Social media has taken the world by storm, and there seems to be no slowing down. Young or old, social media has infiltrated our lives in a way never before imagined. Although there are pros and cons to the many social media platforms currently available, it is beneficial for collegiate aviation faculty to learn more about these various tools to determine how, if at all, they can benefit our students. As such, this paper conducted a study of collegiate aviation faculty nationwide and determined that collegiate aviation faculty are very aware of the five most popular social media sites (Skype, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Twitter), regularly use YouTube and Wikipedia as part of academic courses, and feel that social photo and video sharing sites provide the most benefit to students. The paper also presents ideas in how to adopt three lesser used social media sites (Twitter, LinkedIn, and Ning) for the benefit of students.

In an effort to understand the current status of specialized accreditation in collegiate aviation and the reasons why so few aviation programs are accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI), a comprehensive study was undertaken to determine the perceptions held by the following four stakeholders of collegiate aviation regarding specialized accreditation by AABI: administrators of both AABI accredited and non-AABI accredited aviation programs, aviation program students, and aviation industry employers.This article is the third in a series of three reporting the results of this nationwide study.Recommendations specific to part three of this nationwide study include: (a) AABI should develop a comprehensive marketing program aimed toward the various stakeholders of collegiate aviation, (b) AABI should seek enhanced collaboration with industry, and (c) AABI should explore the intrinsic merits of accreditation to truly determine how beneficial AABI accreditation is and the degree to which AABI is fulfilling its original purpose.

Being an effective college teacher is typically a major goal of all faculty, especially junior faculty on the tenure-track.As a new tenure-track faculty member interested in improving his teaching skills (and student ratings), the author surveyed aerospace students at Middle Tennessee State University over a three-year period to gain insight into what students consider to be an effective college teacher.The author's findings reveal that students prefer fun and interesting classes where material is clearly explained and reviews and study guides are provided to help students better prepare for tests.Students also most benefit from courses taught by motivated and passionate professors who make the class fun and interesting by incorporating a great deal of hands-on activities and group discussion.Further, they dislike a boring/monotone professor who lectures the entire class period and is unable to clearly explain the material.Finally, students value professors who are passionate and have a sincere desire to teach, show real respect/caring for students, and are knowledgeable of the subject they are teaching.

The Council on Aviation Accreditation (CAA) was established in 1988 in response to the need for formal, specialized accreditation of

This study seeks differences in the degree completion and time-to-degree of native versus transfer private pilots along with transfer private pilots required to take proficiency training versus those who did not take proficiency training before beginning the aviation flight program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC).An ex-post facto descriptive study of 338 flight students that began commercial pilot training between the fall 1998 through the summer 2003 semesters measured completion or exit from the SIUC flight program.The study population was determined from the Student Information System and the data on degree completion and time-to-degree was gathered from the students' flight training records.Chi-squares were used to determine significance (p

Experiential learning, in general, and internships, in particular, are increasing in popularity as students endeavor to gain real-world experience in their chosen career field prior to college graduation. As noted by Steffes (2004), “Providing students with a connected view of learning that integrates their real world experiences with classroom lectures and discussion can create a powerful learning environment” (p. 49). It is this powerful learning environment that was the focus of this paper. As part of this study, a comprehensive literature review and survey of UAA institutional members was conducted. This resulted in a more thorough understanding of the history of experiential learning, the various types of experiential learning, various aspects of internships, the role of internships in collegiate aviation, and current methods of assessing internships both within collegiate aviation and other academic fields. The paper concluded by presenting various recommendations in how to best assess internships to ensure the growth and continued success of this form of experiential learning in higher education.

In an effort to determine the level of preparedness among Tennessee general aviation (GA) airports for accommodating and servicing Very Light Jets (VLJs), a survey was conducted to determine if managers of Tennessee's GA airports feel their operations are adequately prepared to support the anticipated increase in aircraft movements and on-demand services related to the introduction of this new class of aircraft.The study investigated the perceptions of airport executives concerning the emerging VLJ market, and efforts undertaken to both prepare and promote general aviation airports in Tennessee as viable destinations for the VLJ operator.The paper highlights the VLJ movement (including the background of VLJ development), discusses the projected benefits of VLJs to local Tennessee communities not serviced by commercial air carrier service, and presents results of the survey.The study concludes by presenting several practical recommendations that governmental leaders and airport managers may use to justify improvements and expansion projects aimed at marketing general aviation airports across the state of Tennessee as important destinations for VLJs.

Distance learning, which, for the purpose of this study, is defined as academic courses that can be completed via the computer and internet and entirely absent from the traditional classroom, has seen tremendous growth in the past decade. In fact, according to management guru Peter Drucker, "The future [of higher education] is outside the traditional campus, outside the traditional classroom. Distance learning is coming on fast" (Gubernick & Ebeling, 1997, para. 4). Indeed, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), about 1 in 13 post-secondary students enrolls in at least one distance learning course each semester (U.S. GAO, 2002). These distance learners, who tend to be older and more likely to be employed full-time while attending school part-time, are changing the landscape of higher education (U.S. GAO, 2002). In an effort to better understand this phenomenon, a case study was conducted on this topic. Sources of evidence include the available literature on distance learning, as well as the websites of those institutions with collegiate aviation programs. This study, which was conducted during Fall 2005, provided an understanding of the historical, theoretical, and contemporary issues surrounding distance learning. A significant contribution of this case study is a current listing of those institutions offering either online aviation courses or complete online aviation academic degrees. In addition, the study revealed that 21 percent of collegiate aviation programs are currently offering courses via distance learning, which represents an increase of 30 percent in the past 5 years. It is predicted that the number of collegiate aviation programs offering courses via distance learning will continue to grow in the future, as both technology and student needs evolve.

Distance learning, referring to those courses which can be completed via the computer and internet and entirely absent from the traditional classroom, is increasing in popularity among both students and academic programs. Although (as of Spring 2006 course offerings) 24 institutions currently offer on-line aviation academic courses, this equates to only 21 percent of the institutions in the most recent Collegiate Aviation Guide (Prather, in press). As the demand for distance learning continues to grow, especially among non-traditional students, it is useful to consider the demand among airport professionals for aviation distance learning courses and degrees. A mixed mode survey with multiple contacts was distributed to a randomly selected sample of 200 members of the American Association of Airport Executives during Fall 2005 and Spring 2006. A response rate of 52 percent revealed that many airport professionals view distance learning as affordable, convenient, flexible, of reasonable quality, and impersonal. Additionally, many are interested in pursuing distance learning but are unaware that complete aviation degrees can be completed on-line, and feel that more universities should offer aviation degree programs via distance learning. As we move to meet the educational needs of working adults in a mobile society, our conception of the university must extend beyond place and embrace process. An adult university cannot be campus-bound, rather its borders must be defined by the lives of its students. (Sperling, as cited in Lehrer and Connolly, 1994, p. 13)

This study on the perceptions of airport managers regarding airport internships is one aspect of a paper entitled Airport internships: Combining formal education and practical experience