ASSIGNMENT
An institution of higher learning that has traditionally focused on aeronautical
engineering has discovered that while the overwhelming majority of incoming first-year
students select aeronautical engineering as their major, by the time these students have
completed the required two-semester sequence of aeronautical engineering they have
changed their majors to something else. When asked why, students typically indicated
that they simply found some other subject area more interesting. A preliminary analysis
of the aeronautical sequence of instruction indicates that it has changed little in the last
20 years. It is taught as a lecture class with an associated laboratory section in which
students work in small teams solving mathematical aspects of particular problems. The
course uses a standard set of final exams that reflect little change in student performance
in the last 20 years. Students who do complete the required sequence with good grades
and manage to remain aeronautical engineering majors and graduate perform well in
their after-college experiences, as demonstrated by follow-up interviews with alumni and
their employers. However, the goal of having 75 percent of graduating seniors majoring
in aeronautical engineering is not close to being met, as only about 15 percent of
graduating seniors retain that major. As an expert instructional designer, you have been
hired to diagnose this problematic situation and recommend what might be done to
correct it.
TASK
1. Identify and describe the key factors that you would consider in framing your response to the problem situation stated above.
2. Identify and describe the key factors that are likely to be effective in communicating with parents.
3. Indicate and describe the relationships among all of the key factors that have been identified.
4. Indicate what kinds of additional support should be considered in order to make the best case for your solution approach.
5. Create an annotated concept map that reflects the things indicated in response to the previous four tasks.
