Public Works Projects as Vehicles for Engineering Education and Outreach

America is built on small and large feats of public works engineering that, although often taken for granted, affect almost every aspect of our daily lives. So how can we celebrate these marvels of utilitarian infrastructure and use them to teach public audiences about the engineering principles, materials, and human innovations that make them possible? This case study will share how one project addressed these questions by leveraging informal learning strategies, multiagency collaborations, and new media technologies to explain the history and engineering of one of the world’s most recognizable public work sites: the Golden Gate Bridge. Introduction In 2009, the National Science Foundation awarded the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD) funding to create an outdoor exhibit to interpret the history, engineering, and construction of the Golden Gate Bridge for the site’s approximately 10 million annual visitors. As an iconic example of American public works and prominent tourist destination, the Golden Gate Bridge and this complementary outdoor exhibit demonstrates how public works agencies, in collaboration with local partners, can provide informal engineering education. The specific educational deliverables produced by the project include: • The design, fabrication, and installation of 17 outdoor exhibit components; • The participation of undergraduate and masters students in the exhibit’s design process as a means of increasing their understanding of engineering principles and their capacity to interpret these concepts for public audiences; • Increased public access to information related to the Golden Gate Bridge via a smart phone Quick Response (QR) code, which links visitors to online language translations and additional engineering content; • The creation of an international conference of diverse professionals dedicated to pioneering the use of infrastructure, construction projects, and public works sites as informal, free-choice learning venues; and • An online professional development course offered to members of the American Public Works Association (APWA). Through the identification, development, and implementation of these deliverables, the project explored the possibilities, challenges, and benefits of using public works venues to provide sitebased learning. The first half of this paper will examine the relevant role public works and engineering sites can play in supporting science, technology engineering, and math (STEM) education; provide a brief history and explanation of the development and design of the GGBHTD outdoor exhibit; and discuss educational theory that demonstrates the value of freechoice learning. The second half of the paper will present specific findings from the exhibit’s preliminary summative evaluation. This section will include observations and visitor feedback; student impacts, and examples of ways the project has supported professionals developing their capacity to create similar visitor experiences. Untapped Resources: Leveraging Public Works for Engineering Education Every day Americans utilize a vast array of modern conveniences made possible by engineering and public works, whether by turning on a light, washing a dish, or driving to work. However, P ge 23010.2 citizens rarely have the opportunity to learn about or experience the fundamental science and engineering principles that orchestrate their daily lives. Although public works sites exist in almost every community of the United States, few provide community members the opportunity to learn how STEM principles influence the design or daily operations of these sites. Historically speaking, the primary domain for STEM education has been formal education institutions (e.i. schools and universities), but “learning is rapidly becoming the single most important leisure commodity in our society, and the free-choice learning sector has emerged as a flexible, innovative, and efficient device for facilitating the learning that the public craves.” The longevity of popular television programs focused on construction projects, infrastructure, technological innovation, and manufacturing, such as Modern Marvels (first aired in 1992) and How Its Made (first aired in 2001), suggest that there is an established cultural interest in these sites and topics. Despite the opportunities created by public interest in STEM, engineering firms and public works agencies have only recently begun to recognize the underutilized potential of public works to foster community engagement and serve as venues that support public engineering literacy. When engineers and public works agencies partner with local universities, informal educators, and museum practitioners to leverage their professional expertise to engage communities, numerous benefits are created. In return for investing in simple, cost-effective informational panels, hands-on exhibits, tours, or other informal educational strategies, collaborating partners gain reputations as visible and invested community partners. Providing visitors educational experiences also allows these organizations to memorably showcase how they serve their community. These projects additionally communicate the importance of continued investment in infrastructure development and maintenance while cultivating a STEM literate society. Reciprocally, community members gain an introduction to increasingly relevant STEM principles and a foundational knowledge that prepares them to take an educated and active role in community planning and decision-making. Golden Gate Bridge: An Outdoor Exhibit In order to demonstrate the ability of public works sites to satisfy cultural curiosity through rich visitor experiences, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD) partnered with EHDD Architecture, the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE), the Exploratorium of San Francisco, West Wind Laboratory, LightHouse for the Blind, and Princeton University to create an outdoor exhibit at the Golden Gate Bridge. The exhibit explains factors that influenced the Golden Gate Bridge’s design and construction through photographs, text panels, hands-on components, and a smart phone Quick Response (QR) code that links visitors to additional web-content and language translations. As of the submission of this paper, the exhibit includes 17 components that share the history of the Golden Gate Bridge’s site, construction, and aesthetics; explain the implications of natural forces on engineering design; and demonstrate the fundamental engineering principles that make its design possible. Detailed descriptions of each of the outdoor exhibit component can be found in a companion ASEE article entitled, Public Works for Public Learning: A Case Study. The outdoor exhibit components are clustered by themes and distributed across a large visitor’s area located at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. The largest cluster of exhibit P ge 23010.3 components were installed in a pre-World War I artillery installation, called Battery Lancaster, which previously was one of the least visited areas of the site (see Figure 1, circle 4). By incorporating exhibit components into Battery Lancaster, the project revitalized and provided a purpose to this underutilized space and created a dynamic area for contextualized engineering education, free-choice learning, and socialization. Program managers drew visitors to the battery by installing the exhibit’s welcome signage (see Figure 1, circle 1) in a walkway between Battery Lancaster and a recently renovated plaza (see Figure 1, circle 6). The installation of a hands-on, kinetic exhibit component and nine historical information panels additionally encouraged visitors to spend more time within the space. Outdoor exhibit components were also installed in four other locations selected for their high foot-traffic; views of the bridge, which provided visual references for specific design features discussed by the components; or a natural element, like wind, that was necessary for creating conditions needed to demonstrate a concept.