Teaching a Class, Need Opinions

jwp_145

GhostRider in the Sky
I'm teaching Advanced Theory of Flight at my college, and our admin has left it up to me to develope my syllabus and course. Up until now, even when I took it, it was a 16-week waste of time.

What are some suggestions for a class named "Advanced Theory of FLight". Keep in mind they take it after private pilot ground school, some of the students have already taken instrument ground school, some haven't. They will be taking Advanced Aircraft Performance when they get to the 3000-level courses, so I don't want to do much aerodynamics, and they will also be taking cockpit automation later on too.

Suggestions, please.
 
I'm teaching Advanced Theory of Flight at my college, and our admin has left it up to me to develope my syllabus and course. Up until now, even when I took it, it was a 16-week waste of time.

What are some suggestions for a class named "Advanced Theory of FLight". Keep in mind they take it after private pilot ground school, some of the students have already taken instrument ground school, some haven't. They will be taking Advanced Aircraft Performance when they get to the 3000-level courses, so I don't want to do much aerodynamics, and they will also be taking cockpit automation later on too.

Suggestions, please.

Is there a way to incorporate some meteorology theory? Maybe talk about swept wing characteristics, aerobatics ... I'm sure there's some stuff you can talk about.
 
Add 1 or 2 days of professional ethics if it's not covered elsewhere in the school's program.
 
Advanced Theory of Flight

That's clearly an aerodynamics/performance/stability course, in my view. Note that "Advanced Aircraft Performance" is (or should be) a subset of "Theory of Flight" and should logically depend on an elementary understanding of aerodynamics, performance, and stability. You might find out from the "Performance" teacher what he expects an incoming to student to know.

A reasonable text to use would be Skip Smith's "Illustrated Guide to Aerodynamics". I can't imagine anything more elementary than that, without being completely wrong. ;)
 
That's clearly an aerodynamics/performance/stability course, in my view. Note that "Advanced Aircraft Performance" is (or should be) a subset of "Theory of Flight" and should logically depend on an elementary understanding of aerodynamics, performance, and stability. You might find out from the "Performance" teacher what he expects an incoming to student to know.

A reasonable text to use would be Skip Smith's "Illustrated Guide to Aerodynamics". I can't imagine anything more elementary than that, without being completely wrong. ;)

:yeahthat: Theory of flight? No question. If you want to teach theory of meteorology, teach that class. If you want to talk about accidents, make an airplane safety course. I had too many profs that taught nothing about the topic title when I was in school...:banghead:
 
Our "aircraft theory" class was all FAR and AIM....

Go figure.

It's an aviation class, a professor will find some way to mess it up.

Our "Contemporary Issues in Aviation" class is writing a few papers, no discussion, no nothing.
 
Mythbusters: Aviation Edition

Can a JATO launch a station wagon? How about a catapault on a Carrier? Will the plane really launch from a treadmill? Could DB Cooper have survived his jump sans parachute? Can a plane go-around after TRs deploy? How many G's can a plane take if loaded below max gross? Does pitch or power control airspeed? What is full nose-up trim in a Cessna? Piper? Cirrus? Boeing? Does a fly in-flight in a plane affect weight and balance? Does a plane perform better "on the step"? How can a guy 4-1-0 it without dual compressor stalls? How much does SLD (super-cooled droplets) affect performance in a King Air, RJ, and Cirrus? How did that guy get the 767 on a drag strip anyways? And just how many weather ballons does it take to launch a Sears Lawn Chair, BB gun, 190 pound dude, six-pack, and CD radio without dropping the BB gun?
 
how bout adding in some engineering theory behind the make of specific airplane parts like wings... theory as to why certain structures work better with wind than others etc..
 
I'm teaching Advanced Theory of Flight at my college, and our admin has left it up to me to develope my syllabus and course. Up until now, even when I took it, it was a 16-week waste of time.

What are some suggestions for a class named "Advanced Theory of FLight". Keep in mind they take it after private pilot ground school, some of the students have already taken instrument ground school, some haven't. They will be taking Advanced Aircraft Performance when they get to the 3000-level courses, so I don't want to do much aerodynamics, and they will also be taking cockpit automation later on too.

Suggestions, please.

I have a Master's Degree in education and have had several courses in instructional design. When developing your course...you should go about it systematically. Just putting a hodgepodge of topics together will probably lead to confusion and frustration on the part of both you and your students.

Start with an overarching goal for your class. From there decide what topics will advance that goal. Identify subordinate skills required for each topic and then write an objective for each of those subordinate skills.

You will be amazed at how effective your course will be.

If you have questions, feel free to PM me.
 
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