Dr. Martin Kane conducted outreach activities for CAMMSE in the North Carolina State Extension’s annual 4-H Congress
New and Soon to Be Drivers Take the Wheel to Learn the Rules of the Road
July 21, 2020
As part of the CAMMSE Youth Outreach from UNC Charlotte, Dr. Martin Kane participated in the North Carolina State Extension’s annual 4-H Congress on July 21. Like so much this year, this year’s event, with a theme of, “Define Your Vision,” was hosted online vs. its traditional week-long, on-campus event in Raleigh, NC. This is an annual leadership assembly to train incoming and future club officers, with a wide variety of simultaneous professional development and networking sessions on special interest topics, cultural awareness, and preparing for success at college offered to all 4-H attendees.
Approximately 350 registered attendees, most of them ages 13-18 years old and from 73 of our 100 counties, Zoomed in to participate in interactive sessions over two full days.
“The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math of moving People and Things, or: Learning the Language of Traffic Engineering as a Young Traveler & Driver, was presented by Dr. Martin Kane. The estimated 50 participants helped identify the ways Traffic Engineers communicate with drivers to keep them safe.
The topics of signs, signals, pavement markings, intersection and interchange design, and human factors, allowed the new and soon-to-be new drivers take the wheel in learning how to read and follow the “The Rules of the Road.” While an online training session takes immense planning to feel interactive, digital tools were used to aid in keeping students’ attention while having a fun learning experience. Poll questions and chat messages were used in STEM-focused interactive mathematical problem solving, identification of the multi-faceted decision making points required while assessing and completing safe left-hand turns, and played a part in the special section highlighting distracted driving-and specifically, how to prevent it. Participants seemed to enjoy the session jumping in quickly to answer the poll scenarios, and to ask their own thoughtful questions of Dr. Kane.
Participants learned the academic route and licensing required of a Traffic Engineer, and were encouraged to learn more about transportation engineering through resources on a handout of college, professional organizations, and transportation information web sites provided by Dr. Kane. And each is to receive a completion certificate for inclusion in their year-long 4-H Project Book.