Computer-Based Multimedia Pavement Training Tool for Self-Directed Learning

摘要

Advances in technology, more retirements, and less-experienced personnel have increased demand for training within the pavement industry. Traditionally, training demand has been met by classroom short courses. Although many are excellent, these courses can take substantial time to develop and deliver, and they have trouble reaching everyone who needs or desires training. The term "self-directed learning" (SDL) refers to learning and teaching methods that rely on the direction and guidance of the learner. Examples are distance learning and learning from computers or television. When combined with short courses, SDL offers the potential to extend training outreach and improve the quality and productivity of instructor-student contact hours within short courses. The Pavement Guide was developed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of SDL tools for use in pavement training. Pavement Guide refers to the generic concept of a computer-based multimedia CD-ROM training tool that provides general and detailed pavement knowledge. This concept has been used to produce several customized Pavement Guide versions, the largest of which consists of 275 web pages, 2,500 images, 50 animations, 14 videos, and 11,000 hyperlinks, all of which can be delivered on one CD-ROM. On the basis of early student surveys, initial reaction to the Pavement Guide concept has been good, which indicates that development of such SDL products is a viable field into which pavement training should expand.