Aviation and Space Education Commons^™

Meeting The Moment With Ai-Employer Informed Education, Brent Terwilliger, John Faraca

Publications

As artificial intelligence transforms aviation, aerospace, and autonomy-related sectors, higher education must adapt to meet evolving workforce demands. This session shares emerging findings from a nationwide study led by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, focused on employer perceptions of AI adoption, responsible use, and workforce preparedness in domains including uncrewed systems, space systems, robotics, and advanced air mobility. Based on a structured survey and follow-up interviews, the presentation explores how organizations are using AI tools, from generative platforms to enterprise systems, and defining effective and inappropriate use in operational contexts. Participants will gain insight into critical concerns (e.g., data privacy, compliance, security, …

Integration Of Advanced Qualification Program Into Aviation Education, Jorge L. D. Albelo, Victor Fraticelli Rivera, Robert L. Thomas

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The Federal Aviation Administration places aviation safety as a top priority, continuously striving to improve safety standards within the National Airspace System. In 2004, the Federal Aviation Administration introduced the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP) as an alternative methodology for pilot training and evaluation. This study explores the impact of AQP-centered aviation education on student performance, particularly in the context of learning advanced jet transport systems. The AQP model, based on aligning training with operational aviation requirements, emphasizes cognitive skill training and evaluation. Theoretical foundations underpinning this study include Karp’s integrated aviation learning model, which seamlessly integrates various instructional approaches, fostering …

Systems Thinking Applied To Higher Education Curricula Development, Reza Rahdar, Mark London, Yuetong Lin, Hong Jiang

Publications

Systems Thinking (ST) is a general and yet nebulous term that describes an approach to understanding and working with complexity in the real world. ST seeks to evaluate different behaviors of individual system elements when they operate in isolation as opposed to when they are integrated as part of a larger system and placed within a particular operating environment. The education environment consists of multiple systems with different digital content, learning goals/outcomes that serve different stakeholders including teachers, learners, and administrators. The inherent complexity and interaction among these various educational system elements and functions make this environment a worthy candidate …

Improved Feedback Mechanisms Of The Hydraulics Sandbox Simulator, Karen J. Johnson, Martin Hebel

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

The proposed presentation will include the following project and results from implementation in an aircraft hydraulic systems course.

In 2020 we developed a digital hydraulics system schematic sandbox for use in an FAA Part 147 airframe maintenance technician training program (See Figure 1). The sandbox allows students to drag-drop-connect components used in systems such as those found in aircraft. It allows them to ‘test-connect’ the components to get feedback on correct and incorrect ‘construction’. As shown in Figure 1, light green ‘hoses’ are correct supply connections, dark green are correct return connections and red are incorrect connections per established rules …

Can Backward-Chained, Ab-Initio Pilot Training Decrease Time To First Solo?, Samuel M. Vance, Kat Gardner-Vandy, Jared Alan Freihoefer

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Flight simulation has made progressively significant inroads into pilot training at all levels of a pilot’s career – typically starting with training for the Instrument rating in light aircraft and concluding with Type Certification in transport category jetliners. This research was designed to explore if significant training inroads could also be offered to ab-initio pilots, those with no prior flight experience. An experimental group of four pilot trainees, without prior flight experience, were exposed to flight in a backwards-chained simulation starting from 4’ AGL (Above Ground Level). Graduated, exponential increments of both altitude and distance from landing were successively added …

Earth/Space Science - Earth's Place In Space: Seasonal Change, Elizabeth Martinez, Peg Steffen

Model NGSS Lessons: 4th - 5th Grade

A key Disciplinary Core Idea for understanding our place in space is that the orbits of Earth and the sun and of the moon around Earth cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times. There are many misconceptions about earth’s orbit but it is important to remember and to convey to students that Earth is moving around the Sun and the Moon is moving around us. What we see each day with the motion of the Sun moving across the sky …

Does The Use Of Simulation Significantly Impact Students’ Perceptions Of Their Air Traffic Control Knowledge And Skill?, Meron Lindenfeld, Jeanne Radigan, Michael Figuccio

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

Simulation has served as an instructional supplement in education and training within various fields such as nursing, business, and flight training. Prior research studies have documented its usefulness. Simulation-based lessons have also been used for air traffic control (ATC) training, but little research has been conducted on the usefulness of simulation in this application. This study measured the level of influence that ATC simulation had on students’ perception of their ATC knowledge and skill level and their commitment to a career in ATC.

Data were collected by surveying students at four institutions of higher education after they completed ATC courses …

The Universality Of Communication: Preparing The Next Generation Of Aviation Professionals, Patti J. Clark Ph.D., Doreen M. Mcgunagle Ph.D., Laura Zizka Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Current aviation college programs aim to prepare the next generation of aviation professionals to meet the needs of the ever-increasing global demand for air travel. Previous literature has identified gaps in competencies that employers noted in young graduates. This study attempts to narrow that gap by focusing on the curriculum of the top 20 aviation programs in the U.S. to compare the curriculum to the skills employers cited to assess whether the courses offered in the current programs reflect the actual needs of the aviation workplace. From a survey of Aerospace and Defense (A&D) employers, ten skills were cited: Team …

Drones Are Everywhere!, Andreas Wesemann Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Drones are everywhere! Using technology to enhance learning in collegiate and secondary school education.

Unmanned Aerial Systems are invading our campus at Utah State University, and we see drones flying everywhere. Using hands-on activities, including design, building and actually flying, students are becoming FAA certified Remote Pilot as part of a new minor at USU. This workshop will discover how this program was created, how the use of active learning labs compliment student programs in all disciplines from journalism to business, and landscape architecture to natural resources. Using examples from the first two years of course offerings, participants will discover …

A Proposed Taxonomy For General Aviation Pilot Weather Education And Training, John M. Lanicci, Thomas A. Guinn, Jayde M. King, Beth Blickensderfer, Robert Thomas, Yolanda Ortiz

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

As General Aviation (GA) safety continues to remain a focus of the aviation community, GA pilot weather education and training continues to be an active area of interest within the research community. This study introduces a taxonomy for organizing GA pilot weather education and training materials that was originally conceived as part of the FAA’s Weather Technology In the Cockpit research program. The taxonomy is built upon three main knowledge categories, or tiers:1) Weather Phenomena (which includes hazards); 2) Weather Hazard Products; and 3) Weather Hazard Product Sources and their Application. The concept behind the categorization is to link knowledge …

Big Five Technologies In Aeronautical Engineering Education: Scoping Review, Ruth Martinez-Lopez

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The constant demands that technology creates in aerospace engineering also influence education. The identification of the technologies with practical application in aerospace engineering is of current interest to decision makers in both universities and industry. A social network approach enhances this scoping review of the research literature to identify the main topics using the Big Five technologies in aerospace engineering education. The conceptual structure of the dataset (n=447) was analyzed from different approaches: at macro-level, a comparative of the digital technology identified by cluster analysis with the number of co-words established in 3 and 8 and, a keyword central structure …

Advanced Uas Training; Integration Of Remote Live Aircraft Crash Investigation With Uas, Scott S. Burgess

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Current Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) flight training generally operates at the ab-initio level. As UAS flight and academic programs evolve, so also must UAS training advance, specifically regarding new and evolving uses of UAS. This task must present a quality delivery in a distributed modality. As an example, integration of UAS into missions such as aircraft crash investigation are occurring or in development with safety investigators globally. Bringing this type of specialization (theory and practice) to academia must follow, but currently can only be done well in a face-to-face setting. Near term technology for UAS will allow distribution of a …

Holographic Micro-Simulations To Enhance Aviation Training With Mixed Reality, Lori Brown Fraes, Msc, Hfavn

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Mixed reality technologies present a new medium, a new paradigm of augmented reality, where for the first time we have the ability to take the analog world and superimpose digital training artifacts and create a ‘mixed reality’ to enhance aviation training. Digital computing headsets such as Microsoft HoloLens are intuitive and offer a natural means of interaction with no computer, wire or touch-screen. This approach has several practical advantages to overlay holographic elements onto real-world crew environments which makes holographic micro-simulations particularly suited to aviation training and education. Unlike virtual reality—the user is not isolated from their surroundings. MR allows …

Adaptive Learning Pedagogy In Udl And Multi-Modal Training, Ziho Kang, Mattlyn R. Dragoo, Randa L. Shehab, Han Yuan, Lei Ding, Stephen G. West

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Currently, most learning methods are based on classroom teaching through unidirectional communication using boards or slides. However, the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) asserts that the students can increase their performance if the instructors can provide the students with diversified information representation, expression, and engagement means. Although UDL minimizes the mismatch between the teaching and learning styles, we lack the detailed methods to implement the UDL and its associated multi-modal training methods in the context of air traffic control candidates and/or technical operators. We propose an approach that adapts the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) based on four categories: perception, …

An Evaluation Of The Relationships Between Collegiate Aviation Safety Management System Initiative, Self-Efficacy, Transformational Safety Leadership And Safety Behavior Mediated By Safety Motivation, Daniel Kwasi Adjekum

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The study conceptualized Safety Management System (SMS) initiative, self-efficacy, and transformational safety leadership as constructs that relates to safety behavior (measured by safety compliance and safety participation) when mediated by safety motivation using a quantitative approach. Structural equation modeling techniques was used to derive a final measurement model that fit the empirical data and was used to test the study hypotheses. Utilizing a sample of 282 collegiate flight students and instructors from a large public university in the US, a 46-item survey was used to measure respondent’s perceptions on the study variables. The results indicate that perceptions of SMS policy …

An Evaluation Of The Relationships Between Collegiate Aviation Safety Management System Initiative, Self-Efficacy, Transformational Safety Leadership And Safety Behavior Mediated By Safety Motivation, Daniel Kwasi Adjekum

Aviation Faculty Publications

The study conceptualized Safety Management System (SMS) initiative, self-efficacy, and transformational safety leadership as constructs that relates to safety behavior (measured by safety compliance and safety participation) when mediated by safety motivation using a quantitative approach. Structural equation modeling techniques was used to derive a final measurement model that fit the empirical data and was used to test the study hypotheses. Utilizing a sample of 282 collegiate flight students and instructors from a large public university in the US, a 46-item survey was used to measure respondent’s perceptions on the study variables. The results indicate that perceptions of SMS policy …

The Value Of A Collegiate Far Part 141 Jeopardy-Crew Resource Management (Crm)-Simulation Event, Samuel M. Vance

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This article explores the viability of using a FAR Part 141 collegiate crew resource management (CRM) flight simulator scenario event as a jeopardy event (a graded, syllabus item) in an upper-level professional pilot curriculum course. Ultimately, the objective is to suggest this approach as a value-added curriculum consideration for other collegiate professional pilot programs. The selection of four CRM criteria to be examined was made by the course professor. Using the four principles, the students assembled the grading rubric for their event. The simulator scenario placed students in airspace, geography and weather dissimilar to that in which they were training …