Obtaining continuing education is an ethical obligation for engineers and a necessary part of growing in their jobs, both to enable them to handle more complex technical tasks, and to maintain competency with changing technology. As the engineers advance in their careers, they must master administrative and management skills in order to advance their projects. Thus this continuing education is workforce development for the engineers themselves, and also for the workers who will be employed on their projects. Because most engineers of these target demographics already have jobs, this education must be made convenient for the working engineer and fit the situational needs of working engineers and their employers. This is especially true with engineers entering the transportation workforce. New civil engineers starting in transportation may have only one or two college transportation-related courses. Here we examine alternative modes of education delivery that take advantage of the great progress in electronic communications. Specifically, we critically examine non-traditional modes of offering academic education in transportation engineering subjects and identify situations where these modes may transmit knowledge effectively and factors in successful transmission. We utilized experienced instructors and drew on their knowledge of the administrative and pedagogical systems to offer and then critique various methods. This preliminary review could aid instructors preparing for first time entry into non-traditional education, but would also serve as preliminary selection guidance for non-traditional educational modes.
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