Transforming Graduate Education in Transportation Engineering: Applying Cognitive Apprenticeship to Translate Doctoral Student Skills from Research-to-Practice

运输博士学生毕业后越来越多地选择在工业或政府机构工作。尽管在学位课程期间进行了深入的培训，但这些学生中的大多数都不具备在职业生涯中期（相当于5年以上的工作经验）开始工作所需的广泛技能。NSF授予罗文大学的研究生教育创新奖（IGE）将试行一种新的研究到实践的培训模式，以弥合这一差距。学生将逐步建立自己的技能，并学习如何通过围绕认知学徒模式建立的有意学习经验将其应用于运输行业。在这个项目中，运输博士。正在进行研究和撰写论文的硕士生将发展技术能力，商业和沟通技巧，领导力和团队发展方法，并建立他们的网络能力。培训计划是新颖的，因为很少有计划专注于应用认知学徒模式，以帮助学生学习如何在非学术环境中应用他们的研究技能。该培训计划还与行业和政府合作伙伴密切合作，这将有助于确保运输博士。学生毕业后准备从事中等职业水平的工作。此外，这种经验将有利于所有参与的研究生，因为它提供了实践经验，将有助于专业发展。交通运输博士的修订结构。该计划侧重于工业/政府应用，将吸引有兴趣为当地和更广泛的社区创造价值的多元化学生群体。培训计划将寻求回答“如何才能研究实践模式帮助学生在学术界以外的交通工程职业生涯做好准备？”更具体地说，它将解决三个研究问题：（1）研究到实践的研究生模式对发展交通工程博士生的专业认同有什么影响？(2)认知学徒制框架如何为博士生在交通工程领域的专业实践做好准备？研究实践研究生模式对博士生完成学位的动机有何影响？研究设计采用定性和解释性的混合方法，包括学生反思，访谈和调查，以解决提出的研究问题。由于专业身份和动机都与研究生学位课程的持久性和保留有关，特别是对于来自该领域代表性不足的群体的学生来说，这项研究将有助于解决多样化博士生群体在交通工程职业生涯中的准备问题。这一努力也预计将导致更好地保留学生在运输博士。程序.该项目的完成将提高对认知学徒模式如何应用于支架博士生的专业发展，为非学术职业做准备的理解。虽然结果将是特定的交通工程博士人口，使用混合方法的方法将有助于实现的结果，可以转移到其他工程项目和背景。研究生教育创新（IGE）计划的重点是研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试验、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Transportation Ph.D. students increasingly choose jobs within industry or government agencies upon graduation. Despite the in-depth training during their degree programs, most of these students do not have the broad skills needed to start positions at a mid-career level (equivalent to 5+ years of work experience). This NSF Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to Rowan University will pilot a new research-to-practice training model to bridge this gap. Students will progressively build their skills and learn how to apply them to the transportation industry through intentional learning experiences built around a cognitive apprenticeship model. In this program, transportation Ph.D. and Master’s students who are conducting research and writing a thesis will develop technical competencies, business and communication skills, leadership and team development approaches, and build their networking capabilities. The training program is novel as few programs focus on applying a cognitive apprenticeship model to assist students with learning how to apply their research skills in a non-academic setting. The training program also collaborates closely with industry and government partners, which will help ensure that the transportation Ph.D. students are prepared for mid-career level positions upon graduation. Moreover, this experience will benefit all participating graduate students because it provides practical experiences that will assist in professional development. The revised structure of the transportation Ph.D. program with an emphasis on industrial/government applications will attract a diverse student population interested in creating value for the local and broader community.This pilot transportation Ph.D. training program will seek to answer “How can a research-to-practice model assist students in preparing for a transportation engineering career outside of academia?” More specifically, it will address three research questions: (1) What impact does the research-to-practice graduate model have on developing transportation engineering doctoral students’ professional identity? (2) How does the cognitive apprenticeship framework prepare doctoral students for professional practice in transportation engineering? and (3) What influences does the research-to-practice graduate model have on doctoral students’ motivation towards degree completion? The research design uses qualitative and explanatory mixed methods approaches, including student reflections, interviews, and surveys, to address the proposed research questions. As both professional identity and motivation are related to persistence and retention within graduate degree programs, particularly for students from groups that are underrepresented in the field, this research will help address the preparation of a diverse doctoral student population for careers in transportation engineering. This effort is also anticipated to lead to better retention of students in the transportation Ph.D. program. This project’s completion will improve understanding of how a cognitive apprenticeship model can be applied to scaffold doctoral students’ professional development in preparation for non-academic careers. Although the results will be specific to the transportation engineering doctoral population, using a mixed methods approach will help achieve results that could be transferable to other engineering programs and contexts. The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.