Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning Instruction
The exponential growth in the adoption of drones in various industrial applications has created a demand for professionals experienced in designing, programming, operating, and piloting drones. This paper reports on an active learning-based instructional approach that prepares students for careers i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2021-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Access |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530413/ |
| _version_ | 1818641140136542208 |
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| author | Deepan Lobo Drashti Patel Jorim Morainvile Prateek Shekhar Pramod Abichandani |
| author_facet | Deepan Lobo Drashti Patel Jorim Morainvile Prateek Shekhar Pramod Abichandani |
| author_sort | Deepan Lobo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The exponential growth in the adoption of drones in various industrial applications has created a demand for professionals experienced in designing, programming, operating, and piloting drones. This paper reports on an active learning-based instructional approach that prepares students for careers in the drone industry. The approach focuses on three foundational pillars of drone careers: 1) drone programming using Python, 2) designing and fabricating drones using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and rapid prototyping, and 3) the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 Commercial small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAVs) pilot test. The approach was implemented and refined over four semesters in an undergraduate class attended by engineering and computer science students at a research institution located in the United States. A case study approach using multiple assessment methods was implemented to examine students’ gains in skills and knowledge and attitudes towards an active learning-based approach for drone education. Assessment methods included direct formative (FAA quizzes and programming assignments), direct summative (capstone project), indirect quantitative (survey of learning gains), and indirect qualitative (focus group interviews and capstone project process videos) tools. Assessment results noted in this paper indicate that students were actively engaged during the course and made positive gains in their learning outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:22:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77ed818fe3d9477c9124cc47415334ce |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:22:26Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj.art-77ed818fe3d9477c9124cc47415334ce2022-12-21T22:12:09ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362021-01-01912621612623010.1109/ACCESS.2021.31105789530413Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning InstructionDeepan Lobo0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7434-8013Drashti Patel1Jorim Morainvile2Prateek Shekhar3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6552-2887Pramod Abichandani4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3572-4458Robotics and Data Laboratory (RADLab), Electrical and Computer Engineering, Newark College of Engineering (NCE), New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USARobotics and Data Laboratory (RADLab), Electrical and Computer Engineering, Newark College of Engineering (NCE), New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USARobotics and Data Laboratory (RADLab), Electrical and Computer Engineering, Newark College of Engineering (NCE), New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USASchool of Applied Engineering and Technology, Newark College of Engineering (NCE), New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USARobotics and Data Laboratory (RADLab), Electrical and Computer Engineering, Newark College of Engineering (NCE), New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USAThe exponential growth in the adoption of drones in various industrial applications has created a demand for professionals experienced in designing, programming, operating, and piloting drones. This paper reports on an active learning-based instructional approach that prepares students for careers in the drone industry. The approach focuses on three foundational pillars of drone careers: 1) drone programming using Python, 2) designing and fabricating drones using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and rapid prototyping, and 3) the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 Commercial small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAVs) pilot test. The approach was implemented and refined over four semesters in an undergraduate class attended by engineering and computer science students at a research institution located in the United States. A case study approach using multiple assessment methods was implemented to examine students’ gains in skills and knowledge and attitudes towards an active learning-based approach for drone education. Assessment methods included direct formative (FAA quizzes and programming assignments), direct summative (capstone project), indirect quantitative (survey of learning gains), and indirect qualitative (focus group interviews and capstone project process videos) tools. Assessment results noted in this paper indicate that students were actively engaged during the course and made positive gains in their learning outcomes.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530413/Small unmanned aerial vehiclessUAVseducationdronesSTEM educationengineering education |
| spellingShingle | Deepan Lobo Drashti Patel Jorim Morainvile Prateek Shekhar Pramod Abichandani Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning Instruction IEEE Access Small unmanned aerial vehicles sUAVs education drones STEM education engineering education |
| title | Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning Instruction |
| title_full | Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning Instruction |
| title_fullStr | Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning Instruction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning Instruction |
| title_short | Preparing Students for Drone Careers Using Active Learning Instruction |
| title_sort | preparing students for drone careers using active learning instruction |
| topic | Small unmanned aerial vehicles sUAVs education drones STEM education engineering education |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530413/ |
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