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Description
Project partners (Estonian Aviation Academy and UiT Arctic University of Norway) provide various curricula for aviation majors. The planned cooperation under this project will culminate in a jointly designed simulation-based learning module that will be suitable for both, Bachelor and Master level students. The module grounds on a specific digital platform that allows designing tailor-made simulation models for learning purposes. That kind of models are innovative learning instruments that provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how sophisticatedly aviation institutions operate. These learning methods increase students’ creativity, develop their digital skills and give a large-scale understanding about aviation sector’s complexity. The module is developed jointly, because international academic cooperation enables accumulating of resources, experience and knowledge.
As a result, added value from the project comes from the fully compound and integrated module, which will be taught as one single unit at the partner institutions.
Summary of project results
Aviation is a complex industry that encounters extraordinary situations from time to time (e.g. the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic or change in flights intensity), which require fast and efficient solutions to provide functionality and safety. By completing their aviation studies, the students should have acquired comprehensive theoretical knowledge of how Aviation’s various components are interrelated and how their systems are operating. Those studies should form students’ creative mindset and provide them with skills needed to work with cutting-edge technological solutions. The project partners – Estonian Aviation Academy (Estonia) and UiT Arctic University of Norway are unique educational institutions in their countries, specializing in a wide range of aviation related disciplines. However, international cooperation and forming a strategic partnership can facilitate their combining of exclusive knowledge, skills and academic recourses to generate new, innovative learning instruments, based on available digital technologies. Durint this cooperation a jointly designed simulation-based learning module was created for Bachelor and Master level students. The module grounds on a specific digital platform that allows designing tailor-made simulation models for learning purposes. That kind of models are innovative learning instruments that provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how sophisticatedly aviation institutions operate. These learning methods increase students’ creativity, develop their digital skills and give a large-scale understanding about aviation sector’s complexity. The module was developed jointly, because international academic cooperation enables accumulating of resources, experience and knowledge.
The objective of the project was to implement digital learning instruments into the teaching process of aviation-related subjects. The project outcome is a set (module) of digital simulations (models), created on the basis of SIMIO software. The simulation models were developed in cooperation with the partner institutions. The simulation models were integrated into partners` academic courses and designed on the basis of aviation sector data. Within the courses, the students will be taught how to create and use the models and design simulations on their own. That allows students comprehensively understand complex aviation processes, increases their creativity and digital skills.
As the result of the project, set of courses for university studenst, forming an “Aviation Operation Simulation Module” was created. The common component of those courses is the use of digital simulation models. In total, such courses cover indicatively at least 24 ECTS. The simulation models developed
For the project’s organizational purposes, the courses were split into three thematic tracks (study fields), which are common in arranging aviation studies. The tracks are the following:
- Airport Operations;
- Airline Operations;
- Simulation Modelling software introductory course.
Developed models imitate real processes in aviation. It is created on the basis of special software (Simio), which requires specific programming skills. Each model has a supporting operational manual, on how to handle and develop the model (teachers’ manual).
Summary of bilateral results
The cooperation between project partners continues also beyond the funding of this project. Particularily is interest in cooperation related to UiT simulation centre, unmanned aviation systems and teaching methods.