fun & important
- 20. Idea 7: Safety programs to teach design ideas
- 21. Idea 8: Maps & wayfinding
- 22. Idea 9: Programs
- 23. Idea 10: Successful Networking for Kids
- 24. Inviting & including all kids
- 25. Low cost, readily implementable
- 26. A word about volunteers
- 27. Reimagining our built world
- 28. Thank you!
- 29. Fionnuala Quinn The Bureau of Good Roads Info@GoodRoadsMovement.com GoodRoadsMovement.com
Editor's Notes
- SLIDE 1: Introduction I create materials and conduct programs for community members, including children, encouraging them to think differently about the design of our streets.
- SLIDE 2: The Problem We take precious little time to engage children in the wonders of the public world. We rarely tell them the design stories nor share our vision or solicit their input on future plans.
- Slide 3: Kids & their relationship to the built world Meanwhile the relationship that kids have to the built world has altered. Their radius of free movement has become tiny, they spend vast amounts of time looking at flat screens & they are chauffeured around reducing their grip on local orientation and wayfinding.
- SLIDE 4: Bill Bryon quote We know something similar has happened in the US. With these changes, children have lost much of their contact & independent learning about the physical world they occupy.
- SLIDE 5: How to seeing what’s in front of our eyes My fourth class teacher in particular opened my eyes to the built world. Mrs. O’Sullivan took all forty-something of us on foot to see the Georgian buildings and squares of Dublin & had us build model replicas. I was also a child who biked independently 4 miles to school from age 11.
- SLIDE 6: The many worlds Society does a good job of making sure that children get a broad appreciation of the natural environment, undersea worlds and outer space.
- SLIDE 7: What we don’t teach them Teaching kids about the real world they occupy everyday is something we could be doing much better.
- SLIDE 8: The missed opportunity Yet we don't create many opportunities for children to learn directly about how we put together our streets and why they work the way they do. I say, let’s get inside their brains early.
- SLIDE 9: Why does it matter? The public conversations that take place around our roads don’t go so well. Introduce an idea of traffic calming and speed humps in the neighborhood and next thing World War III breaks out.
- SLIDE 10: The Road to Happiness There’s a long history of executing societal change through kids. – smoking, recycling, seatbelts.
- SLIDE 11: Kids love it See the line to get drawings reviewed, signed & sealed at the engineering booth. This is what happens when kids are excited about their built world.
- If they want to learn the details about this stuff, they can go to engineering school.
- SLIDE 13: Underlying principles The following principles underlay all fun and are reinforced with the children: The 3-D built world is artifact of human design Design & operation vary and can be varied leading to different outcomes Everything is networked Change is possible We own this stuff & it determines how we live We need to value & look after this stuff Kids have a role too (now and future)
- SLIDE 14: Idea 1. Become an Explorer of the Street Go outside and look at everything! Show kids around the public space. Walk the neighborhood streets or school parking lot.
- LIDE 15: Idea 2. Build Better Box-Cities Using readily available craft supplies and tools put it all together into a planned community and operating street. Incorporate toy cars and trucks and signs.
- SLIDE 16: Idea 3. Celebrate Community Infrastructure Celebrate the wonders of the amazing infrastructure that we build with kids. Get on hard hat tours of local construction and visit your local Department of Transportation.
- SLIDE 17: Idea 4. Unravel Streets Secrets Discover the secrets of how the street functions. Kids love being treated like they are ready for the special grown-up knowledge.
- SLIDE 18. Idea 5. I ♥ Public Works Send valentine love notes about their work to public officials.
- SLIDE 19: Idea 6. Act like this stuff is important Have the type of fun that comes from carrying clip boards, using measuring wheels, and wearing hard hats and safety vests. Hold award ceremonies and showcase the children’s work.
- SLIDE 20: Idea 7. Use safety education to teach design ideas Co-opt safety programs to teach design ideas – understanding those ideas first will lead to a better understanding of safety principles.
- SLIDE 21. Idea 8. Fun with Maps & Wayfinding Making and understanding maps remains a key skill for developing spatial understanding and helping making sense of our built world.
- SLIDE 22: Programs For the last two summers, The Bureau of Good Roads ran a street design-and transportation themed summer camp fin Washington DC. The Good Roads Rangers Club,
- SLIDE 23: Idea 10. Successful Networking for Kids Understanding that everything is part of a larger network and that overlapping networks intersect re key ideas. One way to explain is to have kids make their own streets & communities and then figure out how to join with others to create a network.
- When I saw this vintage ad, I felt sure it was me! However, when it appeared in 1981, I was already in engineering college. I was only there because of a single encouragement workshop .
- Challenges can be designed around readily available low-cost materials. Organize a collection of newspapers, kitchen towel rolls, clementine crates and next thing, you're in the construction business.
- SLIDE 26: A word about volunteers Many wonderful people are willing to share their time for kids and STEM.
- SLIDE 27: Reimagining our built world The streets can be such a familiar place that children may never be asked to look closely at how it all works. However, tublic roadways are key to access and independence as well as community safety and health so it important to include them in imagining our future.
- SLIDE 28: Thank you Let’s encourage kids to notice the design of the built world, understand a little about how it should and could work & invite them to be involved in that conversation now and in the future.