The Wind Tunnel University NASA LaRC WTU Pilot Program

The Langley WTU performed a pilot program that offered courses in several areas the summer of 1998 at LaRC. Most of the courses were introductory-level courses that were well received by participants. These courses were taught to a small portion of the wind tunnel community and student participation was voluntary. Initially, some of the instructors were taught a short course on training techniques to better prepare them for teaching. The courses offered in the pilot program include Model Preparation and Installation Theory of Constraints Theory of Constraints Project Management Force and Moment Balances Statistical Process Control for Technicians Introduction to Wind Tunnel Test Techniques Wind Tunnel Calibration An outside training professional performed an evaluation of the pilot program. This evaluation revealed that many of the courses were well received by the students participating and indicated that the course material was beneficial. However, it was apparent that the course material needed to be more in-depth to accomplish course objectives stated at the beginning. The lessons learned from the pilot program produced the following recommendations for improvement: Establish programs of study with planned learning objectives rather than just an ad hoc mixture of courses Improve strategies to match relevance of courses to the goals of the Langley WTE Increase supervisory involvement to determine target participants Improve adult learning skills and knowledge of Langley WTU instructors Determine whether some courses need to be in laboratory-type settings Establish competency measures to assess individual learning Continue efforts to assess impact of learning on individual and group performance in the workplace