Attending higher education institutions affects graduates in a variety of dimensions. Among these dimensions are gaining knowledge, acquiring skills, and developing academic and professional independence; however, the most important dimension in which a change should be introduced is the acquirement of appropriate patterns of thinking. Does safety education lead to a change in cognitive patterns among graduates?

This work presents initial results of a larger comparative study addressing the change in cognitive patterns among junior and senior students in the occupational safety program, students in non-safety programs, and safety professionals with at least 5 years experience in the industry. The three groups of subjects participated in a computerized decision-making simulation, in which their information processing was monitored and traced.

The Safety Decision Making Laboratory was recently established in the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department at Iowa State University. The occupational safety program in the department consists of four faculty, 50 undergraduate students and 11 graduate students. The program also houses an industrial outreach and research center, Safety Training Instruction and Research (STIR).