Celebrating 45 Years of the Center for Transportation Research
In October 2017 TTAP distributed a comprehensive training needs assessment online survey to more than 4,400 individuals in our contact database. One hundred and fifty-six individuals spent an average of 10 minutes to complete the 40-question survey, resulting in a total of 26 hours (1,560 minutes) of feedback.
Some important trends emerged from these results. The greatest number of responses came from employees of cities and counties (54%), followed by TDOT/FHWA (21%), and consultants (16%). An overwhelming majority of responses (92%) came from individuals with 10 or more years of professional experience. Additionally, 66 responses came from licensed Professional Engineers (PEs). 81% of respondents indicated that they have previously completed two or more TTAP continuing education workshops.
The survey addressed a wide range of questions related to current and future TTAP continuing education activities, including the participant's willingness to participate in online training. In general, survey respondents were willing to consider online training as either an alternative or a supplement to traditional classroom training. The most positive responses were recorded for scenarios where online training would reduce or eliminate the travel time required for classroom training, when online training is self-paced, and when online training provided background material while saving time in the classroom for the discussion of advanced topics.
In broader terms, 81% of participants preferred full-day workshops as the least-disruptive and most efficient way to participate in classroom training. Finally, participants indicated that their maximum acceptable travel time to participate in classroom training and other live events is directly proportional to the duration of the event.
Finally, we asked participants to identify their continuing education priorities by both technical categories and by individual workshop titles/subjects. Among the 17 unique categories presented in the survey, the top priorities were:
- Roadway Safety
- Work Zone Safety
- Construction and Maintenance
- Laws and Regulations
- Traffic Operations.
Within each category, participants were given the option to rate their interest in several workshop titles. Many of the titles presented in the survey represent existing TTAP workshops, but several new or advanced titles were added to gauge interest in these topics. New classes were identified by reviewing training offerings from other LTAP centers, the National Highway Institute, FHWA, and professional organizations. Response options to these individual workshop titles included "Not interested," "Would probably take if offered," and "Immediate Interest." Ranked by the combination of "Would probably take if offered" and "Immediate Interest," the top 15 titles are as follows:
- Traffic Calming
- ADA Self Evaluations and Transition Plans
- Roadside Safety Standards
- Traffic Signs and Pavement Markings
- Road Safety 365
- Communicating with the Public*
- Fundamentals of Traffic Control
- Safety Treatments for Horizontal Curves*
- Advanced Work Zone Traffic Control
- Pavement Management Systems
- New Work Zone Technologies*
- MUTCD and Signalized Intersections
- Basic Traffic Studies
- Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control*
- Asphalt Pavement Rehabilitation
Four of these titles (indicated with an asterisk in the list) are new topics which have not been offered by TTAP as stand-alone topics. However, only one of the four (Communicating with the Public) represents a completely new subject that is not linked to previous TTAP training offerings.
A complete summary of results from the training survey can be found on the TTAP website at http://ttap.utk.edu/survey/2018survey.pdf. The results of this survey will be used to guide TTAP's training activities in 2018 and beyond. While we greatly appreciate the time that participants devoted to the survey, we realize that many of you may have missed the invitation to participate or simply did not have time to complete the survey. We still want to hear from you and we invite you to share your thoughts on training titles, format, location, duration, and more.
Back-Contents-Forward