One of the core components of ASU's new approach was to make MathWorks' MATLAB technical computing language and Simulink graphical model-based design tool available to all of the department's students and faculty, reducing their need to spend time on a computer. MATLAB is a familiar environment for students, Shankar notes, and it provides a simple, GUI-based environment to integrate various third-party tools that are necessary for problem solving, including CFD and flight simulation software.
Here's an example of how the new teaching approach works: One of the core concepts students have to learn in the Aircraft Dynamics and Control course is how the location and orientation of the horizontal tail affects the stability of the aircraft. With traditional teaching methods, students would build equations for the pitching moment and calculate the pitching moment slope for each configuration, but they wouldn't be able to rapidly change configurations to evaluate stability characteristics, because the resulting math calculations would be far too complex.
With the new approach, students dive in with the MathWorks tools to change the orientation of the tail on a SolidWorks CAD model and evaluate the resulting pitching moment slopes of the various configurations. "With this approach, students can not only learn about the importance of the horizontal tail, but are also free to evaluate different configurations that they come up with," Shankar says. "This allows for self-discovery, which can be highly motivating to the student."
So far, feedback on the new learning approach has been positive overall. ASU faculty found that student confidence has increased, final exam scores have been bolstered by around 18 percent, and there are fewer demands placed on lab resources.
The new curriculum, which was funded through a NASA grant on "Innovation in Aeronautics Instruction," was kicked off in the fall of 2009 for the Aerodynamics course and in the spring of 2010 for the Aircraft Dynamics and Control course. The new curriculum was offered again in the subsequent Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters, and the team is looking to apply the lessons learned to other courses and the aeronautical engineering program as a whole.