The curriculum goals of the unit, as currently stated in the catalog or other departmental documents, are as follows: (from the catalog)

"The mission of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is to provide quality education, including hands-on learning, and to conduct foremost research in aerospace engineering sciences. These goals are accomplished through fundamental and multidisciplinary research and by preparing aerospace engineering students to meet the needs of 21st-century society through the conception, design, and application of aerial and spacecraft systems.

AES Educational Objectives, 2010-present

During their first three to five years after graduation, Aerospace Engineering Sciences graduates will have:

  • Established themselves in professional careers or received a graduate degree;
  • Demonstrated ethical leadership, project management, and/or innovation; and
  • Played significant roles in the research and development of engineering systems and products.

Desired Outcomes

Students completing the undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering will be knowledgeable in the following areas:

  • the professional context of the practice of aerospace engineering and expectations of new graduates in aerospace engineering organizations, including an awareness of ethics issues, economics, and the business environment;
  • the history of aerospace engineering, providing a perspective on current events;
  • aerospace engineering as a highly multidisciplinary endeavor, requiring a systems perspective to integrate technologies and manage complexity; and
  • major principles and scientific methods underlying the technologies comprising aerospace vehicles and systems.

Upon graduation, students will have developed the following general skills and abilities:

  • written, oral, and graphical communication skills;
  • an ability to quantitatively estimate, model, analyze, and compute;
  • an ability to define and conduct experiments using modern laboratory instruments, and to interpret experimental results;
  • an ability to seek out and gather information, enabling independent and lifelong learning;
  • interpersonal and organizational skills that enable individuals to work effectively in teams and assume leadership positions;
  • an ability to identify needs, requirements, and constraints, and to design appropriate reliable engineering solutions;
  • an ability to formulate technical problems clearly, and to correctly apply appropriate methods and procedures for their solution;
  • an ability to program computers, and skills in the use of modern engineering analysis, simulation software, and operating systems; and
  • an ability to understand societal needs, business issues, and the ethical concerns and responsibility of the industry."\

During the last review period, what revisions, if any, have been made to your curriculum goals as stated in the CU course catalog? What is your schedule for such curriculum review?

Our objectives and outcomes have not changed since our last ABET self-study in 2009.

The AES department holds a ¾ day undergraduate curriculum retreat every May on the Tuesday of finals week to review our curriculum.  Specific details on the annual retreat can be provided upon request and specifics of the 2013 retreat are provided below.  As part of our continuing improvement process the AES department has the following annual curricular review calendar covering the four key thematic elements of our aerospace curriculum:

  • Year 1 – Thermodynamics and Fluids
  • Year 2 – Electronics and Software
  • Year 3 – Dynamics and Controls
  • Year 4 -  Materials and Structures
  • Year 5 – Open (to address other curricular issues as necessary)
  • Year 6 – ABET self-study

Summarize the means you have employed to assess your success in attaining those curriculum goals.

The Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies is responsible for overseeing the operation of our undergraduate curriculum.  These duties include an annual assessment of the program.  The Associate Chair is the chair of the undergraduate curriculum and teaching committee which is formed every year and consists of tenure track faculty and instructors involved with the undergraduate curriculum in addition to the undergraduate advisors.  Participation on the committee generally rotates each year to engage a diversity of opinions. The undergraduate curriculum and teaching committee meets monthly during the academic year to address both the strategic vision of the undergraduate program and tactical issues that require timely resolution.  Every spring, on the Tuesday of finals week the AES department holds a ¾ day retreat to focus on the undergraduate curriculum.

This retreat is coordinated by the Associate Chair and is structured to bring to closure, by faculty vote if necessary, undergraduate curriculum issues that were addressed during the preceding academic year and to develop a forward-looking plan for the next academic year to address developing issues.  Topics covered during 2012-2013 retreat, held on May 7th 2013, which ran from 8:15am to 3:00pm included the impact of continued growth on our curriculum and advising loads, a new freshman materials course, integrating software into the aerospace curriculum, refining experimental and computation methods for sophomores, finalizing the recommendation of the thermodynamics and fluids curriculum review and discussion of initial plans for the aerospace electronics and software review.

The college of engineering collects data for the department through a variety of surveys some of which are documented in this report.  These surveys include:

  • Annual Senior Survey, conducted during students’ final semester on campus
  • Annual Post-Graduation Survey, conducted 6-8 months after graduation
  • Alumni Survey, conducted four years after graduation
  • Employer Survey, conducted every 3 years (2010-11 is most recent survey)
  • Annual Freshman Survey (not documented in this report)"
  • Annual Internship and Summer School Survey (not documented in this report)

Additional data are collected through the following methods:

The AES senior students meet on a voluntary basis to participate in an exit survey and program discussions organized by undergraduate student adviser Claire Yang at the end of the spring semester.

Every semester Comprehensive Course Assessment (CCA) evaluations are done by the department faculty in all required undergraduate courses. They pertain to the aerospace program’s K1-3 and A1-8 evaluation criteria, which map to the ABET 3a-k outcomes. The outcomes are discussed by the Curriculum and Teaching Committee (C&T) the following year and concerns are discussed at the annual retreat if necessary.

The department has a standing Curriculum Improvement Team (CIT) that consist of 2-4 students from each academic year (10-15 total).  The CIT committee is selected by the Associate Chair and a concerted effort is made to have a team with significant diversity in race, gender, academic performance, and extracurricular activities.  Students participating in ROTC and intercollegiate athletics also bring a valuable voice to the committee.  The Associate Chair hosts a meeting with the CIT at least once every semester to hear the students concerns and discuss potential solutions.  After meeting with the students the Associate Chair reports back to the undergraduate committee where the concerns are either addressed directly or elevated to the annual retreat for discussion.

The department’s External Advisory Board (EAB) meets with the Aerospace Engineering Department every fall.  The academic focus of the meeting alternates between the undergraduate and graduate program every year.  When the EAB meeting is focused on the undergraduate curriculum the EAB has lunch with the CIT to hear the voice of the students.  When concerns are raised by the students the EAB reports back with follow-up action items for the department to address.

During the month of October all Aerospace Engineering students are required to meet with their academic advisors before a registration hold for the spring semester will be lifted.  These meetings are often held in group settings as it is often the case that students have similar questions.  If students have more personal or sensitive questions, then a 1-on-1 meeting with a faculty advisor is scheduled.  During these group meetings the faculty receive feedback from the students.  The Associate Chair solicits this feedback from the faculty advisors for inclusion in the regular undergraduate committee discussion.

The Faculty Course Questionnaires (FCQs) administered by the University are also used to assess individual courses.  Every term, CU-Boulder students evaluate each of their courses and instructors using a standard questionnaire called the FCQ or Faculty Course Questionnaire. The results go to:

  • Individual instructors for use in improving their courses and teaching
  • Department chairs and deans for use in mentoring for professional development, course assignments and in promotion, salary, and tenure decisions
  • Students for use in course selection.

Results for the most recent years are available electronically on the web. Results are available in paper form in the Norlin Library Archives office.

The FCQ are utilized to evaluate the student impression of the course and instructor.  Key questions on the questionnaire are the standard questions:

  • Instructor effectiveness in encouraging interest
  • Intellectual challenge of course 
  • How much you learned in course 

and the optional questions:

  • Students assumed responsibility for their learning
  • Students learned by participation  
  • Lab work was worthwhile
  • This class improved my understanding of the engineering profession
  • My confidence to succeed as an engineering student was enhanced.
  • This course prepared me for a career in engineering.

Specify what actions you have taken as a result of employing your assessment protocols.

Completed review of thermodynamic and fluids curriculum.  The core courses reviewed included:

  • ASEN 2002 Introduction to Thermodynamics and Aerodynamics
  • ASEN 2004 Aerospace Vehicle Design and Performance
  • ASEN 3113 Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
  • ASEN 3111 Aerodynamics
  • ASEN 4014 Aerospace Propulsion
  • ASEN 4018/4028 Senior Projects 1 and 2

The overall conclusion of the review was to make some minor revision to the separation of topics between ASEN 2002 and the follow-on junior courses of ASEN 3111 and 3113 and consider a change in textbooks for the Thermodynamic and Heat Transfer portions of ASEN 2002 and ASEN 3113.

  • First law of Thermodynamics to be covered in ASEN 2002
  • Second law of Thermodynamics to be covered in ASEN 3113
  • Reduce coverage of refrigeration cycles in ASEN 3113 to allow for more detailed coverage of heat transfer.
  • Add propulsion related heat transfer problems to ASEN 3113 (eg Rayleigh and Fanno lines)
  • Use practical heat transfer problems encountered by students in senior projects (ASEN 4018/4028) into ASEN 3113.

Created committee to review the aerospace and software curriculum during the next academic year.

Faculty agreed to develop a common homework policy regarding the weighting of homework towards the final grade.  This policy was based upon concerns about recent honor code violations and the availability of solution manuals online.  Key is for the students to understand that the grading of homework is to provide an incentive to complete the work and that working problems vis-à-vis homework is critical to understand and mastering the key learning goals of the course.

Based on the change last year in the chemistry requirements for aerospace students a new required materials science course has been developed.  It was run as an optional course in spring 2013 for students with AP credit and will be offered to all ASEN freshman in spring 2014.  The materials for the course have been developed to be consistent with the ABET requirement to include coverage of aerospace materials in our curriculum.

Based on the feedback from our students and industry partners we continue to work on the development of an additional software course for aerospace juniors.  Implementation challenges such as available platforms continue to be addressed.  The AES department sees software as a critical part of an aerospace undergraduate degree and is continuing to work on the development of this course.