The case analysis required the students to analyzing, evaluating, and developing recommendations for addressing a human factors issue associated with unmanned aerial systems operations. The goal of this project was to demonstrate an understanding of the course topics. Overall, I thought that the analysis provided an excellent means to research a topic of interest. There are also a couple of aspects that would recommend reviewing and possibly changing. First, the abstract portion of the assignment should be called what it is...a proposal The rules for writing an abstract and the requirements for the proposal are significantly different, and the assignment was somewhat confusing. Second, a problem that arose for me, was that my specific topic...I found out...didn’t have as much information available that pertained to the course learning outcomes/objectives. Therefore, it was somewhat difficult to meet all the criteria of the paper. It may have been easier (better?) for the case analysis to focus on a particular system and then discuss specific human factors associated with that system, rather than focusing on an single aspect or topic. ASCI 602, The Air Transportation System, does this in that students pick an airline to focus their research on rather than just an aspect of airline operation.
One thing that I would liked to have seen is the incorporation of the weekly research topics into the case analysis project. Again, ASCI 602 does this. Each small paper that is done as an assignment is actually a portion of the final paper. This really helps not only with the writing of the paper, but also with more in depth research on, and learning about, the topic. I would suggest that the research topics in this course be modified to be more generic, or open, so that they can completed with respect to the students’ case analysis topic. This would also lend itself better to supporting a case analysis topic that focused on a specific platform rather than a specific issue.
The peer reviews of the abstract (proposal) and rough draft were also interesting assignments. This was the first instance where I was required to perform peer reviews. I’m not sure that they are, or should be, worth 8% of the total course grade, but they were great exercises in professional review and critique.
Overall, I enjoyed the case analysis project. I enjoyed researching my topic, and learning much more about the operator training aspects of unmanned systems, and specifically the MQ-4C Triton. In my current position as an HSI Analyst, I assist in the writing of Navy Training System Publications; not papers such as case analyses, peer reviews, etc. However, the experience gained through this process can definitely be put to use. And who knows what the future may hold.
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