< PreviousWIN-WIN SOLUTIONS For universities, the opportunity to interact with actual practitioners can lead to valuable insights for the academics involved in the delivery of the programmes. There is nothing like stress testing an idea with the people who are actually involved in the day-to-day implementation and formation of policy to identify a mismatch between academic theory and practitioner experience. For customized programmes in particular, educators must learn a great deal about the clients’ particular situations in order to deliver an effective programme. This presents a rich opportunity, not only to evaluate existing models, but also to gain insight into processes which may not be reflected in current conceptual models. This sharing of experiences can lead to direct research opportunities on topics of interest to the client and academic. Universities have a plethora of learning strategies that can positively influence industry-driven learning outcomes developed by the instructional designer, based upon the learning objects and the instructional designer’s expertise. These strategies call on the university to collaborate closely with industry partners to incorporate elements of the adult education paradigm, learning style theory, cooperative and collaborative learning techniques, and personal computer- based aviation training devices to span the long-term retention and application gap that can occur between the classroom and the flight line. AVOIDING THE ROADBLOCKS As with any collaboration, creating a successful relationship between an industry organization and a university can come with certain challenges. Namely, communication and culture within the two organizations will likely be contrasting, and will require careful mitigation in order to make it work. Initially, both sides require a steering committee of key stakeholders and management-level employees who can not only oversee the relationship, but can also manage and control the scope of the collaboration and the project in question. Both organizations need to be deeply involved in the negotiation of responsibilities and expectations, the assessment of strengths either party has to offer and the direct responsibilities of each. In order to truly reap the benefits of a company- university collaboration, however, flexibility and continued communication is key. SANDRA NICHOL Executive Director John Molson School of Business Concordia University ADDRESSING TALENT CHALLENGESgrowth of aviation if nothing is done to mitigate its impact. ICAO and other global stakeholders have long anticipated this situation. ICAO rang the bell by introducing new collaborative programmes like TRAINAIR PLUS, the Next Generation Aviation Professionals (NGAP) and by entering into cooperative agreements with selected aviation universities, including École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC). With the perspective of critical personnel shortages looming here and there, the reinforcement of the aviation education system becomes even more urging. And, with constantly evolving standards, ICAO cooperation with educational institutions is more relevant than ever. Stimulating new ways of cooperative networking between aviation universities will undoubtedly be one of the key drivers for enhancing the future aviation education system on a global scale. THE COMMITMENT OF UNIVERSITIES FOR AVIATION EDUCATION: THE EUROPEAN SHOWCASE Europe paved its way. On 12 October 2018, the PEGASUS¹ network celebrated its 20th anniversary on the magnificent premises of the oldest university in the world: the University of Bologna in Italy. In 1998 ENAC worked with other French aerospace engineering schools to create a cooperative network of aerospace universities in Europe. We recognized the challenges that the European aerospace industry was facing in: ♦ Providing the industry with sufficient workforce in the relevant technological areas; ♦ Promoting aviation careers against the emerging “dotcom” industry; As a technologically advanced field, aviation has relied on highly qualified professionals for its continuous development. Tremendous progress in aviation was made possible through the skills of millions of people who brought their contributions to the global aviation system. Aircraft engineers, pilots, aircraft dispatchers, air traffic controllers - there are many categories of such professionals who have been trained around the world. Today, aviation education is at a crossroads. The exponential growth of global air transport, its technological evolution, combined with demographic declines, massive retirement of older generations, and perhaps less attractiveness of the aviation sector when compared with other industries, has made it more and more difficult for aviation operators to recruit their necessary manpower, both in terms of quantity and quality. This scissor effect could jeopardize the expected AVIATION TRAINING AT A CROSSROADS 1 PEGASUS stands for “Partnership of a European Group of Aeronautics and Space UniversitieS” https://www.pegasus-europe.org/ 19 ICAO TRAINING REPORT | NO. 2 | 2018 TPP MEMBER SPOTLIGHTJoining forces will allow this community to better anticipate future technological challenges in the critical areas that have already been identified by ICAO: safety, security, sustainable development, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), integration of space, transportation in the current civil aviation system, etc. It should also help to develop educational and training programmes for the next generation of aviation professionals. Permanently improving programme quality has always been, and will remain an objective of the PEGASUS network. Sharing best practices and developing quality educational offerings for the entire world is another challenge that can only be tackled by introducing new pedagogical methods based on digital means. DIGITAL CAMPUSES: ENHANCING AVIATION EDUCATION FOR REMOTE PLACES “Digitalization” remains one of the most promising technologies for enhancing aviation education, particularly in areas that do not have easy access to higher quality education. ICAO has been promoting digital technologies and offering online courses for some time, though as with many other international organizations, the online offering is generally limited to short courses. The greater challenge for aviation universities will be to offer longer courses that lead to official qualifications and diplomas. Such initiatives have already proved their value: IN ITALY Politecnico di Milano introduced the first distance learning courses in 1997 when they opened several teaching sites across the entire Lombardia region, to reduce the pressure on the main campus in Milano. These early experiments included broadcasts via a dedicated channel of the lectures held on one campus, to other classrooms located remotely. The professors would hold lectures on a rotating basis in each connected classroom, so that all students would also have a direct contact with the teacher periodically. Though this scheme was later abandoned, Politecnico is currently investing in a series of new pedagogical methods that aren’t restricted to enrolled students. Polimi Open Knowledge (POK), which was inaugurated in June 2014 by Politecnico di Milano, is a massive open online course (MOOC) portal that provides online courses that are free and open to everybody. The main objective of the portal is to support all students, not only those from Politecnico di Milano, in crucial stages of their educational and professional careers: from high school to university, from bachelor’s to master’s degrees, from university to the workplace. Courses are open to those who register through the portal to access videos, content, activities and self-assessment tests. At the end of the course, if a minimum score is met, a participation certificate is issued (not tied to university credits or entrance test to Politecnico). In bachelor’s and master’s courses, flipped classrooms, blended classrooms and project-based learning are introduced to allow for each student to be exposed to all methodologies throughout their studies. IN THE NETHERLANDS At the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) 2 , the use of digitized learning material began many years ago, with many different methods still in use. One simple method records lectures through a system called “Collegerama”, with a series of lectures recorded once every three years or earlier if there are changes to the course. The use of these recordings proves to be useful, not only for students who are not able to attend lectures, but also for those who need to review before exams. With the recordings, students can watch the full lecture series or the specific parts that they did not fully understand. “Blended Leaning” has also been extensively used at TU Delft. With ♦ Improving the employability and mobility of the aviation workforce throughout Europe, for taking advantage of the unified economic zone in the EU; and ♦ Enhancing cooperation with industry and other aviation stakeholders for identifying future technological bottlenecks and developing the corresponding research activities. Twenty years later, the PEGASUS adventure has been a success. Our members have continuously provided the European industry with highly qualified aerospace engineers and doctors (nearly 3,000 graduates each year), and we have successfully adapted our learning programmes to meet industry needs. Among the 27 PEGASUS members, student and faculty exchanges were multiplied by a factor of over five times, providing the economic sector with a talented, multicultural engineering and research workforce. In the meantime, the attractiveness of the aerospace industry was not significantly affected by other sectors, and aerospace higher education institutions continue to attract the best European students in their teaching programmes. Moreover, the European teaching offer has also considerably opened up to students coming from the rest of the world, particularly from China and India. EXTENDING ACADEMIC COOPERATION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD The PEGASUS network strives to continuously improve aviation and space education. The general assembly in Bologna extended our activities to incorporate a wider circle of academic partners and to reinforce interaction with industrial companies and research centers. A cooperation agreement was signed in 2017 with a Chinese counterpart, the ARCAS network. PEGASUS members are eager to participate in the upcoming world network of aviation and aerospace universities – it is now time to reach out to the global aviation community. 2 TU Delft is also one of the founding members of PEGASUS 20www.ICAO.int TPP MEMBER SPOTLIGHTonline activities. Many MOOCs have been made available on a range of different topics, the TU Delft Extension school is connected to the EdEx platform that guarantees worldwide access to these MOOCs. Within the TU Delft offerings of MOOCs there is an increasing number of aerospace courses. These courses are available for free and the participation in these courses is huge. While this literally involves thousands, to hundreds of thousands of students, the percentage of students who make it to the end of the course and receive the course certificate, is low, with an even lower percentage receiving the course certificate. Eventually, there became a need for professional education. Thanks to online courses, professionals who are working in concentrated fields can get access to dedicated course material on specific topics. Though the professionals who take these courses may or may not have university degrees, online professional courses have fees and usually attract a small number of participants. But contrary to those participating in the MOOCs, the percentage of those who complete the course is much higher. These online courses have become part of the regular educational programme as well. Though initially they were considered additional reference material for the campus students, they are now part of the regular programme. If a lecturer develops an online course the face-to-face course on campus is no longer given. For on-campus students extra face-to-face sessions are organized but the lecturing no longer takes place. This saves the lecturers valuable time and makes the in-class time much more focused, and much more rewarding. IN FRANCE Nearly 10 years ago, ENAC launched its E-Campus platform (Figure 1). The platform is dedicated to a range of learning oriented services, from hosting training material to the operation of E-Training modules, and the follow-up of student progression. Widely used by professors and students alike, the platform is particularly useful for advanced master’s programmes that are taught by ENAC in various countries, from Asia to South-East Asia and the Middle East. For integrated air transport pilot license (ATPL) courses (Figure 2), a digital-based programme is delivered in blended learning, and will be proposed in a full distance-learning format in the future, with dedicated tools to provide control and monitoring of the trainees’ progress. extensive course material available on the internet, developing new material is not always necessary. Dedicated searches for online course materials that fit the needs of a specific course can save time. This method of blended learning requires a change in the attitude of the students as well, since they are required to prepare themselves before coming to class. When they are joining face-to-face lectures, it is expected that they have studied the course material that is available online. The next phase that was introduced a few years ago included the TU Delft Extension School, which concentrated all of the FIGURE 1 E-Campus, the ENAC digital platform for distance learning FIGURE 2 Online Theoretical ATPL Course 21 ICAO TRAINING REPORT | NO. 2 | 2018 TPP MEMBER SPOTLIGHTPASCAL REVEL Professor ENAC Toulouse (France) Prof. FRANCO BERNELLI Professor Politecnico di Milano (Italy) Prof. JORIS MELKERT Chairman of the PEGASUS network, Technical University Delft (Netherlands) FIGURE 3 MOOC Airline Revenue Management FIGURE 4 Structure of Master programme in Aircraft Life and Maintenance Management Several MOOCs (Figure 3) are also provided (Airlines Revenue Management; Which Aircraft For Which Mission, etc.) on various platforms, as well as more interactive serious games for the operational and economical optimization of an airport or the practicing and learning of basic practical skills for ATCOs, in a simplified simulated environment. On a more advanced and ambitious scale, a full master’s programme in Aircraft Life and Maintenance Management (Figure 4) should be delivered in blended learning in the near future. Further developments will also take advantage of ENAC’s full-scale, interoperable aircraft and ATC simulators. CONCLUSION All of these demonstrate the tremendous potential universities have for enhancing the future of aviation and aerospace education on a global scale. Cooperation through more integrated networking, better sharing of information between academia and aviation stakeholders, as well as more ambitious digital means will surely contribute substantially to that goal and will help the aviation community continue to develop safer, more secure and sustainable aviation in the years to come. “ Stimulating new ways of cooperative networking between aviation universities will undoubtedly be one of the key drivers for enhancing the future aviation education system on a global scale. ” 22 TPP MEMBER SPOTLIGHTENHANCING AVIATION EDUCATION Though many papers have looked at how universities develop and the role they play in aviation education and training, it is useful to review the steps universities must take to ensure that graduates are ready to take on roles within the industry. By providing a base level for graduate skills in the aviation industry, a sensible approach for enhancing the outputs from the aviation education system can then be introduced. Universities are governed very differently in many different nations. For example, in Australia each university is established by its own Act of State Parliament and is a stand-alone, self-accrediting organization. They are allowed to operate as a university by the federal government using federal government funding, and managed by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. This is a complicated mix of reporting lines and financial lineage. It is not unusual in the education sector for States to have their own rules and regulations that universities must comply with in order to operate. This system has grown organically, with the education systems of most nations developed to provide for the citizens of that particular State. The concept of large-scale international education is rather new. Even though the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) endeavours to bring systems closer together, a unified approach is many years away (if ever). There are currently very limited (if any) universal qualifications that are automatically accepted everywhere in the world in any sphere of education, with teaching, dentistry and medicine, as just a few examples of where no consensus exists. With the exceptionally diverse nature of education in mind, it is obvious that it is not feasible to impose an international The extraordinary growth in the aviation industry is now upon us, a trend that is forecast to continue until at least 2037. While this growth will provide exceptional opportunities, it will also bring challenges for the industry and the education and training organizations that are tied to it. Though the challenge to the industry is the inability to meet the staffing needs of the industry, the opportunities are directly linked as aviation education and training institutions gear up for the influx of students who will meet these needs. Challenges to the aviation education system are directly linked to the rapid expansion of the numbers of students, the numbers of programmes offered, and the quality of these programmes. It is essential that the quality of the graduates from universities are at the highest possible level. 23 ICAO TRAINING REPORT | NO. 2 | 2018 ENHANCING AVIATION EDUCATIONaccreditation system on universities. Such a system may well contravene or contradict the very requirements, history and experiences that the State, under which the university is established, dictates. It is essential that we do not try to follow a path of accreditation where universities must meet a set of input criteria. It would be pointless to look at the length of a degree, the types of academic courses that are required for students to graduate, and the qualifications of the staff. To try to enforce such requirements would be disruptive, creating international friction and unsettling the existing industry/ provider relationships, without ultimately achieving anything for the industry. A better approach would be to establish dialogue about what the outputs from our education institutions should be, and then allow each institution to deliver those outputs in ways that are appropriate for them. The aviation education system must ensure the quality of its graduates. To this end, and in the interests of space and time, we will look at the essential outputs for a degree for pilots as an example (the same logic can be applied to other areas of the industry). There is no doubt that a graduate with a pilot degree must be a professional pilot who holds a commercial or multi- crew pilot license (CPL/MPL) that allows him/her to receive compensation for operating an aircraft. Most pilot degrees are aimed at providing “airline” pilots, so pilots graduating from a university would have to have the skills, attitudes and knowledge required to be an airline pilot. The airline will be seeking graduates who can, as rapidly as possible, be further trained as a first or second officer in a multi-crew aircraft, and who have the potential for command in the (potentially not too distant) future. Thus the “output” from an institution that ensures that these skills, attitudes and knowledge are taught, demonstrated, practiced and assessed at a level that airlines are expecting, would be recognized as providing an appropriate degree, without the need for assessing what the inputs were to achieve that level of expertise. Non-technical skills development is a key output area that universities need to develop in their students. The non-technical skills for a pilot that are described in ICAO’s Manual of Evidence- based Training include communication, leadership and teamwork, problem solving and decision making, situation awareness, and workload management. These are all high level executive functions that are mostly operationalized through the pre-frontal cortex of the human brain. Interestingly, this area of the brain is the last area to develop, with final development occurring between 18-25 years of age. While competencies may be affected by genetic components and family experiences, they are also affected by individual experiences, community, friends and the general environment that the individual occupies and engages with. The brain creates pathways and links between neurons to cement these executive functions and it prunes neurons that are not used. To some extent, like muscle memory, practicing executive functions and being exposed to well-planned positive reinforcement of these core non- technical skills, creates and strengthens neuronal pathways in the pre-frontal cortex that govern the non-technical skills. Concomitantly, by reducing the level of negative experiences and poor behaviour/attitudes/skills, these “negative” skills will be pruned and removed as pathways. This, in effect, hard-wires the individual to perform at a higher level and produce better results with respect to the non-technical skills required to perform as an airline pilot. This age range (18-25 years) is the time when young adults are attending university and taking up their first jobs. It is essential then that universities and industry work together to ensure that students and new employees are exposed to positive influences, positive experiences, and that they practice executive level functions in appropriate contexts. Skills must be taught, demonstrated, practiced and assessed regularly. This requires that aviation industry employers and universities work closely together to provide the type of professional development and mentoring that young adults require to become, and remain, successful in their careers. By introducing these kinds of development programmes both within the curriculum, and as extracurricular activities, the pool of capable young people graduating from university programmes will increase, as will the overall quality of the graduates and new employees. Improved satisfaction from the academic faculty and industry mentors would rise as their satisfaction with student performance, the effort of new employees, and the general positive impact that overall improved performance naturally brings. The “academic” component of the degree is vitally important and addresses the knowledge requirements for the industry, and the physical skills required to operate the aircraft. This is akin to the “ The brain creates pathways and links between neurons to cement these executive functions and it prunes neurons that are not used. ” 24www.ICAO.int ENHANCING AVIATION EDUCATIONway dentists and surgeons are educated and trained. The academic components of the degrees may differ widely across the world, but the attitudes expected of employees and the non-technical skills may, or may not, be present in a university scenario. The presence or absence of a formal or informal process that manages the professional development of people in this age group at university is essential for their future careers, and indeed plays a role in resilience and overall happiness. It may also have an effect on mental health. Close relationships with industry, and specifically the organizations most likely to employ a particular university’s graduate, are essential to enhancing the industry though university education. This way employers play a role in the design and offering of the programme and ensure that it is relevant for the context in which graduates will be initially employed. However, it is also important that the international context is understood and addressed. This remains important as the strong potential exists where future employment may well be at an international locale. While the academic components of the degree may vary in different parts of the globe, the area that is agreed upon in the international context includes ICAO pilot competencies (and the non-technical skills). This reiterates that these skills must make up an essential component of a degree that results in graduating pilots. Young people are attending university at a critical time in their physiological development. Well- designed programmes ensure that their physiological and psychological development is understood, and that programme designs make the most of the ability to help students develop the skills that will hold them in good stead in the industry, and in life in general. PAUL BATES Professor and Head of Aviation, University of Southern Queensland Australia The way to ensure effective and quality aviation education programmes at university is through strong industry relationships and the development of a professional development/mentoring scheme which is either intra-, co- or extra- curricular in design but which teaches, demonstrates, practices and assesses the non-technical skills required to work in the aviation industry. 25 ICAO TRAINING REPORT | NO. 2 | 2018 ENHANCING AVIATION EDUCATIONAMPAP Administrator Premier SponsorMedia Partner The Hallmark of Excellence in Airport Management GLOBAL ACI-ICAO AIRPORT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATION PROGRAMME AMPAP Get ready for 2019! www.iap.aero info@iap.aeroThough I must admit, as a kid, I was a little envious of the benefits their families were getting from their father’s jobs, with accommodations and travel and things, it was actually what was happening in the skies that ignited my aviation flame. One good thing about living in the late 80’s and early 90’s era in Congo, was that not one week would pass without planes flying in formation or a helicopter throwing some flyers. I would run to watch them and wonder what made them fly. I started making different shaped paper airplanes and became the best kite manufacturer on the block. My father was an engineer so not only did I have his tools to work with, but he was very encouraging. He bought me a magazine that taught me how to make a high performance kite. That actually came in handy, since it helped me understand the formula and principle of lift generation faster than my friends, through simple logic: Lift = ½ p .Cx .S.V 2 = ½ p .Cx . ( Surface of my kite X (how fast I run) 2 ) In 1993, there was a civil war in the Republic of Congo. Aircraft were flying again, but not in formation and not dropping flyers. It was still a sight to be seen for a kid, I was amazed by the versatility and the mechanics that could make a machine travel so high and so fast. There might have been a war going on, but the children living in it can still have dreams. During the 1993 civil war the families of my friends left Brazzaville. In 1997 the second civil war broke and my family moved to N’djamena, Chad, my father’s homeland. It was the first time I travelled in a plane, and to this day I still feel like that flight was too short and too fast. I was just starting high school, my interest for aviation had faded. Teenagers weren’t interested in paper planes and kites and truth be told, I was more focused on getting good grades at school and hanging out with my friends. In my environment, aviation training didn’t exist, so I had to wonder what else was out I was born in Brazzaville, Congo in the mid 1980’s, to a Chadian father and a Congolese mother. Both originated from former French colonies situated in Central Africa. The skies were very different from what they are today – but it played a big role in building my curiosity for aircraft. We lived in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, until I was 10 years old. I had two childhood friends whose fathers worked in aviation. One worked for the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), the organization responsible for air navigation safety (control towers management and personnel, airports facilities and firefighting, etc.). He brought home documents with drawings that looked like clouds with arrows that raised my curiosity, but they made no sense to me. The other father served as cabin crew for Air Afrique, the flag carrier of many former French African colonies that collapsed in the early 2000s. He brought plenty of cool things back from his travels – thanks to him I played my first Nintendo game! LOOKING TO THE SKY, MAKING IT A WAY OF LIFE 27 ICAO TRAINING REPORT | NO. 2 | 2018 HIGHER EDUCATION TRAININGNext >