Event Title

Flight Simulator Training

Presenter Information

Ethan Wynia, Minnesota State University, MankatoFollow
Abby Phillips, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Jessica Raisa, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Steven Arriaza, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Reijuana Harley, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU 204

Start Date

11-4-2017 11:05 AM

End Date

11-4-2017 12:05 PM

Student's Major

Psychology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Kristie Campana

Mentor's Department

Psychology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

Flight simulators are an expensive addition to an aviation program, but little is currently known about how they are used in the education of pilots. The purpose of this study is to examine how different programs use flight simulators, and whether they appear to benefit students. We will distribute a survey to chairs of aviation departments. The survey, conducted through Qualtrics, asks a variety of questions about whether a department has a flight simulator, and how they use that simulator in their courses (or how they believe they might use a simulator if they do not currently have one). Questions ask about how and when the simulator is introduced to students in a program, how students are graded on their performance, and information about how instructors view the usefulness of simulators for student learning. Data collection is underway (IRB# 964064-3). We have invited over 100 department chairs to participate, and are waiting for them to complete the surveys. Upon completion, we will conduct descriptive statistics and comment coding to learn about commonalities and differences across departments. This study will better show us how flight simulators are used in different departments and may help inform other aviation departments on how to make the best use of this expensive equipment. This may also improve education quality for pilots in training.