An Evaluation of a Course that Introduces Undergraduate Students to Authentic Aerospace Engineering Research.

This paper describes the implementation and assessment of an aerospace engineering course in which undergraduate students worked on research projects with graduate research mentors. The course was created using the principles from cooperative learning and project-based learning, and consisted of students working in small groups on a complex, open-ended research project. The course provided undergraduate students the opportunity to learn about and be involved in authentic research within their field. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to assess the effectiveness of this course by answering the following research questions: (1) What are the experiences of undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty involved in this course?, (2) What skills are developed and/or improved in undergraduate and graduate students?, and (3) What recommendations can the course faculty provide to other faculty interested in implementing a similar course? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]