Virtual flight can be very entertaining, and computer-based simulators can also be educational, if organized and used correctly. When Berea College decided to find a flight simulator suited to the school's educational goals, the faculty settled on an ANT-18 Link trainer. This article begins with a discussion of Link trainers' history, and then…

Development of an air traffic control (ATC) training course at Tartu Aviation College in Estonia had to start at ground zero, creating new rules and regulations for ATC, writing special study materials, building simulators, and finding enough applicants with sufficient English skills. (SK)

Aviation as people know it today is a mature but very young technology as time goes. Considering that the 100th anniversary of flight was celebrated just a few years ago in 2003, millions of people fly from city to city or from nation to nation and across the oceans and around the world effortlessly and economically. Additionally, they have space…

The System for Training of Aviation Regulations (STAR) provides comprehensive training in understanding and applying Federal aviation regulations. STAR gives multiple vantage points with multimedia presentations and storytelling within four categories of learning environments: overviews, scenarios, challenges, and resources. Discusses the…

SimuFlite Co. nearly went under when a state-of-the-art computer-based training simulation for airplane pilots took too long to develop and was not liked by participants. The revamped program emphasized live instructors, technical manuals, and videotapes. The program's failure illustrates the disadvantages of computer-based training. (SK)

Describes Riga Aviation University's movement from a controlled professional-education program to a system of contract relations with students as education service customers. Discusses a study of students' demands, requirements, and issues and the development of a quality assurance system based on Total Quality Management and ISO 9000 standards.…

Discusses the development and evaluation of the Academic Counselling Expert (ACE) system designed to replace the faculty advisor and provide requisite advice to aviation students at San Jose State University (California). This computer-based counselling system was accessed by 65 students (Spring 1996 semester); most students acquired appropriate…

Addresses aviation training requirements for pilots planning to fly for commercial airlines within or outside the United States. Describes two aviation training programs at Western Michigan University, a fast-track 13-month program and the traditional four-year program required for U.S. pilots. Notes that decreasing numbers of pilots trained in…

This article, which originally appeared in the May 1998 issue of "Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School," explores the runway numbering system. The activity described in this paper furnishes an excellent setting for discussing rounding rules and, in particular, what to do if the digit to the right of the place to be rounded is equal to five. A…

Aviation High is a career and technical education school in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and the nation's largest aviation-focused high school. Required courses for all 2,000 students include the usual English, math, science, and foreign languages, but also airframe and power plant shops. A 5,000-square-foot annex at John F. Kennedy…

The current paradigm in science education calls for greater emphasis on guiding students in active and extended scientific inquiry. This is supported by research suggesting that using a hands-on approach to learning fosters ownership in the learning process and allows students to gain greater appreciation for the design and implementation of…

A biographical inventory has been used in the selection of students for naval aviation training since World War II, and its validity in predicting their retention-attrition in this training has been well established. This study investigated the constructs underlying the inventory and their relations to students' retention-attrition. A factor…

Describes a science unit used in a fourth-grade class to teach students about Bernoulli's law of flight, the similarity of tetrahedrons to birds, and the construction of tetrahedron kites. Also includes thought-provoking math questions for students. (MDM)

Three programs at Tulsa Junior College respond to labor force needs: (1) Aviation Education Alliance, an articulated program among universities, two-year colleges, and vocational schools; (2) International Language Center, teaching languages specific to the needs of client companies; and (3) Tulsa Training Center, focusing on workplace literacy…

Comparison of research with 28 first/second-year and 52 third/fourth-year aviation students, 671 corporate pilots and 1990 airline pilots showed that pilots strongly preferred sequential and bilateral cognitive processing. Because these styles are reflected in aviation teaching methods, relational learners are effectively screened out of pilot…