Digital Commons Network^™

Using Content Analysis And Text Mining To Examine The Effects Of Asynchronous Online Tutoring On Revision, Susan Lang, Clinton Morrison Jr, Kathleen Brawley

The Writing Center Journal

What do writers do with the feedback they receive? While the answer will vary depending on the writer’s experience and the rhetorical situation, understanding what writers do can provide important information for course redesign and professional development of tutors and instructors. In this first of two manuscripts, the authors examine how first-semester, first-year writing students use responses provided via asynchronous online tutoring (AOT) in revising their assignments. Our primary research question was: What was happening in—and after—those tutorials? We addressed this question by a process of narrowing and refining of data analysis toward increasingly precise inferences as we progressed from …

Collaborative Publishing And Multivalent Research: Writing Center Journal Scholarship From 2001 To 2020, Joseph Cheatle

The Writing Center Journal

This work examines articles published in the Writing Center Journal between 2001 and 2020 in order to understand more about the publishing, scholarship, and research practices of the field of writing center studies. Through analyzing articles published in the Writing Center Journal between 2001 and 2020, this work makes three contributions to the field. The first contribution of this work is an overview of the shift from scholarship to research in the field of writing center studies. The second contribution of this work is to highlight the growth of collaborative scholarship and research during this time. As is demonstrated in …

“Hopes And Fears”: What Do Writing Center Administrators Think Of Merging With Or Converting Into A Learning Center?, Jenny Goransson

The Writing Center Journal

This article shares findings from a survey study (n = 73) focused on writing center administrator (WCA) perceptions of two phenomena we see on many secondary and postsecondary campuses in recent years: writing centers expanding to become learning centers, and writing centers consolidating or merging with other tutoring services on campus. Through analysis of the qualitative, open-ended survey responses, the study revealed that WCAs’ views of these trends are greatly impacted by local conditions and levels of autonomy, as well as WCAs’ beliefs about expertise. Also, consolidation and expansion are seen by WCAs as shifting writing center identity in …

Slouching Towards Causality: Does Our Writing Center Tutoring Work?, Dennis Paoli, Jack Kenigsberg

The Writing Center Journal

Replicable, aggregable, data-supported (RAD) research has become standard in writing center studies. Choice of research question is determined by local conditions and exigencies, often influenced by institutional assessment policy and national mandates. The methodology of choice in most writing center research is qualitative inquiry, though quasi-experimental quantitative studies, with their inherently difficult protocols and ethical problems, persist in their effort to address the question fundamental to writing center labor: Does writing center tutoring improve student writing? In a quasi-experiment applying propensity score matching to a sample of student users of the Rockowitz Writing Center at Hunter College of the City …

Review: Writing Centers & Racial Justice: A Guidebook For Critical Praxis, Faith Thompson

The Writing Center Journal

Writing Centers & Racial Justice seeks to answer the question many writing center directors seeking to enact antiracism have: “But how do we DO it?” This edited collection is not a how-to guide but offers strategies, suggestions, and even curriculum for writing center administration. It is broken down into five parts, each tackling a different component of writing center work, such as hiring and retention practices as well as tutor education. It calls on readers to look outside the writing center and begin to expand this work through their institutions and communities, as well as directly calling out professional organizations …

Review: A Working Model For Contingent Faculty, Courtney L. Werner

The Writing Center Journal

In his book A Working Model for Contingent Faculty, Robert Samuels presents multiple ideas for helping contingent faculty organize to gain equity on campus: in their careers, working conditions, and pay. Samuels critiques current prominent, negative discourse on contingent faculty, offering instead ways to emphasize contingent faculty’s diverse and positive experiences and opportunities. I offer additional insights spurred from Samuels’s ideas, including connecting with student government and finding ways to make writing center work and research more public and apparent to institutional stakeholders (e.g., students, faculty, donors, administrators, boards/trustees).

Development Of Latitude/Longitude (And Route/Milepost) Model For Positioning Traffic Management Cameras, Jijo K. Mathew, Haydn Malackowski, Yerassyl Koshan, Christopher Gartner, Jairaj Desai, Howell Li, Edward Cox, Ayman Habib, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Technical Reports

Traffic Incident Management (TIM) is a FHWA Every Day Counts initiative with the objective of reducing secondary crashes, improving travel reliability, and ensuring the safety of responders. Agency roadside cameras play a critical role in TIM by helping dispatchers quickly identify the precise location of incidents when receiving reports from motorists with varying levels of spatial accuracy. Reconciling position reports that are often mile-marker based with cameras that operate in a Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) coordinate system relies on dispatchers having detailed knowledge of hundreds of cameras and perhaps some presets. During real-time incident dispatching, reducing the time it takes to identify …

Incorporating Time-Dependent Data For Proactive Safety Management, Raul Pineda-Mendez, Qiming Guo, Noshin Ahmad, Mario A. Romero, Andrew P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

This study proposed a risk-based safety management framework to supplement the current crash-based safety management system. The proposed tool considers time-dependent factors (e.g., hourly traffic, speed features, weather conditions, signal controls) to help justify operational measures for safety improvements (e.g., variable message signs, variable speed limits, warnings). These selected temporal factors subsequently were included in the developed sequential logit models; and those models, applied hour by hour, were then used to estimate the crash probability and severity level. Two typical roadway elements, rural freeway segments and signalized intersections, were also included in the analysis. The obtained crash risk profiles can …

Origin-Destination Vehicle Counts In Weaving Area Utilizing Existing Field Data, Stanley Chien, Lauren Christopher, Yaobin Chen, Mei Qiu, Wei Lin

JTRP Technical Reports

Vehicle weaving describes the vehicle lane changes in areas between consecutive merge and diverge ramp junctions. During heavy traffic, vehicle weaving will slow down traffic, cause congestion, and increase the possibility of crashes. It is desirable to automatically capture the weaving information using camera videos in the weaving areas. The currently existing weaving area analysis is very tedious and labor-intensive. This report describes a novel system that uses the videos simultaneously captured at the entry and exit of the weaving area to find the number and percentage of vehicles from each lane on the entry to each lane on the …

Geometric Constraints And Visual Field Related To Speed Management, Jiachen Jiang, Jiabei Wu, Jue Zhou, Yaobin Chen, Vincent G. Duffy, Renran Tian

JTRP Technical Reports

This study investigates the challenges inherent in rural arterial roads and highways connecting small towns and cities in Indiana. Despite their pivotal role in transportation and development, these roads often experience a high frequency of traffic accidents attributed to speeding, particularly at transition areas from high-speed to low-speed roads. To address this issue, this study investigated cost-efficient and effective speed management countermeasures. This study emphasized the importance of considering cost-efficient and effective speed management strategies, with a focus on roadside vegetation and lane widths near small-town entrances on arterial roads and highway ramps. Proposing four countermeasures for each scenario—such as …

Review Of Indiana Asphalt Binders (In-Situ Pg Grade Asphalt Determination), Jusang Lee, M. Reza Pouranian, Mohammed Ziaur Rahaman, Ayesha Shah, John E. Haddock

JTRP Technical Reports

In the face of multifaceted challenges such as asphalt pavement deterioration and the introduction of new LTPPBind versions, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) initiated a pivotal research project focusing on three primary areas. First, the study examined the implications of Performance Grade (PG) binder selections on pavement performance using AASHTOware Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) Design V 2.6. It revealed that PG selections, particularly those made by LTPPBind V 3.1 Desktop and Online, significantly influenced pavement performance, impacting thermal and bottom-up cracking. Second, the project explored the efficacy of three solvents— n-propyl bromide (nPB), trichloroethylene (TCE), and a solution of toluene/ethanol …

Field Implementation Of Concrete Strength Sensor To Determine Optimal Traffic Opening Time, Zhihao Kong, Na Lu

JTRP Technical Reports

In the fast-paced and time-sensitive fields of construction and concrete production, real-time monitoring of concrete strength is crucial. Traditional testing methods, such as hydraulic compression (ASTM C 39) and maturity methods (ASTM C 1074), are often laborious and challenging to implement on-site. Building on prior research (SPR 4210 and SPR 4513), we have advanced the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique for in-situ concrete strength monitoring, crucial for determining safe traffic opening times. These projects have made significant strides in technology, including the development of an IoT-based hardware system for wireless data collection and a cloud-based platform for efficient data processing. A …

Developing Ai-Assisted In-Situ Ndt Method For Air-Void Distribution Testing In Fresh And Hardened Concrete, Zhihao Kong, Aritro Roy Mitra, Luna Lu

JTRP Technical Reports

Understanding the air void content in concrete is crucial since it significantly influences the durability and strength of the material, especially in environments susceptible to freeze-thaw cycles. This report introduces an advanced nondestructive testing (NDT) method for the in-situ detection of air voids in concrete by employing diffusive ultrasound. Focusing on the ultrasound attenuation coefficient, this research established a strong correlation with key air void metrics, including the volumetric ratio and spacing factor, as outlined in ASTM C457. The study also undertook a comparative analysis of ASTM C457 methods B and C, revealing the instrument-dependent variability in measuring air voids. …

Material Characterization And Determination Of Mepdg Input Parameters For Indiana Superpave 5 Asphalt Mixtures, Seonghwan Cho, Tandra Bagchi, Jongmyung Jeon, John E. Haddock

JTRP Technical Reports

Superpave 5 (SP 5) has the ability to slow asphalt binder aging in asphalt pavements, which is why the SP 5 mix with optimum asphalt binder content to yield 5% air voids has recently been used in Indiana roads. INDOT also uses the AASHTOWare Pavement ME design software in pavement design, and the current asphalt aging prediction model in Pavement ME was developed based on the conventional Superpave asphalt mixture (design air voids 4%) design method. For the successful use of the SP 5 mixture design method with Pavement ME, the input level and input parameters play a significant role. …

Implementation And Assessment Of Highway Intrusion Technologies, Sogand Hasanzadeh, Behzad Esmaeili, Kyeongsuk Lee, Hrishikesh Pokharkar, Shiva Pooladvand, Woei-Chyi Chang

JTRP Technical Reports

Highway workers face dangers from distracted drivers and challenging work zones, which results in thousands of incidents annually in the U.S. Traditional safety measures, though beneficial, highlight a need for advanced intrusion alert technologies. While many state DOTs are exploring these technologies, research gaps persist regarding their effectiveness in alerting drivers and workers. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency and implications of four commercial intrusion technologies, with a focus on drivers’ and workers’ cognition and response. Results offer practical guidelines and a decision-making tool to assist INDOT in selecting the optimal technology. The ultimate goal is to significantly reduce …

Full-Scale Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer And Pilot Project Implementation, Oscar Moncada, Zainab Imran, Connor Vickers, Konstantina Gkritza, Steven Pekarek, Dionysios Aliprantis, Aaron Brovont, Behnam Jahangiri, John E. Haddock

JTRP Technical Reports

Considering the challenges hindering the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and heavy-duty electric vehicles(HDEVs), the integration of dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) technology into roadways has gained interest. By embedding DWPT components into pavement, electrical power can be delivered to an EV or HDEV as they are in motion. Yet, large-scale implementation depends on further in-depth research, both to explore optimal construction methods and to understand the impact of embedment on the pavement’s resultant behavior. The objective of this project was trifold: (1) design and evaluate a transmitter-receiver topology for DWPT, (2) enhance the understanding of the interaction between …

Performance-Related Specifications For Pavement Milling, Oscar Andrés Moncada, Seonghwan Cho, Vito Francioso, John E. Haddock

JTRP Technical Reports

The primary objective of this research was to evaluate pavement damage that may occur during the pavement milling process, which is critical to the overlay design and performance of asphalt pavements. To achieve this purpose, the most common milling practices in Indiana were implemented on several trial sections and various damage characterization tests performed in the field and laboratory. The research provided a testing methodology to determine if a milling machine was having detrimental effects on the residual pavement and a process to “tune” the particular milling machine to its optimal operational standards to minimize detrimental effects. Finally, this research …

Statewide Screening Of Signalized Intersections For Capacity Improvements, Saumabha Gayen, Enrique D. Saldivar-Carranza, Rahul Suryakant Sakhare, Jairaj Desai, Jijo K. Mathew, Nathan Shellhamer, Taylor Ruble, Dan Mccoy, Jack Gallagher, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Technical Reports

Identification of congested traffic signals that require capital investment to increase capacity has historically been a time-consuming process. Signalized intersections with congestion were analyzed to see if they could be improved through retiming, and capital investment was only considered if retiming is deemed infeasible. Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPMs), and more recently, signal performance measures (SPMs) derived from connected vehicle (CV) trajectory data, have already been used to streamline the process of identifying signalized intersections that can be improved through retiming. However, to date, similar efforts have not been used to identify intersections that may benefit from capital investment. …

Field Handbook For Maintenance And Preservation Treatments Of Concrete Pavements, Mohammadreza Mirzahosseini, Jan Olek, Dulcy M. Abraham, Prashant Ram, Kurt Smith

JTRP Technical Reports

Information related to maintenance and preservation (M&P) treatments of Portland cement concrete pavement (PCCP) has not been uniformly presented across various Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) maintenance-related documents, including INDOT Standard Specifications and the INDOT Design Manual. Since this data is scattered across different documents and frequently incomplete, it is often challenging for field personnel to obtain consistent information which can assist in making decisions related to selection of treatments that can benefit the service life of concrete pavements. To address this gap, the SPR-4601 guidebook was developed to provide succinct descriptions of common distresses and failures observed in concrete …

Advancing Indot’S Friction Test Program For Seamless Coverage Of System: Pavement Markings, Typical Aggregates, Color Surface Treatment, And Horizontal Curves, Jieyi Bao, Xiaoqiang Hu, Cheng Peng, Junyi Duan, Yizhou Lin, Chengcheng Tao, Yi Jiang, Shuo Li

JTRP Technical Reports

Various highway projects, roadway safety, and maintenance all hinge on pavement friction. INDOT's pavement friction test program has played a crucial role in addressing issues like wet pavement crash reduction, durable pavements surface friction, and sustainable aggregates. However, changes in the transportation sector, allied industries, societal needs, and economics present unique challenges that require proactive solutions. First, the existing field friction testing method, which uses a locked wheel skid tester (LWST) is limited to straight, flat pavement sections and excludes crash-prone areas like horizontal curves. Upgrading the program to cover horizontal curves on two-lane rural highways is vital for road …

Updating Cost Allocation And Revenue Attribution, Isaiah C. Mwamba, Deepak Benny, Ajuna P. John, David O. Holguin Mejia, Dongyoon Song, Jelin Sabu, Jiqian Dong, Mohammadhosein Pourgholamali, Sashank Modali, Richard O. Ajagu, Bismark R. Agbelie, Matthew Volovski, Konstantina Gritzka, Kumares C. Sinha, Samuel Labi

JTRP Technical Reports

This report presents a synopsis of the results from the 2024 study commissioned by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) in fall 2023 at the request of the Indiana General Assembly.

Expenditures: Lighter vehicle classes saw their share of cost responsibility decline between 2015 and 2024, while the heavier vehicle classes saw their responsibilities increase within this period. This change is explained by a diametric shift in expenditure type patterns between the two eras from construction-dominant to maintenance-dominant expenditures. In this context, it is worth noting that these expenditure types have different ratios of attributable costs to common costs.

Revenues: …

Traffic Management Geocast Study With Connected Vehicles On Indiana Highways, Zhitong He, Abin Mathew, Abhijeet Ingale, Jue Zhou, Feng Li, Yaobin Chen

JTRP Technical Reports

Vehicular communication allows vehicles to interact with road users, roadside infrastructure, and cloud-connected devices.It holds a crucial position in modern transportation systems, impacting both fundamental and advanced aspects and enhancing traffic safety and efficiency. C-V2X is a wireless communication technology that uses cellular networks to enable communication between vehicles and infrastructure. C-V2X can be used for applications such as collision avoidance, traffic management, and remote vehicle diagnostics. This project conducted a feasibility study on the current position of C-V2X in the industry and developed a prototype, RampCast, to fundamentally understand the current C-V2X implementations as part of the 3GPP Release …

Indot Research Program Benefit Cost Analysis–Return On Investment For Projects Completed In Fy 2023, Bob Mccullouch

JTRP Technical Reports

To demonstrate the value of research and its implementation, the Governor’s Office in 2016 requested an annual financial analysis of the INDOT Research Program to determine the return on the research investment (ROI). The INDOT Research & Development (R&D) has continued to publish an annual Return on Investment report. The current financial analysis is for research projects that completed in FY 2023. Analyses on previous year’s projects is necessary primarily due to the time it takes some project outcomes to be implemented and verifiable data generated, extending into the following year. Therefore, the FY 2024 analysis is completed research projects …

Indot Project Change Orders: Root Causes And Recommendations, Suyash Padhye, Aishwarya Sharma, Hesam Arefkhani, Deepak Benny, Konstantina Gkritza, Samuel Labi, Makarand Hastak

JTRP Technical Reports

This study analyzed the historical trends in change orders (COs) associated with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) highway contracts. It also investigated correlations between COs and base factors (district, project type, contract type, award amount, geographical area (rural vs. urban)), and sought to understand the effect of the root causes but not to predict CO based on root causes. Unlike the base factors, the root causes are unknown prior to construction. The study developed models that forecasted CO characteristics—CO likelihood, CO frequency (count), and CO severity (magnitude) and CO impacts (cost overrun and schedule delay). To address these research …

Impacts Of Autonomous Truck-Mounted Attenuator (Atma) On Indot Work Zone Safety, Mobility, And Worker Productivity, Chi Tian, Yiheng Feng, Yunfeng Chen, Jiansong Zhang

JTRP Technical Reports

Work zone safety has been a major concern for many stakeholders including the state Departments of Transportation (DOTs). To prevent DOT workers, especially truck mounted attenuator (TMA) drivers from injuries, the Autonomous Truck Mounted Attenuator (ATMA) technology is developed. To understand the current testing and deployment status of ATMA, we began with interviews with project managers and researchers in four state DOTs who have experience with the ATMA system. Then, we systematically reviewed, tested, and evaluated the ATMA system in both simulation and real-world environments under various operating scenarios, traffic conditions, and mobile work zone operations. Furthermore, Indiana Department of …

Fatigue Strength And Ductility Of Steel Plates With Holes Made From Plasma Cutting Methods, Aurora Ebert, Robert J. Connor, Charles Kieffer Iii

JTRP Technical Reports

A literature review was conducted to evaluate current standards and existing research around the use of plasma arc cutting for holes (PACH) in the context of steel bridge applications. Additionally, an investigation into the state of the practice was conducted to determine if the latest technological advancements and equipment capabilities for plasma cutting could prove PACH to be an acceptable hole making process for bridge applications. Much of the existing research focuses on drilling and punching to make holes, but very limited experimental studies and data exists specifically evaluating plasma arc cutting. The most comprehensive study, including PACH, is discussed …

Comprehensive Pavement Patching Tools And Web-Based Software For Pavement Condition Assessment And Visualization, Sneha Jha, Yaguang Zhang, Tandra Bagchi, Andrew Balmos, Bongsuk Park, John E. Haddock, Seonghwan Cho, James V. Krogmeier

JTRP Technical Reports

It is a common practice among state agencies to manually inspect road segments and decide maintenance requirements based on the pavement condition index (PCI). However, standalone PCI only evaluates the pavement surface condition. When coupled with the variability in human perception of pavement distress, this limits the accuracy of current pavement maintenance practices and undermines the automated pavement maintenance suggestions systems, especially for actionable recommendations related to accurate patching location, depth, and priority. This project explores integrating pavement structural and surface condition assessment with pavement ratings of distress to estimate the appropriate pavement patching strategy for accurate location, depth, and …

In-Service Safety Evaluation Of Indiana Impact Attenuators And Barrier End Treatments, Raul A. Pineda-Mendez, Qiming Guo, Mario A. Romero, Andrew P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

Crashes related to barrier end treatments and impact attenuators generally have higher severity levels than those colliding with barrier faces. To select the most effective end treatments, the in-service safety evaluation of such end treatments under various operational conditions was needed. This study linked 7 years of crash records with the corresponding end treatments using inventory from the Indiana Road Network Dataset. Factors affecting crash severity, including speed, weather, roadway features, and vehicle types, were extracted and integrated with crashes in the modeling sample. Both random parameter and fixed effect ordered logit models were used to estimate the effects of …

Electric Vehicles: Public Perceptions, Expectations, And Willingness-To-Pay, Bruno Cesar Krause Moras, Xiaowei Chen, Kenny Chandra Wijaya, Satish Ukkusuri, Samuel Labi, Konstantina Gkritza

JTRP Technical Reports

The primary objective of this project was to understand Indiana resident’s perspectives on electric vehicles (EVs), including adoption incentives and barriers, awareness of adoption incentives, charging preferences, and general travel patterns. A secondary objective was to establish a framework for identifying EV users, detailing their trips, and generating predictions for EV adoption and usage. To achieve these objectives, a stated preference survey was conducted with 1,217 Indiana residents. Two datasets containing travel behavior data were incorporated to generate synthetic data. The survey results revealed that Indiana EV users are typically middle-aged males living and working in urban areas. EV users …

Anomaly Detection In Traffic Patterns Using The Indot Camera System, Lauren Christopher, Stanley Chien, Yaobin Chen, Mei Qiu, William Reindl, Liya Koshy

JTRP Technical Reports

The Transportation and Autonomous Systems Institute (TASI) of Purdue University Indianapolis (PUI) and the INDOT Traffic Management Center worked together to develop a system that monitors traffic conditions using INDOT CCTV video feeds. Computer vision-based traffic anomaly detection has been studied for the past 20 years, and a thorough state-of-the-art analysis was produced in a recent survey paper. Although AI has contributed to improving anomaly detection, several major challenges remain, such as tracking errors, illumination, weather, occlusion handling, camera pose, and perspective. In addition, the lack of real-life datasets makes the effectiveness of anomaly detection techniques unclear. This project builds …