OSU Journals (Oklahoma State University)
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Evaluating the Impact of Virtual Reality-Integrated Flight Training Compared to Traditional Methods on Student Pilot Performance
Get PDFThis study evaluated the efficiency and effectiveness of traditional flight training methods compared to virtual reality (VR)-integrated instruction at a large FAA Part 141 university flight program. Through the integration of the Pre-Flight Immersion Laboratory for Operations Training (PILOT) Program, which used VR technologies to simulate real-world flight conditions, this research examined whether VR-integrated flight training resulted in differences in total flight hours required to complete a flight rating and checkride pass rate outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental design, internal flight program student learning achievement/progression data were analyzed to compare checkride pass outcomes between students trained via traditional methods and those utilizing the VR-integrated curriculum. Results suggest that VR-integrated flight training contributed to reduced total flight hours required to complete a flight rating while maintaining comparable checkride pass rates. VR-integrated flight instruction may help provide a more efficient approach to training new pilots. These findings have practical implications for curriculum design and training efficiency in collegiate flight training programs
Women's Participation in U.S. Pilot Careers: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Trends, Barriers, and Workplace Climate (2015-2024)
Get PDFWomen remain significantly underrepresented in U.S. pilot careers despite decades of diversity initiatives and industry workforce shortages. This study examined women's participation across pilot certification levels from 2015 to 2024, identified barriers to advancement, and analyzed workplace climate factors influencing career trajectories. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design integrated quantitative trend analysis of FAA Civil Airmen Statistics with a systematic literature review of 31 scholarly sources and secondary analysis of workplace climate survey data. Statistical significance of participation trends was assessed using weighted least squares regression and binomial generalized linear models. Women's representation increased significantly across all certification categories: student pilots (+4.1 percentage points, 11.9% to 16.0%), commercial pilots (+3.6 points, 6.5% to 10.1%), private pilots (+2.3 points, 6.6% to 8.9%), and ATP certificates (+1.2 points, 4.2% to 5.5%). Annual growth rates varied significantly, with student pilots showing the steepest increase (+0.46 points/year) and ATP the smallest (+0.13 points/year). Literature analysis identified five primary barriers: recruitment pipeline limitations, financial constraints, masculine organizational culture, mentorship deficits, and work-life integration challenges. Workplace climate analysis revealed that 62% of women experienced harassment and 51% faced retaliation when reporting. While statistically significant progress occurred across all certification levels, the persistent "leaky pipeline" pattern and high harassment rates indicate that current intervention approaches remain insufficient for addressing senior-level advancement barriers. Achieving gender parity would require over 340 years under current ATP advancement trends, highlighting the need for comprehensive cultural change initiatives alongside recruitment efforts
Sustainable Retention Strategies in Aviation Education: Coaching Leadership, Instructor Behavior, and Career Decidedness
Get PDFAttrition in collegiate aviation training remains high, with only about 20 percent of students completing flight programs (Beckett, 2016). This study investigates how flight instructor leadership behaviors influence student persistence in aviation education. Grounded in Tinto’s (1975) Model of Institutional Departure and Attribution Theory (Heider, 1958; Kelley & Michela, 1980), the research examines how Coaching Leadership Style (CLS) and Attribution of Instructor Behavior (AoIB) affect Career Decidedness (CD) and Intention to Persist (ITP). Survey data from 223 students at five University Aviation Association programs were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). CLS significantly predicted CD, which in turn predicted ITP, while AoIB directly predicted ITP. Post hoc analyses revealed that CLS statistically suppressed AoIB, indicating that students often interpret coaching behaviors as altruistic. These findings highlight the importance of instructor leadership training and introduce the SEGAS framework—Set expectations, Encourage perspectives, Give feedback, Ask for feedback, and Supply resources—as a practical tool to strengthen student persistence in flight education.
 
If you go down in the woods today.... How does forest school influence children's wellbeing? Parents' perspectives.
Get PDFThis study explores parents’ subjective views of how forest school influences children’s wellbeing. Forest school is a child-centered learning process, utilizing trained practitioners to develop children’s self-esteem and confidence through hands-on experience in nature. It offers opportunities for holistic growth through supporting play, risk taking, independence, teamwork, exploration and inspiring curiosity. Literature on wellbeing is substantial yet often contradictory and inconsistent, with no simple definition of the concept. Parents’ understanding of how forest school influences children’s wellbeing may offer enhancement of the current vision of wellbeing in schools. Eighteen parents with children at a local forest school were asked to consider and rank-order statements through a Q-sorting procedure. Analysis revealed three factors. Interpretation was conducted through careful consideration of individual rankings and the configuration of statements captured in each factor array to gain an understanding of these parents’ perspectives. These three main positions were “nurturing growth,” “connectivity through nature” and “communicate to engage.” The findings suggest parents’ views are often contradictory and polarizing with differing opinions of how forest school influences children’s wellbeing. Furthermore, the results underscore how a lack of theory underpinning forest school and inconsistent contextual meaning of the notion of wellbeing may be a contributing factor to these results
Under threat but undeterred: Cultivating Indigenous education amid political hostility
Get PDFCollaborators across North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and New Mexico are working to empower Indigenous students in STEM by connecting tribal communities, K–12 educators, higher education institutions, elders, and other cultural knowledge holders through the Cultivating Indigenous Research Communities for Leadership in Education and STEM (CIRCLES) Alliance. This piece describes the powerful work of the CIRCLES Alliance as well as the challenges of sustaining it under the constant threat of grant termination. The authors urge elected officials and policy makers to look beyond anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion rhetoric and recognize the value of CIRCLES and similar programs that support STEM in historically marginalized communities
A critical examination of policies as curriculum and the pedagogy of spectacle: Deconstructing the "Florida way of life" education agenda
Get PDFWhen policies introduce a problem into discourse, they are often shrouded in spectacle to convey a sense of virtuous intent and urgency about the constructed problem. An example of this process is found in the defense of the “Florida way of life,” which is leveraged to legitimize the education legislative agenda imposed by the DeSantis administration. By treating these policies as curriculum and the spectacles the administration manufactures as pedagogy, we reveal a dangerous political agenda that seeks to fundamentally disrupt liberal democracy. By manipulating imagery, employing potent binary rhetoric, and consistently focusing on culturally divisive issues during policy formulation, Governor DeSantis and his administration have instructed Floridians about who and what to fear, how to fear it, why to fear it, and how to reproduce sanctioned narratives about these issues
