INFRO@D PROJECT

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a departure from the current functioning of society in many aspects of the economy, travel, work and education, not excluding higher education. The necessity of remote education is one of the ways to maintain social distancing and protect our health and life. A preliminary assessment of the situation at universities in Poland and other European countries indicates that academic staff is not sufficiently prepared to conduct attractive and effective classes carried out in a remote format.

The necessity to conduct classes remotely involves the development of a dedicated didactic and training process project, considering the specific requirements of interdisciplinary engineering knowledge. Transferring this knowledge in remote education, due to its large scope, requires the use of various didactic tools (lectures, fieldwork, design, practicals, laboratories, student’s assignments and assessment of the progress and knowledge of students and trainees).

As part of the INFRO@D Project, a model product dedicated to distance learning at technical universities in the field of civil engineering and transportation will be developed. This product will include comprehensive and innovative solutions, enabling the implementation of remote education at the highest level. The developed methodology and teaching materials will be based on a course of Road Infrastructure Management (RIM), and in particular on Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM). The method of preparation of the methodology and didactic and training materials will allow for their implementation in all subject fields of civil engineering and transportation (CET).

RIM, like other areas within CET, requires continuous improvement of the competences of teaching staff and the increase in level of knowledge of students and employees. The Project provides for the development of a digital education methodology for didactic classes at universities and training of engineering personnel. The preparation of the distance learning course of RIM at universities and technical universities will enable the use and verification of the best solutions of the teaching methodology in this mode from Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. The INFRO@D Project will contribute to raising the level of teaching and training, using innovative digital teaching materials for distance learning, these can be used by all universities dealing with the subject.

The importance of RISM justifies the choice of this issue as a subject area for the development of model solutions for remote education. RISM is one of the most important challenges of the modern world. More than a million road fatalities annually worldwide, constituting the main cause of death of young people, is a sufficient argument to take radical remedial actions.

The implementation work has been divided into 7 work packages, which will give 17 results of intellectual outputs (IO). IO.1-3 will include the development of the concept for the didactic and training process in the remote mode. Within IO.4-9 methods of remote teaching will be developed with the use of supporting tools for various forms of class (lectures, fieldwork, practicals, design, laboratories). IO.10-13 will include the development of example teaching and training materials, using developed distance learning techniques, in four areas: road safety audit implementation, infrastructure safety management for vulnerable road users, road safety management and road surface management. IO14-16 is the implementation of the road infrastructure management process, which will allow for verification and modification of the methodologies prepared under the IO.4-9, together with the preparation of the textbook for digital education. Lastly IO.17 is a project to gather an international panel of experts on RIM.

The main objective of the INFRO@D Project is to improve the competence and skills in remote education in a model solution in the field of RIM, with a particular focus on RISM. In order to achieve this goal, efforts should be made to promote the best solutions in the field of digital education (remote teaching – implemented ad hoc during the pandemic and e-learning courses, which may become a permanent part of the teaching process in the near future).

The project will be supported by a group of associated partners who will cooperate with the Project partners to consult and evaluate the results. They will implement final products and promote the dissemination and accessibility of the Project results.

The Project provides for the implementation of innovative remote education in road infrastructure safety management, in line with the guidelines of the WHO pandemic plan for the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes European countries.

PROJECT DETAILS