Engineering-Engineering Technology (58) A multimedia Aviation Maintenance Training Online simulation system is being developed for asynchronous delivery via the Internet for aviation maintenance instruction and related technologies. Three interactive curricular modules are being developed as part of the simulation system: Aircraft Weight and Balance, Aircraft Circuit Maintenance, and Turbine Engine Maintenance. These curricular modules are designed to be adaptive, accessible, time-and-cost effective, pedagogically efficient, and environmentally friendly. Each curricular module emphasizes a trouble-shooting approach and scenarios where functional and procedural mechanisms of aircraft systems are simulated under normal and malfunction conditions, and labor costs of simulated trouble shooting are monitored in real-time feedback scores tracking the students' performance. Creative combinations of real video graphic and schematic illustrations are portrayed in interactive, hands-on simulations.
The project is assessing the effectiveness of these instructional materials by determining the impacts on decreasing the training time, increasing job placement and performance, increasing the number of certified aviation workers prepared for the workforce, and determining the effect the moduels have on recruiting underrepresented groups into aviation maintenance technology.
The project is creating a network of faculty members from schools with avionics programs, industry practitioners, and educational specialists, who have expertise in aviation maintenance, engineering technology, instructional design and curricular development, and asynchronous learning. Faculty members are participating in workshops that train them how to use the curriculum, demonstrate the transportability of the materials, and provide assessment information to determine the effectiveness of student learning.
The project is focusing on recruiting and retaining women students in the avionics program. A summer camp for high school students uses the curriculum to engage the students in hand-on activities. The camp and faculty workshops are being held concurrently in order to observe how students become engaged in learning when using this curriculum.
