Evaluation: Flight Planning Program

How Did We Approach This Study This report presents findings of a program evaluation conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California. The evaluation examined learning outcomes and experiences of 6th to 8th grade Boy Scouts attending the Hiller Aviation Museum's Flight Planning Program to earn an Aviation Scout Merit Badge. The full-day program was offered one Saturday a month in October, November, and December 2010. RK&A designed pre- and post-test standardized questionnaires to explore Boy Scouts' understanding of the importance of math in aviation, ability to compute basic mathematical formulas for flight planning, experiences in the program, and math background. RK&A also developed three rubrics to measure and classify the boys' accomplishment of learning outcomes. What Did We Learn? Sixty-five Boy Scouts completed the pre- and post questionnaires. Of five statements about the importance of math, the boys' responses to three statements did not change significantly from pre-program to post-program; however, it is important to note that the pre-program mean scores were already quite favorable. The boys' responses to two statements (Math is an important subject for pilots to know and Pilots don't need to know math because the airplane computer does all the calculations) changed significantly from pre-program to post-program. A total score representing the boys' overall attitude about math and its importance in aviation also improved significantly from pre-program to post-program. Evaluating the effects of a one-time experience, such as the Flight Planning Program, is challenging. Studies in both informal and formal education have long shown that repeat exposures have a much greater effect on students' attitudes and skills than a one-time program. As such, it is noteworthy that this evaluation of the Flight Planning Program found any differences in the pre- and post-measures. The findings also demonstrate some aspects of the Flight Planning Program that could be enhanced. The Scouts seem somewhat unclear about the Program's main message, Without math, an airplane cannot be flown safely. Scouts' ambiguity about the Program's message is also shown in the rubric-scored, post-program questions that asked Scouts to describe what they learned in the Flight Planning and Flight Simulator Activities the vast majority of Scouts did not discuss math in their responses. What Are the Implications of the Findings After attending the Flight Planning Program, Boy Scouts showed a more positive attitude about aviation math, yet also had some additional confusion about Program learning goals. Museum staff may want to be more explicit about this message during the Program. In fact, Scouts' responses to the Flight Simulator Activity indicate that the connection to math was particularly tenuous for the Flight Planning and Flight Simulator Activities. The Scouts' post-program responses also show that instructors could spend additional time reviewing computations and explaining the Flight Planning map, both of which would assist the majority of boys to successfully complete these two aspects of the Program.

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